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Chapter 598: On the Verge of Being Independent (1)

It was always depressing to part with somebody. A farewell that one could bid to somebody with a bright and happy smile with the next meeting in mind was possible only when one didn’t have any regrets about parting, or when they could meet again soon.

Kaya’s parting with Merlyn did not belong to either of them.

Kaya placed her hand on Merlyn’s shoulder. There was a pretty smile on Merlyn’s freckled face, which was hardly found on Kaya’s face. Such a pure and innocent smile was never on her face.

Kaya would never have smiled like her in a situation like this.

“I’m sorry I’ve ended up being like this, Chef.”

“You don’t have to call me a chef. Don’t talk to me formally like that.”

“I’m not talking to you formally. I just want to call you a chef because I respect you. I want to be a chef like you.”

Kaya looked at her without saying anything. The words “I’m sorry” were on the tip of her tongue. Why was she sorry for Merlyn? Just because she failed to make up for what Merlyn was lacking? Wasn’t it her job to do so from the beginning? All she had to do was to give Merlyn some hints on cooking, not teach her.

Kaya did the best she could, although she didn’t help her team members as much as Min-joon or Joseph.

‘Why am I angry now?’

Was it because she couldn’t beat the two of them, more precisely, Min-joon? Or was it just because she didn’t help Merlyn much? Kaya suddenly felt frustrated about herself asking such questions, for her selfish questions like that showed how snobbish she was.

Kaya raised her hand and stroked Merlyn’s cheeks, which were young and innocent.

She was scared about the passage of time. Her heart, which was full of ambition and passion, was now yielding to fear and helplessness.

“When I see you next time, I hope you can meet me as a chef.”

“If I work hard, can I become a chef like you, Kaya?”

“Don’t try to be like me. I’m just a stupid girl who is lucky. I’m not that great.”

“I don’t like you because you’re a great chef,” she said with a smile.

“Apart from that, you’re cool, Chef Kaya. I respect you, so I like you and I will...”

At that moment, Kaya was speechless. She thought it was almost the first time she met someone with such innocent hospitality since she met Min-joon first.

Merlyn blushed, as if a little embarrassed, and said, “Like you said, I’m going to be a great chef.”

“Give me your phone.”

“My phone?”

With an embarrassed expression, she held out her phone gently. Kaya put her number there and called. A beep rang, and Kaya’s phone rang.

Then Kaya opened her mouth nonchalantly.

“Call me if you have any questions, be it cooking or anything. I’ll do my best to help as much as I can.”

“Oh, you want to give me your number?”

“Sure,” Kaya replied stiffly.

“Call me when you want to.”

Even though Kaya gave a stiff answer, Merlyn was so happy and grateful to her. So much so that those around her could not believe why she was so happy even when she lost in the competition. It seemed that even if she had won the competition, she would not be as happy as she was now.

It would have been surprising if Merlyn’s reaction had not comforted Kaya. But Kaya still felt under the weather. Ever since she returned to New York, Kaya was out of sorts for some reason. Chloe was a little embarrassed to see Kaya depressed, but Kaya did not tell her about the reason. Perhaps that was the way she kept her pride.

It was in the evening of the second day after she came back to New York. She took a particularly long shower that day. Because of that, even the scent of soap was almost completely washed away from her body when she came out wearing a gown. The scent of lavender from the shampoo gently tickled her nose. Min-joon put his cheek to her hair that she didn’t yet dry. It was cold like her face.

He gently raised his hand and gently pinched and touched her face here and there.

Given her expression, she looked like she was going to get upset, but she didn’t move at all.

Then she said, “I’ve just found it out.”

“About what?”

“I was upset with Merlyn’s elimination not because I felt sorry about her failure, but because I could not stand accepting the fact that I was still lacking in many ways.”

“Do you think you have to think as far as that?”

“I was excited until now,” she said in an angry voice. “Every time we gave feedback as the representatives of the Choters Guide, people admired us. I had a hard time when I first opened Irregular Lab, but later everyone praised me, saying that it was a brave and fresh challenge. They even praised me, saying this was the power of ‘young blood’ in me. Their reaction to Six Meat was also good. Even now I’m making lots of money by selling it.”

“Then do you think all their praises were just a bubble?”

“Well, it doesn’t matter how they look at me. It doesn’t matter how inflated their praise of me was.”

Kaya turned her head as if she was so frustrated and upset. But when he noticed her angry eyes, he felt her eyes were so pretty.

Although her eyes were familiar to him, this time he felt they were different. Actually, he was longing for that eyes of her’s, which made him feel she was cool as a woman.

“I misunderstood myself.”

“How?”

“I was mistaken that I accomplished everything,” she said sarcastically.

“I thought it was time to harvest rather than sow the seeds. That’s ridiculous. I’ve completely misunderstood that I have climbed to the top of this field just because people lavishly praise on me when I just stepped out in this field.”

Min-joon didn’t blame her for saying that. In fact, lots of people valued and admired them well beyond what they deserved. Min-joon and Kaya were aware that they were not as great as people thought, even if their excessive praise of them was taken into account.

So it was no wonder that they found themselves arrogant and complacent in their eyes.

“So what are you going to do from now on?”

“I’m thinking about it.”

She looked into his eyes as if she was trying to find the answer in his eyes that she was looking for. After looking intently into his eyes for some time, she immediately placed his forehead on his shoulder.

“Irregular Lab.”

She hid her face as if she was shy

“Shall I quit?”

But he did not answer her question. In fact, it was quite a difficult question for him as well. Irregular Labs she and Chloe led had lots of advantages and disadvantages in many ways.

It was the best stage in which Kaya could display her cooking savant right away, but as she clearly experienced it this time at the Grand Chef competition, she could not properly cultivate the sort of kitchen leadership she really needed as a head chef.

But she could not help it because she wanted to make herself her own kitchen rather than leading the kitchen staff.

Whatever the case, Min-joon could not answer her question. For he was lacking in kitchen leadership, too. Definitely, she needed someone with a broader perception than them.

At that moment, June asked, “If you quit Irregular Lab, what are you going to do?”

“Well, I think I have to find a job at a regular restaurant.”

“You mean you want a sous chef job?”

Kaya paused for a moment at that question. Actually, Kaya was a head chef even if the restaurant was small. Irregular Lab couldn’t really be called a small restaurant. It was also a high-end restaurant that drew rave reviews from all kinds of gourmets.

So it was natural that she would feel empty if she landed a sous chef job at this point.

But that was not her real problem.

“Well, I’m afraid you will have a hard time working as a sous chef.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Of course, you can do your job as a sous chef well at an ordinary restaurant. But what can you learn from such a restaurant? The head chef of such a restaurant might not be better than you, right? If somebody recommended to me that I should hire you as a sous chef, I’m afraid I can’t give you the job right away. Why? Because you have little experience leading the kitchen staff, right?”

Kaya couldn’t refute what June said because it was true.

Seizing the moment, June continued to point out her problems.

“Winning the Grand Chef competition was the greatest blessing for you, but at the same time, it stood in the way of your growth. As soon as the Grand Chef was over, you were stuck in a restaurant as sort of a manageress, or just a nominal head chef. Besides, you had to wander around the world on a working trip. And after that, you opened Irregular Lab. You made a wise decision because you could bring out your capabilities the most at Irregular Lab.”