“The mission this time will be a team one.”
The participant’s whispering voices could be heard at Joseph’s voice that reverberated through the room. Jo Minjoon shut his mouth and listened at Joseph’s voice. He knew that it was going to be a team mission. And he even knew the theme.
“The theme is simple. Make a three person team. You will have to cook an appetizer, main dish and dessert. Assign among yourselves what you are going to cook. You need to cook according to your specializations but remember. This is a team mission.”
Course meal. Although it was the simplest 3 course. But the point of having to balance the overall of the three dishes was going to be really hard.
And if you have to cook with people you have never worked together with, then even more so. Jo Minjoon tched. For it to be a team mission just after he got out of a doghouse. He already knew it but it wasn’t that good of a situation.
“You will have to decide the teammates for yourselves. But there is something you should remember. The role you should take on should be only one. I recommend you making the teams according to the division of the roles.”
Just as Joseph finished speaking, the participants looked at each other. The first one he looked for was Marco. He didn’t show it yet, but Marco’s bakery level was 7. If he were to make dessert, then he would probably make it better than anyone else.
He was thinking like that and approaching Marco when, next to Marco was already another person. And looking at that person’s face, Jo Minjoon couldn’t help but get surprised. An unexpected person was standing there. Chloe Jung.
“Ah, Minjoon!”
Marco smiled brightly and called for Jo Minjoon. Jo Minjoon started to walk slowly. As he glanced at Chloe, Marco opened his mouth.
“You saw yesterday’s broadcast right? This is Chloe Jung. Chloe, this is Jo Minjoon.”
“Hello. Mr. famous.”
“……Hello.”
At Chloe’s greetings, Jo Minjoon replied with an awkward face. Marco smiled and opened his mouth.
“I was just talking with Chloe about the team. Minjoon, what about you? I would like to team up with you.”
“It’s fine for me but….”
Jo Minjoon said that and looked at Chloe. She said while smiling.
“I’m also fine. I saw you cooking the bream on yesterday’s broadcast. It was quite fun.”
“If you saw it like that, then thank you. Your cooking was also good. Tangsuyuk.”
Chloe smiled brightly without saying anything. Even though she saw yesterday’s broadcast, she didn’t want to prejudice him, so Jo Minjoon too, became calmer. Chloe said with a soft voice.
“Then, are we a team?”
“I suppose so. Have you thought of the part you want to take care of? I hope that our ideas don’t overlap.”
Jo Minjoon said that and looked at Marco. Saying the truth, it was obvious what Marco was going to choose. His baking level was a whoopping level 7. It was a level you couldn’t achieve without hard work and dedication. And indeed, Marco said what he was expecting to.
“I want to be in charge of the dessert. It’s my specialty making bread or cakes.”
“Okay. Minjoon, what about you?”
“I would like to make the appetizer.”
“Then I’m in charge of the main dish.”
“Is that what you wanted?”
“I can do both appetizer and main dish. It only doesn’t have to be dessert.”
Listening to Chloe, Jo Minjoon looked at his surroundings. Kaya could be seen. She was in the middle of conversing with Anderson. Were they going to team up here? He didn’t remember well. Jo Minjoon turned his head. It wasn’t the time to pay attention to them.
“What theme are we going with?”
“Well….. it’s rather difficult now that there are only 3 courses.”
Jo Minjoon emphatized with her. It was more comfortable to follow precise directions. It was quite a difficult job to take into account the harmony of the three dishes and configure the menu accordingly.
‘If my cooking level goes up, would I be able to see the course’s arrangement level?’
He couldn’t know. But in the first place, he wondered if he would even need the system’s counseling when he reached level 8 on cooking. But of course, to reach that level you would need experience and hard work that couldn’t even be compared to right now. Jo Minjoon opened his mouth.
“As I see it, I think it would be better to go with quality rather than flashiness. It isn’t the time to be adventuring right now.”
“Mm, I also think so.”
“First, let’s go to the pantry.”
While they were leaving to the pantry, Jo Minjoon opened his mouth.
“What are you planning to make for the main dish?”
According on how was the main dish, the appetizer and the dessert couldn’t help but change according to it. Chloe thought for a while and replied soon.
“I want to go with pan-fried scallops(어향 관자).”
Pan-fried Scallops. It was a dish where scallops replaced meat. It was a bit different to what he had thought, but he didn’t oppose to it. He could only believe on Chloe’s cooking skills.
Chloe looked at Jo Minjoon.
“What are you going to make for the appetizer?”
“Soft fried tofu. Will it suit before presenting the scallops?”
“Mm. I think it will be good. What about you Marco?”
At Chloe’s question, Marco seemed to be baffled. Seeing that he was rolling his eyes seemed like he had many things to choose from. After a while Marco opened his mouth and replied.
“Mocha biscuit. I was thinking about putting some whipping cream on top… but would that be too heavy?”
“Yeah, it’s a bit heavy. Wouldn’t plain yogurt or something of the sort be better than whipping cream? To have a simpler flavor. With a refreshing flavor.”
“Okay. I’ll do so.”
Marco laughed sophisticatedly and nodded. Chloe clapped lightly and said.
“Now, we finished arranging the menu… now the only thing left is cooking.”
–
“How did you end up talking with Chloe?”
“It’s nothing special or the sort. As she was told to make a team, she came to me first.”
“Yeah? Hmm.”
Jo Minjoon was talking in a low voice with Marco in front of the countertop. It was nice to meet Chloe, who had appeared so suddenly and at the same time, it was unexpected. Because they didn’t have any contact before. Well, there would be nothing weird to say that it was a coincidence. There were only 27 participants, and for Chloe to approach Marco was nothing special.
It was just unexpected. For one of the three participants with the highest cooking level to team up with the two of them. Originally, who would she have picked for her team? He couldn’t help but think that. However, he didn’t remember. Chloe, in the past Grand Chef, wasn’t a participant who got too much attention.
“By the way, they got really picky with the rules.”
Before they started cooking, the judges explained the rules. The participants were only allowed to work in their own dishes. Saying the truth, this team mission was close to being masked as an individual mission.
Currently, there were three countertops placed in the room. It was unavoidable because there were nine teams. It was a method that judged three teams at a time. And during that time, the remaining six teams had to get to the second floor and observe the other team’s cooking.
Jo Minjoon’s team was the first. He didn’t know if he was fortunate or not. He personally thought that it was better. Because he wouldn’t have to get nervous watching at the other teams cooking.
Jo Minjoon glanced at the table next to them. Kaya and Anderson were standing still and preparing for cooking. Remembering the scene of Kaya getting mad at him, only made him feel sour.
‘Let’s concentrate on cooking.’
Jo Minjoon brought up the recipe for the soft fried tofu in his head. [The estimated cooking score is 7.] The recipe was perfect. At least, it was at Jo Minjoon’s level. It was also a dish he had made many times before. He personally liked tofu the most, and liked soft tofu secondly. The first one was tofu in kimchi jjigae(김치찌개), that was sitting for a day.
Saying the truth, it was a dish that couldn’t be easily made at home. If you oiled a pan thinly and put the soft tofu, it’s flavor wouldn’t be properly brought up. After squeezing the moisture of the tofu, you smeared it on dough, and when put in hot oil, the colour became whiter and it looked better.
But in this place, he could use however much oil he wanted to. Thinking that he would be able to properly cook got him flustered up without concerning the test.
Jo Minjoon looked at the judges mouths. One of them started to slowly open his mouth. It was Joseph.
“Start your cooking!”
< Three dishes and one meal (1) > End
Translators note: Regular chapter! Regular chapters on tues, thurs, sat and sun
Thanks for reading and for your support!
Translator : Subak
Proofreader : Maled