Chapter 369: Lovers in Paris (5)
“Dobby!”
Her voice was sharp. Dobby looked back with a dissatisfied expression.
A white woman who was a bit chubby climbed the stairs with an effort and looked at Dobby with a resentful expression.
“Hey, you are supposed to stay still on the escalator, not running up like you did. How come you can run up the stairs like that?” she said, gasping for breath.
“Shut up, Eva. And call me Chef Dobby more politely. Man, you’re not disciplined as a demi chef. Don’t you know I’m a sous chef?”
“Are you kidding? I should have taken over that t.i.tle. If I had not made a mistake on the day when June decided on the sous chef, you would have been my demi chef!”
“What matters is you made a mistake on that day, but I didn’t.”
“Man, you really suck!”
Having said that, Eva looked at him with an annoyed glance.
But he did not even glance at her. He just focused on the scenery above the stairs.
He smelled a fragrant smell of bread from a bakery somewhere above the park.
“Cheer up, Eva. I’m not here only to enjoy myself. If we win this compet.i.tion, you might be a.s.signed as a sous chef like me. Maybe you might be my sous chef.”
“Well, I’d rather live as a demi-chef than being your sous chef.”
“Don’t hide your feelings, Eva. I know that you respect me. So, you can be honest with me.”
“Hey, can I just help you lose this time?”
When she cracked a joke that sounded like a threat, Dobby finally gave in.
Breathing in deeply, he opened his mouth with a soft voice.
“It’s been a long time since I came to France. I really missed the taste of French bread.”
“Missing only French bread? How about anything else?”
“As for other stuff, I like Chef June’s dishes much better.”
“Man, you really look like June’s boy!”
Eva sighed as if she couldn’t help it. Dobby’s love for June was simply too much. Of course, Eva could understand it. Just like Min-joon could cultivate his cooking skills and dreams through Kaya, Dobby could make June do the same thing for him. Besides, he directly met her and learned cooking from her, unlike Min-joon who met Kaya in the contest.
Was it because of that? Dobby’s eyes were burning with determination more pa.s.sionately than ever.
“I have to take back Chef June’s love. These days, she is so focused on Min-joon.”
“But she is focused on him in a different sense, right?”
“The thing is that she has found that it’s worth it. So, I’m upset about it. I should have shown my cooking skills when he stopped by our branch last time.”
“At that time, we showed our skills by cooking our branch’s menu under Chef June’s supervision. I think that’s enough.”
“Anyway, this time, I’m going to knock him down to size. As a chef with the aura of New York’s luxury, I’m going to show them how elegant and flawless a dish I can make.”
“Shut up, Dobby! Don’t get on your high horse, man.”
She looked at him with a pathetic expression, as if she thought it was all up to him.
But he didn’t really care about how she thought about her, as always.
With a satisfied expression, he looked at the restaurant before his eyes. To put it precisely, he was looking at the sign of the restaurant.
[Rose Island]-[Paris Branch]
“Rose Island is expanding to the whole world! Chef June will lead Rose Island! And I’m going to be her successor.”
“Hey, let’s go in. It’s so embarra.s.sing.”
“Okay, let me get the start on Min-joon first, but…”
Dobby stopped while trying to say something. The front door of the branch was opening. And the man who appeared at the front door was quite familiar to him.
Dobby opened his mouth in an awkward voice, “You must be Chef Min-joon?”
“Oh, how are you? You’re Chef Dobby, right?”
“Haha. Yes, I’m Dobby. I didn’t know you remembered my name.”
Just a moment ago, Dobby vowed to soften him up several times, but when he appeared like this, Dobby was so kind to him now, as if he was dealing with someone else. Of course, if he showed any hostile action toward Min-joon at this moment, he would be really rude. Watching Dobby acting selfishly, Eva pouted, thinking to herself, ‘Man, it seems he feels good because Min-joon remembers his name.’
Although she often quarreled with Dobby, she knew what he was thinking deep down because she had been with him for a long time at Rose Island’s New York branch.
With a broad smile, Dobby said, “Oh, are you going somewhere?”
“Oh, now that I’m in Paris, I’m thinking of going around the streets and exploring what people here like about their food. It’s my first time coming to Paris. Kaya has been here before.”
“I see. It’s your first time here. I’ve been here several times.”
Watching Dobby saying so and smiling in satisfaction, Eva keenly realized what it meant when people said they were faced with a ‘situation where the onlooker feels so embarra.s.sed.’
Min-joon nodded with an awkward smile, “Then, I guess you are in a more advantageous position in this compet.i.tion. I hear you came here for the compet.i.tion?”
“Yeah. Since you are here, would you like to try my food?”
“Your dish?”
“Last time, I helped Chef June cook, but it’s not my own dish, but hers. So, I wanted to show you my own dish by all means.”
Min-joon narrowed his eyes at his remarks. Normally, he would refuse because he was curious about what kind of cuisine was unique to France, but this time, the system window showing Dobby’s level was too impressive for him to decline it. His cooking level was 9!
It was his first time seeing a sous chef with cooking level 9, except for Raphael.
‘How on earth can Chef June have this kind of guy under her wing?’
Min-joon was not sure if he was very skilled in cooking or if he had any charisma, but it was clear that June was much greater than he thought. He briefly thought to himself, ‘Should I be happy because I’m drawing her attention as well as her suspicion?’
“So, what do you think?” Dobby asked.
“I don’t care, but is this chef good at cooking?” Min-joon said.
Even though she was standing right before his eyes, Min-joon was pretty much outspoken.
The moment Dobby was about to reply, ‘Yeah, she is,’ Min-joon nodded first.
“I guess you’re probably the best among the sous chefs in the world.”
Dobby was now smiling from ear to ear at that. Grinning at him, Min-joon stepped back into the restaurant, thinking it was pretty easy to read his mind. Watching them at a distance, Brandon approached them after finding Dobby.
“I was wondering why you came back, Min-joon. You’re caught by Dobby, hahaha.”
“He told me he would make a dish for me.”
“Dobby’s dish? I guess you might not like it.”
“Pardon?”
“Because he has quite an experimental mind.”
His simple mention was enough for Min-joon to figure out what kind of chef Dobby was.
The fact that he had a strong experimental mind meant that he could quickly create recipes that he hadn’t tried before, and his dish might be more terrible than he thought.
But his cooking level was 9, so Min-joon doubted if he could make a terrible dish at that level. Even if he failed to make the dish as well as he thought, it would be better than the dishes served at any decent restaurant.
Meanwhile, Dobby quietly checked the atmosphere of the Paris branch. He had mixed feelings after finding that the staff here were focused on Kaya and Min-joon. Did they already impress them with their cooking skills?
‘I guess they must have cooked only once here, but they already got the start on me…’
Dobby understood it because it was Min-joon who was attractive enough for Rachel not to pay attention to June.
Dobby said, looking at Min-joon slightly, “Did you already make any dish for them?”
“Oh, yes, just a simple one.”
“Would you like to bet?”
“Bet?”
Min-joon looked at him with a slightly confused expression, thinking these days he had lots of occasions to bet on cooking. Then Dobby stopped smiling and said in a sincere voice.
“If I cook this time and they react to my dish better than your dish, can you do me a favor?”
“Well, have to first hear what your request is.”
“Hmm. Come to think of it, you’re right because you don’t even know what it is. Okay, let me tell you now. If I win…”
He looked at Min-joon’s eyes. At the moment, Min-joon could not help but flinch. Dobby’s eyes looking at him were too transparent. Rather than being clear and pure, his eyes looked like those of a man who was just focused on one thing in his mind. His uncomplicated, simple, and straight eyes seemed to pierce him like the blade of a spear.
What Dobby said next was as sharp as his eyes.
“Will you work at the New York branch?”
“No, I don’t think I can accept your request.”
“That makes sense. Then, do you want anything from me?”
“Nope,” Min-joon replied firmly in an annoyed voice.
In fact, those related to June had always embarra.s.sed Min-joon like this. He didn’t know why they were so alert because of him when he was not concerned about taking over the top position of Rose Island.
At that moment, it was Dobby who was more embarra.s.sed.
He glanced at Eva and whispered, “I think he’s a bit upset. Why?”
“Man, you are so dull! I just envy your insensitivity since you don’t know the reason.”
Eva sighed as if she couldn’t help it. Perhaps the reason why Dobby wanted Min-joon to work at the New York brank was different from what Min-joon thought about. Min-joon might think Dobby was trying to separate him from Rachel to check him, but Eva could read Dobby’s mind accurately. So, it was only her who could mediate between the two right now.
“I think you may understand him because he spoke it out of context. In fact, he is not asking you such a favor because of that. He is just asking because he wants you to come to our New York branch.”
“Yeah, that’s the reason, Eva. What else can I think about?”
Dobby shook his head as if he could not understand her. She let out a sigh.
Although he was June’s star student, he didn’t look like her at all in that respect. Basically, he was not concerned about anything politically correct at all.
Perhaps it was because of his personality that June valued him. She could see in him what she lacked.
Of course, Min-joon and Kaya, who didn’t know his personality like that, might have thought he was very rude now.
Min-joon opened his mouth with a low voice.
“Well, I don’t want to decide my career by betting on your offer. So, I won’t accept it.”
“I see. How about betting on another thing then? Let me see…”
Resting his chin on his hand, Dobby was lost in thought.
Watching him quietly, Min-joon said, “Think about what you can give me in case you lose. I think it’s more likely you are going to lose.”