Was the Santa who visited overnight not Jae-geon after all?
“The evaluation panel attending today’s preview tasting consists of thirty people.”
His expression was more unreadable than usual. He did not even spare Hae-som a glance.
“Since everything will be served at once starting with the appetizers at exactly seven, make sure you’re fully prepared and don’t fall behind.”
“Yes, Chef!”
The responses rang out loudly. Jae-geon’s gaze briefly landed on Hae-som—or more precisely, on the back of her injured hand, as she reacted a beat late.
Since she had not applied any ointment, Hae-som held up the back of her hand as if to show there was no problem. But Jae-geon’s attention had already moved past her to the dessert station.
“Especially dessert. Move quickly so the sorbet doesn’t melt.”
“Yes, Chef!”
“Moon Jong-im, Seo Jun-young, Han Seung-jun, Lee Woon-seop. Office. Everyone else, dismissed.”
“Yes, Chef!”
Their title might have been Section Chef, but in practice they were little different from sous chefs directly beneath the head chef. Because Not maintained strict boundaries between stations, it used station chefs in place of a sous chef.
To prevent people from becoming too settled in one role, stations were rotated every year. Last year, Woon-seop from dessert had apparently been the team lead for the main station.
Despite being built like Inwangsan, he supposedly had the heart of a teenage girl, making him perfect for dessert. Jae-min and Hwi never missed a chance to tease him about it.
Appetizer lead Jong-im was the type to work with relaxed ease, while Jun-young from the entrée station was his complete opposite, never letting anything slide. Then there was the decisive Seung-jun.
Looking at them together, each seemed to carry a small piece of Jae-geon’s character.
Well, except for the teenage girl’s personality. There was no way Jae-geon had that.
Pulling her attention back from where it had wandered all the way to Jae-geon’s office, Hae-som slipped gloves onto both hands.
It was time to put all her hard-earned skills to use.
With the chefs lined up behind him like a folding screen, Jae-geon stared at the white figure visible through the gap in the blinds.
She came over to the dry storage area for sugar, hurried back to the main station to pull sugar spikes from their molds, then ran off to deliver coffee after Cha Jun-won called for her.
The white chef’s jacket bouncing between the dark uniforms kept drawing his eye.
Not an ugly duckling.
Their precious duckling.
Was it really okay to leave her like this?
Since she hadn’t joined service, he had naturally assumed she had gone home. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined she had stayed late into the night practicing alone.
‘For the radishes used in the purée, only trim off the rough edges. Why?’
‘Because you said most of the sharp, spicy flavor is concentrated in the peel.’
‘If the sous-vide machine is set to sixty degrees, how long should chicken tenderloin be cooked?’
‘Theoretically ninety minutes, but you told me the condition before and after cooking must always be checked.’
One moment she mimicked his deep voice, the next she switched back to her own bright one.
Her playful little performance had nearly made him laugh out loud.
He had secretly tasted her work while she stepped away for a moment. Aside from a few weaknesses, it had been excellent.
As though he had been anesthetized by the determination hidden behind that gentle face, Jae-geon had slept poorly for no reason last night.
And then a thought had suddenly occurred to him.
Had Seong Hae-som managed to sleep at all?
“It’s okay. I have decaf coffee.”
Only after hearing her earnest voice politely decline the coffee Jun-won offered did Jae-geon close the blinds and turn around.
The the station chefs waiting for him for him finally came back into view.
Am I losing my mind?
The way he kept getting emotional and forgetting the line between work and personal feelings felt almost like he had been possessed.
Unable to understand his own actions, Jae-geon let out a sigh and handed out the four binders he had prepared.
They contained the participant list for the preview tasting, complete with each of the thirty evaluators’ preferences and their assessments from the previous quarter.
The information would help with today’s tasting, but it would be even more valuable when these chefs eventually opened restaurants of their own.
He simply hoped the chefs who left carrying the name of Not would grow just as much as he had.
Maybe knowing how tough the industry could be was what made him worry so much.
Whether they understood his intentions or not, the chefs maintained uncertain expressions until Jae-geon dismissed them.
Only Seung-jun remained.
“You’ve heard the rumor going around the restaurant, right?”
“About Seong Hae-som?”
“Yes. The one saying she can’t take her eyes off you, Chef.”
If it had reached even the ears of a workaholic like Seung-jun, it must have spread pretty widely.
So what?
What was he supposed to do about it?
Already bothered by the feelings slowly taking root inside him, Jae-geon felt irritation flare up.
“What, are you telling me to start dating someone at work?”
The nonsense slipped out before he could stop it.
Seung-jun laughed brightly.
“Do you want to?”
“Do I look like I do?”
“Hard to say. Fifty-fifty.”
The guy was frighteningly perceptive.
The smile vanished from Seung-jun’s face at once, replaced by his usual poker face.
“You should be careful no matter where things go. People aren’t looking at Seong Hae-som kindly. They think she’s overstepping her place as an intern.”
Ah.
So he wasn’t talking about romantic rumors.
He was talking about malicious ones.
Jae-geon belatedly rubbed his burning face while Seung-jun continued calmly.
“People talked a lot when you gave her a pass on the first day. Assisting the chef is basically a perk reserved for full-time staff. Honestly, even accepting an intern was a hard decision for most of the chefs to understand.”
“She’s good enough to deserve it. And she works harder than anyone.”
“We know that because we work with her. But Team Lead Seo said something interesting. He wondered if hiring her full-time might end up costing Not a Michelin Star.”
It wasn’t an unreasonable concern.
His words were harsh, but Seo Jun-young cared about Not more than anyone.
“I know you have a soft spot for Seong Hae-som, Chef, but I think you should skip her today.”
Jae-geon had already been struggling with the decision.
Part of him worried her injury would get worse if he let her join service.
The other part worried her spirit would be crushed after all the effort she had put into practicing with an injured hand.
Cha Ji-won’s existence didn’t matter in the slightest.
Then Seung-jun struck right at the heart of the matter.
His eyes remained on the tasting list.
“And Savorin is coming too, right? With Cha Ji-won’s personality, do you think she’ll quietly watch you and Seong Hae-som together? What if she flips a table again like last time? Whew.”
He was clearly remembering the incident that had gotten Cha Ji-won banned from entering Not for disrupting business operations.
After Cha Jun-won slapped his sister and dragged her into the garden by the hair, the entire ordeal became industry gossip for months.
When S Group threatened to pull its sponsorship, everyone suffered through a difficult period.
The situation had eventually been smoothed over after Cha Ji-won issued a formal apology, but nobody wanted a repeat of it.
And Hae-som had suffered enough because of it already.
It was probably better to stop it before it started.
“Keep her out of service.”
“What? Isn’t that a bit much…?”
After quietly considering the unexpectedly drastic order, Seung-jun withdrew with a faint smile.
Just as he was about to leave the office, Jae-geon stopped him with an oddly unrelated question.
“Where did you say the team dinner was held last time?”
Since they only needed to serve about half their usual volume and there were no special requests, today was relatively relaxed.
As if taking a short break, Hwi and Jae-min stood on either side of Hae-som.
She was making the sea urchin cream for the sea urchin brûlée.
Tasting the cream with a tasting spoon, Hwi casually asked,
“How’s your hand?”
“I didn’t put any ointment on today, and I’m wearing gloves so the blisters won’t burst.”
“I’m not asking because of service. I’m asking if your hand is okay. I heard you came back last night to practice.”
Seriously.
They promised to keep it a secret.
When she shot him a look, Jae-min simply shrugged as if to say there was no such thing as secrets in the world.
After thinking it over, Hae-som concluded that either Hwi or Jae-min must have been the one who left the ointment in her locker.
The person who left the coffee—especially the decaf coffee—remained a mystery.
She nodded toward both of them.
“I’m really fine. Anyway, thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. You’re making me embarrassed.”
Grinning, Hwi began tasting the ingredients Hae-som had prepped one by one.
His reactions were positive.
He was especially impressed with the sea urchin shell she had spent so much time practicing.
“You wrecked your hand that badly and still practiced sugar art without any fear?”
“Yes.”
“This breaks easily with just a light touch. How’d you manage that?”
“I shortened the spikes so the surface would absorb impact more easily.”
Measuring the length with his little finger, he replied casually,
“3.3 centimeters?”
“Yes. I even had the team lead check it.”
“Looks like all that practice paid off. Good work.”
Instead of answering, Hae-som curled the corners of her mouth upward.
She held back her smile, unwilling to praise herself.
Hwi laughed for her.
“Anyway, once we get through today, it’s the full staff dinner. Let’s finish strong.”
“Last time it was tuna sashimi. I wonder what they’ll treat us to this time. Hehe, it’s going to be delicious.”
With Jae-min joining in, everyone’s spirits rose.
Seung-jun finally returned from Jae-geon’s office quite a while later.
“Seong Hae-som is excluded from service.”
Along with news that was anything but welcome.