The Next Door Neighbor (Jeonghan)

𝟸𝟹・𝙲𝚞𝚝 𝙾𝚏𝚏

(The picture above is similar to dish I explain later in the chapter) 

Eunae was in the middle of coating her handmade chocolates with a layer of edible gold color when one of the waitress came in the kitchen and announced, "We have VIP guests of five people in the candy room." 

Audible sighs could be heard from everyone in the kitchen, including Eunae herself. 

The term "Candy Room" is used by the staff members of Nova to refer to the secluded section of the restaurant. Even though "Candy Room" sounds like it is one room, it is actually the back area of the restaurant which contains three VIP room. 

Of course the secret VIP room behind the bookshelf, where Eunae was interviewed by Jinhwan, is an another different story. 

It is a customary practice for the Head Chef's in Michelin Star restaurants to generally go and greet the guests briefly and explain them the menu briefly as well as check up on. Usually Mr. Jung does it, as he is the Head Chef, and it is also normally done at dinner times. 

However the Candy Room is an exception. Whenever there are guests in the candy room, all of the chef's are expected to go and introduce their own particular dish. For example, since Kanon is the Pantry Chef, she is expected to go and introduce and explain the salads and the cold dishes. Likewise, Eunae is expected to go in and introduce the desserts when her time comes. 

Furthermore, the general guests are given two to three course meal options, in which all of the meals from salad to dessert has already been pre-decided by the restaurant. The general guests are simply supposed to choose which option they would like to take and simply eat the entire meal. 

The guests in the Candy Room, however, have the power to pick and choose different dishes from the menu and even make special requests, which is just extra work and its tiring. 

Now, Eunae does love to go in and explain in detail to her customers about what she has created, however she has to admit its a bit bothersome to clean yourself up and make yourself appear presentable before heading in. 

Furthermore, the guests are often less than grateful and pick and sniff upon the food as if checking for poison within it. 

On the brighter side, since Eunae is the Head Pattisier, her call to duty will come towards the very end. Eunae saw Kanon sigh and cleaning up from the corner of her eye. 

"I really hope they don't make any special requests," Chaewon mumbled. 

Eunae gave her a side glance and said, "Let's just hope for the best."

"I don't really understand the logic of Candy Room anyways," Eunwoo wondered, "Why do they get special treatment?" 

"The Room isn't created for us to understand," Eunae reminded him, "We're here to do our job and get paid." 

There was a brief silence between the three, Eunae concentrating on coating her tiny chocolate balls with really sheer gold liquid, making it to be appear like a royal ball. 

"Are you okay unnie? Normally you'd joke around," Chaewon quietly said. 

"Hmm," Eunae straightened her back slightly, "Oh. . .I'm just. . .tired." 

Tiredness is just a byproduct of her emotions. Eunae doesn't have the same motivations for almost anything like she did before. The kitchen used to be her second home however ever since that encounter with Daehan, Eunae just can't help but feel uncomfortable at her workplace. She knew it was mostly in her brain, but she felt as if she was constantly being watched.