𝖨𝖽𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗍𝗒: 𝖨𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗂𝗆𝖺𝗀𝗂𝗇𝖾, 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗇𝖺𝗆𝖾 𝗂𝗌 𝖪𝗐𝗈𝗇 𝖧𝗒𝗈𝗌𝗈𝗈𝗇. 𝖸𝗈𝗎 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗄𝖾𝖽 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖷1 𝖪𝗂𝗍𝖼𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖺 𝗐𝗁𝗂𝗅𝖾 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗐𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝗒 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾.
10 minutes.
10 minutes was all that was needed to make that cake perfect.
It was just enough time to make it greatly baked and prepared to be decorated.
Once it was finished baking, I just needed to decorate it but as simple as that may sound, the process of after decorating was a difficulty.
I needed to take that cake to the spot next to the beloved bride and groom, Cho Seungyoun and Park Sangmi.
I just needed to calm myself down before I carried anything, so that's what I did.
I got the baked cake out of the oven as I heard the timer finish and set it in front of me.
I started to place the white fondant around the cake and use a toothpick the make lined designs on the cake.
I grabbed a piece of ribbon and placed it around the starting of the second layer.
After adding some edible decorations and finishing off the cake.
Once finishing, I hesitated to go and ask for help as I saw an older chef in the kitchen but as my conscience grew more nervous, I decided to go.
"Excuse me, but could you take this too the spot it belong in?" I asked the working senior and she showed her face, noticing her agitated look.
"Can't you see I'm busy, why can't you just take the cake yourself?" She asked focusing on the single dining plate she was finishing.
"I don't think I can handle taking the cake, I don't have a good balance when it comes to heavy food items. You can ask the head chef." I said lowly.
She stopped what she was doing and the just rolled her eyes while sighing, "I'll take it but drop these plates off to table 11 and watch out because these plates are for the heirs of the company." She finished off and I smiled in relief.
"Thank you sunbaenim." I bowed and took the plates she had finished on the tray.
There were six plates on the tray, so I didn't need to use that much strength but I needed to hold this tray with my life.
I grabbed the tray slowly and placed it on my arm pushing it against my shoulder making sure it was secured in it's place.
I walked out of the kitchen, noticing the huge amount of guests and took a breath before walking towards the table.
As I made my way closer to them I slowly recognized them as the youngest six.
Junho, Dongpyo, Minhee, Eunsang, Hyeongjun, and Dohyun.
The older siblings had a table for themselves and their significant others.
Since most chefs gave plates to the respected and older adults first, the younger siblings seemed anxious to get their food already.
Dongpyo had noticed that I was holding their beloved food and stared me down until the food reached the table.
I nervously smiled as I slowly grabbed the plates off of the tray and placed them in front of each boy.
"Hyosoon noona, why do you seem tense?" I heard Dohyun ask, was it too noticeable?
"Ah well, I'm not that experienced at serving so I just wanted to make sure I held your plates carefully." I nodded and as I placed the last plate my eyes met Junho's.
Cha Junho was probably the sibling that I had always payed most attention too.
He's intelligent, incredibly handsome, and perfectly spirited but he was the most silent and most complained about by other employees.
Since the boy never liked to judge anybody, he always smiled and then immediately spit out the food as the chefs turned away.
How would I know you may ask, because I've witnessed it. In fact, the senior that handed me these plates, hasn't noticed that it happened to her.
I moved my sight to the tray and stood up straight as I kept my composure then smiled, "Is there anything else I could help with?" I asked and the boys all nodded a no as they ate their food happily.
I then made my way to the kitchen before being pulled away very quickly, only to face Junho.
"Hyosoon-ah, you have some flour on your face." He said lowly while looking to the ground.
"Oh really where?" I asked touching my face every where before he grabbed my hands and placed them down.
My heart started to beat at the contact and I held my breath randomly in the moment.
He then neared my face and cleaned the spot on the bridge of my nose.
I then let out the breath I held and looked away from his sight, "Thank you, Junho. I need to get going really quickly." I immediately said and walked straight away to the kitchen.
I started to pant as I entered, making everyone look at me curiously.
"What did you do? Run? Hurry up and take those jugs of tea to the tables. Now!" The head chef yelled and I made my way to the refreshments that were in a cart.
I quickly wheeled them away and served the respective tables their drinks.
As I got to the last table, I carried the jug and prepared myself to place it on the table until another person bumped into me and made me spill the jug.
I immediately turned trying to find who bumped into me but just ignored it as I grabbed the provided towels and cleaned up the table.
"I'm so sorry, I'll bring you another jug." I apologized and the older lady looked at me with disgust.
"Goodness child don't you know how to watch yourself!" She let out and I bowed my head again.
"I'm sorry."
Luckily we were at a back table, so many people didn't notice the commotion but some still did.
I saw the head chef come into the scene and I burrowed my nail into my hand nervously.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience ma'am, she's new at serving. I'll bring you another jug and more towels." The head chef smiled and glared at me once the family faced away.
"Thank you, at least you have decency unlike this child." The lady scolded and I faced my head down avoiding everyone's eyes.
The head chef the grabbed me by the ear and pulled me towards the kitchen.
Once we made it to the door, she pushed me into the kitchen and threw the towel she had on the ground.
"You had one job Kwon!" She yelled.
"I bake cakes and cook food, I don't serve." I lowly fired back and she noticed.
"What did you say?" She growled and I turned my head away.
"I asked, what did you say?!" She exclaimed and I jumped back in fear.
"I don't usually serve ma'am." I calmly said.
"Well in this kitchen you have to do anything that comes your way, including to take a damn cake to the spot!" She yelled.
"Got it?!" She asked and I nodded immediately.
"You're done for the night. I'll see you tomorrow and you better not act the way you did today." She finished and I sighed.
I went to the locker room and placed my things in the locker, I then started to make my way out of the kitchen doors to leave.
As I walked to the front of the hall, I looked at the building in front of me in the city.
"One day, I'll conquer this job." I sighed.
"I'm pretty sure you can." I heard a voice startling me.
I turned to see Junho in his luxurious tux and a slight smile on his face.
"What happened?" He asked, joining me on the empty bench I had sat on.
"Someone bumped into me while I was serving tea and I dropped a jug on a table." I ran my finger through my hair in frustration.
"So they yelled at you?" Junho asked silently and I nodded slowly.
"I've gotten used to it. It's the fourth time I've dropped something this week." I scoffed at myself.
"Why am I so clumsy?" I chuckled lightly at myself, feeling Junho's glare as if he was worried about me.
"Don't be so harsh on yourself Hyosoon. You're young compared to the others yet you still scored this job." Junho patted my back while saying.
"It's been nearly a year and a half yet they still treat me like a kid. I'm not even mentioned to be promoted or anything. Yet, I bake the cakes, I cook the meat, I do so many things, and they only look at my flaws." I looked up as my eyes started to water.
"Look Hyosoon, I know you can cook better than any of those other chefs." He started and I looked at him curiously.
"How?"
"Your plates are the only ones I don't spit out." He openly blurted and I laughed.
"Only you think that though, I want to impress them. They are the ones who's opinions matters." I stressed and Junho scrunched his face.
"So my opinion doesn't matter?" Junho asked seeming offended and I denied his question.
"Of course it does, but you always compliment my food." I said and Junho sighed.
"Just don't worry about them right now Hyosoon." He said and I sighed.
"I'll try not too but I think they are going to evaluate my cooking next week to see if I'm qualified to cook for your family." I mentioned.
"My family will love your food." Junho said confidently and I rolled my eyes jokingly.
"How could you be so sure?" I asked and he smirked.
"Are you underestimating my skills in knowing what foods my family likes or not?" He asked and I chuckled.
"Sure."
Junho then smirked before standing up in front of me, making me curious as to what he was going to do.
"Then let's make a bet, if you don't get promoted and my family isn't impressed with your food, I'll eat a meal that I can't handle eating made by you." He said and I raised my eyebrow.
"Then how would you benefit in this situation if I get promoted?" I asked curiously and his smile became more visible.
"If I win and you get promoted, I'll take you on a date."
I knew Junho for a while but I had never knew he had such confidence when asking a person on a date.
"Who are you and what did you to the Cha Junho that I know?" I asked him and he slightly smiled.
"I'm the same person, you're just the one who makes me different." He said seriously and my cheeks turned the color red.
"Fine, if you have such confidence, then it's a bet." I shook his hand surprising him as I then started to leave leaving him dumbfounded and stunned.
Once my evaluation date came closer, I realized how weird yet exciting this bet was.
I mean Junho was handsome and smart, he has also been there for most of my rough times in the kitchen but right now that's not what mattered.
I just needed to cook what they wanted to eat and beat the chef who I was going against.
We would both cook the same things for the family but they were going to decide which meal they preferred without knowing the cook of the meal.
That meant that Junho and his family wouldn't be able to tell if I cooked their meal or not.
So I had to have an open mind and had to win this promotion fairly.
The door then opened revealing our head chef, "Kwon. Kim." She said and we stood up bowing our heads in respect.
"The family want four plates of jjajangmyeon, five plates of samgyeopsal, six plates of kimchi stew, and four plates of tteokbokki." She finished and I let out a breath with hesitation.
The whole family was going to be served because adding up all the plates made it 19 in total. Of course, I had to put each of the meals in bunches so I could avoid miscalculating the amount of food on plates.
So with that in mind, I started to cook the plates.
I made sure to put everything I knew about cooking into those plates. I added the right amount of seasoning, the right amount of salt, the right amount of sauce, and everything else.
Everything had to be perfectly cooked, if not, then I would lose and there goes any hope of getting respected more.
After most bunches of food were finished, I put them in more suitable pans for serving and labeled them with my evaluation number, the number 9.
Once I finished, I placed the pans in front of the head chef, ready for them to be served.
She raised an eyebrow in curiosity and nodded slowly, "They seem rightly cooked and you did them in a decent amount of time." She said looking at the other chef who made sure the amount of everything were perfect.
"Good luck out there kid." She commented, catching my attention.
"Thank you." I bowed my head and the grabbed the paper she handed me.
The dessert portion was the same cake I had to make for the Cho's wedding.
"Did they really ask for it?" I curiously asked and she nodded.
"It was so good the first time that they wanted it again." I smiled with pride as I started to make the cake again.
I properly washed my hands and cleaned the granite top I had used, to make sure none of the previous ingredients got in the batter or outside of the cake.
After finishing that, I poured each of the ingredients into a bowl and mixed it with all my strength, making sure it was properly mixed.
Once I poured the batter into the cake pan and placed it into the oven, I turned on the timer and started to make a small frosting for the cake.
Since it wasn't a specific cake, I didn't need to necessarily decorate it like I did at the wedding so some frosting and fudge would fit greatly with the cake.
The mix tasted as I imagined it would and I left it in the fridge, until I heard the timer.
The cake was ready.
I took a breath and whispered, "You just need to frost it and cut a piece out." I reminded myself, assuring myself that I was fine.
I took it out carefully and frosted it with concentration, making sure the frosting had the right placement.
As I finished the whole entire cake, the head chef came in and clapped her hands grabbing our attention.
"They already chose the dining portion winner. Don't let their possible decision affect you though, you still need to execute these cakes perfectly." She announced and I nodded taking in the information.
I needed to add a slight sprinkle to the frosting as I had in my imagination to finish my cake the way I wanted it.
Once finishing that, I cut up eighteen pieces and placed each of them on a small dessert plate with a mini cookie on the side.
I had smiled and breathed in relief, I didn't care if I lost at this point. I tried my hardest and knew that this was the best I had ever done.
Afterwards, I turned in the plates to the head chef so she could place out and then relaxed in the locker room area.
I took off my hat and hair net then placed them in my locker.
I started to dig my nails in my palms as I grew more nervous.
What if I disappoint the family and Junho? What if he spits out my food like he has to some previous chefs? What happens if the family doesn't like my plates at all?
I stopped my negative thoughts as I heard the doors open.
"Kwon. Kim. They are ready for the two of you." The head chef announced and I looked at the other chef.
She was older and more experienced. In fact, she had some won some previous evaluations but she started to slack off so she had to get retested.
She had a huge possibility of winning since this was my first evaluation, but I had to avoid that fact as I entered the room.
I walked in last and looked down at the floor until I looked up to where the other chef had stopped.
I met the faces of the family, who had seemed shocked but impressed that I made it to an evaluation and with that I smiled nervously.
"Mrs. Bae and Mr. Lee, these are the two contestants Kim Jooin and Kwon Hyosoon." The head chef announced and the two parents had nodded understandingly.
"We won't ask which numbers you were yet as we don't want you girls to think we are making these choices for personal reasons." Mrs. Bae started and we both nodded attentively.
"For the dining portion, we found that number..." Mrs. Bae started and hesitantly announced her next words, "...7 had some flaws in the cooking. Some ingredients took over the other ingredients, messing with the taste of some of our plates." She said and we both nodded understanding the critic.
I couldn't help but wonder what she was going to say about my plates as she had announced the critics on Jooin's plate first.
"Number 9, had a great all rounded taste in all their foods and impressed us with their perfect amount of servings. We didn't have many left overs which we were thankful for as we didn't waste that much food." She smiled and the looked at one of her sons, giving him some type of signal.
"For the dessert portion, we wanted you two to make the same cake that we had for the wedding." Seungyoun started and we nodded still only listening instead of speaking.
"Number 9 replicated the cake perfectly. It reminded of the exact cake I had on the day. So with that said, Sangmi and I think that number 9 should win the dessert portion as well." He finished and both Jooin and I nodded.
I started to hide my emotions as I waited for the words to be announced before I celebrated my supposed win.
"So with all those words said, all of us as a family have decided that number 9 deserves the promotion." Mr. Lee finished.
Jooin and I had both shook each other's hand then bowed as we thanked the family.
We then looked at the head chef as she smiled at the two of us, "You two girls both worked hard but if you weren't the chosen chef, you may leave." We nodded and I looked down as I waited for the moment that Jooin would leave.
As I heard her footsteps and give her thanks to the family, I looked up at the table and smiled.
"Ms. Kwon Hyosoon, would you like to say any words to the family?" The head chef asked and I nodded while smiling.
"Thank you for giving me this opportunity and letting me have this promotion. I will gladly accept it with all my might and won't let you down." I thanked while bowing.
"I taught her well." I overheard Euna whisper and I chuckled.
Euna was there the day I went to the first dinner till this day, I guess you could say she was like a fake mother. Even if I'm officially not her child because she has another.
"Hyosoon really impressed me, she cared for each thing she did and treated each of her moves with vigilance." The head chef said.
"Are you proud of her work then Chef Choi?" Junho asked and I smiled to myself.
"Yes I am, she's not the little girl I thought she was anymore." She said as she patted my back and I bowed my head with respect.
"Well Hyosoon, we will give you the weekend free as you should come back Monday ready to work hard." Mrs. Bae said.
"Thank you all. I should take my leave then." I said and bowed once more before going to the locker room to grab my things.
I walked out of the kitchen silently and made my way towards the front of the house to make my way to the apartments.
I then felt a hug from my back and smiled as I rested my head on their shoulders.
"You did it!" Junho exclaimed and I smiled in relief.
"I guess I did."
"I told you my family would love your cooking, you deserved it." He let go of me and spun my body to face his.
"Thank you for being there when I needed it." I smiled and he smiled back caressing my hair.
"No problem, it makes me sad to see you sad. So I try my best to make you happy."
I smiled and looked down as my cheeks started to become flushed.
"Now about that date." Junho started causing me to hid my face on his chest.
"You're making me even more red Cha Junho, stop it!" I said embarrassed and he kept on caressing my hair.
"Hey we made a bet and for liking you so long, I deserve this date!" He admitted and I took my head out of his hold slowly.
"You like me?" I asked curiously and he shyly looked down while scratching his neck.
"Very much, Hyosoon." He huffed out and I smiled back.
"Well then Cha Junho, I guess it's time to admit that I do too then isn't it?" He lifted his head slowly and smiled.
"Really?" He asked to confirm and I nodded slowly earning a hug from the boy.
He then sighed as I was in his arms and said:
"You don't even know how crazy you make me Kwon Hyosoon, it's like I'm a different person each time you're with me."
I'm so sorry if this seems rushed or anything, I just wanted to update you guys and things before I started school but I'll make sure to update of often as I can. Hope you all enjoy and thank you for the continuous support!