TTL 2

Chapter 02

The Encounter

The atmosphere in Suragan’s kitchen was tense, as if a storm were about to break.

At the center of the kitchen stood the head chef with his arms crossed. Even his usually confident expression showed signs of tension. It was the first time the staff had seen him look like that since he became a famous chef, so everyone else nervously swallowed their saliva as well.

“You all know what kind of day it is today.”

Ga-eul immediately understood what he meant.

Today was the day one of GH Food’s most powerful executives would arrive.

He was the head of the Food Business Division and the CPO, or Chief Product Officer, if she remembered correctly.

“He’s incredibly picky, arrogant, and sharp-tongued. It’s like he has a knife in his mouth.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but when you see his face, you actually want to get stabbed by that knife. He’s ridiculously handsome.”

Her friend, who worked as a pastry chef at a famous hotel, had only made Ga-eul more curious.

Finally, I’ll get to see that supposedly perfect face.

In the tense kitchen, Ga-eul was the only one who remained calm.

Rumors that GH Food was searching for a star chef for its ambitious new meal-kit line had been circulating throughout the industry for several months.

Since the project had been designed to target not only domestic consumers but also overseas markets, they were looking for distinctive recipes based on Korean cuisine.

They had accepted recipes from Korean, Chinese, Western, Japanese, and fusion cuisines without considering the chefs’ specialties or years of experience.

Countless renowned chefs had reportedly been rejected.

Not long ago, even the head chef of La Mer, a two-Michelin-star restaurant, had received a harsh rejection. However, that had absolutely nothing to do with Ga-eul, the youngest chef in the kitchen.

The head chef standing before her was the one who would have to deal with all of this. That was another reason Ga-eul could remain so calm.

“There must not be even the slightest mistake. Measure the ingredients and plate the dishes exactly as written in this recipe.”

“Yes, Chef!”

Everyone answered in unison.

Meanwhile, Ga-eul’s gaze remained fixed on the recipe book in the head chef’s hands.

That dish shouldn’t be served like that…

Her doenjang truffle ravioli was listed as an appetizer in the recipe book.

The recipe did not mention persimmon vinegar, but she had already added some to the doenjang sauce she prepared that day.

Unless someone had an exceptionally sensitive palate, they probably wouldn’t notice the small amount. Still, since it wasn’t listed in the recipe book, it could cause problems later.

I should say something…

After a moment of hesitation, Ga-eul cautiously raised her hand.

The head chef’s brows drew together slightly.

“What is it?”

“Chef, about the doenjang truffle ravioli. I don’t think we should serve it as it is. There’s a slight problem with the sauce…”

As soon as he heard her words, the head chef raised his hand to silence her.

When his expression turned menacing, Park Sa-ran, the senior chef standing beside Ga-eul, curled her lips into a sneer. She looked as if she were enjoying Ga-eul’s misfortune.

“Yeon Ga-eul, do you think this recipe is yours?”

“…Pardon?”

But it was mine.

“I took your raw idea and dressed it in silk. Your recipe was mediocre, but I refined it with my own hands and elevated it to a higher level.”

Even so, not a single number in the ingredient measurements had changed.

Ga-eul was beginning to get angry. There was a limit to how much someone could shamelessly deceive others. This was nothing short of outright theft.

When the head chef met her eyes, Park Sa-ran’s smile grew even wider.

“Your unimpressive plating was also given wings by Chef Park Sa-ran’s skill. Do you still have anything to say?”

Ga-eul had plenty to say, and she was furious. Nevertheless, she kept her mouth shut.

As she had realized earlier, the person who would suffer the most from this situation was the head chef standing in front of her.

I gave you a chance, and you’re the one who threw it away.

Ga-eul ended the matter with a single word.

“I’m sorry.”

Just then, the manager entered through the kitchen entrance, dressed in a black suit.

“He has arrived.”

The head chef clapped his hands, his eyes filled with determination, and spoke.

“All right, everyone. Stay sharp.”

Everyone shouted, “Yes, Chef!” But Ga-eul turned around without answering.

Hyun-seung stood at the entrance of Suragan and raised his eyes to look at its signboard.

The elegant lettering, carved into a heavy piece of wood, had a certain charm. However, his expression remained completely indifferent.

His tired eyebrows drew together.

“Director? Why aren’t you going inside?”

Secretary Ham, standing beside him, looked puzzled. Hyun-seung spoke.

“Don’t you find it strange?”

“What do you mean…?”

“That.”

He pointed at the weathered wooden signboard with an arrogant tilt of his chin. Secretary Ham immediately focused on figuring out what his superior meant.

Then he noticed something unusual, too.

“Oh? Now that you mention it, the sign does look a little out of place. It almost seems as if the front part of the wooden sign was deliberately cut off.”

“That’s right. It was cut.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I said the sign was definitely cut.”

“So it really was. But how did you know?”

Hyun-seung answered Secretary Ham’s question with silence.

In his mind, the missing front part of the sign slowly began to take shape. The words, once written in bold, sweeping strokes, gradually became clearer.

The General’s Suragan.

It was the name of a fairly famous Korean restaurant from twenty years ago.

Before his mother passed away, she had taken him to the restaurant several times. There had been a chef there with such extraordinary culinary talent that Hyun-seung could still vividly remember the taste, even now that he had lost his sense of taste.

After his mother’s sudden death, his stepmother and half-brother had entered his life. Once that turbulent period had passed, the restaurant had gradually faded from his memory.

He had never known that it was still operating in the exact same location, with its signboard cut in half.

I should have come here sooner.

Perhaps the food here could restore the sense of taste he had lost.

For some reason, a sense of anticipation filled him, and the corners of his lips lifted.

“I heard Sehwa Company invested a lot of effort into this place, but the signboard does look a little out of place compared to the new building.”

At the mention of one particular name, Hyun-seung’s smile vanished in an instant.

His gaze shifted from the signboard to Secretary Ham.

“…Sehwa?”

“You didn’t know? This place is operated by Sehwa Company. Your fiancée is the company’s representative, too. Although, she doesn’t seem to have the slightest interest in actually managing the business.”

Hyun-seung’s expression twisted into a fierce scowl.

Sehwa Company was currently a strategic business partner of GH Food. To maintain that partnership, they had kept up appearances by remaining engaged.

However, lately, his fiancée had been irritating him more and more by constantly trying to turn their business relationship into a romance.

He had planned to avoid her as much as possible and announce their broken engagement sometime next year. But now…

Given his fiancée’s clingy behavior, Hyun-seung was seriously considering bringing the date forward.

“My trust in this place just dropped considerably. Let’s leave.”

“…Still, I’ve heard that the chef here is quite capable. I believe it would be in our best interests to give the restaurant a chance.”

After a brief moment of consideration, Hyun-seung let out a quiet sigh and went inside.

The manager greeted him with excessive enthusiasm and showed him to his seat. Secretary Ham, who sat beside him, handed him a tablet displaying the menu from the recipe book.

“It says this is a course meal, but let’s have everything served together instead.”

“Pardon?”

“I don’t have much time.”

Hyun-seung glanced briefly at his wristwatch. The manager, whose bulging eyes resembled those of a toad, blinked a couple of times before hurrying straight to the kitchen.

In the meantime, Hyun-seung looked through the dishes listed in the recipe book.

“Hmm. Truffles here, too.”

And paired with doenjang, no less. It was difficult to imagine what that combination would taste like.

When ingredients with strong aromas clashed, they could end up overpowering one another and diminishing the overall flavor. Even though he could no longer taste food, he knew such things as the head of a food company.

Before long, an elegant spread of course dishes had been arranged on the table.

The head chef began explaining the dishes with a confident expression.

“For the appetizer soup, we ground organic black sesame seeds from Gangwon Province to create…”

Hyun-seung mechanically put the food into his mouth and chewed.

As he occasionally listened to Secretary Ham’s comments on the dishes, he moved his tongue around, trying to make sense of the food despite his inability to taste it.

Then his tongue suddenly stopped moving when he put the doenjang truffle ravioli into his mouth.

“…!”

His eyes widened in shock.

The tip of his tongue trembled ever so slightly. A short line had appeared in the gray, colorless world where he could no longer taste anything.

Secretary Ham noticed his reaction and stopped eating, watching him closely.

Soon, Hyun-seung regained his composure and put down his chopsticks.

“What is this?”

“Oh, the doenjang ravioli is a dish that features a rich sauce made primarily from doenjang. We use doenjang sourced from Yeongam, South Jeolla Province…”

“No, not that. I’m talking about the sour taste that comes through at the end of the sauce.”

“…!”

“I can’t find any ingredient in this recipe that would explain that flavor.”

Secretary Ham, sitting beside him, also looked surprised by his words.

Beads of sweat began to form on the head chef’s forehead. He struggled to come up with an answer.

Just as the alarm bells were ringing in the head chef’s mind, a clear, melodious voice came from behind him.

“Persimmon vinegar.”

At the unexpected answer, Hyun-seung tilted his head slightly.

A woman dressed in a chef’s uniform appeared at the end of his gaze. She had large eyes, peach-colored cheeks, and a soft, delicate appearance. She slowly walked toward him.

When Hyun-seung met her steady gaze, his pupils trembled ever so slightly.

So it’s her.

The person who had made this dish.

As if confirming his guess, the woman added in a firm voice,

“That’s what created the flavor you just tasted.”

Hyun-seung’s sense of taste, which he had not experienced even once in eighteen long years…

“It’s thirty-year-old persimmon vinegar, sir.”

…had awakened in the presence of the dish she had prepared.