The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 39

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 39. Unexpected Circumstances (1)
The timing was perfect.
The ingredients I’d prepared for lunch had just run out.
‘Why not follow along and see?’
Before the break time, I headed toward the familiar back.
Perhaps sensing my presence, the owner of that back turned around shortly after.
“Huh?”
“So I was right.”
“How…!”
The other person was visibly flustered.
To be honest, I was quite surprised myself.
“You’re Hyeon-seung from Hyeon-seung TV, aren’t you?”
“Well, yes… but I can’t exactly deny it here, can I?”
“Right.”
“But why…?”
“You came as a customer, so I should at least greet you.”
“…”
Lee Hyeon-seung flinched at the word “customer.”
‘Is this not it either?’
In truth, it couldn’t have been otherwise.
I’d seen with my own eyes him eating quietly and leaving.
If he’d had any other intention, I would have caught it by now.
“I did come as a customer, but…”
“But what?”
“Ahem. I’m just not very good at those kind of warm greetings.”
“Why? Because of what happened before?”
“…Huh?”
Lee Hyeon-seung’s expression turned to shock.
He clearly hadn’t expected me to have figured out the purpose of that broadcast.
After quickly composing himself, he asked with a resigned tone.
“You…knew about that?”
“How could I not?”
“How?”
“Three people I’d never seen before came and stared at me intensely with expressions like ‘let’s see if we can catch something,’ so I figured it out right away.”
“Ah…!”
“It was all obvious. I thought, ‘If they catch even one thing, this could be bad,’ you know? Ha ha.”
Lee Hyeon-seung’s mouth fell open wide.
His expression was one of utter dismay.
Still, I didn’t push any further.
‘I mentioned it because there’s no reason to hide what I already know. But that’s as far as I’ll go.’
I simply spoke up since the topic had come to mind.
I couldn’t bring myself to pretend ignorance about something I knew.
There was no other ulterior motive behind it.
Lee Hyeon-seung seemed to sense this as well.
After hesitating for a while, what he said was quite unexpected.
“…I apologize.”
It was a swift apology.
To think he acknowledged it so readily and then apologized on top of that.
‘I thought he might try to dodge it by playing dumb. That’s surprising.’
My mind felt slightly dazed.
I hadn’t anticipated this either.
Did his acknowledgment ease my heart somehow?
Lee Hyeon-seung continued as if making a confession.
“To be honest, I didn’t take that matter seriously at first. I didn’t even realize that I shouldn’t be doing such a thing.”
“Such a thing?”
“Yes. I heard it was a simple task that could be done over a meal.”
“How was it simple?”
“Just go and say it tastes bad. Since I’ve eaten plenty of delicious food anyway, most things aren’t really that tasty. Express that honestly. Don’t sugarcoat it.”
“That seemed acceptable to you?”
“To be frank… yes. At that time, it did.”
This was an interesting statement.
Why did it seem acceptable?
I became curious about that.
“Why?”
“Because there were actually many places like that. I’d go expecting a great restaurant… a place where I’d wait in line for hours to get in, but the taste was… nonexistent.”
What connection did that have with thinking the task was easy?
“Going to those places, I suppose you could call it resentment? Frustration kept building up.”
“Good grief.”
“It was twisted. I was treated that way, so what if the other person experiences it a little too? That kind of thinking. It kept accumulating, you know? And then when such an opportunity came along, I thought why not do it? That’s what I felt.”
“That’s an interesting logic.”
“It’s not even logic. It’s just plausible nonsense, really.”
He ultimately summed up his actions in one phrase.
“It was garbage rationalization.”
Rationalization. A raw expression, but nothing struck me more than that word.
“My goodness…”
“So in the end… yes. I apologize. Sincerely. That’s all there is to it.”
“So you came here to apologize?”
“To be honest, that’s not entirely… half of it, really.”
He was being excessively honest.
“I looked for opportunities several times, but I just couldn’t do it. I was half giving up when I thought I’d caught a good moment just now… so I just blurted it out.”
He could have been embarrassed, but he didn’t hide his true feelings.
He simply scratched his cheek and looked at me with obvious shame.
“I’m foolish, aren’t I?”
What could I possibly say to that question?
Seeing his familiar back, I had to stop him.
But it wasn’t because I was trying to do anything particularly grand.
I was simply curious. About what he might have been thinking.
And the story I heard was genuine, too sincere to be called an excuse.
Too humble to be called grandiose.
‘Really, when he comes out like this, what more can I even say?’
There wasn’t much difference between him and me.
I didn’t think I was particularly virtuous, nor did I think Lee Hyeon-seung was particularly evil.
One could argue I was being unnecessarily lenient when his livelihood could have been shaken, but still.
‘Isn’t he far better than those wretches who won’t apologize even once while dying?’
He seemed far superior to those shameless people.
Just by being able to acknowledge his own mistakes, this man wasn’t garbage.
Perhaps his sincerity reached me.
I decided to speak comfortably.
“I thought you’d act foolishly to the end, but you surprised me.”
“Pardon?”
Yes. Let’s move past this. There was nothing more to gain here.
There was no need to torment someone who was already tormenting themselves.
“Since you seem to have reflected, that’s enough. I’ve received your apology, and now I forgive you. Does that work?”
“Really? Just like that?”
“What more could I ask for? I didn’t suffer any actual damage.”
“…Well.”
“Oh, I did gain something though. Quite a few Customers came by.”
“Ha ha… I suppose that’s true… but still.”
“It’s fine. It’s really fine now. Next time, come by comfortably. As a real Customer, to a seat with a clear view of the Bar. When you do, I’ll make something especially delicious for you.”
He stared at me blankly.
Then he quickly bowed his head deeply.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
He offered his unexpected gratitude without waiting for a response.
Suddenly he turned and disappeared into the distance.
His face, glimpsed briefly, was flushed beyond red—nearly bursting.
I bid him farewell with the thought that he should definitely come back again someday.
“See you again!”
* * *
‘I didn’t expect to see him again this quickly.’
Yet he really did come back right away.
The moment I opened the Store the next day, Lee Hyeon-seung stormed in.
He sat down at the bar seat I had mentioned.
A spot near the kitchen where I could easily converse with customers—the seat regulars typically preferred. He chose that very place.
Notably, it was the closest spot to me.
“Um… could I please have some ramen?”
He scratched his cheek awkwardly, yet placed his order without hesitation.
It felt like observing an entirely new species.
It was refreshing.
“Is that not possible?”
“You’ve come as a customer—there’s nothing impossible about it. Just wait.”
Admitting one’s own mistakes proved harder than expected.
Yet this man had mustered the courage to do so.
For someone like this, I had a dish worthy of serving.
‘Something’s coming to mind right now.’
Perhaps inspiration had been blooming recently.
A dish perfectly suited to this very moment came to me.
Whoosh—!
I ignited the flame.
Memories of the past surfaced, and I sensed Lee Hyeon-seung’s visible alarm.
‘Pointing that out would be equally awkward.’
I wordlessly dumped in the ingredients.
Beef brisket, paper-thin pork belly, pork jowl, pork neck.
Four varieties of meat entered the pan in one swift motion as flames erupted.
The moment they cooked through, I added the scallions.
The fragrance of perfectly seared scallions spread throughout the space.
Once everything had cooked adequately.
‘The broth needs to go in right here.’
I poured in the pre-prepared ramen broth.
Added a few seasonings and spicy chili oil on top.
The moment it blended together, I tossed in the noodles I’d boiled beforehand.
Shortly after, just when I thought it was finished, I added one more ingredient.
‘Imitation crab stick.’
Finely shredded imitation crab stick, to be precise.
The same ingredient that goes into shrimp-less shrimp tempura—the moment it was added.
Like Chinese cuisine prepared in an instant, the mixed noodles were complete.
“Wow…!”
Lee Hyeon-seung, watching from behind, gazed with astonished eyes.
I placed the bowl of mixed noodles before him with an indifferent gesture.
“What’s the name of this dish?”
At his question, I turned back to answer.
“Looking at the ingredients, it’s completely chaotic, isn’t it?”
“Honestly… yes. It is. Beef and pork. And as if that weren’t enough, you even added imitation crab. Earlier, you mixed in chicken stock too, didn’t you?”
“You caught that right away. It looks haphazard with no sense of unity, doesn’t it?”
“Ha. If you know that and still serve it, is this some kind of punishment?”
Punishment? That couldn’t be further from the truth.
I never joke around with food.
I’ve known the sorrow of going hungry for days without rice, so I simply cannot.
“Punishment? Not at all. Why don’t you try it first?”
“Sure.”
Before I could explain further, I urged him to taste it.
He picked up his chopsticks as if he’d been waiting, and took a generous bite.
“!!!!”
His expression showed utter astonishment.
And rightly so.
The pungent aroma of scallions and chili oil heightened the texture.
Then the sliced pork belly and beef brisket would arrive with a delicious richness.
Just as his mouth grew overwhelmed, the well-sautéed scallions would cut through the heaviness perfectly.
But that’s not the end.
And when the resulting balance filled his mouth with saliva!
The intense spiciness of the broth-less strong stock finishes it all off.
“…When I actually mixed it all together, it’s surprisingly delicious?”
“Right?”
“Yes. I wondered what this was… but it’s delicious.”
“Isn’t life kind of like that too?”
“Huh?”
Perhaps he felt the sudden non-sequitur.
To Hyeon-seung, who looked startled, I explained why I’d made this dish.
“Individually, they seem like they wouldn’t go together, but strangely, when they’re together, it works. You make mistakes and things go wrong, but as you carry that burden forward, life goes on. Isn’t that right?”
“You wanted to say that with this ramen? Ha.”
“Yes. I wanted to tell you that. That it’s okay. Eat well and live well. That’s why this dish is called Life Ramen.”
“!!!!!”
Perhaps it sounds too grand.
To some, it might be nothing more than a bowl of ramen.
But to me, any dish deserved to be grand.
If I could express my heart through cooking like this, I could be as extravagant as I wanted.
That’s why I reaffirmed yesterday’s forgiveness through this dish.
“Isn’t it fun?”
“…Yes. It really is fun.”
Perhaps some of that sincerity reached him.
Hyeon-seung’s expression as he answered was deeply moved.
This is why cooking brings me such joy.
Because I can convey my heart through flavor.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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