Chapter 61

Chapter 61: Another's Feast Is Not Always Joyful (2)

The air in the kitchen was suffocatingly hot, heated by the blazing fires of the great stoves.

"How is the abalone porridge coming along? It's not ready yet."

"I'm in the middle of making it now. Pass me the dried abalone."

"Evening is not far off. We need to hurry."

"Damn it! This is killing me. Hah!"

Groans escaped involuntarily from the mouths of the skilled cooks toiling before the roaring flames. Without a moment's respite, they worked tirelessly before the searing fire. All of them were seasoned chefs, and the speed at which they produced dishes was lightning fast.

The problem was that the number of guests who had flooded into Hongam Mountain Villa far surpassed their expectations.

Head Chef Song Hwan encouraged the cooks.

"Adding in the arrivals from today, we need to prepare fifteen hundred servings. Everyone, hurry!"

"Yes, sir!"

The cooks answered with vigor and set their ladles and woks in motion. With each movement of their hands, several servings of food materialized in an instant. And yet, the amount of food still required was vast.

"Still, it's a relief that fatso is here."

"Isn't it just? Who would have thought that fellow could cook so skillfully?"

The cooks' gazes turned toward Bang Jin-bo, who was working diligently on one side.

Even before the heat that could sear flesh, Bang Jin-bo's smile did not fade.

*Sizzle!*

Beef was placed into the blazing wok. When the meat was nearly cooked, prepped vegetables followed. Bang Jin-bo handled the wok with practiced ease, every sense attuned to the fire.

*"Cooking is the art of fire, my boy. A true cook must first understand the fire."*

That was what his father always said. Only by understanding fire and wielding it with skill could one truly set foot in the world of cooking.

Bang Jin-bo tried to understand and feel the fire rising from the stove. When the flames surged, he pulled the wok away; when they diminished, he drew it close. The heat inside the wok remained constant, and the meat and vegetables cooked to perfection. At just the right moment, Bang Jin-bo threw in various spices.

The dish he created was金钱牛肉—Golden Coin Beef—a recipe his father Bang Woo-gwang had loved to prepare.

The assistants gasped in admiration at Bang Jin-bo's skill as he produced the Golden Coin Beef in the blink of an eye.

"Wow! That's truly amazing. The way he handles the fire with such mastery."

"I know, right? When will I ever be able to do that?"

The eyes that had once watched Bang Jin-bo with envy now shone with admiration. But So Jin-seo was different.

*'If I were given the chance, I could do that much easily.'*

*Clack-clack-clack!*

He burned with rivalry toward Bang Jin-bo, yet never once ceased his knife work. So Jin-seo's knife skills were remarkably fast and precise. In matters of the blade alone, everyone in the kitchen acknowledged his superiority.

While So Jin-bo gritted his teeth, the cooks diligently continued their work, and at last, all fifteen hundred servings were completed.

"Phew!"

"It's done."

When the final dish was served, the cooks collapsed in place as though their legs had given way. As if all their energy had been consumed by the stove's flames, their faces had turned deathly pale.

Bang Jin-bo too sank to the floor. Already a stout boy, his entire body now streamed with sweat without pause. It felt as though he had lost at least a full pound. His cheeks even seemed slightly thinner for it. But the man himself was far too exhausted to notice.

"Are you all right?"

At Song Hwan's question, Bang Jin-bo barely managed to lift his head.

"Yes!"

"You've worked hard. Thanks to you, we were able to finish the food on time."

"It was nothing."

"The head chef is right. You saved us from a great deal of trouble. Thank you."

Woo Bok-gyeom, the second chef, joined in the praise. He draped an arm over Bang Jin-bo's shoulder and tousled his sweat-matted hair.

"You've worked hard, lad. You have no more duties today, so go on inside and rest."

"But there's still the cleanup. The kitchen needs to be tidied—"

"Leave that to the assistant cooks and servants."

Bang Jin-bo looked at the assistant cooks. They too were worn out from the day's battle-like workload. He couldn't bring himself to go rest comfortably while they still labored.

But Song Hwan and Woo Bok-gyeom saw things differently from Bang Jin-bo.

"There is a clear distinction between a cook and an assistant. If you wish to walk the path of a cook, you must remember this well."

"The head chef is right. Skill with the knife alone does not make one a cook. Only one who can feel the fire can truly be called a cook. They still have far to go before they can feel the fire. They need more training. Until then, the menial work falls to them as well. That too is part of their training."

"Yes sir!"

In the end, Bang Jin-bo could only acquiesce. Doing menial work was indeed part of the training—he had learned the same from his father Bang Woo-gwang. But he still felt uneasy about it.

"Go on, get some rest. You'll need to cook again tomorrow as well. The real battle begins tomorrow."

"But will we still be cooking with the same numbers tomorrow?"

"We have no choice."

"Wouldn't that be rather difficult?"

"There's nothing to be done about it. We'll just have to do the best we can."

"But why did the previous cooks quit? Was the work too hard?"

"How should I know? They just vanished suddenly and never returned."

"What?"

Bang Jin-bo's eyes widened in surprise.

Song Hwan gave a bitter smile.

"As Bok-gyeom said, they all simply disappeared without a word. They weren't the type to do such a thing."

"Damn them all! If they were going to quit, they should have done it after the feast was over."

Woo Bok-gyeom wore a look of regret. These were cooks he had invested great care in training. They weren't the sort to quit simply because the work was hard, and yet this was what had come to pass—it made the loss all the more painful.

"Enough chatter. Go on back and rest now."

"Yes sir! Then I'll head in first."

Bang Jin-bo was practically pushed out of the kitchen by Song Hwan.

"All remaining non-cooks, clean up this kitchen at once!"

Woo Bok-gyeom's booming voice echoed from behind him.

He looked up at the sky and saw the glittering stars. It was already late. How could a single day pass so quickly?

He felt a twinge of reluctance to simply go inside.

"I should make a snack for Hyung."

Bang Jin-bo recalled that he possessed some fine dried sea cucumber. He turned and headed back toward the kitchen. The fires had been extinguished and the others had already departed.

Bang Jin-bo opened the kitchen door and stepped inside. In that instant, a faint look of surprise crossed his face.

In a dark corner of the kitchen, where the lanterns had been put out, flames were rising.

*Sizzle!*

The fire surged from the stove, and a heated wok danced in the flames.

"Oh!"

The master of the flames was So Jin-seo, one of the assistant cooks. He was so absorbed in cooking that he hadn't even noticed Bang Jin-bo's entrance.

"Damn it! Understand the fire, he says? How am I supposed to understand the fire?"

The dish was taking shape inside the wok. But neither the aroma nor the appearance satisfied him.

Despite using identical ingredients and identical methods, the food he produced was inferior to what the other cooks made.

"Son of a bitch!"

In the end, So Jin-seo hurled the wok and ladle to the ground. The wok clattered noisily across the floor and came to rest at Bang Jin-bo's feet.

Their eyes met in midair.

"You?"

"Hyung!"

"What are you doing here at this hour? You fat bastard. Because of you, I—"

So Jin-seo stalked toward Bang Jin-bo, seething with anger. He looked as though he might throw a punch at any moment.

Bang Jin-bo flinched but did not dodge.

"If only you hadn't come, I could have been cooking."

The corners of So Jin-seo's eyes glistened with moisture.

"Hyung, I'm sorry. Because of me—"

"It's been seven years. Seven years I've trained in this place. And yet why can you do it but I cannot? What am I missing?"

So Jin-seo's anguish erupted in a cry. At the sound of his tear-laced voice, Bang Jin-bo closed his eyes.

He himself was merely a passerby here. Perhaps after many years had passed, he might find his way back—but not to work here. For So Jin-seo, by contrast, this place was his livelihood. His goal was to become a cook here and eventually open his own restaurant in Lanzhou under his own name.

To So Jin-seo, Bang Jin-bo was an insurmountable obstacle—an existence he could not help but resent.

Bang Jin-bo picked up the wok from the floor. The residual heat still stung, but he endured it. The thick calluses on his palms made it bearable—they were the marks of rigorous training in pursuit of becoming a cook. So Jin-seo's hands bore calluses as well, proof of how hard he too had worked.

Bang Jin-bo placed the wok back into So Jin-seo's hands.

"Hyung, I'll be leaving soon. If you keep training hard, you'll become a cook before long."

"What good does it do if you leave? If I can't understand that damned fire, I'll never become a cook."

"Before understanding the fire, feeling it is what matters."

"What?"

"My father told me that. Feel the fire first. Understanding comes after."

"How am I supposed to feel the fire? Does that even make sense?"

"Come here, Hyung."

Bang Jin-bo took So Jin-seo by the hand. Standing before the stove, they felt the intense heat. Their faces flushed red in an instant. So Jin-seo flinched and tried to pull away, but Bang Jin-bo did not release his hand.

"No matter how hot it gets, you mustn't avoid the fire. You must love the fire. For as much as I love the fire, so too does the fire love me."

"…"

"Open your heart and feel the fire. Try to listen to the story the fire tells. It won't come easily. But if you open your ears, the fire will whisper to you."

"What?"

"Just try it."

So Jin-seo wanted to rage at the absurdity of those words. But when he looked into Bang Jin-bo's guileless eyes, he could not bring himself to do so. In the end, he feigned reluctance and followed Bang Jin-bo's instruction.

The intense heat felt as though it would cook his face. Sweat streamed ceaselessly from his forehead and cheeks, and even breathing was difficult. So Jin-seo's cheeks twitched involuntarily. Just as he was about to step back unconsciously, Bang Jin-bo's broad palm blocked his back.

"You must endure."

"But—"

"Cooking is the art of fire. You must feel how the fire breathes and follow its intent."

"Mm!"

So Jin-seo found himself drawn into Bang Jin-bo's words without realizing it. Before he knew it, he had closed his eyes and was feeling the fire's energy.

Watching him, Bang Jin-bo smiled. Memories stirred within him. When cooking, Bang Woo-gwang had been especially harsh toward Bang Jin-bo. At the time, he had resented his father greatly, but looking back, it had become a cherished memory.

Now there was nothing more for Bang Jin-bo to do. What mattered was how So Jin-seo perceived it. Leaving So Jin-bo to himself, Bang Jin-bo moved to an empty stove.

He lit the fire and began preparing the ingredients.

The main ingredient was dried sea cucumber purchased at the Lanzhou market. He soaked it in water, then sliced it thin. Various vegetables were cut to the proper size, and mushrooms were blanched in boiling water.

When the ingredients were prepared, he coated the wok with oil, threw in green onions, garlic, and ginger, and stir-fried them until fragrant. Once the seasoning was right, he poured in broth and brought it to a boil. In another wok, he stir-fried the mushrooms and the rehydrated sea cucumber.

The entire process was completed in the blink of an eye. The dish he produced was a variation on abalone porridge. The abalone itself was missing, and the contents were sparse because it had been made in haste, yet it looked quite presentable.

The image of Dam Ho and Cho Yeon-woon, who would be waiting for his cooking, surfaced in his mind.

"I should hurry and bring this."

"You really do look like you're enjoying yourself."

"Huh? Hyung?"

So Jin-seo had been watching him. His face was flushed red from the intense heat. He appeared somewhat weary, but his eyes shone more clearly than ever before.

It was true that Bang Jin-bo's words about feeling the fire still felt vague and distant. But he felt he could perhaps grasp a faint sense of it.

What moved So Jin-seo's heart even more, however, was the smile on Bang Jin-bo's face as he cooked. Throughout the entire process, Bang Jin-bo had worn an expression of irrepressible joy.

Come to think of it, So Jin-seo had never once seen him smile like that during all their time learning to cook together. He had always been desperate to impress Head Chef Song Hwan with his culinary skill, never once thinking that cooking could bring happiness to others.

But Bang Jin-bo was different. He envisioned the people who would taste his food and find happiness. That feeling was transmitted directly to So Jin-seo as well.

*'Total defeat.'*

So Jin-seo shook his head. A fellow who cooked with such a joyful expression on his face—there was simply no way to beat someone like that.

"Either way, thank you. I'll repay this kindness someday."

Without waiting for Bang Jin-bo's reply, So Jin-seo turned away, feeling a strange shyness.

Bang Jin-bo watched So Jin-seo's retreating figure for a moment, then picked up the plate of abalone porridge and ran toward the guest quarters.

"I'm back! Hehe!"

In the room was Dam Ho.