God of Cooking Chapter 225:
<Friend at Times, Enemy at Others (1)>
The dawn of December was quite cold even in California . Anderson snuck a glance into the window of the apartment from the gardens . Minjoon and Kaya’s room had gone dark . Should Anderson sneak in trying not to disturb them? Or should he go in knowing that they wouldn’t wake up from just a bit of noise?
Anderson entered the house even before he managed to decide . It was a tiring day . He thought things would be easier if the restaurant decided to skip lunch, but that wasn’t the case at all . But then again, they did still end up doing things during lunchtime anyways . Anderson turned on the lights of the living room, and muttered out aloud subconsciously .
“These guys are so boring even in Christmas . Not even doing any…”
Anderson stopped . He saw something strange in the light . Anderson blinked a few times before rubbing his eyes . Was he just imagining things? No . That really was a sock hanging off of their door . A red sock . Anderson let out a small laughter after a minute .
“So cheesy, you guys . ”
He didn’t get an answer back .
€
Minjoon’s never wanted morning to come as much as he did today . At the same time, it was the first time he’s ever had such a great morning . Minjoon and Kaya’s bed were stuck together, making it look like a queen size bed, and their blue and pink blankets melded seamlessly together to look like a single blanket .
Minjoon lifted the blanket over his chest . He found Kaya frowning underneath from all the light . She buried her face in Minjoon’s chest . A few incoherent mutters came out of her mouth .
“Ughhuhhh…”
“Too bright?”
“…Ahhheugh . ”
“Yeah . I can somehow understand you through all that . ”
Kaya took her face off with a grin on her face . She scrunched up her face for a moment, before turning around with a tired face . Minjoon smiled .
“You really don’t care about looking pretty in front of me now, do you?”
“…I neverr didh to begiiin with . ”
“Oh, your pronunciation is getting better . Congrats . Ten points to Grandfindor . ”
Kaya just hugged Minjoon tighter instead of saying anything . Was this what a mother kangaroo felt looking at its child? Kaya muttered under her breath quietly .
“I’m going to kill you if you cheat . ”
“…I hate how clear you sound when you say stuff like that . ”
Minjoon sighed before reaching for his smartphone . Right then, Kaya lightly bit his elbow . Minjoon frowned .
“What are you doing?”
“You really want to look at your phone with me next to you?”
“…You do that all the time though . ”
“Not in the bed, though . ”
“That’s because this is the first ti- wait . We’ve got on the bed several times already . ”
Minjoon started counting the number of times on his fingers . But this time, Kaya bit that finger Minjoon was counting with .
“Ang ough ah uhn . ”
“…Fine, fine . Just let go . Can’t believe my girlfriend’s turned into a dog overnight . ”
Kaya let go with a scowl .
“Are you making fun of me?”
“…I mean, wouldn’t you? Especially after this?”
Minjoon said this, lifting up his saliva-drenched finger at her . Kaya responded with a proud face .
“My tongue’s suffering too, you know? You’re way too salty . ”
“What, did you think a chef wouldn’t be salty at all? Ah, now I have to get out of bed early to clean myself . I’m gonna go shower . You want to go first?”
“I’m good . I need to put on some clothes first . ”
Kaya spoke as she put her blankets over herself again . She looked fully awake now . Minjoon looked at this quietly, then suddenly attacked with his wet finger on her face . Kaya screamed in surprise .
“Hey! Are you crazy?!”
“It’s yours, just giving it back . ”
“I’m gonna wipe it on your blanket!”
“Sure . It’s about time I have to wash it anyway . ”
“You…!”
Minjoon headed to the bathroom with a grin on his face, leaving Kaya’s fuming face behind him . As soon as he finished showering, he found Kaya standing right in front of the door . She looked at him with a fiery look of vengeance on her eyes .
“…I’ll see you later . ”
“Why not now?”
“I can’t . After I wash myself… I’ll show you **** . ”
Kaya stepped into the bathroom saying this . Minjoon looked at the closed doors for a second, then headed out to the living room with a shrug . He found Anderson reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee, with his legs crossed . Anderson popped a strawberry into his mouth as he took notice of Minjoon . Minjoon looked rather surprised by Anderson’s morning look .
“Are you trying to look like an English gentleman or something? The **** is this?”
“The newspaper today’s boring . Nothing I’ve been hoping to see . ”
“The heck were you hoping to see?”
“Shock . Something like… The meaning behind the Christmas sock on Minjoon and Kaya’s door? That would’ve been quite nice to gossip about . There just aren’t that many interesting gossips in the restaurant lately . ”
“Stop it with the teasing . ”
Minjoon took off the sock with reddened cheeks . They put it on there hoping Anderson would notice, but Minjoon didn’t quite realize how embarrassing it would actually be . Minjoon noticed that the sock was heavier than before . There was something in there .
“Did you put something in here?”
“I mean, who else would do it in the house? Santa?”
Minjoon took out a small box from the sock . It had Chinese letters engraved on it . Minjoon turned to Anderson with a suspicious look .
“What’s this?”
“It’s medicine from my parents . Says it’s good for dudes . ”
“So you’re just handing it off to me?”
“What, you don’t like it?”
“Never said I didn’t . ”
Minjoon put the gift in his pocket with a smile . Anderson smirked .
“So, how was your night? Fun?”
“Very . ”
“Nice . Merry Christmas . ”
“Merry Christmas . ”
After the unexpected Christmas greetings, Minjoon let out a small laughter as he looked down at his finger . Anderson clicked his tongue a few times .
“You’re that happy?”
“No . It’s just… It’s really funny, this conversation . ”
“You guys were making fun of me, weren’t you?”
A deep growl joined the conversation . It was Kaya . She was glaring at them as she put a towel around her head . Anderson paled a little .
“I told you to dry your hair in the bathroom, didn’t I? At least dry it off in the room for god’s sakes . Are you trying to make a mess in the living room?”
“Mess my **** . Stop being so overdramatic . Why are you so sensitive about stuff like this?”
“It’s called being hygienic . ”
“Minjoon, am I dirty?”
“…Sometimes?”
Minjoon glanced at his finger and promptly turned away in guilt . Kaya looked at Minjoon with a betrayed look .
“You’re saying my spit is dirty?”
“It’s not, but it’s not like I can wash my hands with it either . ”
“Why do you kiss me then? Are you just putting up with my spit?”
Anderson cut in right then .
“Just make the **** breakfast . You’re in charge of it today, aren’t you?”
“That’s only for Minjoon . I’m not making breakfast for you . ”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m telling you to do . Stop messing up my Christmas morning . ”
“…So annoying . I hope you spit your coffee all over yourself . Stupid . ”
Kaya walked over to the kitchen with an annoyed face . Why did her angry self look so pretty to Minjoon? He really didn’t know . After she disappeared into the kitchen, Minjoon turned to Anderson with a smile .
“You weren’t here at dawn . Where were you?”
“I was out . ”
“…You aren’t planning on saying any more, huh? Fine, fine . I’ll be off to Kaya’s place . ”
Minjoon paused after taking a few steps .
“Guy or a girl?”
Anderson flipped to the next page of his paper . A solid refusal . Minjoon scratched his head before walking into the kitchen . Once he found Kaya there, he gave her a hug from behind . Kaya flinched in surprise in response .
“Ah, you surprised me . Why are you here?”
“…You surprised me more . What’s there to be so surprised about? Were you doing something weird?”
“Of course not . It’s fine . There’s no need for you to apologize, so just leave . ”
“You’re still mad?”
“I’m not . So just go . Go on, **** . I’m gonna get mad if you don’t . ”
Kaya looked at Minjoon with narrowed eyes . Minjoon almost looked hurt .
“Anderson didn’t welcome me . Where am I supposed to go if you don’t either?”
“…Then go sit at the table . I’m gonna cook . ”
“Fine . ”
It was a bit strange that she was so caught up about cooking today, but he didn’t really mind . He just thought she wanted to cook quite a bit today .
After a few moments, Kaya brought out the dish from the kitchen . It was a simple meal . A burrito .
“There’s three . Did you make one for Anderson?”
“What? It’s not like I never cooked for him . ”
“Well, I thought you weren’t going to after you got mad at him . ”
“Do I look that cold to you? Yo, Anderson, have some breakfast . I made burritos . ”
A sound of rustling paper came from the living room, and Anderson entered the room not long after .
“I just had fruit, though . ”
“Just shut up and eat . Have you no respect for the chef?”
“…Why are you acting so nice all of the sudden?”
Anderson sat down with a frown . Right then, Minjoon’s chewing face turned quite strange . The cheese, beef, and the onions were pretty tasty, but…
“Ah! Gah! Ow! What the actual **** is this burrito? What in the world did you put into this garbage?”
Minjoon spat out the burrito without another word . His eyes were filled with tears . Kaya looked at him with a grin .
“Told ya I’d show you **** . ”
‘…I should have looked at the screens first . ’
He’s never thought making a habit of not relying on the system would do something like this to him . Minjoon looked at the screen in front of him quietly .
[You ate the burrito filled with habaneros!] [Your taste level has gone down from paralysis!]
€
“…She really put that many habaneros in there?”
“Yeah . It feels better now, but I really couldn’t taste anything just a moment ago . ”
“I thought you were good with spice . ”
“That wasn’t spice . …That was just pain . ”
“She really got you, didn’t she? I wonder what kind of a wife she’d make in the future . ”
“Shush . You’re making me depressed just thinking about it . ”
Minjoon drooped his head with a sad face . Maya laughed . Right then, Javier walked in with a concerned look on his face .
“Hey, did you guys hear the news?”
“What? What news?”
“There’s a blog post about us on some eater’s blog . But… It’s not good . ”
Seeing how stiff Javier’s face was made Minjoon feel a little concerned . Javier usually tried to keep a positive outlook on everything . For him to look like this…
“Can I see?”
“Mm… You might be better off not seeing it . It’s Christmas, after all . ”
“Show me . ”
Javier handed the phone over after a minute of hesitation . Minjoon started reading without another word .
# Rose Island . Its food isn’t all from Rachel Rose .
<Friend at Times, Enemy in Others (1)> End .