Absinthe

Chapter 16: Connections

It felt like I had already been waiting for hours since the cameras stopped rolling and Chef Maxwell's staff helped us in cleaning our stations. However, the results were still not in.

"Man, that was really tough," I heard Matt saying as he wiped the counter. "But you did amazing, Jiwoo. Did you have proper training?"

Jiwoo shook his head. "I've been working in the kitchen ever since I was young."

"Cool! You have a family restaurant?"

Jiwoo shook his head again. "I started out as a dishwasher at a fast-food joint."

Matt stopped in his tracks. "No way."

"It's true," Jiwoo said as he continued to wash his utensils and, from the looks of it, Matt's as well. The motherfucker had not bothered asking for mine. "Chow King, to be exact."

"I can't believe it. You look like a rich guy!"

Jiwoo snickered but didn't answer.

"You look like a Korean model, and your English is not bad!"

"Do you have to be rich to speak English well?"

Not really, I thought. But let's face it—even intelligent people from poorer backgrounds speak bad English. Wait, why the hell am I eavesdropping? I should ignore them.

"A lot of us poorer guys speak good English," Jiwoo started. "Not because we want to, but because we have to. For example, call centers are a good source of income, so we hustle."

"Seriously, though, I never pegged you for a commoner."

Did this guy seriously use the word 'commoner'?

"Chef Maxwell's training is costly as fuck," he continued. "I thought everyone who applied can shell out some cash since the fees are more than half a million!"

Half a million. The amount stupid me gave away to that fucktard JM.

The fucktard JM and the fucktards at DBA. God, I thought this cooking thing would help me forget. I guess it was too early for that.

"It doesn't mean I can't save up for it, right?" Jiwoo said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Matt laughed. "Save for it? How much do you earn in a month? Let's say thirty thousand tops. So how many years do you have to starve to save half a million? Fifteen, give or take a few? It's practically impossible, man. Unless you sleep with the likes of Tita Gay or Vice Ghandi, you'll never get that amount!"

Christ, someone stop me from slapping Matt. That's the rudest comment I have ever heard anyone say out loud.

suck me off for

"What the fu—?"

fuck? You need to pay

you, man!" Matt said, his face red

my dick's for hire," said Jiwoo, chuckling. "And I didn't peg you for a top, not with all the effort you put in trying to mask that sissy

Award-winning comeback! I was totally cheering for Jiwoo at that point. Matt's an elitist bigot, and he deserved every insult in the

butt in and support Jiwoo, fire a nasty remark or two. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was still angry at what Jiwoo had done

in 1 minute!" said a familiar voice over the

looked around and saw everyone's

winners!" came the voice of the comedian host. "Let me remind everyone that Chef Maxwell will be choosing four apprentices. They will have their dishes tasted by our celebrity

sight. He was probably inside the

teasingly. "Our first finalist is..." he said as he opened the first one. There were literal drumrolls, although I

no one else did. And I

Miguel Garcia, my favorite contestant!" cried

of pure evil again. But did Vanilla just say 'Jiwoo Miguel'? What kind of name was that?

happily marry him!" There were roars of laughter at the sexual

had done my

what's done was done. I should just clear the air off between us. He's pretty cool, in my opinion, especially after I saw what he did to Matt. I figured he

looked at

is Ben Jamin Alvarez! Congratulations to our four chosen apprentices! You may now proceed to the restaurant for your final

smiling. "You deserve

really talking

cake. I was so happy with how my meat turned out that I accidentally bumped

"Off you go, apprentices!"

"I'm glad it's you and not that asshole," he

hard time processing what was happening,

how I acted last week. Before the

reacted the same way if I were

so than that gold-digging JM. Majority of my exes are Koreans because of my stay there, and perhaps that's the reason I was crushing hard on

non-asshole side, he

restaurant was exactly how I had remembered it. It was the personification of its name, Hacienda. The roof, made of completely transparent polycarbonate roofing, bathed the interior in plenty of natural light. The whole place looked like a clearing in a forest,

for one in the center under a eucalyptus tree. Trish Aquino, Tita Gay Abundance, and Vice Ghandi were all there, seated together with Chef Maxwell. It made me wonder—is Chef Maxwell gay? His friends

few meters away from the table, and the comedian

Maxwell snapped his fingers, and a server

us by Apprentice Nico," Chef Maxwell said, addressing the judges. Nico gave them a friendly wave. "He expertly infused saffron into the pieces of bread as well as the moist breadcrumbs underneath, and he incorporated some smoked duck along with roasted asparagus for a rather complex flavor

all expressed extreme satisfaction in unison. Afterward, they wrote down their scores and slid them inside

is made by

when they saw her punk-style outfit,

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