Chapter One

Step 1: Take One Single Korean Girl

 

 

Once upon a time, Park Bom thought as she sat back in a creaky staffroom chair; restaurants were filled with wonderful guests who loved your food and drink and smiled sweetly at the waiting staff.

 

 

Then she grimaced at the memory of the businessman who had snapped his fingers at her not once, but twice within ten minutes because first there was too much ice on his drink, and then his starter arrived with some garnish of herbs on his salad on which he was allergic at.

 

 

“Do you want to kill me?”She remembered he hissed at her that almost every customer at the diner heard.

 

 

I could have decorated the shoulders of his expensive business suit with the salad leaves he hated the most and poured the dressing over his shiny head, Bom thought, controlling her patience.

 

 

He should be thankful that she controlled her temper well since it was not included in a headwaiter’s job like her to make and start a fight with customers, especially that she dreamt to be a manager of a fabulous restaurant like Spring Tempo Manor.

 

 

She glanced at the nearest wall clock. Fifteen minutes left to go before she knew if she would finally take over the position she longed for. Two important positions were vacated in Spring Tempo Manor: the head chef and restaurant manager positions respectively.

 

 

She knows how to cook, but she was still not qualified to be a chef—even in a cheap diner—that was why she never desired that position.

 

 

The restaurant manager position was what she totally desires because she believed that she deserves it well. Being a head chef and a restaurant manager were the “heart and soul” of every restaurant. That magical combination of food and service that would take their restaurant to the very top! She stood up and went to the staffroom where the meeting and announcement of the name of the new head chef and restaurant manager was going to be held. But when she arrived, the staffroom was still empty.

 

 

Scared? Who was she kidding? Make that terrified.

 

 

On the glossy surface, she was “Miss Park.” The elegant and professional headwaiter who was always immaculately turned out and who presented the perfect formal image the Spring Tempo Manor aspired to in their fine-dining restaurant.

 

 

This was going to be her dream. If ever she got that job it would boost up her shattered self-confidence. She would also have the reason to say that she could rise above after her hard fall. But how if in the end, she was not the one chosen? Can she do something about it but to stay at one corner and pout her lips all day? But she couldn’t resign. This restaurant had been good to her for four years.

 

 

She needed this job so badly.

 

 

“You were a total star today. Did anyone tell you that?”

 

 

Bom winked up from her reverie as her best friend, Dara, burst through the swing doors. Dara took her espresso cup and drank it down in one gulped before she placed it back to the saucer. “Thanks,” Bom replied with a soft smile. “I thought the staff meeting was at four.”

 

 

“Yes. Two of the guests managed to get lost in the maze.” Dara waved both hands in the air. “I’m freezing! It has taken me twenty minutes, using my cell phones and a whistle, but they are now sitting all comfy with the hot tea. Not like us.” Dara shrugged her shoulder and then reached for the food magazine that was in front of her.

 

 

“Who’s the Hunk of the Month this time? Maybe, we’ll be working with one of these hot young top celebrity chefs in a few weeks. Wouldn’t that be totally cool?”

 

 

Not if I have anything to do with it, we won’t, Bom thought in silence.

 

 

Dara shook her head before passing to Bom the magazine she was holding. “See you in five minutes. Good luck, sweetie.” Dara stood up, waving and then she was totally gone.

 

 

Bom didn’t pay any attention to the magazine because she had no scheme to waste time reading it. She had been conditioning herself for the upcoming meeting. But when she put down the magazine on the table, an image of a man quickly magnetized her attention. Smiling and handsome looking was the exact physique of the man wearing a plain shirt and a chef’s hat.

 

 

Hunk of the Month:Choi Seunghyun a.k.a Chef Top

 

 

In an instant, she was transported back twelve years to the cramped and crowded kitchen of Trattoria Rossi, and her passing glimpse of her Aunt Marie’s new trainee chef. Bom was only sixteen years old then. She had wandered straight from school and into the kitchen. She didn’t have any idea why but that day she headed straight up to the kitchen of her Aunt’s restaurant though she hated that particular place the most.

 

 

She saw her father busily working in there with her older brother Teddy, and together with them was a tall and slim boy that she estimated to be years older than her—were prepping for the evening service. Her father and brother had been talking to her the whole time yet the boy never bothered to throw even a single glance at her who was too busy with his work. But still, she had been smitten.

 

 

Completely, absolutely, without hesitation or rational thought.

 

 

Smitten.

 

 

Just one look. That was all it took.

 

 

She closed her eyes and revisited the vivid image of Top the very first day she noticed him—his exact image that burnt into her memory all of those years ago. He has that white complexion and a cute pointed nose. His long black hair was tied at the back that made his jaw line to appear clearer as he neatly wore a chef’s uniform. He had delicate long fingers, which made her think that he was born to be a chef. Their eyes accidentally met as her older brother remembered to introduce them to each other. He only looked at her quickly and coldly. And it seemed like Top wanted to frown because he was forced to pivot his gaze away to the other veggies he was slicing for awhile. They only glanced at each other for a second but it was enough for her to lose her mind. The intense look with such power felt like pair of black lasers boring holes through her skull.

 

 

Top didn’t glance at her again. Never again. She didn’t leave the kitchen and she only stared at his shoulders and back while he was busy cooking. And although sometimes she was not really happy, but felt totally annoyed to stare at someone’s back. But while her eyes were pasted on Top, she somehow felt a unique feeling of glee and giddy inside her. An electrifying movement had occurred inside her muscles and veins that somehow made her smile. Bom’s father caught her several times smiling all alone while stealing glances at Top before. Although there was nothing special about Top that particular day except for the ingredients he needed on his cooking.

 

 

Since that day, the kitchen of Trattoria Rossi became her most favourite place in the entire world. She had forced herself to think of convincing excuses just to have a chance to stay there for a little longer—though she knew Seunghyun had no enough time for her and found the dishes he was cooking more interesting and more alluring than her.

 

 

And if before she was avoiding to join family dinner because of the turmoil caused by her cousins—who happened to eat there every night though they have their own home—and acted so unladylike even they’d already in front of the food. She would run first to the dining table after seeing him before others could make their way and sat on the chair, facing him. Top stayed at their home while her father and older brother, Teddy, taught him the art of cooking. Bom made sure that her chair was exactly right across his seat every supper though he seldom stared and talked to her.

 

 

She didn’t know if someone had noticed her frequent stealing of glances at him than feeding herself. There were many nights that they’d faced each other at the dining table and stayed together in the kitchen but she didn’t remember even for once that he was so willing to open a conversation with her. She was always the one who talked to him. She spent too much time thinking of what was going to be an interesting topic but when he answered, two or three words were enough for his answer. And then he would start to make you feel that he didn’t want to be disturbed again.

 

 

Top had been her first great crush.

 

 

She took a glance at the magazine again that was on the top of the table with the picture of Top there. He was still the most handsome chef she had ever seen in her entire life. But so many things have changed. He was now the leading chef in the country. If he was skinny before, now he was well-built and handsome. And if before he was wearing chef’s uniform, ordinary t-shirt and jeans was his dress, now it seemed like he has his own renowned stylist who took care of his dresses.

 

 

Top’s eyes were still the same. His eyes were still filled with expressions and emotions. Nothing’s changed with the way he smiled. She didn’t know if it’s the reason why all chefs have to be so good-looking before her eyes. Even Dara named her as “chef magnet” coz it’s not impossible for a male chef not to notice her.

 

 

When Bom glanced at her watch, it was already past four. She lost track of time and forgot that she was supposed to attend the meeting. Mayhap it already started. She hurriedly stood up but before she took her steps, she stared again to the magazine and to the big picture of Top that was on the cover of it.

 

 

One of the country’s most gorgeous chefs

Hunk of the Month!

 

 

Oh, Top,she sighed.

 

 

She have just seated inside the staffroom together with other employees when Mr. Kwon Youngdeuk, the hotel manager and owner of Spring Tempo Manor entered the room. After him was the entrance of the retired head chef, Kang Daesung.

 

 

“Thank you all for coming on such a short notice,” said Mr. Youngdeuk. He sat on his swivel chair before looking at them one by one. There was a smile that quickly draws in his lips when their eyes met. “As you know, our brilliant chef, Kang Daesung, will be retiring at the end of the month, after thirty-two years of amazing work here in ST Manor. As you all know, Daesung’s decision to finally get out of the kitchen gave the management team a real headache. How can we possibly find another chef with the same passion for excellence and quality that has made the ST Manor so successful? But before I announce the name of this restaurant’s new chef, I would like to inform you of our choice as the ST Manor’s new manager.”

 

 

Please tell me who I will work with for the coming days, Bom thought inside her mind.

 

 

“I am delighted to tell you that we have interviewed some of the brightest chefs in the country over these last few months, and after much deliberation, there was one clear winner. I am very pleased to announce that the new chef of Spring Tempo Manor will be the famous and good-looking chef, Dong Youngbae,” said Mr. Youngdeuk who was happy as clam.

 

 

Bom tightly grasped on both sides of the chair she was occupying.

 

 

No! No! Not Dong Youngbae!

 

 

No, fate would not play such cruel trick like that on her. She was so sure that she misheard the name Mr. Youngdeuk had just said. Yet he repeated Youngbae’s name over and over again with a grin. It seemed like it was a small bomb that exploded right in front of her.

 

 

Of all the best chefs in the whole wide universe that she could work with, why did it have to be the chef she never wanted to see and hear from? Upon hearing the name Youngbae is enough for her to droop, to feel mad, and to be perplexed. What did she do wrong for fate to play such a prank on her like that?

 

 

Dong Youngbae was her ex-fiancé who abandoned her a month before their wedding, the man who cruelly broke her heart into thousands of bloody pieces. Four years had passed since it happened yet the scars it created still remained fresh in her heart and mind. She just noticed she was already crying. She wiped away those warm and bitter tears. And when she lifted her head, Mr. Youngdeuk was staring at her with a broad grin in his face.

 

 

“Miss Park Bom has already shown what she can achieve as a headwaiter,” said Mr. Youngdeuk while staring at her. “I know that you will make a terrific restaurant manager. As of now, Chef Youngbae can’t wait anymore to work with you.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:

 

What’s up…What’s up TOPBOM shipper! :D

 

It’s my first time to write TopBom story. And though this story is not originally written by me, I hope that this story will receive lots of love and support from you guys. This first chapter is dedicated to the first 17 subscribers of TTWWD. Thanks for subscribing guys! Enjoy the first chapter!^^

 

Happy Reading!

 

 

 

 

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