T W E N T Y – T W O

Word of the Day – “Emulsify”

It had been approximately thirty dull minutes since Miyoung’s father made a surprise visit and inconveniently forced her to be acquainted with these two strangers she had never met—Hwang Seongguk and his son Hwang Jun. She could have done a lot more with the right person in those thirty minutes.

Doh Kyungsoo was about to say something very crucial regarding the two of them, she just knew it. But it had to be delayed, like always.

The tragedy of it all was shady as hell and she wasn’t living for it.

Apart from this father-son pair being the chairpersons of the famous Vista Hill Hotels, not a single thing drew her attention away from the thought of Kyungsoo. She dreaded to be released from this dungeon called the small talk. She had never hated small talks as much as she did right now. She. Had. To. Leave. Rubbing her thighs anxiously, she wanders her eyes around, particularly towards the cabins of SCORCH staff since her father insisted that they hung out at the bench table in front of her solo cabin instead, away from the rest.

It had only been a while since Kyungsoo had eventually gone back into the cabin to give them space. She did not want this space. She did not want him to be anywhere else but beside her right now.

“So, anyway, your dad said you studied in Toronto. U. of T., right? I applied there too but I really liked Vancouver better so I chose U.B.C. instead. Have you visited B.C. while you were there?” Jun up a conversation. Upon the question, Miyoung squinted at her father in disbelief. “Uhm, no, I went to York University. And again, no, I didn’t visit B.C. because I didn’t have time.” She corrected with a deadpan expression.

She could not believe it. Her father didn’t even know exactly where she went all these years. She could be joining a devil’s cult for all he cared.   

“Oh, right! It’s York University, not U of T. My bad. Oh my, my memory is rusty now. They’re all the same anyway, right?” Her father laughed. It wasn’t funny. “No, Dad. They’re not the same. My intellect is not U of T level, unfortunately, remember? I didn’t pass.” She faked a smile before looking away with a sour expression.

Now, she didn’t know if her dad genuinely forgot or was purposely making up to make her educational background sound even better—either way, it was equally infuriating.

She threw her head back off to the right side as she leaned on her bench. The staff were once again gathered in their tent, smoke coming out of it—they were probably starting to barbeque once again. “Should we be joining them, Dad?” She suggested while pointing at the staff a few cabins away.

“Yes, of course! But later once we finish our coffee. Okay?” Her father replied with a slight grin. “Speaking of which, I haven’t had the chance to introduce you two to my head chef. He’s the best of the best. He was the guy talking to Miyoung earlier when we arrived if you could remember.” He further said.

“Ah! The tiny dude, right? That’s the head chef? He looks really young for such a grand position; I can’t believe it.” Seongguk chuckled while lifting one hand across his neck, palm facing the floor gesturing height. Rude AF.

Miyoung grimaced at the pointless commentary.

Her father only laughed while shaking his head. “Eh, don’t say that. He’s much older than these two, actually.” He pointed at her and Jun. “He’s like a son to me and a big brother to Miyoung. I’ve known him since he was a teenager. A very hardworking and talented kid, I tell you, but he’s still very modest up until now. I’ve never seen that boy brag about anything.” His father laughed at the last sentence.

For the first time, Miyoung didn’t feel that usual tug on her chest when she heard her father talking big when it came to Doh Kyungsoo. They were all true anyway and she used to hate to admit that. What had she been thinking all these years, foolishly hating on him?

“Oh yeah? Is he in a family line of chefs? What’s his last name? Maybe I’d know his family.” Seongguk asked and Miyoung immediately felt a lump growing in . A solemn smile formed on her father’s lips and she dreaded to hear what the old man was going to say. “No, uh, it’s nothing like that.” His father paused for a moment as he looked to a distance, at the direction of the tent, and then continued, “He badly needed help back then and so I offered help. Later on, I saw a huge potential in him so I was the one who pushed him to pursue culinary arts and I hadn’t been wrong about the kid until now.”

Miyoung sighed in relief when nothing too personal was mentioned. She looked down and processed the words her father just said and merging them with her own memory of the younger version of Doh Kyungsoo—the person that she loathed with all her heart, the person that she so unknowingly … fell in love with.

“So, Miyoung here doesn’t have any plans to pursue culinary too?” Seongguk then asked, looking at her with a smile.

“I am more interested in the business aspect of the restaurant, sir.” She replied with a forced smile, her fists clenching inside the pockets of her sweater. “That’s awesome, I really enjoy everything about business too. It’s one of my passions. Have you ever thought of having a second location?” Jun asked, flashing a pearly grin.

Miyoung genuinely didn’t know how to answer so she simply shrugged.

“We’ll get there, we’ll get there. Don’t worry.” Her father laughed while patting the young man’s back.

Before Miyoung could react to the insinuation, Soobin and Minho came to interrupt and she’d never felt so relieved in her life. She immediately stood up and hopped beside Soobin, locking their arms together. “Hello, good morning. I’m sorry for interrupting, sirs. But we’re having a little brunch cook-off at our tent, maybe you’d like to join and watch? Or maybe even judge the dishes later on? It was kind of a last-minute decision but I’m sure it’ll be fun.” Soobin invited with a wide grin.

“Oh really? A cook-off?” Miyoung’s father beamed in delight.

Genuinely curious, Miyoung leaned closer to Soobin’s ear and whispered, “Who thought of that?”

From what she could remember, the staff had originally agreed to freely have their own plans for today and go anywhere around the town before they had to leave. She was really hoping that it could be her chance to be alone with Kyungsoo, one way or another. Soobin looked at her, still with a grin. “Who else has the smartest last-minute ideas? Byun Baekhyun. It literally started with him wanting to try a steak burger using waffles as buns and then he just randomly suggested having a cook-off between the chefs.”

Finally, Miyoung’s father stood up. “Well, that sounds like a great plan. Who’s doing the cook-off? Kyungsoo and?” He asked.

“Kyungsoo, Minho and our apprentice Sungjin.”

On that end, they all went all together back to the main tent. Miyoung immediately felt her heart pounding as soon as she spotted Kyungsoo standing by the long table where three portable burners were laid out in a row, a variety of ingredients set in between them. Wow, it looked like a legit outdoor competition.

“This seems fun, is there one more spot for the cook-off? I love cooking brunch.” Jun suddenly stood right beside her as he spoke.

Ignoring the man, Miyoung focused her eyes only on Kyungsoo who never looked away from the ingredients he was prepping. “Oh, you want to join, Jun?” Her father chuckled before throwing an arm over the younger man’s shoulder and dragging him into the tent, towards Kyungsoo. Miyoung couldn’t help but trail behind to have a reason to be a little bit closer to him without looking suspicious.

“Anyway, Seongguk and Jun, this is SCORCH’s head chef, Doh Kyungsoo.” Her father finally introduced the three and Miyoung patiently waited for the time that Kyungsoo’s eyes would fall in her trap—but they never did. He never looked her way and they were less than a meter apart. What the ? What did she do now to deserve the cold shoulders? “So, Kyungsoo. Jun here is interested in joining the cook-off, are there spots open?”

Miyoung squinted at Kyungsoo who eyed the younger man, the creases on his eyebrows growing.

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