God-Given Business Genius

Tiny tears, like chicken droppings, trickled down her cheeks and pooled at the tip of her chin. Before they could fall, she wiped the moisture away with her sleeve.

I stood there, staring blankly at this meaningless series of actions.

“I, hic, sob, I really, hiccup….”

Oh Ga-eul was crying so hard she could barely string words together, hiccupping between sobs. One of the staff members, unable to watch any longer, even handed her a tissue to wipe her tears.

“Th-hic-thank y-hoo, sniff, sob.”

She bowed her head, unable to properly express her gratitude. But despite dabbing at her eyes with the tissue, there was no improvement.

Hmm. How long must we waste time on this meaningless display?

All the other staff members are waiting, and her misunderstanding has been clarified.

“Oh Ga-eul-ssi.”

I finally spoke up, unable to bear it any longer.

“The video verification is over. Don’t you have anything else to say?”

“…Huuuh!”

But instead of answering, she buried her face in her hands and cried even louder. What on earth is she trying to accomplish?

“Oh Ga-eul-ssi. Crying won’t solve anything.”

I barely managed to maintain a calm expression, pressing my fingertips against my face to prevent it from contorting. However, I couldn’t hide the irritation seeping into my voice.

After all, it feels like I’ve been listening to her crying for a good 10 minutes now.

“Oh Ga-eul-ssi, you failed to hear my advice, causing trouble for your team members, and then insisted that I never said such a thing, which is why we’re here now.”

Is this really the time to be crying?

“But the video verification shows that you not only heard but even responded, even if you don’t remember. Shouldn’t your first action be acknowledgment and apology?”

As I fixed her with a piercing gaze, Oh Ga-eul finally stopped crying and swallowed a series of hiccups.

It seemed she had realized I had no intention of letting her off easy.

“Crying doesn’t solve all problems, does it? As a working adult, you should apologize sincerely and express your regrets to your team members.”

Some of the staff members around us began to cast sympathetic glances at Oh Ga-eul.

Being one of the younger contestants, with tears streaming down her face and reddened eyes, she did look pitiful. Who wouldn’t feel a momentary pang of sympathy at the sight of someone crying?

But glossing over this uncomfortable situation by earning sympathy votes wouldn’t help Oh Ga-eul herself at all.

“Sniff…. I know I made a mistake, but……”

But?

“Chef Song, sob, I think you’re being too harsh…. How can you, hiccup, ask me to apologize first when I’m, sniff, crying like this?”

Her rambling words continued along these lines:

‘I was going to apologize once I stopped crying, why are you rushing me? I know I made a mistake, but it wasn’t intentional, I just didn’t hear by accident, aren’t you being too harsh?’ …Something like that.

I was so dumbfounded, my mouth nearly fell open. How can she be so brazen at a time like this?

But Oh Ga-eul didn’t stop there and added one more thing.

“Is it, sob, because I’m small and young…, that’s why, sniff, you’re treating me like this…?”

Well, well, look who thinks they can push me around.

I was curious to see how far she’d go, so I let her continue, and she just kept spewing words from her loose mouth. I could sense the staff members exchanging glances, probably thinking they’d captured some good footage.

There’s nothing to gain by getting worked up here.

I deliberately excluded all anger and excitement from my voice, responding in a cold, calm tone.

“Oh Ga-eul-ssi. You seem to be misunderstanding something.”

“……Sniff.”

“I’m simply asking for a proper apology for the mistake you made. I don’t think that’s something deserving of criticism, do you?”

As I spoke without batting an eye, Oh Ga-eul’s eyes grew even rounder.

“And it’s not that I’m looking down on you, Oh Ga-eul-ssi. It seems you’re the one looking down on me.”

“What? What do you…?”

“Would you have dared to act like this if I were another chef?”

Frankly speaking.

If I were another judge who you’d have to face regularly in the future, you wouldn’t have dared to act like this. You would have prostrated yourself and begged for forgiveness.

Whether you feel wronged or not isn’t the important issue. The other person holds your lifeline.

The reason Oh Ga-eul can act out towards me now is based on similar logic. She probably thinks she’s safe, having won the team competition and avoided the loser’s match, and I’m just a guest she won’t see again after today.

It seems she wanted to find some fault to push the narrative of ‘we both made mistakes~’ rather than have her mistake set in stone as it felt unfair. Or maybe she was hoping to gain some sympathy votes.

Either way, it’s not a particularly wise choice.

“No, forget about the judges. If I were Chef An, do you think you could have spoken to me the way you just did?”

“……”

“You can’t even imagine it, can you? Why? Because you know Chef An wouldn’t tolerate it. And because he’s intimidating.”

People naturally tend to push boundaries where they think they can.

Young, without chef experience, and not giving off an intimidating aura. She probably thought she could manipulate me.

She’s completely misread the situation.

An emotional appeal might have been a more effective strategy with Chef Bong Kang-min. He might have actually offered a tissue and even treated her to a meal after the broadcast.

If that were the case, things might have been brushed off as a young participant’s mistake, just as Oh Ga-eul had strategized.

“I’ll say this one more time. I don’t like repeating myself.”

I enunciated each word clearly, with emphasis.

“Apologize sincerely, and express your regrets to your team members.”

“……”

Oh Ga-eul glanced around as if seeking help. No, she seemed more concerned about how she would appear on camera.

Or perhaps she was trying to read the flow of people’s reactions, gauging which way public opinion was leaning.

Either way, Oh Ga-eul seemed to have realized that the situation wasn’t particularly favorable to her.

Finally, in a somewhat subdued atmosphere, or rather, with a deflated attitude, she muttered almost inaudibly.

“I’m sorry.”

“I can’t hear you. Say it again.”

“…I’m sorry!”

Seeing her bow her head deeply as she apologized, I finally felt some relief.

I could sense Oh Ga-eul fidgeting, watching my reaction. It seems she’s finally grasped the hierarchy clearly in her mind.

There’s no need to establish strict discipline, but actions taken without understanding proper boundaries need to be corrected.

I patted Oh Ga-eul’s stiff shoulders, creating an appropriately warm atmosphere of reconciliation.

“That’s better. Make sure you say the same to your team members later.”

“Yes…!”

“Your eyes are very swollen. Compose yourself and come back out. I’ll go ahead first.”

As Oh Ga-eul bit her lower lip and her eyes welled up with tears again, I handed her a tissue and left the room.

Sigh. Seeing her like this even after we’ve reconciled, it seems she might just be a crybaby.

I stopped briefly while walking down the corridor. I noticed the filming director who had been capturing me on camera also come to a halt.

“Director.”

“Y-yes?”

He seemed a bit taken aback by my sudden address. I continued without minding.

“That scene just now. You’re going to use it in the preview, right?”

“Um……. Probably.”

“Everything else is fine, but could you cut out the part where I mentioned other chefs? I’d feel bad if their names get thrown around unnecessarily.”

The filming director seemed to consider for a moment, then replied that he would mention it to the team.

That was enough.

“Shall we go? We still have filming left. We need to watch the elimination match too.”

Thud, thud. As I walked down the corridor, the filming director followed behind me.

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-I’m telling you, you really never said that!

-Chef Song, sob, I think you’re being too harsh….

Hmm. As expected.

Checking the preview, they’ve cherry-picked the most provocative scenes.

Just from the preview, it looks like Oh Ga-eul and I are in serious disagreement. In reality, it wasn’t a disagreement, but more like Oh Ga-eul’s one-sided insistence.

Well, I suppose it’s more interesting to show it this way. Knowing the nature of the broadcasting industry, I took it in stride.

The only headache is…….

“Chef Song! So what exactly happened during the Master Chef Showdown 2 recording?!”

This person beside me, eyes sparkling with curiosity. As Chef Bong Kang-min kept prodding with “Huh? Huh?”, I deliberately gazed off into the distance.

“I told you, I signed a confidentiality agreement. Watch it when it airs~”

“Aah~! Are you really going to be like this between us?”

“Yes, I am.”

As I cut him off firmly, Bong Kang-min changed targets and turned to An Derek.

“Chef An! Come on, our An junior, tell us. Huh?!”

“Am I only your junior at times like this?”

When An Derek responded tartly, Bong Kang-min laughed it off good-naturedly with an “Aw~ Why are you like that~”

“No, I’m just worried that our Chef Song might have had a hard time there~ I’m worried, worried~!”

“Hoho. Despite appearances, I was quite concerned when I heard you two were going to film there.”

Jung Ha-neul smoothly interjected, trying to mediate.

“I even called the Cold Cooking PD several times, asking if it was really a decent program….”

“Ahem, ahem. Ah, why are you telling them about that?”

Bong Kang-min cleared his throat unnecessarily and tried to change the subject.

“The preview looked too provocative. Will you be alright?”

As Jung Ha-neul cast a worried glance, I waved it off.

“It’s fine. There was actually something that warranted it.”

If something attention-grabbing happens and they don’t use it, that would be a dereliction of duty in its own way.

“Ugh~! I can’t stand it. When does it air?!”

“Next Thursday.”

“I must watch it!”

Seeing Bong Kang-min repeatedly vow to watch the premiere, I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

Yes.

Completely unaware of the storm that broadcast would bring.