Absinthe

It had been three months since that stupid kiss. In other words, it had been a full 90 or so days of fighting a hard battle to stop myself from slapping the shit out of the asshole that was Jiwoo. Every single moment with him in our classes was plain torture. My hands were itching to beat him to a pulp, and the itch was akin to some stubborn wart that refuses to go away.

I'm not a violent person, and the diary I've kept since I was in second grade will prove to you that I have never been in a fist fight my entire life. But fine, I'll admit that maybe it's my innate gayness that has prevented me from even roughhousing anyone. I may have a sharp tongue sometimes, but I've never felt the desire to hurt someone physically.

Until now.

Because what that asshole had done was plain unbelievable.

It was horrible.

Disgusting.

Cruel.

"Oi, BJ! Three orders of our specialty lava cake!"

"Huh?"

"Quit daydreaming and get your ass to plating these!"

"Yes, Chef!"

True to Chef Maxwell's word, our classes had drastically changed after the palate test. Genre after genre, dish after dish, ingredient after ingredient, Chef Maxwell started hammering the entire world of cuisine into our skulls.

Our morning classes in business management were also over. They had been replaced with afternoon classes in food science, only this time, we were studying the chemical properties of each ingredients. And to be honest with you, that was the only thing I was enjoying about the course.

It was fun learning about what makes one type of potato different from another, or how one type of tomato has more sugars than the next. Or about the cynarin in artichokes that disables your tongue's sweetness receptors for a while before fooling your brain into thinking that the next bite you take is so much sweeter than it actually is.

Fun, right?

I guess that was just me because Nico, Vivi, and the asshole I'm refusing to name from now on seemed to be winging our food science classes.

On the other hand, since the number of hands-on sessions had doubled, I started falling behind. But that was to be expected because all three of my classmates have more extensive culinary backgrounds. What did I have save for my decade-long experience in churning out financial projections and kissing the asses of old men a.k.a. my bosses? None.

And that was the reason why those in Chef Maxwell's kitchen despaired whenever I was assigned to their section for my OJT.

Well, maybe except for the pâtissier, Chef Jacob. He was neutral about having me in his section because I hardly made mistakes with desserts, but he was far from satisfied with my speed.

"I said stop daydreaming. If you don't, I'll kick you out!"

cake ready for service,

yourself. The guests specifically asked

my eyebrows. "What? Chef, have I done

lava cake, but you were already in class with

and Faye's absolute lack of contact, and the fatigue at always being the worst

I couldn't have

the one who put the lava

grueling work required, I figured there

night. "You're the first person to earn a

of them answered, but I could feel their

get a compliment from a customer before we go onto the next stage of your education. I

it,

It was Jiwoo.

promised myself not to mention or even

won't name anymore. "Let's move on then. For centuries there has been a lot of

against each other was conducted by none other than the Federation of United Chef Knights, or

guess which cuisines came out on

half-Korean said,

with its excellent regional variation and unparalleled

"Japanese?" answered Vivi.

5. And truthfully, there are more complex cuisines than washoku. Some examples are Thai, Indonesian, and Turkish, which incidentally all made it to the top ten cuisines. However, it is undeniable that none of the other cuisines come close to matching Japan's aesthetics when it comes to cooking. Washoku, after

up and saw Vivi frowning. She

recalling the fact that Vivi is a specialist in Chinese cuisine,

world argues that Chinese cuisine is not really a cuisine in itself but a collection of unique cuisines all across

1 and 2. Nico, do you mind having a shot

"Italian and French."

cuisine is characterized by its unbelievable simplicity. Most of its

Jiwoo and Nico

I forgot to forget

of the world's best dishes by having unparalleled knowledge and expertise in understanding the quality of

French? They just do fancy stuff, in

in maximizing the taste of ingredients. Contrary to the Italians, the French have step after step after step, ingredient after ingredient after ingredient in their recipes, each serving a particular purpose and enabling the dish to have je ne sais

a while until Chef Maxwell

to your next