Varney
The chef stared at me for a moment, then he burst into laughter.
"Peter, Finn, come here this kid." The chef barked out and two guys walked over, they were also in chef uniforms and aprons.
"Can to repeat what you said, kid?"
I swallowed awkwardly and did just that, then all three men burst into laughter, falling over themselves.
"Kid, we've been assisting the chef boss for over five years and we're still yet to become as good enough as him. What makes you think you have a tiny bit of talent that it takes to prepare a meal in a chef's kitchen?" One of the guys asked, sounding so baffled.
"But i do have the needed talent." I argued and when they ski burst into laughter again, I let out a long breath, starting to feel like I was making a fool of myself.
"I haven't met a person this loud and wrong in ages. He's hilarious, I'll give him that." The other guy breathed out while wiping a tear from his eye.
I pursed my lips, feeling awkward as hell in front of their judgemental eyes.
"You better apologize to the chef for making a fool of him by your ridiculous request." The first guy demanded and I frowned in confusion.
"But I only—"
The head chef waved. "It's fine, Morris. Leave the kid, he's clueless and an overarchiver, like you were when you first got placed under my care."
"Chef boss!" Morris cried out just as his face grew red while the other assistant chuckled hard.
The chef faced me again, now grinning slyly.
"How about I let you make a fool of yourself, kid?"
I stiffened. "Huh?"
"You want to prepare a meal, no? I'll let you do it. And you'll serve whatever mess you make to the seniors. Whatever punishment you get for serving such a horrible medal to them is on you. Do you accept?"
I hesitated, wondering if it wouldn't be better if I back down now.
But I was so confident in my talent, and it's not a brag but a fact that I was a very great cook. Back home, my brothers hated me but could never go a day without eating my food. Sometimes, when I prepare a meal that's just too good, they'd completely forget to come into my room at night for those sick games of theirs.
And so I gave a nod as I stepped forward. "I accept, sir."
~~~
The chef asked no one to assist me. Everyone else were busy working towards preparing the normal meal they planned to make for the students for dinner tonight, while I was only making a smaller portion at the corner of the kitchen.
They made me wear chef clothes first— after making remarks about my tattered clothes of course.
I felt so good in the white apron and hat.
They didn't let me use the main stove, leaving me to use a stove that's more like a firewood.
But they had no idea they helped me out cause this was still what I was used to.
As I chopped up some veggies, I could feel the eyes of the helpers boring into me. They wernt even trying to hide the fact that they were talking about me.
"Isn't he stupid? Cause why else would he accept to do this when he should have just apologized to chef boss?" A voice said. It was Morris.
"He's just a kid, and they're usually quite dumb so it's not surprising." The second guy, Finn, pointed out. "I guess he'll find what he's looking for by the end of tonight when he presents a senior student a food that's horrible and he gets locked up in the dark room as punishment,"
"And the seniors students are always so brutal in every damn thing, especially punishments." Morris spat.
"Yes, especially this set."
"What's even in the dark room anywhere? I'm still yet to find out." Morris asked and his partner snickered.
"Man, I have no fucking idea, but I just know it's gonna be fuvking hell in there."
I tuned the rest of their conversations out and focused on what I was making. I was preparing a simple fish stew with sides of fried rice.
Thanks to my sharp nose, I was able to easily pick out ingredients, though modern, wasn't so different from the ones I was used to in my past life, cause their smell was the same— so I was trusting my nose than my eyes for now. Thankfully, the chef said I could make use of any ingredient I wanted from the room filled to the brim with them.
I was glad when my food started to come together, and in no time, the aroma filled the air. I was nervous despite the food tasting perfect to me, cause it could be that my tongue was still in the past and the pallet of everyone have completely evolved.
The guys here in the kitchen have fully prepared their intended dinner for the students and they've even went off to serve them, so right now, they were just lazing around in here.
Morris, Finn and a few other guys kept walking past me to take a peek at what I was doing, and at some point, they stopped to take in deep whiffs, then they had shocked, confused expressions on their faces.
"Wow… that smells…"
Morris was speaking when Finn pinched him.
Then Finn spoke. "Seems you know a thing or two, kid."
I didn't respond cause i didn't know what to say.
By the time the head chef arrived, I was already serving the food into about four plates.
Morris, Finn and the rest of the guys were staring at me.
"Damn, he dosent even know how to neatly plate a food. This food definitely tastes horrible." Finn blurted and the rest of the guys snickered.
The chef kept watching me, then he scoffed. "Go on then, go serve it. Everyone are in the dining area, you'll find them at the left side."
I loaded the plate in a tray, then I blew out a breath before walking off, each step making the nerves within me grow ten folds.
In the dining area, students overfill the area and I grew self conscious when they all glanced at me.
My eyes fell on the left side and I made a beeline for the tables there, settling the tray on the table there. About five seniors were gathered around this table, and while four were present last night, the last one was the pretty red haired senior.
"Here's your meal." I breathed out when they regarded me inquisitively.
"You made it yourself?" One of them demanded before wrinkling his nose. "Is this shit edible?" It was the senior who ordered me to clean up after my horrible collate for one week. I waa certain I hated him right after the leader.
"Yes, he made it all by himself." A voice called out behind me. "He insisted despite the chef boss telling him he' undoubtedly knows nothing about cooking,"
I turned around fast and was surprised to see Morris and Finn standing here. By the grins they were barely trying hide, it was clear they came out to watch me get humiliated, so they'd definitely go relay it to their boss.
"This means this food is definitely trash. Take it away, human." The senior with eyebrow and lip piercing ordered
I felt something in me break just as Morris and Finn snickered hard.
They made no move to touch the food.
Why? Cause I'm human?
I waited but when they still made no move to touch it, I heaved in utter dejectedness and made to pick the tray up.
"Wait, I'll try it."
I paused. The red haired senior grinned at me before picking up one of the plates and setting it in front of himself, then he scoped a mouthful and placed it in his mouth.
The rest of the seniors stared at him, clearly waiting for his verdict. Morris and Finn were waiting to hear how horrible it tasted.
While I could barely breath as I waited.