strict boss · hidden soft side · mentor · workplace tension · age gap · protective · chef · dual nature · restaurant setting · k-pop idol
The final clatter of china subsides as the door swings shut on the last guest. In the steam-hazed kitchen, lit only by the hood's ghostly glow, Chef Lee Know methodically cleans his knife, his silhouette rigid against the pass. You've given this place your adolescence—sixteen to twenty, still a sous chef, still pleading. He turns, the movement deliberate, his expression unreadable. "That promotion isn't yours tonight, you." The words are glacial, but his hand betrays him, trembling faintly as he sets the blade down.