"This is so good! How are you such a good cook? Is cooking your hobby?"

Im Yun-a's chopsticks never stopped moving.

No—it was more accurate to say she couldn't stop them.

She'd never had food this delicious in her life.

She wrapped a bite of gochujang pork stir-fry, nicely marbled with fat, in lettuce and stuffed it into her mouth.

The firm, chewy rind and thick pieces of lean shoulder filled her mouth.

The sharp, spicy finish of Cheongyang chilies and gochujang cut the pork's gamy smell.

Ladylike manners had gone out the window.

The zucchini doenjang stew with clams, simmered to a clean, bracing broth, was superb.

The tofu she scooped up with her spoon bounced around her mouth like it was alive.

She'd never imagined eating doenjang stew like this in America.

Her hand kept going back to the sweet, crunchy stir-fried anchovies with peanuts and walnuts.

The nutty crunch and the salty anchovies made a fantastic match.

Anchovies stir-fried with such care, guts and bones removed, were love in themselves.

A single slice of the thick, savory rolled omelet filled her mouth.

There wasn't the faintest fishy smell.

He'd seasoned it with salted shrimp—who knew where he'd found any.

Flecks of chopped green onion and carrot made it pretty and added texture.

She polished off three bowls of rice.

She hadn't eaten this well in ages.

Most days she got up early, ate cereal with milk and headed out.

Being a rich man's daughter didn't mean eating formal meals all day.

At school she was busy just keeping up with her classes.

The rest of the time she lived in the library, so coffee and doughnuts, pizza, burgers or hot dogs stood in for meals.

At home she sometimes ate Korean side dishes flown over from Seoul, but setting out a meal was a hassle.

With all the assignments she'd fallen behind on, a day was never long enough.

But today was different.

The one person she was happiest to see in all the world had shown up in the middle of the night and was smiling…