Frankly in Love meets Shark Tank in this feel-good romantic comedy about two entrepreneurial Korean American teens who butt heads—and maybe fall in love—while running competing Korean beauty businesses at their high school. There’s nothing Valerie Kwon loves more than making a good sale. Together with her cousin Charlie, they run V&C K-BEAUTY, their school’s most successful student-run enterprise. With each sale, Valerie gets closer to taking her beloved and adventurous halmeoni to her dream city, Paris. Enter the new kid in class, Wes Jung, who is determined to pursue music after graduation despite his parents’ major disapproval. When his classmates clamor to buy the K-pop branded beauty products his mom gave him to “make new friends,” he sees an opportunity—one that may be the key to help him pay for the music school tuition he knows his parents won’t cover… ​What he doesn’t realize, though, is that he is now V&C K-BEAUTY’s biggest competitor. Stakes are high as Valerie and Wes try to outsell each other, make the most money, and take the throne for the best business in school—all while trying to resist the undeniable spark that’s crackling between them. From hiring spies to all-or-nothing bets, the competition is much more than either of them bargained for. But one thing is clear: only one Korean business can come out on top. Sarah Suk (pronounced like soup with a K) lives in Vancouver, Canada, where she writes stories and admires mountains. When she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the water, taking film photos, or eating a bowl of bingsu. Made in Korea is her first novel. You can visit Sarah online at SarahSuk.com and on Twitter and Instagram @SarahAeliSuk. Chapter One: Valerie CHAPTER ONE VALERIE Monday / September 9 There’s a Hi-Chew flavor for every occasion. Grape to focus. Mango to celebrate. Strawberry to calm the hell down when things aren’t going the way I planned. Like this afternoon. The first sales day of a new school year was always, without a doubt, one of the most unpredictable. I mean, I definitely hadn’t expected two of my classmates to have a major throwdown right in front of my locker. Talk about high stress. At least I’d come prepared. My fanny pack was filled to the zipper with emergency strawberry Hi-Chews. I tore one open and popped the chewy sweet into my mouth as I surveyed the situation before me. The lineup to my locker twisted all the way down the hall, comprised of the familiar faces of regulars who had been shopping with me for years, plus freshmen who were eager to get a glimpse of V&C K-BEAUTY, Crescent Brook High School’s most popular student-run business. The line hadn’t moved for a good thirty seconds thanks to Natalie Castillo and Amelia Perry’s big blowup, and it was making me seriously antsy. Thirty seconds was thirty seconds too long. The object of their desire: a brand-new citrus-honey hydrating moisture gel. Quantity: one. “I got here first!” Amelia said, elbowing Natalie out of the way with her tiger-striped tote bag. “I’ve been eyeing this gel since Valerie posted it on Instagram this morning.” “Excuse you, but I was in front,” Natalie snapped back. Her curly hair was practically springing out of her scrunchie in shopping-induced rage. “You cut the line.” “Just let it go! You can get this same gel on Amazon.” “You know my dad puts a limit on my online shopping. I’m already capped out! You buy it on Amazon.” “Uh, no, not for the price that V&C charges. Besides, I don’t have my own credit card, and my parents will kill me if I take theirs without asking. Again.” It was true about the prices. You couldn’t find a deal like ours anywhere else, thanks to my uncle. He worked in Seoul as a manager at a Korean beauty company and sent my aunt a box of products every month. Too bad for him, Sunhee Eemo couldn’t care less about face masks. What she really wanted was for her husband to send more money so she could work fewer hours at the soondubu restaurant. “Money! Send more money!” she’d yell during their phone calls. “What am I going to do with all these face creams?” “I know you love them,” he’d always tease. “Only the best products for my wife!” The man was extravagant or just plain clueless. Either way, the packages continued, and my cousin Charlie and I had the brilliant idea to sell them to our classmates at a discount. Charlie’s dad was cool with it as long as we gave Sunhee Eemo first pick, not that she ever took us up on the offer. He got us a permission slip allowing us to resell his products as a student business project, and bam: V&C K-BEAUTY was born. We’d built up this business since our sophomore year, and I wasn’t about to let Amelia and Natalie bring it all down now. People at the back of the line were starting to lose patience and trickle away. Enough was enough. “Okay, executive decision,” I said. “The only fair way to decide this. Rock-paper-scissors.” “Are you serious?” Amelia said. “You’r