Kimchi

A TENDER BUT FIERCE LOVE STORY about a young Afro-Asian paramedic coming to terms with his identity and a feisty Caucasian girl fed up with her strict American upbringing. Paul Angers (Kimchi) and a young woman with a rickshaw meet at a zoo and end up in each other's arms.

Adopted by an American couple-the son of a Korean woman and a Black G.I.-Paul arrives in the U.S. after the Korean conflict with foggy memories of the family he left behind. His past haunts him as scenes from his homeland invade his mind at odd times: his mother, his sibling, and himself barely old enough to walk with a group of refugees traveling through a forest toward a mountain village, where they hoped to find safety. Su Kimchi-Paul's birth name-recalls hunger, danger, and fear were always present.

Eighteen years later, Paul (Kimchi) is a paramedic with a local fire department. He also has a fourth-degree Black Belt in Judo, a discipline that relaxes his body and mind, calming the stresses of infernos, the smell of burned flesh, death, and his company's racist Fire Chief, Bart Salsman, who lost a buddy in the war and hates Koreans with a passion.

Kimchi will entertain you with his knowledge of martial arts and fire rescues, and will soothe the racist beast that may lurk unbidden inside of you. A gritty story of compassion and memories of his Korean mother, Cam-who abandoned him at an orphanage when he was four years old.

One of Paul's favorite places to relax is Kansas City's Swope Park, where he enjoys strolling through the zoo or resting on the bank of the lagoon watching swans float on the still surface. Until one day he meets Rikki, a young Caucasian woman who transports paying customers around the park in a homemade rickshaw. This experience takes Paul back mentally and emotionally to his East Asian homeland.

Rikki-who refuses to tell Paul her real name-appears to be homeless. But Paul is persistent and trails her one day to a hut in a vacant lot, where she lives the life of a hobo subsisting on the barest necessities for survival. Something clicks between the two, and when Paul discovers a secret she can no longer hide, he becomes her caregiver and provides the safety and guidance she needs. When Rikki can no longer exist in her crude hut, she moves into an apartment with Paul.

A near tragedy threatens to separate this young couple, who are not quite ready to admit their love for each other.