After School Lessons for Unripe Apples

 (세기말 풋사과 보습학원, 世紀末풋沙果補習學院, 世紀末풋砂果補習學院, Segimal putsagwa boseupagwon) is a Drama Webtoon Original created by Soonkki; it updates every Sunday. The original Korean Webtoon premiered on Naver.

Synopsis
''Mi-ae is just a normal middle school girl trying to survive school. She likes reading comics, the pop group “The Fire Boys”, and karaoke. One day, a boy she used to know transfers to her school and begins to stir up trouble. No matter what she does, it seems he just doesn’t appreciate her efforts to get to know him. What’s up with that?''

Summary
Mi-ae Hwang (first name spelled "황미애" in Korean and phonetically pronounced "me {as in the 'mi' sound in the syllables do re mi } -ay {as in the 'ay' sound in pl ay }" in English) is a student who attends Baekje Middle School. Most days, she juggles her strict home life studying as a busy examinee and ignoring school bullies who pick on her. In her spare time, she finds fun hobbies for herself, like reading romance manga and comic books. Mi-ae loves to wish on airplanes late at night too. Sometimes she holds up two fingers in the air to make a peace sign before snapping a shot of aircrafts high in the sky. If she's in her bedroom, she watches airplanes fly by through her binoculars instead. When her friend group isn't busy, Mi-ae joins them in singing karaoke, playing at the arcade or watching videos of their favorite pop group, "The Fire Boys." Mi-ae is also quite athletic; in school, she wins the short-distance run for the track meet and at home, she jogs with her father as well as jump ropes to relieve stress.

However, on school campus Mi-ae is never taken seriously; her short height causes her peers to talk down to her. Fuel is added to the fire when Cheol Kim transfers to her class and ends up becoming Mi-ae's desk mate. Since Cheol and Mi-ae share the same names with the popular K-pop duo, several teachers began bombarding the two with jokes and pinning the spotlight on them during lessons. Cheol may have scared his class into staying quiet and not bothering him, other than spreading rumors, but for Mi-ae, she ended up with the short end of the stick. Fortunately, Mi-ae, with her stubborn and aggressive nature, isn't afraid to bite back. To accommodate the unfairness, she uses her own tactics; she reflects everything she hears and makes sure to stand up for herself.

Appearance
Mi-ae Hwang is a sixteen year old girl who stands around 5'1 or 155 cm [the official Korean version of the Special Episode on Webtoon mentions that Mi-ae's height is 150.1 cm, likely before her growth ], finally climbing over her goal of beating the 5 ft mark. She has big round eyes that are a pale shade of olive green, white pupils (most likely a stylistic choice), and has small eyelashes on her lower eyelids. She also has set of iconic bushy black eyebrows. Her middle school is strict with hair length, so Mi-ae has short black hair that ends just below her ears. The highlights on her hair are a similar shade of green to her eyes. Mi-ae also has fair skin, like most of the characters in the story. Her build isn't quite clear due to her clothing style consisting of big, baggy shirts and shorts; but in Episode 44, Mi-ae is depicted doing a stretching test but she can't, "reach it at all," showing how her arms and legs are shorter than average. In Episodes 68, 71 and 73, Mi-ae is shown to be of a slender build with a bit of muscle. Using this information, along with her height measurement in Episode 44, Mi-ae may have a petite body that leans on the smaller side of the scale.

Hair Styles
Mi-ae goes through several hair styles during the course of the story. Starting from her childhood and in flashbacks to her time in the countryside, Mi-ae typically put her hair in high pigtails, usually with one on the side of her head. In Episode 1, Mi-ae's hair is parted straight in the middle so that the sides tend to obscure her vision. Once her third year of middle school starts, she decides to cut her own bangs, causing them to be very uneven and stick up. Later on, her bangs begin growing from a few strands of hair until the strands even out, resembling a bowl cut until she trims her bangs slightly. She also wears hats, hair clips, and headbands throughout the story. The creator, Soonki, did make art of what Cheol and Mi-ae might look like in high school; Mi-ae is depicted to have bangs and straight, arm-pit length hair.

Personality
Ever since her childhood, Mi-ae grew up a social butterfly. She's able to become friends with her peers quite easily, even with kids she didn't know that well. Mi-ae's overall personality is very social, naturally outgoing, compassionate, and determined. When it comes to her flaws, she can be oblivious, stubborn, highly energetic, noisy, childish and occasionally misses social cues. This is due to Mi-ae’s EQ being lower than average, with her IQ being higher. Even so, the times where she doesn't understand more emotional problems, she repeatedly tries to make an effort to get to know them better. She's notably easily distracted, a terrible liar, and always wears her heart on her sleeve. She is also quite confrontational when dealing with certain situations. Mi-ae has experienced several unfair scenarios throughout her life, so she's learned how to deal with people who harass, bully, or make assumptions about her. With her short stature being a trigger for insults, Mi-ae's quick temper allows her to fight back in order to not be the pipsqueak who gets picked on.

Summary
Cheol Kim (first name spelled "김 철" in Korean and phonetically pronounced "ch {as in the 'ch' sound in choose} - ol {as in the 'ol' sound in old}" in English) is a transfer student who attends Baekje Middle School. Nicknamed "Lucifer," he has a striking resemblance to a fictional character due to a scar underneath his right eye and his towering height. Cheol is plagued with an infamous reputation after rumors spread that he beat up a kid at his old school. Fear floods through his peers on what he might do next, but counter to all expectations, all he ever does is study. This causes students to add "Repentant Lucifer" to his title. Initially, he doesn't care if he comes across as rude, and in some cases choosing to be threatening so people can stop bothering him. Yet he is far from the violent gangster his classmates and teachers make him out to be; in reality, he is simply a teenager who fought with the wrong person that resulted in problems for himself and his family.

In opposition to his negative image at school, Cheol spends his days as an everyday, diligent kid; he runs errands, hangs out with his little sister, plays soccer at night with his friends from Goguryeo Middle School, goes to a cram academy to better his grades, and studies any chance he gets. Cheol is determined to push through his 3rd year of middle school because his goal is to move back to the countryside at the end of the year. In order to do that, he needs to improve his grades and avoid any "distractions" that may get in his way. Unexpectedly, his life is flipped upside down when his childhood friend and neighbor, Mi-ae Hwang, catches him crying one night. Since then, Mi-ae coincidentally appears before him, much to Cheol's annoyance. In a bizarre turn of events, she starts off as his neighbor, ends up in the same class as him, becomes his desk mate, and then attends the same academy class as him. After acknowledging the fact that the two can't avoid each other forever, Cheol reluctantly accepts to become Mi-ae's friend after her various attempts to befriend him. This friendship, in turn, allows him to open up more to his classmates, especially the boys who play soccer matches during break, and his reputation begins shifting into a more positive light.

Appearance
Cheol Kim is a sixteen year old boy who stands around 6'1 or 185 cm [the official Korean version of the Special Episode on Webtoon mentions that Cheol's height is 18X.X, so his height is debatable], which is quite tall for a middle school student. His size and body shape can be compared to Mi-ae's like in Episode He is usually drawn having black eyes with small white highlights on the bottom, but his actual eye color is a noticeably pale shade of purple. His eye color can be seen in several episodes, mainly in Episodes 12, 14, 17, 56, 69, 72, and 78.

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세기말 풋사과 보습학원