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) 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 enjoys hobbies like reading romance manga, comic books, and wishing on airplanes. If she manages to count up to 100 airplanes, without messing up, she gets to make her wish come true. An iconic habit she does is holding up two fingers like 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 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.

On school campus however, Mi-ae is never taken seriously. Her short height causes both her peers and instructors to talk down to her. Fuel is added to the fire when Cheol Kim transfers to her class and becomes her desk mate. Since Cheol and Mi-ae share the same names with a popular K-pop duo, several teachers and students begin bombarding the two with jokes. 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 for her, she isn't afraid to bite back. To accommodate the unfairness, she uses her own tactics against people who pick on her, such as reflecting every rude remark aimed at her right back at her harasser.

Appearance
Mi-ae Hwang is a sixteen year old girl [International age is fifteen since the Korean age system adds an extra year] who, officially, stands around 4'11" or 150.1 cm ''[All character heights are debatable. The official Korean version of the Special Episode on Naver states that Mi-ae's height is 150.1 cm while in the English version of Episode 44, Mi-ae is mentioned to be 5'1", finally getting over the 5 ft mark. This is an incorrect translation as in the Korean version, Mi-ae made it past 150 cm, being just a centimeter over.]'' She has big round eyes that are a pale shade of olive green, white pupils (most likely a stylistic choice), and has two 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 official height measurement, Mi-ae has 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. In Episode 1, Mi-ae's hair is parted straight in the middle so that the sides 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. As of recent episodes released on Naver, Mi-ae's bangs grew out long enough for characters, such as Cheol and Jisu, to comment on them, advising her that she should get a hair cut. She eventually does in Episode 99, albeit in a painful manner, and now her bangs are shorter than ever.

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 tries to make efforts to get to know them better. She's notably easily distracted, can be a terrible liar, and often 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.

Summary
Cheol Kim (first name spelled "김 철" in Korean) is a transfer student who attends Baekje Middle School. He is nicknamed "Lucifer" because of his striking resemblance to the 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. Counter to the scarier expectations his peers expect, 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 opposition to his negative image at school, Cheol spends his days as a 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 in the hopes of moving 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 he goes to. 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 and his reputation begins shifting into a more positive light.

Appearance
Cheol Kim is a sixteen year old boy [International age is fifteen since the Korean age system adds an extra year] who, officially, could be any height either at or between 5 '10" and 6'2, presumably because he' s still growing [All character heights are debatable. The official Korean version of the Special Episode on Naver states that Cheol's height is 18X.X while the English translated Special Episode on Webtoon says his height is 5'10" but also mentions he is 6'1  in Episode 43.] His size is extremely large compared to Mi-ae's small statue; the most prominent differences between the two can be seen in Episodes 33, 55, 59, 62, 88, 89, and 90. Cheol is also taller than several reoccurring characters who are notably tall, like Jinseop Mo and Jisu Seo, along with most male background students. Adults are also taken aback by his towering height and intense features, such as when two men mistook him for a gangster in Episode 26. He has a scar underneath his right eye that draws unwanted attention and appears to have a stern resting face, causing Mi-ae to remind him to loosen up his furrowed eyebrows so he can appear less intimidating. All these traits cause students to mistake him to be angry or upset; instances of these misunderstandings include his entire class being terrified of him (Episode 3); Seonghan Gu, a student in class 3-12 who becomes increasingly afraid of Cheol in one scene (Episode 58); a gym teacher falsely accusing Cheol of hitting Mi-ae (Episode 58); a perverted flasher scared off campus with one look at Cheol (Episode 60); Cheol steering another student, Changyeon Shim, away from Mi-ae's uniform situation (Episode 74); and a rude arcade customer being prompted by Cheol to pass (Episode 77).

Contrary to his scary demeanor, there have been numerous mentions of Cheol's attractiveness near the end of Season 1 (Episodes 1 - 65) and throughout Season 2 (Episode 66 - TBC). He has fair skin, and 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, which can be spotted in Episodes 12, 14, 17, 56, 69, 72, and 78. His black hair is cut in a way to match the school's dress code, with buzzed ends around his ears and on the nape of his neck. Strands of hair stick up like sharp edges on the top of his head, and his has four distinct bangs that fall over his forehead. He has large hands, almost like an adult's (Episode 50); large feet indicated by his lost shoe (Episode 3); and a slightly lean, muscular build (Episode 70 and 71). Cheol's physique has been caught by Mi-ae on several awkward occasions, such as in Episode 71 when Cheol had his curtains open while he undressed. Mi-ae and Hwani, Cheol's little sister, have also stated in Episode 67 that he is 'like a bear.' His active body type may be due to the soccer games he goes to, biking home from his cram academy, and walking to and from school everyday. Along with his muscular shape, several people comment on Cheol's features. Mi-ae's parents mention that Cheol is good-looking, very handsome, and that he has sharp eyes and a nice nose (Episode 56); Mi-ae's friend Jiseon Gong offhandedly comments that Cheol is 'not bad' (Episode 56); Yonghui Cha, a Goguryeo Middle School student who goes to the same cram academy as Cheol, states that he is more sexy than good-looking (Episode 57); and a girl who's interested in Cheol tries flirting with him (Episode 78).

Personality
During his childhood, Cheol is shown as an aggressive kid who gets embarrassed, primarily with Mi-ae when he first meets her. After the events that transpired at Goguryeo Middle School, Cheol's personality becomes more diligent, reasonable, and mature, but he can also be reclusive, emotional, childish, jealous, and easily agitated. In the beginning of Season 1, Cheol, in order to focus on studying, uses his intimidating appearance and the rumors about him to get people to leave him alone; even being rude to Mi-ae and telling her to stop acting like his friend (Episode 6). However, underneath all his gruffness Cheol has a nurturing nature to him. He has a tendency to be observant of people he's close to - whether he realizes it or not. This can be seen when he helps his little sister with roller-skating (Episode 79) and getting defensive on the topic of his older sister Sunjeong (Episode 89). His protectiveness is very apparent whenever it comes to Mi-ae as well. Throughout Season 2, Cheol is able to open up more thanks to Mi-ae's actively helping his reputation to be seen in a more positive light. In return, Cheol, while still somewhat reluctant to befriend others, is now able to be himself around his classmates and teachers.

Summary
Jinseop Mo (first name spelled "진섭 " in Korean) is a student who attends Baekje Middle School. He is very popular throughout his school thanks to him being sociable and personable. As a guy who seemingly has it all, Jinseop is revealed to be more than his picture-perfect image. When he seems to excel in something, he tends to fail at something else. For instance, while he is good-looking, he's not book smart; he may be popular but his love life is in shambles; and even when he's good at sports, he's not good enough to be a pro. In order to achieve his goal of securing his spot as the popular hot guy, Jinseop has a lot of friend groups he hangs out with to boost his popularity until he grows bored of them. The same can be said about dating as he judges Song-i Han, a girl who openly has a crush on him, to be boring. Yet there are moments where Jinseop takes on a more active, supportive role with his genuine relationships. He is highly observant towards others and gives advice to characters who are going through tough times. As Episode 89 elaborates, underneath all his facades Jinseop is an average insecure guy who priorities external value above all else.

Appearance
Speaking of which, maintaining his popularity wouldn't be Jinseop's only concern. His life takes a sudden shift after getting intertwined with Cheol Kim and Mi-ae Hwang. In the midst of their chaotic drama and misunderstandings (starting at Episode 23), he finds himself acutely aware of the duo. As the story progresses, he gets tangled up in different becomes a wingman of sorts. He starts to notice Mi-ae and Cheol's interactions, reading their feelings like an open book. This is notably seen in Episode 79, 85, and 88, where Jinseop confronts Mi-ae about her feelings towards Cheol, even mentioning to her that the way Cheol treats her is 'special'. When is comes to Cheol, he teases him to intentionally make him jealous. Jinseop even goes as far as riling him up, like telling Cheol that he treats Mi-ae as if she were his own daughter (Episode 88), just to get a reaction.

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세기말 풋사과 보습학원