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, RR: Segimal putsagwa boseupagwon, MR: Segimal p'ussagwa posŭphagwŏn) is a Drama Webtoon Original created by Soonkki; it updates every Sunday. The original Korean Webtoon premiered on Naver.
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?
Characters[]
Mi-ae Hwang[]
Mi-ae whispering to her desk mate, Cheol Kim, during class.
Summary[]
Mi-ae Hwang, born on June 15, 1984, is a 3rd year student at Baekje Middle School. She spends her days managing her academic studies, socializing with friends, and dealing with bullying at school. On campus, Mi-ae is often belittled due to her short stature. Along with inequitable treatment, she faces name-calling from both her peers and instructors. The situation worsens when her new classmate, Cheol Kim, becomes her desk mate, leading to more ridicule; namely comparisons to the popular K-pop duo who the two share names with. Despite daily harassment, Mi-ae stands up for herself by using deflective tactics when confronting those who bully her.
Outside school hours, Mi-ae enjoys eating out, particularly Korean meals and snacks, but she hates red beans. Mi-ae is also quite active; she won both the short-distance run at her school's track 17th meet, jogs with her father, and often jumps rope to relieve stress. When not gossiping at school, Mi-ae's trio of friends, consisting of Yunhui Lee, Jihye No, and Jiseon Gong, joins her in singing karaoke, playing at the arcade, or watching videos of their favorite pop group, "The Fire Boys."
Appearance[]
Mi-ae Hwang is a sixteen-year-old girl [The 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 two small eyelashes on her lower eyelids. She also has a 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[]
Art depicting what Cheol and Mi-ae may look like in high school.
Mi-ae goes through several hairstyles during 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 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 haircut. 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.
Cheol Kim[]
Cheol Kim in his school uniform.
Summary[]
Born September 9th, 1984, Cheol Kim is a transfer student who attends Baekje Middle School. He is nicknamed "Lucifer" after a fictional character in a popular manga to whom he shares a striking resemblance to. Cheol is plagued with an infamous reputation after rumors spread that he beat up a kid (later identified as Tae-uk Gwak) at his old school. Counter to the expectations his peers expect, all he ever does is study, thus adding "Repentant Lucifer" to his title. Initially, he doesn't care if he comes across as rude, and in some cases chooses 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. His hobby is primarily soccer and he specializes in sports. He'll eat just about anything but prefers to stay away from sweet food. Cheol will run errands for his family, hangs out with his little sister Hwani, 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. To do that, he needs to improve his grades and avoid any "distractions" that may get in his way. 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 as his neighbor who 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. Along with being taller than several reoccurring characters and most male background students, he also has a scar underneath his right eye. When out in public, Cheol draws unwanted attention from other people due to his towering height and intense features. This can be seen when two men mistook him for a gangster in Episode 26. Since Cheol appears to have a stern resting face, Mi-ae sometimes reminds him to loosen up so he can appear less intimidating. With all these traits Cheol possesses, students are prone 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 he has four distinct bangs that fall over his forehead. He has large hands which Mi-ae comments they are almost like an adult's (Episode 50); large feet indicated by his lost shoe (Episode 3); and a muscular build that borders on being lean (Episodes 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 every day. Along with his muscular shape, several people comment on Cheol's features. Mi-ae's parents mention that Cheol is good-looking and 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, 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, mainly 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. At the beginning of Season 1, Cheol, 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 lets his actions showcase his feelings more often than words, such as when he wrote down directions for the school's folk-dance so Mi-ae can memorize each step (Episode 63). He tends 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 gets 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 can 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.
Jinseop Mo[]
Jinseop smiling with a lollipop in his mouth.
Summary[]
Born October 6th, 1984, Jinseop Mo is a student who attends Baekje Middle School. He is very popular thanks to his sociable and personable appearance. He has several nicknames showcased in Special Episode (#66) such as hottie, Mr. Mo, and Jinseop Hyeon. His main hobbies include hanging out and eating candy, with lollipops likely being his favorite. Jinseop loves spaghetti and hates getting food stuck in his teeth. A few of his specialties consist of soccer and being good-looking. As a guy who seemingly has it all, Jinseop is quickly 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. 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. 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 guy who prioritizes external value above all else.
Appearance[]
Jinseop Mo is a sixteen-year-old boy [International age is fifteen since the Korean age system adds an extra year] who is either 5'9" or 5'10''[All character heights are debatable. The official Korean version of the Special Episode on Naver states that Jinseop's height is 181. X, while the English translated Special Episode on Webtoon, says his height is 5'10".] While he is built quite similarly to Cheol, Jinseop seems to be a bit more slender and lean side (Episode 101). He has coffee-brown hair and gray eyes with long eyelashes. His eyes share the same white iris Mi-ae has, which is presumed to be a stylized choice by Soonki. He has gone through a few different hairstyles in the series, albeit unwillingly; Mi-ae was the one who triggered a domino effect after accidentally hitting him with a garbage bag, resulting in a teacher shaving his hair by force in Episode 42. Before he received an unfortunate buzz cut, he styled his hair straight up with a few spiky strands jutting out like in his profile picture. His hair is buzzed around his ears and neck.
Throughout the school, many girls openly crush on Jinseop as he's well-known for being the hottest guy at Beakje Middle School. In Episode 10, the narrator mentions how Jinseop turned down a casting offer, has a string of exes a mile long, is well-known outside of school, and resembles both a character from a popular manga as well as a popular celebrity. Even Mi-e and her friends are infatuated with him (Episodes 10, 12, 22, and 34), commenting on how he looks like one of the members of the Fire Boys. Looks aside, Jinseop enjoys wearing earrings - usually black and gray ones - and knows local shops around town (Episodes 54 and 55). He can be seen numerous times sucking on lollipops, although it can be speculated whether he simply enjoys the sweet treat or he's using it to break a possible smoking habit.
