Ju-kyung

A student of Class 2-5 in Saebom High School; a girl who masters the art of makeup and transforms herself into a "goddess." Since childhood, Ju-kyung has been constantly discriminated by her family and builled by her peers because of being perceived as ugly. This leads to her having an inferiority complex  regarding her appearance and, worse, contemplating suicide . Eventually, she starts learning how to use makeup by binge-watching tutorial videos in the Internet. When she masters the art just before transferring to Saebom High School, her makeover proves to be transformative as she quickly rises to fame and her peers call her a "goddess." She tries her best to hide her real appearance from everyone but her classmate Su-ho, whom she had previously ran into in her bare face a couple of times, later recognizes her beyond her makeup. In contrast to most girls, Ju-kyung is hooked to reading horror comic books and listening to heavy metal music.

young Su-ho

A student of Class 2-5 in Saebom High School; a boy who is very popular for his dashingly handsome looks but harbors a dark secret from his past. Su-ho seems to have it all—looks, good grades, money and excellent basketball skills—but his dysfunctional family and a tragic incident a year ago turns him into a ice-cold boy who hates being the center of attraction. He first meets Ju-kyung at the top of a high-rise building, when Ju-kyung was contemplating suicide, and stops her from jumping off the building. He shares Ju-kyung's penchant for horror comic books, and he sometimes runs into her inside a comic book store they both frequent. He encounters the transformed Ju-kyung at Saebom High School and soon recognizes her beyond her makeup.

Han Seo-jun

A student of Class 2-5 in Saebom High School; Su-ho's former best friend. Seo-jun is a handsome and equally popular student at Saebom High School who, despite being a tough-looking "bad boy," is a nice and loving person, especially to his mother and sister. A tragic incident a year ago leads to him severing his friendship with Su-ho, with whom he has become hostile with.

Kang Su-jin

A student of Class 2-5 in Saebom High School. Su-jin is a natural beauty and an intelligent girl who comes from a wealthy family. She becomes close friends with the transferee Ju-kyung at Saebom High School. She also has feelings for Su-ho, unbeknownst to him and the rest of the school.

SUPPORTING ROLES

Im Ju-kyung's family

Hong Hyun-sook

The matriarch of the Im family. Hyun-sook appears to favor her eldest and youngest children, Hee-kyung and Ju-young, over Ju-kyung. She owns a beauty shop popular to old women.

Im Hee-kyung

The eldest of the Im siblings; Ju-kyung and Ju-young's older sister. Hee-kyung is adored by the family for being pretty and is frequently compared to Ju-kyung. She becomes attracted to Han Joon-wo

Lee Su-ho's family

Lee Joo-heon

Su-ho's father; CEO of Move Entertainment. He is a famous actor, but he is quick to find a new woman after his wife died, much to Su-ho's resentment.

Selena Lee

a makeup artist that Joo-kyung idolizes.

Saebom High School

Han Joon-woo

Homeroom adviser of Class 2-5 and literature teacher in Saebom High School.

Choi Soo-ah

A student of Class 2-5 in Saebom High School; Ju-kyung and Su-jin's best friend and classmate.

From a young age, our heroine knew she wasn’t pretty based on how others treated her. Her relatives would criticize her for taking after her mother HONG HYUN-SOOK instead of her handsome father IM JAE-PIL.

They made snide comments like “She’ll need plastic surgery,” or “She must’ve been adopted.” Amidst the laughter, Mom had whispered that she just needs to do well in school.

While she once dreamed of transforming into a beautiful fairy like the cartoons on TV, the neighborhood kids ridiculed her for it. She then decided that characters from horror manhwas were far more relatable, for she believed that she was born with a cursed face.

We open with an adorable shot of a baby. This is a baby girl but everyone thinks she’s a boy. The mother is pushing the baby in the street and has a lot of interest from street mamas. Though people think her sister is prettier.

JOO-KYUNG:- Ever since I was little, I sensed it, that I wasn’t pretty.

Time jump to a family meeting. Ju-kyung is nerdy with bad skin. The father side is all handsome so hey tell her that she takes after her mothers side. The Grandpa says she looks like she is an outside marriage kid. All the other family members chuckle and comment. Her mother tells her to study hard, that is all you have to do.

OMG this girl is adorable, she watches a cartoon on TV as kid.

JOO-KYUNG:- I dreamed of a cartoon where a normal girl becomes a fairy (this is hilarious, this show they are showing is a new show, but the flashback should  be like 5 years ago).

She imagines that she is the fairy in the cartoon and decks herself out in her princess gear. But everyone laughs at her at school because she dresses like the Princess in the fairytale. They start to spray water at her from their water guns. Poor thing!

She runs home and turns off her TV show that is the princess show. 

JOO-KYUNG:- Rather than the heroine in a romance cartoon….

She picks up a horror book

JOO-KYUNG:- ..... I realized that I am closer to a horror cartoon character with a cursed mask.

...# PRESENT DAY...

Im Ju-kyung runs to school. She drops her horror book (the same book she picked up as a little kid) so she runs back to grab it and then runs up to the school.

Inside, the teacher tells the class that class ended. So all the girls run to the mirror and puts on their makeup.

But Im Ju-kyung is not. She is sitting at her desk and reading her horror book. Her skin is splotchy and pimpled. She tries to get the girl in front of her to read the book, she is another ugly duckling, but the girl doesn’t want to.

So Ju-kyung plays her heavy metal music with her head phones and has a good time reading her book.

The girls occupied with their looks start to talk about who is the prettiest and all that. One of them say that no matter what they do they will not be the prettiest in the school.

So of course they decide to pick on Im Ju-kyung. They call her dumpling and tell her to leave to do something for them. So she runs off to do it. The other kids laugh. She bites her lip and goes back inside, almost as if she will tell them off. But she doesn’t, she just confirms their order and smiles.

So she runs to the school cafeteria and gets the stuff for the bullies. The person selling it knows her order, that is how often she gets it.

On the way back, she looks for one of her oppas. He walks right up to her without her noticing. She is super happy to see him. They share earbuds. He tells her that they are the same, they have super same music preference.

He starts banging his head to the music like it’s going to pop off. Meanwhile, Ju-kyung is about to go crazy because he is her really big crush. She yells at her heart to stop acting up. He thinks she is yelling at him so she has to say nothing.

The bully kids look out the window and see Ju-kyung and the oppa dancing and having fun chatting. So of course something is about to happen.

Later during lunch, Ju-kyung stands in line with all the other kids and tells the other ugly duckling kid that oppa is cool and she wants to confess. The other ugly duckling is not that into this conversation. She notices that some bullies might be targeting her so she tells Ju-kyung that she will eat later.

Ju-kyung stands in her oppas line to get her food and asks him if she can see him after lunch Monday. She says yes. The bullies look at that and sneer.

...# HOME...

That night, Ju-kyung cooks a lot of super cool looking cookies for her oppa crush. They are pretty adorable cookies. She also packs them really adorably too.

Her mother tells her to study more, your grades went down at your last exam. Ju-kyung yells that she will and takes off to her room. The mother wonders who she takes after and looks at her husband. But then she shakes her head annoyingly and tells him to massage her shoulders.

The appa gets a text message that looks kind of bad. Perhaps a failed investment?

Then the sister runs in, she is gorgeous and has to poop (because it would not be a Kdrama is someone did not have to poop in a hurry). The parents tell her to use their room because the son is in the bathroom.

In Im Ju-kyung’s room, which looks like The Nightmare Before Christmas  and Coco had a baby that exploded all over it, she is looking at a scary cute doll and pretends to kiss it. Her brother barges in right in the act, with lips puckered, so she kicks him out.

...# MONDAY...

The next day, while waiting for the school bus, Ju-kyung tells an online support group that she is going to confess to her crush and that she is super nervous. They wish her luck.

Ju-kyung gets on the bus and tries her hardest to protect her cookies amidst all the shaking and rattling that the bus does.

The bus stops and the pretty trio gets on the bus. Everyone gets out of her way as the pretty bully sits at the spot she wants to sit at in the back.

In class, Ju-kyung accidentally bumps into the full of herself bully so she says she will go buy mandu. She runs off. The bullies see her cookie package and look inside it and laugh. Then they go to the cafeteria and ask the cafeteria oppa if he is dating Im Ju-kyung.

The bully tells cafeteria oppa that he is fresh water and the other girl is dirty sewer water, you are too different. You are too nice of a person, that is why she is hitting on you. When I heard the rumor that you were dating, I was so mad!

(She says this in a little kid way like Kim Ji-won did in Fight My Way.)

The cafeteria oppa tells her not to cry or worry, I will text you about it. The girl says okay and then turns away talking bad about Ju-kyung.

...#MAMAS BEAUTY SALON...

Ju-kyung’s mom, Hyun-sook has her own hair salon, or perhaps works at this beauty salon. She tells one of her clients that her eyebrows are perfect! Then she starts to do her face. But some gangsters come in and ask where her husband in.

Back at the school, Ju-kyung gives cafeteria oppa her gift. He is completely different. He’s mean and asks what this is. She tells him it is a concert ticket and cookies and….my heart. I like you oppa!

Oppa – You are confessing to me? I am Wang Hyun Bin. Hyun Bin. 

JK – Huh?

Oppa – Did you think I would date you if he confessed.

JK – You said I was a nice girl and we have similar taste in music….

Oppa – hey, I was nice to you because you were ostracized. How dare you, you should at least know what is going on if you aren’t pretty. Don’t you see who you are?

He hits her box to the ground.

Oppa – next time you want to do this, look in the mirror, okay? 

He bumps into her when he walks away. She starts to pick up her stuff. Then the bullies come run over, they recorded the entire thing and are still recording it. They run up to get an interview with JK to see how she feels after getting dumped.

The bully tells her that this is daebak, you are really ugly like this. JK pushes her away a tiny bit. The other guy bully pushes her and dumps her cookies on her.

The ugly duckling kid is the one that is reluctantly filming it.

JK – Why do you hate me so much? *teary* I did nothing wrong to you, so why do you hate me so much? *sniffles*

Bully – Do you want me to tell you? It is because you are ugly.

She hits her finger to her forehead. The other bullies tell her that ugliness will transfer to her, don’t touch me! The other ugly duckling looks sadly at her.

...#AFTER SCHOOL...

Ju-kyung walks home and looks at all the comments from the video. She cries and cries and runs off to a department store bathroom.

She washes her face in the bathroom and looks at herself. 

Inner Jukyung :- Hey look at yourself. In the time you waste doing this, you should know yourself….Because you are ugly.

Ju-kyung throws her glasses on the floor and sits sadly in the bathroom.

The next day, she goes to school and the bullies get the entire class to cheer Bomb Bomb Bomb. She kind of wonders what is going on then sees that they are watching her video in the room. But it looks like this is just a dream. She is still in the bathroom.

She wonders how she can go to school tomorrow and starts to cry.

She rides her fancy elevator up to her house. Her glasses are broken. She goes to the top floor and to the roof. She is about to jump off the side. She takes another step closer to falling, then another small step and looks over to the ground. She takes a deep breath….

Then she looks at the skyline and sees a huge image of an Idol that died. He died at 18 years old so his fans are giving him a tribute. It appears that he also killed himself. She thinks he is a poor guy and thinks, I wont die.

She starts to shiver and says it’s cold. 

But then another kid sees her.

He runs over and pulls her off the rooftop. Her glasses fall off, his headphones fall off. He crashes to the ground, she falls on top of him.

SUHO:- SH

SH – Ah, that is good.

There is a makeup ad playing on the sign now.

Ju-kyung tries to see his face, but she can’t without her glasses. She hops up and asks what he is doing. Then she starts to look for her glasses.

He stands up and asks what she is doing? Were you about to jump out? Are you crazy? Insane? Why did you want to commit suicide? Why would you make this kind of choice!

JK – I wasn’t about to

SH – You should fight with the courage of you trying to kill yourself. Don’t you think your family will be sad?

JK – I….

SH – Someone will be in pain forever because they couldn’t rescue you. You understand? You can’t do anything for the dead, so don’t die.

He grabs his head phones and walks off. But he stops and looks at her again.

SH – What? If I leave, are you going to jump?

JK – No, no, well, my glasses, um….

She starts to follow him back down the steps. But she is slow going because she can’t see anything.

It appears that the elevator isn’t working perhaps so hey have to take the steps. She calls for him to wait, ajusshi! I can’t see anything! I lost my glasses because of you! Without my glasses I don’t even know if thats poop or dwenjang ARGH!

She trips over the last few steps and splays on the floor. 

JK – Are you still there? Ahhhh, my life….*wine*

But he is still there. He puts his arm out to help her stand. She grabs his booty accidentally so he pushes her away.

She apologizes and says she didn’t mean to! So he gives her a piggy back ride instead. She tells him that she is heavier than she looks. He says she looks heavy also. And why are you calling e ajusshi?

They start the long trek down the steps.

JK – I have a question, why did you come to the rooftop?

SH – Ajumma! Just say it loudly.

JK – It is scary if I say it loudly here. And I am not an ajumma, I am a student in  a school uniform.

SH – *ignores her*

JK – Someone from the rooftop like me….you know, you rescued me even though you don’t know me and got angry so I just wondered if someone you know died.

SH – If you say one more thing then I will abandon you here.

He keeps walking down belaboredly.

SH – Ah, this is so heavy.

JK – Cheer Up, Cheer Up.

SH – Ajumma!

JK – *quiet*

He finally gets to the bottom. A man gets off the elevator.

SH – Ajusshi, I thought the elevator was broken?

Man – I just checked it, didn’t you hear the announcement

SH drops JK.

JK – So maybe we should have waited a little bit?

SH sighs.