ugly duckling

babys first steps

you peer into the mirror, freshly washed, shaven, and hair neatly braided as per usual. the remaining minutes before you need to leave for school hang over your head like a noose as you glare at your plain appearance. better than sticking out for being 'ugly' You still wished you were pretty like the many, many girls in your class last semester.

you glance around the empty vanity, gulping when you lock eyes with a single hair clip, pink and glittery, it was far too big for the strands of hair that framed your face but you decided, screw it! and clipped it onto your hair pushing the little bangs out of your face.

touching the bulky clip, you blush happily, feeling cute enough already you stand from the cushiony seat and make your way out of your room. with a departing kiss from your mother, you make your way to school with your head held high. you knew no one would really notice or care about the new detail on your person but it felt good to finally try and make yourself look nice, one clip at a time you'd become a pretty girl!

sitting in your class, the same seat next to the same people, you bask in the light coming from the big windows. the chatter from around the room does nothing to distract you as you bring out the homework assigned during break, you are not even deterred by your fear of the boy next to you as he boasts to his goons about his latest victim fight.

you push your bulky lenses high up your nose when the teacher walks in, your eyes all glimmery and prepared to take on the world. this is when the man announces the arrival of a transfer, "in the second semester?" your classmates wonder out loud, equally as interested in the arrival as you are, many eagerly hoping the new kid is attractive, others snickering at the idea that they might be ugly.

what none of you expect is for an actual god to walk in, tall, lean, and shy. your mouth, along with every boy and girl in the room, drops. most blush, the few others scowl in jealousy

"Hello," the new kid says shyly, holding his hands behind himself as his eyes nervously dart around the room "My name is Daniel Park, it's nice to meet all of you." quickly the teacher beckons him to his assigned seat next to zack, a mean ex-boxer in your class who- shocker, sits right next to you

your day is ruined as the new boy sits in his seat sandwiched between Zack, the cool handsome athlete in your class, and you, Miss Plain Jane. already you can tell that this semester was going to be agonizingly tough.

A/N

new story!!! sorry, but I couldn't help myself!!!

like Fruits Basket, I have been a fan of Lookism for a while now. I started reading the comics in middle school and have been on and off again with the story since.

if you couldn't tell this fanfic will be using the webtoon translations since that is the version I've read and re-read since picking up the series.

I enjoy the story and the characters enough to write this but I can't promise that I'll be able to finish the story since the gang crap we get into later on isn't all that interesting to me BUT!!! I can promise an attempt at romance in this fic because, well, what else are you supposed to do with a super pretty and fun cast of characters!!!

If MC comes off as Mary Sue or cliche, sorry but (spoiler???) I do want to emphasize her self-value and how often she makes self-deprecating comments since it's a huge plot point for her as she becomes a "main character"

there's also gonna be a bit of descriptive language. I use she/ her pronouns and mc wears the female uniform. She was also described as having a long and unflattering braid with bulky glasses and an untamed appearance most of the time, however!!! I try to avoid language like that when I can since it is super disheartening to see it in fics where I don't fit the image. I can't promise it's gonna be perfect since the MCs I write are based on my OC's.

I imagine her to be pretty generic as far as the main girls go since compared to later female character designs, Crystal, Zoe, Mira, and her friends look pretty boring (I love them I swear this isn't hate) but this has no real impact on the story and if you weren't already aware you don't need permission to switch language in my fanfic to suit your taste since, how am I gonna know? make your mc as interesting as you want at the end of the day this is all a form of fiction we all wanna have fun with

Long story short, sorry for any language that might make you feel disconnected from the story, I'm gonna try to avoid it but I can not promise it won't happen since this story is made with my OC's in mind.

ANYWAYS!!! now that we have that out of the way, I hope none of this drives people away and I hope everyone enjoys this fic since I need more lookism x readers now, if you're a writer GET TO WORK!!