Bitter-Sweet Fairy Tales

The Ugly Duckling

Bitter Sweet Fairy Tales

All Rights Reserved

©2018 Katheryne N., Nievana J.

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"It is only with the heart that one can see clearly, for the most essential things are invisible to the eye."  - The Ugly Duckling

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  Once upon a time, there lived sixteen-year-old Lee Jungmin. Jungmin was born and raised in the country side of Daegu with his parents. His older sister, Seoyeon, was away at university but Jungmin tried to talk to her as much as he could. They were so close growing up and he didn't want that to change but he wouldn't admit that he was relieved she wasn't home anymore. Seoyeon was a beautiful girl and his parents never let him forget. She had a small face with clear skin, her hair was long and full of life, she was five foot three with a slim body and looked as if the Gods sculpted her perfectly. What Jungmin hated the most was that it was all natural; she never had to do anything to look that perfect. Whereas Jungmin couldn't compete: he was five foot four and chubby, his face was round while covered in acne. His classmates loved to call him ugly and say that no one would ever love him. Jungmin lost count of how many times his mom said 'you'd be so handsome if you lost weight.'

   One night, Jungmin sat at his desk, studying away, at one in the morning. He was a smart kid but he was born into the shadows of his sister. She was the top student in her school and she barely had to study, it was a gift. However, for Jungmin, no matter how much he studied he just couldn't get grades like hers. But he didn't mind studying so much, he was used to it by now and it kept him distracted. 

  He normally ended up falling asleep on his bed and his alarm would startle him awake at six-thirty in the morning. He would tiredly get up to the bathroom to do his usual skin care routine that seems to work for everyone but him. He dragged himself back to his room to put on the uniform he resented and packed his backpack. His parents had left for work at this point so he was alone as usual. He took the lunch and dinner his mom prepared for him and placed them into his backpack. He loved his mom's cooking, she made the most delicious meals. He thought maybe that was why he was overweight but her food was too good to not eat. 

  Jungmin only had one friend, Minjun, whom he had know since middle school. Minjun was a cute boy that all the girls fawned over especially because of how much he resembled Ahn Jaehyo, although, he was oblivious of his good looks.

  Lunch time finally came after hours of classes, Jungmin and Minjun sat down together to eat when they overheard two girls talking close by.

  "It really does work, my eonni does it." One girl said.

  "She really lost ten kilograms in a week?" The other said.

  "One sweet potato and one apple a day, you lose weight so fast."

  Minjun snickered. "Why do girls starve themselves like that?" He said to Jungmin. "They may lose weight fast but that's not healthy. Just exercise and eat healthy, they don't need to be skinny." 

  Jungmin nodded as if he agreed but he started to think "I want to lose forty kilograms, if that girl's sister lost ten kilograms in a week then it'll only take a month to become thin."

  Suddenly that was all he could think about. 

  Jungmin awoke the next morning at his desk on schedule. He freshened up, put on his uniform, packed his bag, and stood in the door of his fridge. He stared at the food his mom left for him for lunch and dinner then remembered what those girls talked about at school the day before. He hovered over the food but took a raw sweet potato and an apple instead.