Cheol Kim

### Relatives

Kim Heungjae (Father), Park Seunghwa (Mother), Kim Sunjeong (Sister), Kim Hwani (Sister), Unnamed Paternal Uncle, Unnamed Maternal Uncle, Unnamed Paternal Grandfather, Unnamed Paternal Grandmother, Unnamed Maternal Grandfather

## Appearances

### Debut

31.12.2020

**Kim Cheol** is the male protagonist of *After School Lessons for Unripe Apples*. He is a transfer student who attends Baekje Middle School.

## Appearance

Cheol is a sixteen-year-old boy who stands at a tall height, presumably because he is still growing, though what his height actually is is debatable. 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 to be an aggressive kid who gets embarrassed easily, mainly by Mi-ae when he first meets her. After the events that transpired at Goguryeo Middle School, his personality becomes more diligent, reasonable and mature, though 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.