Miunohri to Swan

미운오리 백조되 or Miunohri to Swan is a 12 volume manhwa by Hwang Mi Ri that uses the Ugly Duckling story as a basis for the plot.

Plot

Go Mi-oh is the youngest of three daughters. Everyone in her family is attractive except her. She is short, has curly hair, and is over-weight. Because of her appearance, she's left out of all of the family outings and parties, and her sisters refuse to acknowledge her as a sibling. She even lives on her own in a studio. Not only is family life miserable, but school life is worse. Her bully, Kim Do-jin, tortures her, because she's fat and ugly. One day, she decides to jump off a building, but her handsome grandfather's ghost offers to make a deal with her.

The story is about accepting yourself for who you are. No matter what you look like on the outside, the one thing that remains the same is what you are inside.

Characters

Go Mi-oh (고미오)

She is our heroine in this tale. Ostracized by family and society, she desires to be beautiful and accepted. When her grandfather helps her become beautiful, she's given the chance to date one of the top models, Lee Eun-ho, as she becomes a model. Once she sees him for who he really is, she breaks it off with him, only to become friends as a way to help her oldest sister. Initially, she wants to avoid being around Kim Do-jin, but because she works for his father's company, he's assigned as her body guard. After her break-up with Eun-ho, she then plans to get revenge on Kim Do-jin by dating him and then breaking up with him. However, her feelings for him grow deeper than planned, and although she knows how mean he was to her in the past, she can't deny she has some feelings for him.

Kim Do-jin (김도진)

Although he starts off as a bully, he shows genuine interest and care for Beautiful Mi-oh. He tries to win her over especially after she breaks up with Eunho. When her secret comes out, he feels the ultimate betrayal and refuses to have anything to do with her. Even when she's no longer in his life, the only girl he can think about is Mi-oh whether ugly or beautiful. His biggest struggle is accepting her as she is.

Lee Eun-ho (이은호)

He is the top model in Korea that Mi-oh has a crush on (She even changes high schools to go with him, but he transfers last minute). He wants to gain the Dark Hunter CF spot, so he tries to date one of the Dark Hunters president's daughters, Mi-oh's oldest sister. But at the same time he wants to date Beautiful Mi-oh. His greed and ambition disgust Mi-oh which causes her to break up. He does what he can to sabotage her relationship with Kim Do-jin.