A delightful romantic comedy with an endearing heroine.

The story began with our heroine who’s had to live her whole life with her community's overwhelming opinion that she was ugly, culminating in a horrific bullying incident that induced her to almost taking her own life. After pulling herself back from the depths of despair, she sought help from an online beauty guru and when a chance to transfer schools arrived, she remodeled herself through the magical powers of makeup. As she navigates the new high school while hiding her “ugly” past, making friends and grappling with all the newfound attention from boys (especially two in particular), she learns to face her fears and reveal her true self.

First of all, I must say that I very much enjoyed this show largely due to how charming Moon Ga Young was in portraying Ju Kyung. She was so endearingly funny and genuinely cute that it was hard to dislike her, even when she made questionable choices. What is with this director who is able to capture the charm of the actress through their character (hey there, Extraordinary You's Kim Hye Yoon)?

Ju Kyung is sweet and kind. But her reluctance to speak up for herself, her tendency to run away rather than fight back; these behaviors will certainly create frustrations for the viewers, as I also felt the same. From the lens of an adult, the problems of teenagers bordered on trivial. And yet, you cannot deny the reality of it; because as much as I wanted to pull her aside and tell her that looks aren't everything, that there will be more to life than what happens in high school, I also understood her insecurities completely and the choices she made as a result, because they were universal. I sympathized with her sentiments, especially after watching Moon Ga Young portrayed Ju Kyung with such heartrendingly realistic despair. I was appalled at how cruel her peers could be. So when she was able to make a fresh start and simply be happy because she was able to make friends, I was happy for Ju Kyung too. Yes, the new friends flocked to her because she was pretty but it was also clear that they genuinely liked her. The teachers fostered a warm environment as well, especially one kind, emasculate teacher who had a funny love line with Ju Kyung's beautiful, confident sister. One of her new friends included a girl named Soo Jin (Park Yoo Na), whom I thought was super cool for a good portion of the drama, then felt nothing but disappointment in when the writer took a lazy turn by making her character a typical, conniving second lead in the end. Or maybe that was the point; because of how strong and righteous she was, protecting her friends like a guardian angel, her betrayal at the end cut deep. I was also a bit disappointed in how long it took for Ju Kyung to confront her bullies, though I rooted for her all the same. It was sweet that the courage to face her fears came from her kind heart; wanting to protect her friends was ultimately what gave her the strength to stand up to the bullies. It was a fist pump moment but I wish there was more to see of the positive changes in Ju Kyung than what was shown. And there was much left to be desired in the bullies meeting their comeuppance.

Anyhow, the majority of the drama was certainly a fun ride and a mood lifter. This was in every respect a romantic comedy because the romance had me laughing and feeling the butterflies all at the same time. It had one of the most interesting love triangles I've ever seen (and I typically hate love triangles); I felt Ju Kyung’s chemistry with both boys. But not in the way you think, in that, it's clear who the heroine likes and who she will end up with (deserving and more on that later). Instead, it's simply that the second lead, Seo Jun (Hwang In Yeop), contributed to the story in a way that was wonderfully interwoven into the main plot; he wasn't just there to spur the story for the leads. Ju Kyung and Seo Jun's interactions were just as interesting and uniquely comical. Also, why is it that when your parents are friends, you instantly become friends? Any gap would close so quickly whenever you're thrust into such a situation that you don't even know what hit you. And this is exactly what happened to the two of them, as their moms turned out to be friends. Ju Kyung went from feeling intimidated by this bad boy from school she barely knew to comfortably teasing him that she'd tell on him to his mom, ha. And then this delinquent, of course, developed a huge crush on her; it was an absolute delight to watch (roar!). And I’ve gotta say, if you can rock a mullet, that’s an achievement in and of itself. The man is HOT. But then he had to go and completely capture us with his heart of gold too. I recalled spotting Hwang In Yeop for the first time in Nokdu Flower as a quiet assassin and thinking he was intriguing then. Well, he is simply amazing here. I look forward to more roles from him. And that voice!

Having said all that though, and I may be in the minority here but, I am team Su Ho (Cha Eun Woo) all the way. And I say this not as a fan of Cha Eun Woo. This was actually my first drama in which he starred in, and I am well aware of the fact that he is famous for his looks just as much as his lack of talent. But, honestly, I thought he was decent here as an actor. Of course, comparatively, Moon Ga Young and Hwang In Yeop were a step ahead, but overall, there wasn’t much to complain about. As bland as he may have been, there was no denying his attractiveness in a conventional way. Su Ho was a complete jerk (actually, all the boys were) in the beginning but then he fell for Ju Kyung first, in all her pimply glory. It's really cute. In one instance, he says that he doesn't see a difference between Ju Kyung with makeup and without makeup. He said it without much fanfare, as if it was a matter of fact; it made it all the more convincing and sincere. As much as I like Seo Jun, I was a solid team Su Ho in that respect. Ju Kyung was at her worse, or her truest self, when she was with him and that's whom he fell for. He was there for her from beginning to end (except for that short noble idiocy right before the end, which I chose to forget because I liked the drama too much to be so critical about it). He was the only one who had seen her barefaced, fed her food when hungry, shared hobbies like their mutual interest in horror comic books, tried to make her feel better when upset, protected her, etc. It's all super adorable and he's pretty swoony while doing all of it. It was even better once he confessed; he was understanding, patient, attentive, devoted. In short, he was the perfect boyfriend. They managed to do what a good number of dramas could not, and that was, to keep their relationship compelling, even after they started dating. They were simply adorable together. Ju Kyung was such a klutz around him. Second-hand embarrassment is strong here but it was so funny that in the end, I found myself thinking her bumbling adorable more than anything else. There were many scenes where I had to pause, squealing and screaming at her to just STOP because in that split second you figured out exactly what she was about to do that was bound to be uber mortifying, like when she told Su Ho to LET GO, thinking he had stopped her from leaving when it was just her shirt caught in the door. Or that time she sat on his shoulder. Omg, I busted my gut laughing. This girl, I'm telling you.

Admittedly, the comedy bordered on over the top at times, filled with antics and slapstick humor. But the truly funny, literally laugh-out-loud parts significantly outweighed the exaggerations, so I tolerated it. And even then, it didn't make me want to skip scenes.

This was certainly not a perfect drama. It started out refreshingly different but ended up predictable. Even so, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. So much happened in each episode that words would not do justice to convey how entertaining this show was. You'll miss out on all the fun if you're merely reading about it so just go watch it.