There is a phenomenon in this world that anyone has yet to explain. That is the situation surrounding Jin and his physical appearance throughout the year. It truly is a mystery how someone can be so incredibly attractive in one season and consistently ugly the rest of the seasons every single year no matter what he does.

Spring 2014

Peak of Jin’s physical attractiveness

Jin and Areum meet for the first time. They express interest in one another and start dating soon after. Their relationship is sickeningly adorable. They spoil each other with affection and gifts.

On the last day of spring

Jin and Areum are sitting on Jin’s couch watching a chick-flick when Jin pauses the movie and turns to Areum, his countenance shrouded in melancholy. “Jagi,” he coos.

Areum whips her head toward him in such a way that her hair nearly smacks him in the face. She hums with wide eyes, urging him to go on.

His hands grasp hers gently. “Will you love me no matter what?”

Areum’s expression turns to one of worry. “What are you talking about? Jin? Are you okay?” The question came out of nowhere, and she wondered what on Earth could make him ask such a thing.

Jin is silent for a space of a few seconds. “Can you just give me an answer?” His hands tighten around hers, prompting a straight answer.

“Yes, of course I will. Why wouldn’t I?” Areum uses one hand to pet his hair softly in an attempt to confirm her words and comfort him.

Jin fidgets slightly. “Well,” he begins uneasily, looking off in another direction. That other direction happens to be straight into a lightbulb. Jin winces and tears well in his eyes.

Areum gasps. “Oh, my goodness. Jin, what is going on?”

“Stupid lightbulb,” he mumbles before gazing at Areum once more. Her sincere worry reassures him and gives him confidence to tell her his situation. “I’m going to change tomorrow.”

Areum’s perfectly-groomed brows knit at the center. “Change? In what way?”

“Like,” Jin begins again, wetting his plump lips with his tongue before continuing, “I won’t be attractive anymore.”

The subtle change in Areum’s face was nearly undetectable to Jin—nearly. Areum is silent as she withdraws her hand. “What do you mean?”

“There’s this thing that happens to me where I’m only this attractive in spring—I don’t know how to explain it—it’s a mess and—ugh.” Jin ruffles his hair in frustration. It is undeniably attractive to Areum, but she doesn’t fully understand the situation or what he expects of her.

“I—I don’t know how to feel about this,” she expressly states. “If I had known earlier, it would have been better. I don’t understand why you would hide this from me.” She gazes off in another direction—the same direction in which Jin had gazed. “Darn lightbulb,” she mutters incoherently.

Jin places a gentle hand on her knee, prompting her to look at him once again. “I was nervous and embarrassed. I didn’t want you to see that side of me. I was afraid—“

“Afraid that I wouldn’t love you anymore?” Areum finishes for him. “I can’t believe you would think that, Jin. That wouldn’t change my feelings for you,” she says with a sweet smile, but she is lying. She is incredibly looks-driven and superficial. She has no idea how she is going to deal with this for the next year while waiting for him to be attractive again. There is no way she could say that, though.

“Thank goodness,” he exhales, back from the verge of tears. He closes his eyes and sighs in relief. With bright eyes and a gentle smile gracing his lips, he gazes into Areum’s areumdaun eyes. “I love you.”

Areum’s smile is fake. “I love you, too.”

Summer 2014

Despite the hot weather, Jin wears as many layers as possible to cover his unattractiveness. This includes face masks and beanies, of course. He is used to this in the summer months. He is beyond the point of discomfort in the heat.

Areum pretends it doesn’t bother her, but Jin knows that she is embarrassed to be around him.

Autumn 2014

Jin is thankful that the weather is cooling down and that his layers finally look normal when he goes out.

Areum’s attitude toward Jin follows the weather, becoming slightly colder as the days pass.

Winter 2014/2015

Jin and Areum see each other less despite all of the holidays. Jin questions whether or not they will last through the season. Areum anxiously awaits the first day of spring when Jin will hopefully return to his former state of attractiveness.

Spring 2015

On the first day of spring, Jin returns to his peak attractiveness. Areum is overjoyed and sheds tears at the sight. Jin is also very thankful that Areum is finally happy again. It was hard to see her struggling through the months that he couldn’t be as attractive as she wanted.

On the 7^th day of spring

As he and Areum are out on a date, Jin realizes how superficial Areum is. He knows he should have seen it earlier and feels like the idiot he is.

He breaks up with her.

Summer 2015

Jin no longer feels the need to cover up his unattractiveness in the summer. He decides that if someone finds him unattractive and dislikes him because of it, that’s their problem. He is happy, but still unhappy. No one likes being ugly, after all.

Autumn 2015

Jin meets Kyungmi. She treats him as a regular human being despite his outrageous levels of unattractiveness. She does not know how attractive he gets in the spring.

One fine autumn day

Kyungmi sees Jin across the room and waves him over with an ecstatic grin. She has had a crush on him for a while but decided not to tell him. She wants him to make the first move. “Hey, Jinnie!”

Jin’s heart flutters with delight. Kyungmi’s adorable smile filled him with all kinds of good feelings. It made him the happiest out of everything in the world.

Jin felt that this could be the beginning of a beautiful romance that would last longer than just the spring.