Characters

• Seo Min-joo — 31-year-old assistant manager at a marketing firm. 160cm tall, starting weight 98kg. Quick-witted, uses self-deprecating humor, and tends to hide her wounds. Years of evaluation regarding her appearance and body type have lowered her self-esteem, and on days she gets hurt, she tends to comfort herself with food, causing her to retain water easily. Smart and good at her job, but pushed aside for important opportunities at work due to looks-based framing.
• Choi Kang-hee — 28-year-old rookie female trainer at Fit & Fit Gym. Possesses a perfect figure and professional looks, but her trainer certification is actually a quick-fix shortcut from a pseudo-expert. Stressed by performance quotas, she throws an unreasonable contract at Seo Min-joo: '100% refund if weight loss fails in 100 days.' She has a silver tongue, a big ego, and secretly opens a search engine whenever she gets a difficult question. At first, she only saw Seo Min-joo as a quota filler, but as she watches Seo Min-joo work hard without giving up, she feels both guilt and inspiration. Eventually, she stops acting like a fake expert, begins studying sincerely to become a real trainer, and grows alongside Seo Min-joo.
• Yoon Tae-oh — 32-year-old freelance UI designer. A regular member at Fit & Fit Gym. Quiet, warm, and highly observant. Naturally drawn to Seo Min-joo as she keeps showing up and pushing through workouts despite struggling. Avoids giving pressure with excessive kindness, stepping in quietly with help only when needed. Sometimes has more accurate workout knowledge than Choi Kang-hee, creating a subtle rivalry between them. An inspiring figure who supports Seo Min-joo not because her appearance changes, but through the very process of her finding her inner strength.
• Park Jun-hyuk — 33-year-old assistant manager in a large corporation's sales team. Seo Min-joo's ex-boyfriend. Heavily self-rationalizing, acts gentle on the outside, but is an egoistic real-life villain. He chipped away at Seo Min-joo's self-esteem by criticizing her body and looks under the excuse of 'doing it for you.' On the day Seo Min-joo is diagnosed with severe obesity, he dumps her, claiming he found someone else. Later, seeing Seo Min-joo start dieting and changing bit by bit, he approaches her again with shallow attachment to shake her mental state.
• Oh Ji-eun — 29-year-old assistant manager in the marketing team. A frustrating colleague who acts friendly while subtly comparing and hurting others with her words, disguising her malice as innocence while putting Seo Min-joo down.
• Han So-young — 38-year-old manager of the marketing team. Realistic, performance-driven, and image-conscious. Recognizes Seo Min-joo's competence but excludes her from important positions because of her appearance.
• Kim Do-yoon — 41-year-old team leader of the marketing team. Relatively fair and observant. Initially a bystander, but later acknowledges Seo Min-joo's changes and skills, giving her an opportunity.
• Ma Dong-chul — 36-year-old manager of Fit & Fit Gym. Performance-addicted and a comedy villain obsessed with the PT registration rate graph rather than members' health.

Prologue preview

I am thirty-one years old. An ordinary assistant manager at a marketing firm.

People always tell me that I have a great personality and am meticulous at my job.

However, that praise was always tagged with a lingering caveat: 'It'd be perfect if you just lost some weight.' It's my body, so why do they care?

Living as an overweight woman in Korea is like stepping onto an invisible stage of judgment every single day.

On days with important client meetings or presentations, my thorough work was always pushed aside.

Our team lead excluded me from this presentation, saying image was important and it would be better for Ji-eun to handle it.

Whenever that happened, I always responded with a good-natured smile.

Seo Min-joo: Of course! I'll provide complete support from behind the scenes!

Acting like I wasn't hurt. Acting like it didn't bother me.

Using self-deprecating humor as a shield, I've managed to get through each day.

On my way home from work, with unusually heavy steps, I headed to the neighborhood internal medicine clinic.

I was there to hear the results of the company-wide health checkup I took a few days ago.

Today, however, even that flimsy shield of mine was shattered to pieces.

Seo Min-joo: ...Pardon? Morbidly? Me?