Written by Lee Jaewoo, Kim Jangsoo, Bae Byoungjin & Kim Hyeongyeong Illustrated by Bae Byoungjin

1. BLACK LOTUS
a girl, a monk, an octopus,
a bird, and life's greatest lesson
Lee Jaewoo
Kim Jangsoo
Bae Byoungjin
Kim Hyeongyeong
Illustrated by Bae Byoungjin
KIETT BOOKS

2. BLACK LOTUS
There lived a girl, whose name was Jae,
near the beach. She was fat and had
unusually bright skin. Nobody liked someone
who was fat and had bright skin in the
country. That's why she didn't have any friends
at school. She was always alone, so she felt
lonely.
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3. One day, she
cried at the
beach after
school. Then,
she found
s o m e t h i n g
wiggling in the
black net and
she sneaked
closely to it
cautiously and
curiously. It was
a big white
octopus. She saved it and said, “You are also
white and fat. What a pity! Can you be my
friend?”
“No problem.”
“Thanks, my best friend. I want to call you
Byoungjin if you don't mind,” said Jae. It said,
“Whatever you want. Thank you for everything.
Someday, I will help you. A friend in need, a
friend indeed. Bye, Jae.”
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4. Jae's mother was worried about her
daughter, so she took her to JangsooSa
to meet Monk Jangsoo .
After listening to her worries, he gave
Jae strange advice.
“Black lotus
blossom.
It is the answer for you.
If you want to be
a beautiful girl, go
and find it.
This map will show you
the way to the lotus
pond on the mountain.”
“I'll keep that in mind.
I will make sure to find it.
Thanks, Monk Jangsoo,” she said
excitedly and left for the mountain.
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5. - 4 -

6. After she swam across the river and
walked for days, she finally got to the
foot of the mountain.
1 hour after starting hiking on the
mountain, she felt thirsty and hungry.
Sitting on a big flat stone under a tree
and taking a rest, she saw something
falling down on her map from the tree.
She was surprised and found it was a
baby angry bird. She was happy to save
the bird but she almost cried because her
map was torn. Then, mom angry bird flew
to Jae and saw what happened.
“Thanks. You saved my baby.
What can I do for you?”
“Well, I almost got lost. I am looking for
a lotus pond in the mountain,”
“I can show you the way to the lotus
fond. Follow me.”
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7. With her help, Jae finally arrived at
the pond in 10 hours. The pond was so
huge that she couldn't see the end of the
pond. All the pond was covered with
amazingly white lotus blossoms.
“So beautiful.
I haven't seen this kind of scenery.
It is awesome! Thanks.”
They said goodbye and Jae started
to walk around the pond to find the black
lotus.
About 2 hours later, Jae realized that
she didn't see any black lotus blossom
there. She didn't know what to do.
“Where is the black lotus?”
She was very disappointed and sad.
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8. She missed Byungjin but he was not there.
She decided to see him and bring one
white lotus flower as a gift. She walked
and walked again. She didn't feel lonely
because she met a rabbit, squirrel,
butterfly, and bumble bees in the
mountain.
“I wanted to be cute and pretty like
them. Now, I can't,” she thought.
She finally reached at the beach and
cried out,
“Byungjin, where are you?”
Then, he came close to her, waving his
long legs.
“What is that flower? It is so beautiful,”
“I went to the lotus pond in a mountain
to find a black lotus blossom.
However, I couldn't find it.
This white lotus is a gift for you.”
“Well, then… I think I can give you
a help. Wait.”
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9. Byungjin sprinkled his ink on the lotus
blossom and it turned into black. Jae
couldn't believe her eyes. It became a
black lotus. She was so happy but nothing
happened. So she got disappointed and
ran to Jangsoo to ask why.
Jangsoo saw her with a big smile and
said, "You did it. You don't need the
flower any more. Look at yourself."
She couldn't find herself on the mirror.
Just only a beautiful, slim, and tanned girl
stood there. "Is she me?"
"Hahaha. Yes. It's you. You worked out a
lot to find the black lotus. You got slim
and your skin got tanned on the way to
find it. There is no miracle. True beauty is
inside you. If you early want something
and you try your best for it, it will come
true."
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10. The next day, she went to school.
Nobody hated her anymore. She was
happy.
- No pain, no gain. -
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