Model (manhwa)

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Cover of the Tokyopop edition of Model vol. 1 (2008). Art by Lee So-young.
Author Lee So-young
Publisher South Korea Daiwon C.I. Inc.
English publisher Australia New Zealand Madman Entertainment
Canada United States Tokyopop

Magazine South Korea Issue
Original run 1999 – 2002
Collected volumes 7

Model (모델 "Model") is a romantic thriller manhwa created by Lee So-young (이소영), which follows Korean artist, Jae, through 7 volumes as she dabbles into the vampire world of Michael, digging in his past to find how best to paint his portrait.

Plot summary[edit]

Jae (Jiye in the Korean manhwa) is a Korean art student living in Europe and studying art. Late one night, her roommate brings home a beautiful, unconscious man- much to Jae's chagrin- leaving him on the couch. During the night, Jae can’t sleep because of the stranger’s presence in the apartment. In the middle of the night, she sees the stranger enter the room. He bites her, causing her to faint. When she regains consciousness, she reasons that she was simply dreaming and gets out of bed unconcerned. She finds the man sleeping on the floor, near her bed, and realizes that he is a vampire and that he has drank some of her blood. While the man is sleeping, Jae removes his shirt and draws him in her sketchbook believing that he has to pay back for drinking her blood. When the man wakes up, he confronts Jae about drawing him. He reveals that his name is Michael (Müriel in the Korean manhwa) and confirms the fact that he is a Vampire. Eventually, Jae and Michael make a deal: Michael will pose for Jae's drawings if she stays at his house and waits to pay her "price". Upon arrival at Michael's sumptuous mansion, Jae meets an array of strange characters, including Ken- an extremely good-looking boy of Jae's own age who is flirty and insulting to Jae in equal measures- and Eva- the mysterious housekeeper who seems to be hiding something. There she is left alone with Eva and Ken for over a week. When Michael returns, Jae goes to find him and is confronted with his vampire nature.


  • Jae: A struggling Korean artist who allows Michael to regularly drink her blood so that he will continue to pose for her paintings. She soon discovers her true deep feelings for Michael and agrees to stay with him at the end.
  • Melissa: Jae's friend. She brings a drunken Michael to Jae's apartment.
  • Rachel Dubon: A young model who arrives at the mansion for an appointment. She is the first to reveal that Eva was a former supermodel and is a huge fan of her to the point where she even carries a giant poster of Eva where ever she goes. Rachel also possesses some xenophobic leanings as she immediately despised Jae for being an "oriental." It is later revealed that Rachel came to Michael to exorcise the spirit of her brother who uses her body as a vessel.
  • Michael: An immortal, breathtakingly beautiful vampire. He believes himself to be 'near perfection.' He was an artist, after leaving the priesthood when he was human. Has not posed for a painting since becoming a vampire. Jae discovers his final self-portrait as a human and attempts to match its quality. He comes to fall in love with Jae. He has the power to paint souls on canvas.
  • Ken: A very attractive youth who lives in Michael's mansion. He's attracted to Jae and hates Michael who he believes to be his father. He is a child born through a forbidden union between a spirit and a mortal. Due to that fact, he was born without a soul and had to share his mother's soul in order to stay alive. His real parent's identities are not revealed to him until the very end.
  • Eva Rose: A former supermodel who now acts as a housekeeper in Michael's mansion. Ken was the child she had with her love, Adrian. She went to Michael asking him to "give life" to Ken, meaning to turn him into a vampire to save him from an early death due to his shortened lifespan. In the end, Eva dies and turns into an angel.
  • Adrian: A former priest and old friend of Michael's when he was human. He is now a ghost and also Ken's biological father. He was the one that turned Michael into a vampire.

External links[edit]