(Serialized) Why the World Seems Unkind Only to You _Starting Out

In the Naver webtoon <Return of the Mad Demon>, the protagonist, “Yi Jaha,” says, “It is rare for someone to be ugly even when smiling,” and that “among ugly people, there are also acquired ugly people made by not smiling sincerely.” He goes on to say, “If your true feelings are to hurt someone, but your face is smiling, the facial muscles tend to gradually twist toward an unattractive side.” While reading this comic, I thought it was truly correct.

Most of us think that a face or appearance is determined from birth. We say that we live within a framework prearranged by the combination of genes. But every day in the clinic, I feel that this is only “half of the truth.” The direction of the emotions one has lived through, the thoughts never spoken, the expressions and tone of voice once suppressed—all of these slowly harden the face and the person’s atmosphere toward one side.

That is why some people soften the air around them every time they smile, while others leave behind a sense of tension even though they are clearly smiling. The difference does not come from facial features, but from the harmony between the heart and the expression. There is a saying that “the face is a résumé of life,” and perhaps that is because it is the result of emotions accumulated layer by layer over time.

I face the faces of countless people every day in the clinic. As a dentist, those faces are always “analyzed” in terms of teeth and gums, lips and smile lines, occlusion, and three-dimensional symmetry in the up-and-down, left-and-right, and front-and-back directions, but sometimes I feel the “power of expression” that transcends all of that data. What made a bigger difference than the shape of the lips and mouth was how sincerely and warmly that person smiled.

A person’s face is more honest than one might think. The gaze of someone harboring anger inside is uneasy, and the corners of a forced smile quickly fall away unnaturally. On the other hand, someone who genuinely likes people may have a somewhat awkward expression, but still comes across as bright.

In the end, sincerity is conveyed to others through the face. It can be explained in the language of science or the language of art. In neurology, it is called the “mirror neuron effect,” and in psychology, “nonverbal emotional contagion.” But I would simply like to call it this.

“KIN:D,” kind.

We often feel that the world is unkind only to us. But perhaps the problem is not the world, but us—closing our hearts first and facing the world with a hardened expression.

<KIN:D> is a story about how to reopen a closed expression. It is not a moral manual on kindness, gentleness, and polite conduct, but also an essay about restoring the “power of a gentle heart.” When we become KIND, the world finally changes. And the beginning always lies in showing a KINd :D smiling expression—the very moment itself.