After School Lessons for Unripe Apples is a great slow-burn (180+ chapters and still very little progress) childhood friends-to-lovers manhwa from the same author as Cheese in the Trap. Here is everything we know about a return date.
Update (April 2026): Soonkki shares health struggles, no return date in sight
In a new announcement posted to Instagram and her Naver Creator account, Soonkki shared a much more detailed update about her situation. In short: After School Lessons for Unripe Apples is unlikely to return anytime soon. Soonkki revealed that her physical condition is worse than she initially expected when she first announced the hiatus in late 2024. According to the post, her organs and nervous system have been affected by long-term inflammation after years of overwork, causing serious problems with her stamina and daily life. She is now seeing doctors, receiving treatment, and managing her diet as part of her recovery.
The key takeaway: Soonkki cannot promise when or in what form After School Lessons for Unripe Apples will return. During the hiatus, she considered changing her production process or revising later parts of the story to bring it to a quicker conclusion, but she ultimately could not bring herself to compromise the ending of a story she clearly still loves. While she does not ask readers to wait, she makes it clear that she has not given up on the series. Here is the translation of the post if you want to read the full statement:
Hello, this is Soonkki.
Writing the opening words of yet another announcement makes me more nervous than ever before.
As my return kept getting delayed and pushed back, I felt it would be better to speak honestly now rather than keep repeating announcements without a clear date. So I am sharing an update regarding After School Lessons for Unripe Apples. I am sorry for making you wait so long.
During the hiatus, I had several personal issues. To get straight to the point, my physical condition is currently much worse than I expected due to long-term overwork and burnout.
During the hiatus, I tried not to focus only on work. I tried to rest enough, exercise, enjoy hobbies, travel, and not lose sight of everyday life. I thought that if I rested for a long time, I would get better, but I realized belatedly that it was not simply a matter of rest. I am currently going to the hospital, receiving treatment, and managing my diet.
It is not a serious illness, but my organs, nerves, and other parts of my body have been exposed to inflammation for a long time, which has caused many problems in my daily life and stamina. I think that is why it took so long to find the cause.
In my case, while working on the series, I generally worked more than 10 hours a day and met weekly deadlines with almost no days off. This was entirely because of my own desire to draw better and show you more, and I think the result of pushing myself like that has now come back to me in the form of my current physical condition.
Right now, I can only work for a few hours a day at most, and it is difficult for me to keep doing that every day.
So, to be honest, returning to the same weekly serialization pace as before has become difficult for me. Apart from the fact that recovery takes time, the total amount of work my stamina can handle has also decreased a lot compared to before.
I also became afraid that if I kept working in the same way I could manage before through sheer determination, I might no longer be able to continue working as an artist at all.
During the hiatus, I considered many options to find a way to finish the work more quickly, such as changing the manuscript process or revising later parts of the story. But because I did not want to end this work poorly, I ultimately could not reach a clear conclusion.
So at this point, I cannot make an exact promise about when or in what form this work will be able to reach you again. To be honest, I do not even feel able to ask you to wait. But I do want to say here that I have not let go of my love for this work.
I will discuss the serialization format and future direction of this work thoroughly with Naver and make decisions from there.
For now, because I don’t want to stop creating, I am focusing on treatment while continuing to think about this series. I am also gradually trying other kinds of work that I can manage within the limits of my current stamina.
If you are disappointed and choose to leave, I understand. Still, if you could understand my insufficient situation and keep this work somewhere in a corner of your heart, I hope that after forgetting about it for a while, we may meet again one day in your everyday life with good news. And if you enjoy this story again then, that would be my greatest happiness and reward.
I will also try to occasionally post daily-life updates or simple drawings on Instagram.
Thank you always, from the bottom of my heart.
After School Lessons for Unripe Apples: Why is it on Hiatus? (November 2024 Announcement)
The short version: It’s author Soonkki’s health. She doesn’t go into detail, only mentioning her “physical condition,” but she explained the reason on her Instagram account:
Hello, this is author Soonkki.
Originally, I planned to finish After School Lessons for Unripe Apples in early 2025. However, because this is a work I care deeply about, I wanted to show more of the story.
But I haven’t been able to keep up with producing weekly episodes as I’d like, and my physical condition has become very exhausted. Because of this, I’ve decided to take a long-term hiatus.
With the paid update on December 6 (Friday) as the last update, After School Lessons for Unripe Apples will go on hiatus.
This time, I want to take things slowly and carefully, so I can prepare a warm and beautiful ending for Miae and the others. I plan to build up a large buffer of episodes, exercise more, and return in better health.
I don’t know the exact return date yet, but I will occasionally share updates or sketches on Instagram or my author page.
Thank you.
This is the post:
When will After School Lessons for Unripe Apples be back?
For a long time, there was no clear update on when After School Lessons for Unripe Apples would return. After Soonkki’s hiatus announcement at the end of November 2024, most of her Instagram updates were merchandise announcements, artwork, or short seasonal greetings.
In May 2025, she gave a brief update on Instagram and wrote that she was revising previous episodes and working on new chapters. However, she also made it clear that a return in 2025 would be difficult:
I’m currently revising previous episodes and working on new chapters.
Unfortunately, it looks like returning this year will be difficult 😢
I’ll make sure to prepare everything well in the meantime! I’ll also share updates from time to time 🍏There’s still no exact announcement for the return date
(and it won’t be immediately at the start of next year either ㅠㅠ).#AfterSchoolLessonsForUnripeApples
At that point, a return sometime in 2026 still seemed realistic. Soonkki had written that the series would not return “immediately at the start of next year,” which suggested that she was not ruling out a comeback later in 2026.
However, her latest announcement makes the situation far more uncertain. Before sharing the new update, Soonkki also posted a new drawing of Miae on her Naver Creator account, though not on Instagram:
Hello ☺️ I drew Miae.
I drew her thinking of Miae around her first year of middle school, but her hair doesn’t really look like it did back then, haha. Anyway, Miae!
The earlier wording made a return in the second half of 2026 sound possible, but that is no longer something readers should count on. In her latest statement, Soonkki said she cannot promise when or in what form After School Lessons for Unripe Apples will return. She also explained that returning to the same weekly release schedule as before is no longer realistic for her.
If I hear any news, I will update this article immediately, of course.
After School Lessons for Unripe Apples: English vs. Korean Release Date
Keep in mind: Even if the Korean release date is announced, it could take a while for the series to arrive on Webtoon Global because it still has to be translated. Big titles like I Married the Male Lead’s Dad and No Office Romance have a huge gap between the Korean and English releases.
But to be honest, with popular titles like After School Lessons for Unripe Apples, I think the wait time won’t be longer than three weeks. We’ll see!
