Not long after he married, Yoo Shin has to enter the army leaving behind his wife Jil Rye and daughter Yong Bun. He is taken a prisoner of war in a battlefield. Without knowing this, Jil Rye and Yong-bun firmly hope Yoo Shin's safe return from the war while they overcome temptation, poverty, epidemics and even drought. But an influential man of their village rapes Jil Ryel and Yong Bun. Yoo decides to take revenge.

幼满（南宫远饰）和唯一的亲生妹妹美兰以及保姆生活在首尔近郊一所巨大的房子里。一日，幼满新雇的男秘书丹洲（河明钟饰）也住进了这屋子，并与美兰互生情愫发生了一夜情。喜欢丹洲的幼满发现后，非常地愤怒。丹洲打算辞掉工作带着美兰远走高飞，无奈被拥有强大势力的幼满抓回。幼满对丹洲用尽暴力，使后者伤至神智不清后把其关禁在小屋里，命令任何人都不许靠近。因为公事，幼满不得不离家去日本一趟，他走后，时不时探望丹洲的保姆对其提出了共度一晚的要求……某日，许多人聚集在幼满的家中，向其讨债，纷乱中，美兰消失不见，丹洲也离开了这个可怕的地方，不知所踪。

Byeong-tae (Yoon Mun-seob), a philosophy major at Y University, goes to a group blind date and meets Young-ja (Lee Young-ok), who studies French literature at H University. The young men and women of the 1970s, who have grown up under the influence of a rapid influx of Western culture, agonize over college issues, family conflicts, and their future paths in life. But such struggles are self-derisive, and they can see no tomorrow waiting for them. Between Byeong-tae and Young-ja, there is no promise of love, of any kind. They simply meet, and exchange meaningless conversation. Meanwhile, Yeong-cheol (Ha Jae-young), who always rides a bike and declares every time he drinks that he will set off in search of a whale, has feelings for another girl he met on the blind date, named Sun-ja (Kim Young-suk). But Sun-ja rejects Yeong-cheol, who stammers, has no prospects, and was even turned down for military duty due to health reasons, and he falls into despair. With nothing to look forward to, Byeong-tae and Yeong-cheol head to the sea. Yeong-cheol, who boasted that he would catch a beautiful whale in the East Sea, commits suicide, and Byeong-tae enlists with the military. Young-ja comes to see him off, even though she said she wouldn't see him any more, and the two of them kiss through the open window of the train that will carry Byeong-tae away.