The movie starts off with the movie title shown along with some murmuring voices.
We then see the silhouette of a man looking out the window. He seems lost and helpless. This man's
brain is not fully grown and that is why he is stuck being a child. The bus he is in stops and
he gets down looking around. The road is bustling with home and the sun shines bright in the sky.
The man stands at a bus stop nearby and asks if he can borrow a cigarette from a fellow passer-by.
The man is kind enough to give him a cigarette and lights it for him. He asks the route of a bus but
the man walks away. He looks around clueless and buys a sweater from a street vendor. We finally
see him walk towards a door in an apartment and hide from someone as if to surprise someone.
The person opens the door and he screams as if to say 'surprise' but his excitement soon goes
away when he sees someone he doesn't recognize. He asks the tenant if a person named Hong-Jong
livs there but the woman doesn't answer. He is shocked and helpless. He stands at the apartment
as if expecting a miracle but nothing occurs. He walks away disheartened. He then walks into
a store asking for Tofu as he's hungry but the store doesn't have any. He walks away upset. After
a while, he finds some Tofu and just devours it. He's gleaming with joy and when offered to pay,
the kind shopkeeper sees his hunger and doesn't want any money. Instead, the shopkeeper hands
him some milk as well to eat slowly. He eats his food and walks to a telephone
booth where some girls are chatting. He asks them to lend him some money but the girls walk
away quickly as they're afraid of him. The man is disappointed but doesn't say anything. The
scene changes to him in a restaurant assuring the owners he wouldn't run away. He tells them
his brother would come as soon as he picks up the call but his brother doesn't receive the
call at all. The owners are mad that he ordered food with no money. The cops arrive soon and the
man tries to run away but they catch him and bring him back. The cops arrest him and search
his stuff. Apparently, his name is Hong-Jong Du and has just been released after his sentence.
Three convictions of attacking, attempted using a girl and involuntary manslaughter
where he claims he hit a worker at dawn after not seeing them on the road. He's finally free
after serving two and a half years in jail. The cops ask for his family where he says they
moved and changed their number too. He has no one and his brother never called back.
He's heartbroken as he can't even reach his family. Soon, his brother comes in and he's
ecstatic. His brother pays and they get out of there in his car. He asks his brother to not be
angry and they soon reach their house. The door opens to reveal his mother and Jong Du hugs his
mother tightly. He finds out his brother was laid off from work and they had to sell their
apartment and now live in a shabby place. His family welcomes him but soon we realize they
don't really want him there. He gives his mother the same sweater he bought earlier as a present
but no one seems happy that he's returned. None of his friends want to have any connection
with him. His brother tells him he needs to grow up and that his actions have consequences.
Jong Du understands this and agrees to get a job. His brother vouches for him and he soon
gets a food delivery job. After that, he goes to an apartment with a gift hamper. There he meets a
girl who cannot really speak. She seems to suffer from a disease. We find out this is the family of
the man he put to eternal sleep in a hit and run case. Jong-du is here to apologize and check on
them even though it seems he has no remorse. The family tells him to get out at that very instant,
returning the gift hamper with him. He wishes them good luck and leaves. He finds the man's son,
Han Sang-shik, who is moving out and leaving behind his cerebral palsy-stricken sister,
Gong-ju, to be cared for by the neighbours. The family is horrified at Jong-du's intrusion,
but he becomes intrigued by Gong-ju. Jong-du is worried about the man's sister living
alone since she's disabled but the man tells him to get lost. He goes away but still he's worried
about the disabled girl. He goes back to the apartment and leaves the gift hamper he brought
before. He slightly opens the door for Gong-ju to take the food in the basket and leaves. He soon
starts his job as a food delivery man and watches some men play cards. He looks at them playing and
even though he's very lonely, he rejoices in their happiness. He goes back to Gong-ju's
apartment again and we see that the opening scene was her apartment. Jong-du contemplates going in
to check on her but doesn't, and drives away. He sees a shooting going on and a mishap happens
as he's trying to speak to them. He falls from his bike injuring himself. His brother scolds
him for being so reckless. His sister in law then confesses none of them like him near,
since they had no worries and they all liked their life without him. Jong-du is extremely
hurt by this but doesn't say a word. The next day, he walks to Gong-ju's apartment
again to give her some flowers. He lies saying it's a delivery so that he can check on her.
The neighbour takes care of her and he leaves. He cannot stop thinking about the poor disabled
girl and keeps going back. He's intrigued and worried about her. He goes to her apartment
again to meet her. He tells her he likes her and wants to know her better. The girl seems to be
appalled but Jong-du continues saying he's found her pretty ever since he saw her. He awkwardly
makes conversation and leaves his card for her to call him if she wants. Leaving, he notices and
becomes interested in her feet, claiming to have never seen a woman's bare foot before. Gong-ju
is startled and distressed at this extremely invasive comment from a complete stranger. Trying
to pacify the startled Gong-ju, Jong-du loses control and starts to use the helpless woman,
stopping only when she faints. He tries to wake her up by spraying water on her face.
He flees as soon as she comes to her senses. Jong-du doesn't seem to care what he did
to the girl. On the other hand, Gong-ju is intrigued to see her neighbours going at it.
She feels disgusted and violated at what happened to her. In a desperate attempt to put on lipstick,
her neighbour's moaning triggers the poor girl even more. Just then, her brother arrives and
takes her to their new apartment as he uses her disability status to get a better subsidized
apartment where he pretends she is living. Some District officers come in to check their apartment
and are satisfied to see Gong-ju there, while not knowing the truth. Her brother throws her back
into her apartment after the officers leave. At the Apartment, Gong-ju calls Jong-du to ask
him something and he immediately shows up at her apartment. There she asks him why he'd bring her
flowers to which Jong-du says he really doesn't know. He asks for forgiveness and they chat for
a while. Jong-du says her name means princess and that's what he would call her as Gong-ju
starts calling him a general. They are on good terms and Jong-du takes Gong-ju out
for a while where she feels free and elated. She stares at the deep blue sky in awe. Then,
Jong-du meets a pastor who prays for him and his sins. Deep down, Jong-du asks the Lord
for forgiveness for what he did to Gong-ju. Fired from his job after crashing the scooter,
Jong-du is given the opportunity to work in his brother's auto repair shop,
where he also sleeps at night. Jong-du visits Gong-ju a lot and helps do her chores. They
chat and talk about their favourites. When her neighbour comes in, Gong-ju lies about having no
one around and soon she leaves. Gong-ju and Jong-du get closer. They sing together and
Jong-du spends most of his time with her. They're really happy together despite their flaws. Gong-ju
tells him how frightened she is of a shadow from a tree outside her window. Jong-du promises her
that she no longer has to be afraid because he will make the shadows disappear by magic.
Jong-du leaves at night and yet they talk on the phone the whole night. He consoles her when she
gets scared of the tree branch shadows again. At dawn, Jong-du steals money from his sister
in law and takes Gong-ju out on a date. While travelling, Gong-ju imagines flirting with Jong-du
just like the couple across from them and giggles at the glimpse of their love. On their adventures
outside of the apartment, the couple is faced with the harsh reality of a discriminating society
but is comforted by the innocent sanctity of their love. After not one restaurant allows them to eat,
Jong-du brings her back to his brother's shop and orders food for them to enjoy. As Jong-du
speaks to his sister in law on the phone, Gong-ju imagines herself dancing around and
having fun like a normal woman would. This shows how much she wants to be treated like a sane,
normal woman instead of some disabled burden. She imagines laughing and quarrelling with
Jong-du as he gets berated by his sister in law for stealing her money. He hand feeds her
and they spend some blissful time together. While dropping her home, they dance freely on the
expressway despite the honking of the cars around. There's a glimpse of them dancing freely in her
living room with the Indian woman, her child and their elephant from the Oasis picture together.
Gong-ju imagines herself to be disability free just having fun dancing around and kissing the
love of her life. As Jong-du drops her off and comes back, his brother berates him for taking
the customer's car and they heavily apologize to the car's owner as he leaves with his car.
When Jong-du naively brings Gong-ju to his mother's birthday celebration,
tempers flare and we learn that his older brother was the actual culprit of the hit-and-run:
his family was glad when Jong-du volunteered to go to jail in his place. All he wanted was
for Gong-ju to know his family but his brother is clearly too irked for her to be there. His
brothers are frustrated at his behaviour and tell him to get her away from the family dinner that
very instant. Jong-du refuses but his brothers insist. Jong-du walks away from the conversation
and feeds Gong-ju as a guest nonetheless. Jong-du refuses to be a part of the family
photo when Gong-ju isn't allowed to be in it. He carefully takes her and drops her home after
having fun with some karaoke and cheering Gong-ju up after she'd been mistreated by his family.
Wanting to be treated like a woman, Gong-ju asks Jong-du to sleep with her back to her apartment,
Jong-du agrees and they have some romantic moments. That's when her brother arrives on
a surprise visit and chaos erupts. Jong-du is arrested and charged with using a handicapped
woman. Gong-ju's family and the police ignore Gong-ju who is too overcome with
emotion and distress at the misunderstanding to make herself heard or understood.
All of them think she's traumatised after the obvious incident. Gong-ju's brother asks for
money to sweep this case under the rug but Jong-du's brother doesn't want to pay up.
Gong-ju tries to tell the truth but she's not capable of it. She's in a lot of pain seeing
Jong-du get prosecuted. She panics and has a seizure as the police take Jong-du away from her.
In a final burst of passion, Jong-du escapes from the police and rushes to Gong-ju's apartment.
Jong-du holds a woman captive and snatches away her phone at a desperate attempt to contact
Gong-ju but in vain. Gong-ju stares at the oasis and his promise to cast the shadows away. But
suddenly, the tree's shadows start falling off and we see the couple reaffirms their love as Jong-du
fulfills his promise of making the shadows disappear by climbing the tree and cutting
the branches off. Gong-ju is trying her hardest to look at Jong-du and to prove his innocence
but it's to no avail. Her heart aches as the only man who loved her is being taken away.
Soon enough, Jong-du falls and is hauled off to prison, having committed several additional crimes
in his trip to see Gong-ju whose exoneration can no longer fully protect him. In the last scene,
Gong-ju is cleaning her apartment alone, while Jong-du's voice is heard reading a letter to her,
promising to come back when he is released and showing how much he loves her.
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