Jong-hwan, while waiting to be assigned as a teacher, meets Su-kyung in a cafe where he was writing a poem. They marry soon after. He barely notices his wife''''s hardships, having to deal with his mother, siblings and children and living in a country village. His wife inevitably gets ill and he realizes too late how serious her condition is. He expresses his guilt and love for his wife in his poetry but soon she succumbs to her illness and dies.