As a man fails to repay his loans, his daughter is taken by another man hired by the loan shark. She is told he will take her to her aunt. But he plans to sell the daughter to a brothel. She knows this and seems to have accepted this as her fate. A good-natured man appears accompanies them suddenly without their consent. They take route 1 and ride on.

Kang Ho-chan is studying and preparing for his dream job as a TV station producer. Barely scraping by since his father's retirement, his family has high hopes for him. However, he fails time and time again to get into the station and eventually ends up getting a part-time job at a government office to support his family. One day, one full-time employee resigns and Ho-chan's boss offers him a permanent position. Ho-chan hesitates between his long-time dream of becoming a producer and a steady job.

The populace of a South Korean island rebels against police brutality. The protesters are labeled as communists, and the army is dispatched.

The city hums with its usual noise and haste. Unable to keep pace with its restless speed, Se-yeon moves slowly, as if walking through a different time. Every day she brews her tea carefully, hangs her laundry, heads to work, and eats alone. She has a dream, yet never steps into it - only circles around it. Avoiding people's eyes, she goes to the darkened river after sunset and paints. It is the only moment she feels she is reaching toward her dream, the only moment she feels alive. There, in that night river, is someone else besides Se-yeon. By the same river, Jae-woo dreams as well - a dream of making a fortune by selling river sand. They share the same river, share meals, walk the same path, and spend a season together. At the end of summer, Se-yeon and Jae-woo finally come face to face with each other's fragile truths.

Ja-yoon is a high school student who struggles with memory loss after she endured some unknown trauma during her childhood. While trying to uncover the truth, she is unwittingly dragged into a world of crime and finds herself on a journey that will awaken many secrets hidden deep within.