Li-hwa graduates college and becomes a reporter. On a rainy day, she remembers an old boyfriend, Suk-gi. She goes to Eroika to look for him. Instead, Li-hwa meets Suk-gi's friend, Su-hwan, and she falls in love with him. On the other hand, while on a story, Li-hwa meets Kwang-jun who is a night teacher. She is drawn to his sincere humanity. As time passes, Kwang-jun comes to know Li-hwa's feelings. Together, they help children and offer guidance to prostitutes. Kwang-jun and Li-hwa have true love for each other but they part when Kwang-jun's non-permitted building is demolished. Hyun-wu ended up as a mental patient from the shock he received from his mother's scandalous behavior. He meets Li-hwa and receives her devoted care. Finally, Hyun-wu recovers completely and the two confirm their love. And the next day, Hyun-wu returns to society as a healthy man.

Gang-soi is a mean scoundrel who travels up north. Ong-nyo, a woman destined to be widowed, is run out of her village and travels south. Gang-soi and Ong-nyo meet in Chongseok-gwan, a midpoint between Hwang-hae province and Gaeseong, and they get together. As they wander the lands, Ong-nyo works hard while Gang-soi does nothing. They settle down in Mt. Jiri. But when Gang-soi brings back a totem pole while looking for wood and when he tries to start a fire with it, he incurs its wrath and dies. Thus their relationship comes to a tragic end.

Yi-su, a 37 year-old professor, can't forget her first love Joon-ho who's missing in action in Vietnam. She meets Hyun-woo one day, who look surprising like Joon-ho. Hyun-woo investigates Yi-su who lives in the past and discovers that her pain stems from the Vietnam war. Hyun-woo can't help falling in love with her even though he's a student. On a trip to Busan, he confesses his love for her. But he soon realizes that the only man for her is Joon-ho. Min-cheol who fought along with Joon-ho sells his belongings to Yi-su at a high price. He tells her that Joon-ho died in a fire and they argue aggressively. Min-cheol commits suicide afterwards and Yi-su is also found dead in the campus pool.

Magistrate Hwang's daughter Jin-yi, is jilted before her wedding because a shoe maker was smitten with her and commits suicide. Jin-yi becomes a courtesan, and becomes famous for her wits and beauty. She falls for Byuk Kye-su, but he's chosen to be an envoy to a far off kingdom. When he leaves she feels so betrayed she takes to a life of wandering. She meets Lee Saeng, a destitute scholar, and stays with him until she discovers he's going to sell her to a group of itinerate clowns. Instead, she joins them willingly.

Cheol-su, a carefree wanderer, and Yeong-hie, a thoughtful young woman, fall in love and have a child together as they discover the meaning of life and love.

Min-woo, a medical student from a wealthy family, runs into Da-hye) as he rides his bicycle on campus. At first Da-hye dislikes Min-woo, but thanks to help from his charismatic friend Hyeon-tae, he grows closer to Da-hye and the two fall deeply in love. But happiness would not last long. Min-woo's business goes belly-up, and then he learns his birth mother is a military base-town prostitute. Do disturbed by this all he ends up in jail. Meanwhile, Da-hye grows more dependent on Hyeon-tae, and Hyeon-tae gets caught between his friendship for Min-woo and his love for Da-hye...

Do-hwa was born with both blessing and curse of the peach tree in the village. She masters the value of 'Yin and Yang' at the age of three and amazes neighbors with special senses as she grows up. She is told by Dang-gol, the village's shaman to have super power regarding sex and soon brings disaster to the village by having contact with virgin men. She struggles and survives her fate through turbulent corners of life beyond her control.

Ji-won, a news anchor woman, witnesses Jung Yong-wook, an emerging leader of the ruling party, being terrorized. She sees the incident from car parked on a deserted road as she was enjoying a secret redez-vous with Park In-gyu, the presidential candidate of the opposition party. She barely escapes being killed herself. The country is thrown in turmoil with the news of Jung Yong-wook's alleged suicide, and Park In-gyu urges Ji-won to keep quiet.

Innocent Bok-nyeo is sold at 18 years old to an elderly widower who sends her to work in the salt mines. There she is raped by the supervisor. Becoming very cynical about life, Bok-nyeo becomes the mistress of a couple of rich men, Choi and Wang. In this way, she becomes accustomed to the high life. However she panics and takes desperate steps when one of her sources of income is about to cut her off.

Young-ae is a prostitute who obsesses over money after losing her daughter to illness. Her co-workers are jealous of her. When a prostitute named Mrs. Kangwon dies after giving a birth, Young-ae takes the baby under her care and leaves the brothel district. Although she struggles to make ends meet and provide a home for the child, the child is taken away by the authorities because she is single. She decides that her old life is the only ground for living she has and returns to it.