Two brothers—Chul-ho, an accountant with a toothache and a pregnant wife, and Yong-ho, an unemployed ex-soldier wounded in battle—navigate life in post-war Korea.

Yeong-shin and Dong-hyuk graduate from college with a cause. They plan to bring education and modernization to farmers living in the rural area of their hometown. When they arrive, the pair immediately get to work, Dong-hyuk builds a village hall and starts aiding the farmers while Yeong-shin tries to gather the children to form a school. However, the villagers at first resent and resist the pair. It is not until one child, Ok-bun, takes the initiative and and learns to read under Yeong-shin’s care that the villages trust the pair and allow their children to be taken from the fields and taught reading, writing and math.

Prince Yeonsan-gun turns into a tyrant out of grief for his mother's death. He orders beheadings of all the officials who displease him or who advised the previous king to depose the queen. He becomes crueler by the day. But in 10th year of his reign, he is kicked out of the throne and dies a tragic death.

Park Nam-ho works at a Japanese pharmaceutical company and lives happily with his wife, Gyeong-hui, in a house filled with beautiful white roses. Not long after hearing the wonderful news that his wife is pregnant, Park Nam-ho is drafted into the war in the Pacific. Posted in the Gwandong army, he survives the battle, though his face is burned. Back home, Gyeong-hui receives a telegram stating that her husband is dead. When she gives birth to their son, Cheol-soo, she goes to live in Seoul. When Nam-woo comes back to the country, he doesn't go to his wife, but rather goes to live in his hometown. On his way home, he encounters a child whose mother is dead, and takes her in as his own daughter.

A man assists a woman in danger, but through her actions, she unintentionally causes his death. Everyone in the village knows that she visits his tomb every spring, but no one knows the details of her story.