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Original Story by JEON Kyeong-lin
KIM, Yun-jin
LEE, Jong-won
GYE, Sung-yong
ARDOR
My name is Lee Mi-heun
I married a senior classmate the year I graduated from college
We had a daughter and spent eight happy years together
I devoted myself to my house and family
My husband loved this about me
This was how we planned to grow old together
Not finished yet?
Let's wrap it up and go to bed
Leaving this unfolded can bring bad luck tomorrow
December 24th, 2000
Even on the night she came over
I believed my life
would always be this peaceful
Hello?
Yes, it is
Yes. Go ahead
I bought some beer. I didn't want to come empty handed
I thought I should see Mr. Kim before I leave
I owe him quite a lot
I wanted to stop by earlier
Anyway, we had a party around here
He's the only one who didn't show
It's not that I had to be there
I'm leaving early tomorrow
Are you going far away?
Incheon
You know what a foster home is?
It's for abandoned children
I'll be living there with them
Sounds like a difficult job
Nice apartment
How big is it?
Oh, there's a flag in the house
My daughter drew it in pre-school
Something is wrong with it
But what?
Isn't it upside down?
Right, it is!
I knew something was wrong with it
How silly! It's drawn upside down
Sweetie
- She doesn't know anything - What the? What are you doing?
Can't you stay with me tonight?
Miss Jung, stop it. Are you drunk?
But I'm really leaving tomorrow!
Aren't you sad at all?
Don't do this, get off me
No, I want to stay with you
Can I sleep here with you?
Sweetie, huh?
Young-woo
Can I sleep here with you?
I haven't slept in days. Let me stay, sweetie
Don't you miss me, honey? Smell me
I know you love me, huh?
You two, if you need to talk, go outside
No, Mi-heun, that's not it
Let go
- She's just drunk, that's all - Let go
You crazy girl
This house
This house not here! Don't you know that?
Get out! Get out, now!
Sweetie?
How disgusting
Was it fun fooling around?
Mi-heun
Get out It's over now. Stop it
Let go!
What the?
Want to know what he said to me?
He said I pull him in all the way
He said he'll never forget how
I squeeze him tight inside me
We weren't just fooling around
I even got pregnant
Last month, I had an abortion, and he
Your husband, I mean
He waited outside the operating room afraid I'd get hurt
He worried I wouldn't wake up and he'd never see me again!
We loved each other like more than you could ever dream of
And you want me to leave?
You got to be kidding
I've got as much right to be here as you!
You!
I didn't know there was a knife!
- I didn't know, sweetie - Daddy?
Su-jin! Go back to your room
Mi-heun, open your eyes!
What the hell did you hit her with?
Mi-heun! Mi-heun! Open your eyes!
6 months later
She just moved here from Seoul
and doesn't know her way around
- So help her adjust - The countryside's best for kids
We had a bus for them until last year
- But the school funds have depleted - I see
- The head wound is fully healed - There shouldn't be any problems
Nothing will stop your headaches I'll prescribe a tranquilizer
You know what a drug addict is?
Snap out of it, Mi-heun, please?
Ma'am? We're at Butterfly Ville
This is where you get off
- Get on - No, you go first
- Oh! It's you! - Hello
Coming from somewhere?
- You're getting around well - I went to the school
- Taking off - Oh, mister! I'm coming on
Honey? I picked Su-jin up from school
- Daddy, what's this? - Oh, that's a TV
If you press here, we can watch TV Cool, huh?
Mommy, look! Daddy came to school in this!
- You bought a car? - Oh, you're up
Well, you'll need a car too, to get to the hospital
You can use the other car. On weekends, we'll go around in this
- How's that sound, Su-jin? - Great!
Wonderful?
Hello? Yes, professor, this is Hyo-kyung
I'm here for good
I handed over the publishing company to Chang
and took over the bookstore over from Dae
No, nothing like that
Well, with my wife's health
No, it's nothing serious
She just needs clean air and rest
Yes, I think so
I'll come by sometime
Take care, professor. Bye, sir
Hi, Mommy!
I couldn't quit, no matter what Even after getting lung cancer
Rest stop
A bottle of water, please
- Hey! - Yeah?
You put a novel under Reference!
Ah-huh
Don't sit around doing nothing Go clean the windows
*** the nice weather today
Hello?
Are you the owner of this car?
There's something wrong with it
What's the problem?
I'm not sure, it just stopped
When's the last time you put gas in the car?
Pardon?
Didn't even know that it's out of gas
15,000 won, please
- What about the gas can? - Excuse me?
You have to return it, but
You're not from around here, huh?
- Just visiting? - No, I live here
- 3000 won more for the can - What?
You know doc, but I don't know you
I ain't never seen you 3,000 won!
How's country life so far?
You moved into the house downhill?
Didn't change your car plates yet?
I didn't know you lived uphill
I was surprised to see you come out of that house
It's famous around here. Did you know when you went in?
That does it
Seems like your thoughts are always somewhere else
Are you okay?
Live here for a month, you'll see. It'll bore you to death
No mall, no theatres
It's an hour from the city
If you sit around doing nothing, you'll just go crazy
Doesn't the Mrs. have a job?
You must have made a lot of money
You should come out more
People are saying you're sick
since you don't come out Rumors!
Oh, I didn't know that
Don't be offended
It's different from Seoul around here
Anyway, did you meet him? Up the hill?
When they moved in, it was worse than here
Wondering why a young, handsome doctor
would think of coming here
Do you know the bamboo house? On the way to So-Jung li?
What about it?
I heard something happened there
The village was turned upside down last year
A stabbing!
A woman killed her father-in-law in broad daylight
The son was such a nice man
I'm telling you. The wife ruined him completely
She had some nerve
being butt naked with her lover in broad daylight!
When the old man caught them
she grabbed the sickle from him
and Gives me chills
just thinking about it
Mommy!
- Wasn't it fun today? - Yeah, science class was best
Mommy! This is Oh Mi-sook. She sits left, right, up from me
She takes the bus a long way
Can we give her a ride?
Where do you live?
Seven stops on bus #2 My house is right there
- Bye - See ya
- Take care, Mi-sook - Bye
You!
I told you
never to get in a stranger's car!
You brat! Go inside, now!
Wow! She's scary
No, she's not
Greet her politely next time
Okay
Can I play at ***-wook's house?
Okay, but be back before dinner
Yes
- Did you have fun at his house? - Uh-huh
What are you doing? Let's eat
Daddy, I already ate
Did you eat, Hon?
Mommy's sick again
- You said you ate, right? - Ah-huh
- Let's get ready for school tomorrow - Okay
Honey?
Why are you crying?
What's the matter now?
These people can die doing that. Why would they do it?
- It's so stupid - What?
Maybe you should've died
before she came over
Then I might've died along with you
No, it would've been better if I died first
Then I wouldn't have found out. That would've been nice
I can't do it
I can't go back to the way we were
But why am I here, in this house, still sleeping next to you?
Life, It feels so empty
so boring that I'll go crazy
Nothing's worth living for
everything's a waste
Just stop it!
How many times do I have to tell you?
It was just an accident
I apologized over and over!
I gave up everything
to be stuck here running a tiny bookstore!
For what? I dedicated my life to you and Su-jin!
Frankly speaking
you always lay around like a corpse
but did I ever complain about you?
You're really something, Mi-heun! Really something
You're not going to sit here wasting away your life, are you?
The weather's too nice for that
Would you like some coffee?
Su-jin, turn down the volume! Mommy's head hurts
Yes, Mommy
Su-jin, let's go
Kim Su-Jin, quickly
- Where are we going? - Mommy has to go into town
Quick, go to ***-wook's place
Okay
Let's go
What's the problem?
My head
it hurts so much I can't do anything
Let me take a look
Breathe
All right
That's fine
- Does it hurt like this often? - Yes
Since when?
Since last December 24th
Were you hurt?
Did a specialist look at it?
Yes It's nothing serious
- But your head still hurts? - Yes
Let's check your blood pressure
I was treated by a neuro-psychiatrist. They're vascular headaches
Please just write the prescription. It's Xanax and Diazepam
Write it, please
All right
Let me just see your health insurance card
Lee Mi-heun?
I'm Choi In-kyu
What do you do most of the time?
Sleeping?
Your head hurts because you stay in sleeping
I really have to get going
Uh, yes, that's right
You shouldn't take too much Diazepam or Barium
Thank you
Ah, Mi-heun?
Want to play a little game with me?
Having fun is the best medicine for headaches
For four months, until summer's end
let's pretend we're lovers
We'll have fun together and have sex
Sound intriguing?
But there's one rule
If one of us tells the other "I love you", then it's over
We can never meet again
So I'm not proposing a relationship, just a game
Why would anyone play such a game?
Life's full of changes
I don't like being tied down
Or, maybe it's because I know I'll never lose
And mostly, because I find you attractive
Do you play this game often?
Not often, but once in awhile
Why can't there be love?
Confessions of love, marriage
Typical steps before sex
I hate it, it's like insurance
I'm not a person who can fall in love
So how about it?
You look bored, too
I know you'll play it. You have nothing else to do
They have the best mushrooms here. Let's get some
Mushrooms, please
Your mom's not out waiting today
Bye
- See you tomorrow, Mi-sook - Bye
Mommy!
Mommy!
- Mommy! - You ***! Come here!
- Mi-sook! - Mommy!
Come here, quickly
Hold on
You ***! Come here! You *** ***!
Hey, get over here!
Get back here!
Shocked?
He's my husband
I met him working at a bar
the first customer I slept with
He'd drink and then beat me
Went in and out of jail
No matter how far
I try to run
he somehow ends up finding me
Crazy, ain't it?
Looks like it will rain
It's the typhoon coming
there's always one around now
Mi-heun?
Hi, Mom
I called because of the typhoon
Is your place okay?
It's okay
If you're fine, then bye for now
- Wait, Mom? - What?
- How's Dad? - The same as always
- I see - Then, I'll see you soon. Bye
Each time you played, have you always won?
There's no winner in this game
just a loser
Have you ever lost?
Only once
to the woman who first proposed it to me
What happened then?
I asked her to live with me and to get a divorce
Threats, stalking
I turned worse than ***
Who would play such a game?
Bored women?
Ruined women?
There are women who want to be ruined
Like you
Open your eyes
Don't look at it
No, yours is so beautiful
What do we say now?
Anything
Anything you want
How many kids do you have?
Nothing like that
Was I any good?
You don't know how seductive you really are
So you look so normal
You're really fantastic
I thought my whole body would be sucked into you
Does your wife know about your lifestyle?
As long as she doesn't see it, she's okay with it
She knew about this before we married
I've always been like this
Even before I ran away from Seoul
Why did you leave Seoul?
Why did you spend 2 weeks in the hospital for a head wound?
That's not fair
One advantage of living up the hill
- Tricky, aren't I? - As much as me?
You got me there