[1] A loser, Bong-gu (Kim Seung-woo), attends a high school reunion, where he is ridiculed for his lack of accomplishments.

With no other way home, he shares a taxi to Seoul train station with a fellow reservist and malcontent named Bum-soo (Kang Sung-jin).

While at the station, Bong-gu leaves his lighter in a bathroom stall, where it is purloined by a gangster, Yang Chul-gon (Cha Seung-won).

Enraged beyond endurance, Bong-gu demands the lighter back, provoking a beating from the gangster's underlings.

There, Chul-gon has more important business to attend to, waylaying a senator (Park Yeong-gyu) whom he had helped into office but who has since refused to reciprocate with any political favors.