One evening, five neighborhood friends, all born in 1971, watch "A Better Tomorrow II" in the bedroom of Taek, when one by one, their parents call them back home for dinner.

Sun-woo is the oldest child of his family and lives with his widowed mother, Sun-young, and younger sister, Jin-joo, in the house up the street from Deok-sun's.

Across the street, Dong-ryong lives with two full-time working parents, Ssangmun High School's fearsome dean, Mr. Ryu, being his father.

Deok-sun is preparing hard for her role as picket holder for the Madagascar delegation at the Seoul Olympics opening ceremony, about to be held on her 18th (Korean age) birthday.

After fulfilling her role as a picket holder in front of the world, she comes home to her father, who gives her a separate birthday cake.

The parents joke about how everyone wants Taek, a Baduk player of the 6th dan, to be their son-in-law after he wins a major tournament with the equivalent of 50.000 dollars in prize money, enough to buy a high-end apartment.

When arriving at grandma's hometown with her family, she is surprised that nobody, including her dad, feels down or saddened, happily eating Korean barbecue and drinking copious amounts of soju.

Taek moved to Seoul with his father after his mother died to cope with the loss, and despite his shyness, he was accepted as a friend by the other, much noisier kids.

Il-hwa is mad at him for spending all the little money that is left after paying expenses and debt on useless things and alcohol, instead of saving it.

Drinking in broad daylight, the ladies complain about their husbands' behavior, and deem Sun-young the luckiest one before suggesting she should be together with Moo-sung.

After former President and dictator Chun Doo-hwan apologizes for his actions[broken anchor], Seoul experiences a wave of renewed student protests.

When an amount of briquettes are delivered to the Kim household that could warm their house for a thousand days, Sun-young defends herself against comments about her poverty and appearance.

After Mi-ran leaves, the gentlemen do as they wish, finish the leftovers she ordered them to eat for dinner and clean the house in a hurry just before she returns.

Moo-sung is concerned that Taek won't eat dinner while he is training at the Baduk association, doing everything he can to bounce back from several consecutive losses.

Sun-woo clarifies to the disappointed parents that Jin-joo referred to a waffle cone with two scoops of vanilla ice cream, and gets some for his sister at the nearby shop.

Sun-woo remarks that it was Bo-ra that advised him to express his feelings when his father died two years ago, and formally begins his relationship with her.

The night before the surgery, Mi-ran tells Jung-bong that he is very strong, having to deal with a heart condition since a young age, and breaks down in tears.

Sun-young receives a letter from the district court that her house, formally owned by her mother-in-law, would be taken from her and sold if she does not complete a payment of 10 million won.

Jung-bong is crazy about Bubble Bobble and attempts to finish all of the game's levels on one coin, gathering angry elementary schoolers around him.

After being tasked to throw his own party with his parents' money for years, he is eager to finally get seaweed soup from his mother, Chief of an insurance company.

She tells that Jung-bong awaits great fortune in life, causing Mi-ran to think that he will finally make it into a university this year.

Dong-il, revealed to be an anti-fraud inspector at his bank, plays a match of Go-Stop against Mr. Ryu and soon overpowers the dean by barring him from cheating.

The Kim family hears that Jung-bong has failed his college entrance exam again, leading to Mi-ran distrusting the fortune teller.

Bo-ra brings food to Sun-woo and they stay in his room until Sun-young comes in, while Soo-yeon joins the dinner table at Jung-hwan's.

Bo-ra tells Sun-woo she is studying to become an accountant to earn extra money, as teaching math would be difficult because, owing to her participation in the student protests, she now has a criminal record.

Taek's management team receives an unpleasant request of someone wishing to play Baduk with the prodigy, and hold a 30-minute interview with him about his relationship with his father.

Jung-bong asks Soo-yeon what present he should give to Maggie, and starts folding a thousand paper cranes to have his wish granted.

Deok-sun reunites with her high school friends at the old tteokbokki shop, with Maggie having her first meeting with the girls in six years because she was in the US all the time for college.

Dong-il perseveres through long working days, although he continuously tells his wife about his company's lucrative voluntary retirement plan.

[17] Unlike the previous Reply series, 1988 focused more on filial bond than romance between characters with director Shin saying that most of the story was about family, and only a small fraction was about Deok-sun's love.