The story of the mother is told partially in flashbacks to the setting of South Korea under Park Chung Hee's military regime in 1968.

Periodically in the movie, Ji-hye reads one of these letters, which starts a flashback scene in which the story of the mother is told.

These flashbacks are intertwined with Ji-hye's own story, in which she falls for a fellow student, Sang-min (Zo In-sung), who is involved with the school theater.

The mother, Joo-hee, visits the countryside as a student one summer and meets Joon-ha (Cho Seung-woo).

When a storm starts they take shelter together under a tree, but not before Joo-hee twists her ankle and is rendered helpless.

When he returns to Korea, he meets again with Joo-hee, and, trying to hide his blindness, convinces her he has married in the hope she will move on with her life.

Though heart broken that their relationship cannot continue, she does move on and eventually marries Tae-soo, Joon-ha's kind friend.

It is also revealed that their taking shelter together during the storm was no accident: he had purposely left his umbrella behind in a shop so that he could join her under the tree.

In the flashbacks, Joon Ha writes letters in the name of his friend Tae-soo to their mutual love interest.

[3] Other reviewers provided similar comments, praising the cinematography and music, the acting of Son Ye-jin, and calling it a really good film, but with a few flaws that keep it from being great.