Original subtitles

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

Fuck 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 Dong-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 Dong-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 bitch! Come here!

- Mi-sook! - Mommy!

Come here, quickly

Hold on

You bitch! Come here! You fucking bitch!

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 scum

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