A former pansori performer travels across South Korea in search of the student he studied with.
Han Byung-tae, who teaches at a private after-school academy in Seoul, receives word that his old teacher has passed away and sets off to the rural village where he attended elementary school. In the train, he reminisces about the tough fights he used to get into back in the day.
Detective Oh goes searching for the murderer of Yang, a small-time brewer bludgeoned to death by a quiet riverside with no witnesses, no apparent motive. As he wanders about the winter landscape of South Jeolla Province and Seoul, he finds himself caught in a story of treachery, rape and murder.
