After the Gwangju Democratization Movement is terminated by brute force, Jong Soo runs from the authorities and goes to Dongducheon in search of Tae Ho, an older neighbor from his hometown. He is a student at Jeonnam University and a night school teacher who is on the run because of his involvement in the Gwangju Movement. Taek Ho works at a snack bar on a U.S. base but he is actually an American goods dealer. Jong Soo spends his days agonizing over his memories of the Gwangju Movement as he is unable to accept Tae Ho's dreams of saving up enough money to take off to America and the girls who have become as tough as nails working with American soldiers. Tae Ho who willing deals in the black market through the PX and the girls who think they will be able to lead a new life when they go to the U.S. remind Jong Soo of Goo Chil, a shoeshine boy and a night school student. Unlike these people who think of America as a paradise, Goo Chil had promised to keep fighting with him after becoming his comrade and work for democracy. Jong Soo's recurring memories push him further from reality while the lives of the people around him are overtaken by suffering. Tae Ho, who had been dreaming of making it big and taking off to the U.S., is betrayed by his associate Steve and loses everything he has, while Jenny, who had been living with the hope of being with Steve, kills herself. The enraged Tae Ho and the hopeless Jong Soo are forced to return to everyday life, having achieved nothing.