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.