Dong-in Kim

Innocent Bok-nyeo is sold at 18 years old to an elderly widower who sends her to work in the salt mines. There she is raped by the supervisor. Becoming very cynical about life, Bok-nyeo becomes the mistress of a couple of rich men, Choi and Wang. In this way, she becomes accustomed to the high life. However she panics and takes desperate steps when one of her sources of income is about to cut her off.

Kim Myung-wu studies modern music in Germany and meets Ji-suk, a pianist. She disappears on the day of his recital to get money for her mother's treatment in hospital and no word from her for a month since. He sees through her mother's funeral when she's gone. When there's a fire in the village, Myung-wu witnesses Ji-suk playing piano at the church watching the flame. She sets a fire at a store she was trying to get the money from but the owner reported her. She blamed her mother's death on the store owner and revenged with the fire. She completes the Pyro-Sonata with help of Myung-wu hiding her from police.

Bok-nyeo gets married to a poor Joseon's aristrocrat and lives a hard life to survive.