After ending her loveless marriage with a violent and unfaithful husband, she, Yeowon, is offered a job as a tutor and escapes to Jinyang (a fictional city in the novel) in search of a new life. There, she meets a girl, Lee Hong-ok, who harbors a secret. However, Hong-ok's uncle and housekeeper speak of her in a negative light, and when she goes to see Hong-ok, she realizes that Hong-ok is in a house filled with gas….