Bong-su, die sinds de Koreaanse oorlog vermist is, keert terug naar zijn geboorteplaats. Er is al een overlijdensbericht voor hem naar zijn geboorteplaats gestuurd en zijn verloofde, Jeong-sun, is al getrouwd met een andere man, Sang-ho. Bong-su probeert Jeong-sun over te halen om Sang-ho te vergeten en naar hem terug te keren, maar ze vertelt hem dat het iets is dat niet ongedaan kan worden gemaakt. Gekweld door zijn pijn, begint Bong-su tekenen van waanvoorstellingen te vertonen en wurgt uiteindelijk Jeong-im, de jongere zus van Sang-ho, die verliefd op hem was. Later wordt onthuld dat het overlijdensbericht voor Bong-su nep was, gemaakt door Sang-ho zodat hij met Jeong-sun kon trouwen.

Bong-su, who has been missing since the Korean War, returns to his hometown. A death notice for him has already been sent to his hometown, and his fiancée, Jeong-sun, has already married another man, Sang-ho. Bong-su tries to persuade Jeong-sun to forget about Sang-ho and return to him, but she tells him that it's something that cannot be undone. Tormented by his pain, Bong-su begins to show signs of delusional behavior and ends up strangling Jeong-im, Sang-ho's younger sister, who had a crush on him. Later, it is revealed that the death notice for Bong-su was a fake, created by Sang-ho so he could marry Jeong-sun.

한국 전쟁 이후 소식이 없던 봉수가 고향에 나타난다. 고향에는 이미 봉수의 사망 통지서가 날아든 뒤였고 봉수의 약혼녀 정순도 이미 다른 남자 상호와 결혼을 한 후였다. 봉수는 정순에게 상호를 잊고 자신에게 돌아오라고 설득하나 정순은 되돌이킬 수 없는 일이라고 말한다. 봉수는 괴로움에 시달리다 정신 착란증 증세를 보이고 그를 짝사랑하던 상호의 누이동생 정임을 목졸라 죽인다. 그후 봉수의 사망통지서는 상호가 정순과 결혼하기 위해 허위로 작성한 것임이 드러난다.