At a resort in Cheju Island, South Korea, an American woman in her sixties tells a waiter about her late husband, who died a few months prior due to a cardiac arrest. The waiter, Jim, is a twenty-six-year-old Korean man, who recently received news that his brother has been killed by an American submarine while catching tuna. Not knowing about the news Jim is shouldering, the American widow tells him that she wants to see Halla Mountain because her husband once visited it, and she asks Jim to tell her what he knows about the mountain.  Meanwhile, Jim’s boss offers him a leave of absence, but he refuses. In the coming days, he spends more time conversing with the American widow as he sees her relaxing around the resort, and he reminisces sailing in the ocean with his brother, in search of “the middle of the ocean.” One day, the American widow says that she wants to see a cave by the sea before she leaves, and Jim says he will take her. That night, the widow thinks of her husband carving their initials in a cave, many years ago. Jim and the widow leave before sunrise the next day, with plans to meet Jim’s friend, Luis, who will guide them through the caves. The journey takes less than an hour, and they meet up with Luis, who leads them around the coast to a cave. Jim watches as the widow picks up a stone and begins to draw something in the wall of the cave.