Dance with the Wind

Officer Song Yeon-hwa is briefed about Park Pung-shik, a gigolo who preys on wealthy housewives. The police chief's wife is targeted, and she initially refuses to testify after handing over $30,000. Song is tasked with gathering solid evidence and launching an undercover operation.

Song goes undercover as a hospital patient to entangle Park. In a hospital lounge, Park reveals a surprising detail: he makes a living dancing ballroom, and he begins to offer an intimate confession about his life. The moment foreshadows a bond that blends crime, art, and longing.

Before the undercover mission, Park's life is split between a marriage with a baby and a hollow search for meaning. The film sketches a home life that feels incomplete as he struggles with his purpose. This backstory sets up the later transformation through dance.

A chance encounter with old school friend Song Man-su triggers a wild five-week spree of nights out that unsettles Park's wife. What starts as casual mentorship in dance soon blooms into a consuming obsession as he shuttles between day teaching and late-night lessons. The pursuit threatens his family while pulling him toward a deeper art.

A coworker betrays him, and the world of dance reveals that Man-su treats the craft as a tool to seduce rather than an art form. Park's anger at this cynicism becomes a catalyst for seeking redemption and a more authentic path. The revelation shifts his focus from spectacle to craft.

Park leaves his home to travel the country in search of authentic dance technique. He learns from a cast of unlikely mentors, enduring years of wandering, struggle, and stubborn resolve. The journey gradually reshapes him into a dancer with true conviction.

After years away, Park returns to his family, carrying the mark of his arduous studies. He has become a different person, balancing the art he loves with the responsibilities of his marriage and child. The reunion hints that redemption has a tangible form.

Back in the present, Song begins taking lessons from Park and discovers she is being drawn to dance herself. Her own awakening mirrors his transformation, and she delays pressing for a confession so the music can guide their moments together. A new bond forms through shared rhythm.

Park drifts into a smoky cabaret to dance nightly and meets a woman he calls Madame. What begins as a forbidden flirtation becomes transactional, and Park vacillates between indulgence and retreat as he pursues the art and the money it brings. This chapter tests his restraint and allegiance to himself.

The legend of Park's exploits leaks into the gigolo underworld when Man-su's circle reveals his reputation. Park rejects the label at first, but a brutal confrontation with the husband of a former partner forces him to confront the consequences of his choices. The stakes grow as the decaying glamour of the life closes in.

Ji-yeon, a soft-spoken partner in the operation, discloses a hard truth about her own occupation that casts Park's romance in a dangerous light. A dramatic confrontation at a club draws witnesses, and Song arrives just in time to defuse the moment as police close in. The revelation escalates the tension to its peak.

The chief's wife testifies and Park is arrested, bringing the undercover operation to a close. Two years pass, and the DanceSport movement gains legitimacy in Korea, reshaping the dance world. Song seeks Park out, visiting him at a lighthouse to rekindle a shared love for dance.

Park and Song reconnect through a fierce jive and a tender waltz, symbolizing reconciliation and a renewed life. Art has been restored, and their lives are realigned around craft, love, and redemption. The film closes on a note of quiet harmony between art and family.