Love Phobia

On a sunny day at school, Jo-kang meets Ari, a girl in a bright yellow raincoat who proclaims herself an alien. The other students grow afraid, but Jo-kang is drawn to her and they become friends as she spins fantastical stories. They huddle together beneath her raincoat, and Jo-kang suddenly falls ill with measles.

Shortly after their bond forms, Jo-kang contracts measles and Ari disappears from the school scene. The town wonders about the mysterious girl in the yellow coat, while Jo-kang misses her spark and stories.

Ten years later, Ari reaches out to Jo-kang and they reunite in high school, rediscovering their connection. Ari spins more tales, including that she lives at a temple on a mountain that is actually a volcano and is surrounded by hot springs. She hints at strange adventures and even jokes about an English ghost who taught her to speak.

Their reunion deepens into romance as Jo-kang travels all night to bring Ari her favorite dish. She kisses him the next morning, but his flu returns and Ari disappears again, leaving him longing.

As adults, Ari reappears and, to keep her from escaping, Jo-kang ties her leg to a chair with shoelaces. She explains to Jo-kang's father, a sushi chef, that NASA has kidnapped her because her body's magnetism draws UFOs. She asserts control over the situation and hints at leaving soon.

Before leaving for the States, Ari reminds Jo-kang not to cross the line she drew on the ground. She warns that she will be gone, and he must respect the boundary she set.

One of Jo-kang's friends has an accident, and he visits the hospital to check on him, only to find Ari as a patient there. The sight of Ari in a hospital bed reinforces the strange, intertwined fate between them.

Desperate for truth, Jo-kang visits Ari's uncle, a monk. In a moment of desperation, he pours gasoline on himself and threatens to set himself on fire until the truth is revealed. He learns that Ari is HIV/AIDS positive, contracted in a hospital accident that killed her father.

Jo-kang attends an exhibit of Ari's photographs, and afterward he piggybacks her to a grassy lawn where she explains that crop circles are signs left by a UFO. The moment blends art, mystery, and the couple's fragile bond.

Ari falls ill again and is admitted to the hospital, and Jo-kang stands outside in the rain. The monk urges him to come inside, but he refuses, obeying Ari's instruction not to cross her line.

Jo-kang draws designs on the grassy lawn and takes Ari there against doctors' orders, urging her to fulfill her destiny to leave the planet. Ari passes away as a flying saucer appears in the night sky, sealing her fate.

In the final moment, Jo-kang narrates that the scent of Ari's love still lingers, choosing to believe she is living on another planet and will meet him again someday. He also senses a glimmer of hope that their paths may cross again beyond the stars.