Set in a Seoul of the future, where it rains every day without a break, this novel points out that just as light can’t exist without darkness, making a place filth-free is impossible without making somewhere else filth-laden. Is it right to take for granted all the conveniences and clean streets that we’re used to in everyday life? Can we continue to turn away from things that are certainly there but invisible to us? This story looks squarely into various phenomena that can be derived from one question. 

As the ceaseless rain renders the world sunless, the need to adapt to the new weather conditions led to the creation of a waterproof system called “Nubis,” and sunbathing in the artificial sunlight became an important routine for many people who are obsessive about hygiene. Hyein is one of them. Like her peers, she also goes to classes at private academies after school, sunbathes, and keeps Nubis on all the time. 

One day, however, Hyein’s life is turned upside down, thanks to her grandfather, who lives under a bridge in the rain, refusing Nubis and conveniences altogether.  

From the common point of view, her grandfather is just overly conscientious. After learning that his company dumps wastewater on the lands of Tonghyup-dong, he is racked by guilt and ends up quitting his job. Afterward, he chooses to live homeless under the bridge in an effort to remember the pains and sufferings of the Tonghyup-dong citizens. He even refuses to use Nubis, the personal waterproof system that everyone else cannot imagine living without, because it was made by the same company that discharges the filthy water to Tonghyup-dong. Therefore, when the water under the bridge is rising, Hyein goes out to see her grandfather with an umbrella, an object that has become a rarity now. Then he tells her how most people enjoy a comfortable life at the expense of the life of a smaller group of people and how that makes their life a living hell as a result. Indeed, the people of Tonghyup-dong have spots on their skins caused by the wastewater, like the patterns on salamanders, and because of the spots, they have to live with discrimination. Hyein increasingly realizes the comfortable life she’s been enjoying is not something that can be taken for granted.