A Korean period drama romance webtoon set in the background of the anti-Japanese movement of independence activists during the Japanese colonial period.
Joseon under Japanese colonial rule in 1926. Heo Su A, a 17-year-old girl, works as a maid in the house of a pro-Japanese landlord in the fire-armsan area for Yeo Yun Hwa. She was born into a poor family and when she was five years old, she was sold tothe Yeo family for a ransom of 6 yuan.
One day, after dreaming of a wounded whale washed up in the sea, Su A finds independence activist, Kang Ui Hyun, lying on the beach with an injury. Su A takes care of Ui Hyun, who has been hurt so much that her life is in jeopardy. She nurses him back to health, only to lose her ability to speak in a botched tragic end attempt by Ui Hyun’s comrade, Song Hae Soo. As she travels to the capital, Gyeongseong (present-day Seoul), to get revenge, she finds herself growing more and more intertwined with a strange, brave new world and the people within it.
Ui Hyun was born into a wealthy family, and he went to study in Japan. While studying in Japan, he felt deep despair at seeing himself as being of no help while watching the Great Kwantung Earthquake and the subsequent massacre of Koreans. He is shot while carrying a explosion needed for the independence movement, and is found unconscious on the beach in fire-armsan and saved by Su A. While taking refuge in a cave, he runs into Yeo Yun Hwa, who has been following Su A, and he discovers that he and her share many similarities.
(Source: Korean = NamuWiki || Translation = MyDramaList)
~~ Adapted from the webtoon “Whale Star: The Gyeongseong Mermaid” (고래별) by Na Yoon Hee (나윤희).