1917. Deep in the snowy mountains of occupied Korea, an impoverished local hunter on the brink of starvation saves a young Japanese officer from an attacking tiger. Over the course of half a century, in a world where friends become enemies, enemies become saviors, and heroes are persecuted, beasts take many shapes. A young girl named Jade is sold by her family to Miss Silver's courtesan school, an act of desperation that will cement her place in the lowest social status. She befriends an orphan boy named JungHo, who scrapes together a living begging on the streets of Seoul. As they come of age, JungHo is swept up in the revolutionary fight for independence, and Jade becomes a sought-after performer with a new romantic prospect of noble birth. --