Once upon a time, there lived a girl named Yeon-i. Unfortunately, she lost her mother when she was very young, and she was raised by a stepmother. Yeon-i was good-hearted but her stepmother was mean and treated her poorly.

On a cold winter day, the stepmother told Yeon-i to pick some wild greens for a side dish. Of course, it was impossible to get any wild greens in the middle of winter. She was only being hard on her stepdaughter. But Yeon-i never complained and went to the mountains to gather some wild herbs. She looked all over for greens but to no avail. It was already dark, and she got lost deep in the mountains. Yeon-i was scared, and she sheltered herself in the crannies of the rocks.

That’s when she noticed a rock shaped like a door. She pushed it open and was surprised to find a wide field stretched out in front of her. It was a whole new world. There, it was not winter, and fresh wild greens grew in the field. While Yeon-i was lost in admiration, a handsome boy appeared from a thatched-roof house in the middle of the field. He introduced himself as a willow boy and asked her what brought her there. After hearing Yeon-i’s story, the willow boy gave her a basket and told her to pick as many wild greens as she wanted. He also gave her three bottles with different colors—red, blue and yellow. He advised her to use the bottles in that order in case of an emergency. Yeon-i thanked him for his kindness and returned home.

Back at home, the stepmother was very surprised that Yeon-i returned with a basket filled with fresh greens. The next day, she ordered the girl to collect more herbs. Yeon-i went to the mysterious field behind the rocks and got wild herbs with the permission of the willow boy. As she brought a lot of wild greens for two straight days, the stepmother thought it very strange. The following day, she told Yeon-i to get some strawberries. But this time, she followed her stepdaughter, all the way to the unknown field behind the rocks. She also saw Yeon-i meeting with a good-looking boy in the field and picking strawberries.

Now the stepmother knew what was going on there. The next day, the stepmother went to the field alone. As she met with the willow boy, the wicked woman killed the boy and burned his thatched-roof house. After returning home, she told Yeon-i to pick wild greens again. Of course, Yeon-i didn’t know what had happened, and when she went back to the field, she was not greeted by the boy, but instead, his corpse.

She was shocked and sad at first, but remembered the three bottles the boy had given her. Trying to stay calm, she took out the bottles, and as instructed, she opened the red bottle first. A red fume came out of the bottle, and the color came back into the boy’s cheeks. When she opened the blue bottle, the boy started breathing. And finally, when she opened the yellow bottle, the willow boy miraculously rose to his feet and started stretching.

He smiled at the girl, who just stood there wide-eyed and surprised. He explained to her that he had in fact come from heaven to save her. As he finished his words, a rainbow came down from above. The willow boy held Yeon-i’s hands and rode on the rainbow with her. The rainbow, carrying the young couple, floated up and ascended to the sky.