Ah Ping runs afoul of a local corrupt and brutal policeman. This is the only real time they spend with each other, as it turns out. As the two climb the stairs of their apartment building after their boat ride, they pause. Kang-Yi gives Ah Ping a kiss on the cheek. Unhappily, Kang-Yi's former classmate Ah Lim considers himself her boyfriend and happens to be the son of one of Song's rivals.
Trouble begins between the gang members.
The policeman presides over a meeting of the gangs' youthful members, but walks out suddenly, obviously encouraging the youths to fight it out. Ah Ping is killed in the ensuing brawl. Meanwhile, Kang-Yi's father, who has been ill for some time, also dies. The girl suffers two severe blows, one after the other. During a fireworks display, while looking out at the harbor, Kang-Yi imagines her father and Ah Ping coming back, as if they'd been on a trip for a week or two.