Character Relationship Map: Snowball

Characters

• Kang-yi (played by Bang Min-ah) — protagonist

  Kang-yi looks back on a difficult youth shaped by cruelty, uncertainty, and a strained home life. She leaves home with her friends Ah-ram and So-yeong, struggles with them to survive, and later return...

• Ah-ram (played by Shim Dal-gi) — supporting

  Ah-ram is one of Kang-yi’s close friends, drawn to discarded things because of their forlorn appearance rather than their ownership. She leaves home with Kang-yi and So-yeong and helps them build a pr...

• So-yeong (played by Han Sung-min) — supporting

  So-yeong is Kang-yi and Ah-ram’s beautiful, high-achieving school friend. After intervening in a confrontation between Kang-yi and a teacher, she helps lessen the punishment. She dreams of becoming a...

• Kang-yi's Father (played by Yang Heung-ju) — supporting
• Kang-yi's Mother (played by Lee Yu-kyung) — supporting

  Kang-yi’s mother is part of the family pressure the girls face after returning to school. She helps Kang-yi confront the consequences of leaving home, and the closing scenes show the two spending time...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Kang-yi's Mother → Kang-yi (mother)
• Kang-yi's Father → Kang-yi (father)

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Ah-ram → So-yeong (Social Friend) — Ah-ram and So-yeong share the girls' close friendship and attempt to build a life together, though the group's hardships contribute to tension.

  The three girls grow close and leave their homes to try to get by together.

• Kang-yi → So-yeong (Conflict Friend Turned Rival) — Their closeness fractures under jealousy, shame, and resentment, as they disagree over their precarious life and what each should give up.

  The girls grow close, but later So-yeong and Kang-yi clash, each determined not to be the one who loses.

• Kang-yi → Ah-ram (Social Friend) — Their friendship becomes a source of support during their unstable life away from home, but their shared circumstances are strained by hardship and conflict.

  The three girls grow close, leave their homes, and try to get by together; Kang-yi and Ah-ram are reluctant to abandon what they have built together.

Story Analysis

Three girls seek connection and stability amid cruelty, poverty, conflict, and difficult choices, while Kang-yi finds a small opening toward renewed closeness with her mother.

Plot Progression

1. School Days and Emerging Bonds — Kang-yi looks back on a youth marked by cruelty and uncertainty at school. So-yeong's intervention and Ah-ram's sensitivity accompany the girls' growing closeness, even as home remains difficult for t...
2. A Precarious Life Together — The girls leave home and try to survive with little money and no secure place to stay. Selling shaved ice offers a way to earn money, while So-yeong pursues her ambitions and the strains of their situ...
3. Friendship Under Pressure — Disagreements, including conflict over a sick stray cat, add to the pressure on the girls. They return to school while facing family troubles and unresolved resentments.
4. Education and Difficult Truths — With help from Kang-yi's mother and school staff, the girls choose to continue their education. Kang-yi later discovers that So-yeong used their remaining money to try to save a cat, which died despit...
5. A Small Moment of Warmth — After years of distance and instability, Kang-yi spends time with her mother. Their conversation about a possible bathhouse visit offers a modest moment of connection.