When I Turned Nine (2004)

A life of nine year old... It ain't an easy life! Yeo-min is a matured and thoughtful 9 year old boy who lives in a small mountain village. Even at his young age, he has too many things to take care of. First, he has to protect his friends from the neighborhood bully Black Bird and keep peace in his neighborhood. Second, he must share his lunch with his best friend Ki-jong who lives alone with his sister. And, third, he has to sell ice cream bars after school to save enough money to buy a pair of sunglasses for his mother who injured her eye while working at a factory. He is a good son to his parents and a loyal friend to his buddies. He does well in spelling tests and has completely memorized the multiplication table. He is a nine year old boy who thinks he knows everything he needs to know about the world he lives in. Until... Even as a nine year old, there is a girl you want to protect! One day, a pretty city girl moves into his village. Her name is Woo-rim and she is by far the snottiest and the most stuck up girl he has ever met. However, the day she walks into his life, everything falls into a great confusion. He feels this funny feeling inside for the first time in his life. He asks Pal-bong, the neighborhood closet philosopher, for an advice but he's too busy trying to figure out his own love trouble. Finally, Yeo-min confesses his love to Woo-rim through an anonymous letter. Unfortunately, the letter ends up in his teacher's possession and he has to bear the embarrassment of reading it out loud in front of his classmates. Everything starts to get tangled up into a big mess and when things can't get any worse, he gets accused for stealing Woo-rim's money. Everything seems to go out of his control and it seems like he's getting close to the end of his rope... School, love, friendship and his family... Can Yeo-min overcome all the obstacles and safely pass through the ninth year of his life?