Kim Jiyoung is a 33-year-old mother living in Seoul who recently left her career at a marketing firm to care for her newborn daughter. She possesses a keen awareness of the unfair conditions surrounding her, from boys receiving priority for lunch in elementary school to male colleagues taking credit for her professional work. She often feels pressured to remain silent when facing inappropriate behavior from male clients and teachers. Her exhaustion and domestic isolation manifest in strange ways, such as speaking in the voices of other women, prompting her husband to seek psychiatric help for her.

Oh Misook is a hard-working mother who grew up in poverty on a rice paddy. She sacrificed her own educational ambitions to work in a Seoul factory, funding her brothers' schooling instead. She possesses a natural talent for business and money management, eventually running a successful porridge restaurant and a hair salon out of the family apartment. Despite her traditional circumstances, she maintains a modern viewpoint on women's opportunities. She fiercely defends her daughters' rights to pursue their goals and actively discouraged her husband from pressuring Jiyoung into marriage.

Jung Daehyun is an IT professional who provides a comfortable life for his wife and newborn daughter. He views himself as a considerate partner and readily offers to assist with household duties, though he perceives child-rearing primarily as his wife's responsibility. His conventional assumptions about gender roles blind him to the sacrifices his wife makes for their family. He struggles to understand why Jiyoung is so overwhelmed by her domestic life, ultimately concluding that she requires medical intervention when her behavior becomes unusual.

The Psychiatrist is a medical professional who treats Jiyoung and pieces together her life story from their therapy sessions. He considers himself unusually sympathetic to the struggles of women because his own wife gave up her medical career to raise their struggling son. He observes his patients with a clinical eye and documents the societal pressures they face. However, he remains comfortably entrenched in the very social structures that cause their distress, making employment decisions based on convenience rather than equality.

Kim Eunsil is a rare female manager at the marketing firm where Jiyoung begins her career. She climbed the corporate ladder by attending after-hours drinking sessions and minimizing her own maternity leave, adapting to a workplace explicitly designed for men. She actively attempts to make her company more inclusive by instituting paid leave policies and instructing her female subordinates not to serve coffee to their male coworkers. She demonstrates strong professional boundaries and refuses to accept the mistreatment of women in her office.

Eunyoung is Jiyoung's older sister, a worldly and ambitious young woman who initially dreams of becoming a television producer before entering a teacher training college. She provides a vital model of solidarity for Jiyoung, frequently calling out the unequal distribution of chores and food in their household. She yearns to travel and maps out countries with small Korean populations, hoping to escape the restrictive expectations placed upon her by society.

Koh Boonsoon is Jiyoung's paternal grandmother, who resides with the family during Jiyoung's childhood. She places immense value on male children, believing that families require multiple sons to ensure financial security in old age. She enforces strict hierarchies within the home, ensuring her grandson receives his own room and preferential treatment over his older sisters. She frequently scolds the girls if they attempt to take any of their brother's resources.

Cha Seungyeon is a determined college student who befriends Jiyoung in their university's predominantly male hiking club. She actively resists the men's patronizing behavior and refuses to accept their attempts at misguided chivalry. She commits to staying in the club until it elects its first female president, providing Jiyoung with a strong example of female resistance against everyday sexism.

Yun Hyejin is a pragmatic university student participating in a career preparation group alongside Jiyoung. She possesses a sharp eye for institutional bias, quickly pointing out to Jiyoung that the university explicitly favors male candidates for job recommendations and networking events. She shares factual stories about female alumni being penalized for demanding equal treatment, helping open Jiyoung's eyes to the realities of the corporate world.

Kang Hyesu is a former marketing colleague of Jiyoung who visits her after the birth of her daughter. She brings news from their old workplace regarding a scandal involving hidden cameras in the women's restroom. She carries the emotional burden of this violation, illustrating the ongoing vulnerabilities and lack of safety women face even in professional office environments.

Suhyun is Daehyun's sister, arriving at her parents' home for the harvest holidays physically exhausted from cooking and hosting for her own husband's family. She recognizes the heavy domestic burden placed on Jiyoung by the traditional holiday requirements. She attempts to mediate the tension and apologizes on behalf of her family when Jiyoung exhibits unusual behavior at the dinner table.

Jiwon is Jiyoung and Daehyun's infant daughter. Her arrival forces Jiyoung to leave her marketing career, setting off the isolation and physical exhaustion that define Jiyoung's current struggles. She cries constantly unless she is physically held, preventing Jiyoung from resting her aching wrists or finding any time for personal recovery.