The poet (Ik-joon Yang, INTIMATE ENEMIES) spends his days teaching poetry to disinterested children, his evenings seeking approval for his work from colleagues, and his nights avoiding his amorous wife (Hye-jin Jeon, THE MERCILESS) who has decided that she wants to have a child. He reluctantly agrees to get tested by a fertility specialist only to find that he has a low sperm count; however, this does not stop her from trying. His wife tries to entice him with donuts from the town's new shop, but he is reluctant since he has become self-conscious of his weight due to the teasing of his students; but he discovers upon visiting the shop an unexpected fascination and attraction to the teenage son of the owners (Ga-ram Jung) which reinvigorates his sex drive with his wife. Unfamiliar with these emotions and aware of impropriety, he befriends the youth but is uncertain about the nature of his attraction which has an influence on his poetry as well. When he confides in his wife, she appears amused by it until the attraction turns into something more serious and he may be prepared to risk all to make it known to the object of his obsession. Asking questions about the nature of artistic inspiration, aesthetic appreciation, and the libido while courting bad taste, THE POET AND THE BOY can be funny - particularly in the wife's attempts to stimulate her husband - but its third act pushes the film from art house to not quite campy melodrama.