A family drama that portrays the work and romantic relationships of young people. Go Eun Nim works hard at her part-time job and stays cheerful to support her family, which includes Choi Joon Young and his mother, who suffered after marrying the wrong man and was taken in by Eun Nim's grandmother. Joon Young grew up with Eun Nim like siblings, but slowly begins seeing her as a woman. Lee Se In is the opposite of Eun Nim, with brains, looks and wealth as the heir of a business, but is selfish and spoilt. He uses studying in the U.S. as an excuse to play around. Hong Joo Mi is the picture of perfection; proud, confident and beautiful, she's the youngest team leader at Chairman Lee's company. She has walked her whole life on the path of the elite, from elementary school to her career, and is unused to failure.

The love story of Cha Dong Joo, man who's been rendered deaf after an accident but pretends he can hear, and Bong Woo Ri, a woman who's intelligent but pretends she's dim-witted to protect the dignity of her mentally handicapped father.

Tall, with a perfect figure and his qualifications as an Ivy League graduate, Kim Yi Han is Seoul's top male nanny. He is employed by Seo Do Young as a live-in nanny to look after her two young children, Eun Bi and Jung Min.

This is the story of two women, Seo Jung Eun and Han Yoo Kyung, who walk very different paths to achieve their desires. Seo Jung Eun is a strong and courageous woman who has suffered a difficult life, having grown up in an orphanage, but continues to embrace people around her despite longing for affection herself. Jung Eun harbours the hope that she will meet her mother if she becomes a star, striving to reach her goal and overcome her suffering with her pure and innocent nature. In contrast, Han Yoo Kyung has a birth secret for which she is willing to throw away everything in order to get revenge. The "thorn birds" of the title refers to Jung Eun's character, who only brings out her best at the cost of great pain. A thorn bird is a mythical bird who searches for a thorn tree from the day it is born. When it finds it, the bird impales itself upon the sharpest thorn, and rises above the agony to sing the most beautiful song ever heard.

The story of Kim In Sook's battle against all odds to rise to the top of JK Group with the help of the lawyer Han Ji Hoon, a man who has supported her since they were children.

A young woman named Ji Hyun was enjoying absolute bliss as she was about to be married with her fiancé, but her perfect life is shattered in a car accident that left her in a coma. She is given a second chance at life by a reaper, but it comes with a condition: she has to find three people outside of her family who would cry genuine tears for her. In order to do this, she borrows the body of Yi Kyung, a part-time employee at a convenience store.

The story of a couple who reunited after their love was denied 400 years ago. When Kang Hee Sun discovers a mummy in Choi Hyun Min's home, the pair realize that they were formers lovers in a past life. Soo Hee and Moo Hyun were married but were separated due to unfortunate circumstances when Soo Hee was taken prisoner during a war.