The fictional provincial town of San Vicente is

home to the dysfunctional Santos family,

consisting of 18-year old graduating high school
student Angelito (JM de Guzman), his younger
sister Teresa, nicknamed "Tere", and their
grandmother Pinang (Elizabeth Oropesa), who
has custody of the two following their mother's
death and father's desertation. Pinang runs a
small fishmonger and green grocery business in
the town's wet market, and is often helped by
Angelito alongside studying in order to make
ends meet. In school, Angelito has a close
circle of friends or a clique, which includes Rex,
Sponky (Felix Roco), and Boyet Carl John
Barrameda.
Also living in the town is the Dimaano family.
The mother, Adel, works in Saudi Arabia as
a domestic worker, while Delfin remains in the
Philippines, working as a security guard. The
couple have five children: Rolan, Rosalie,
Rhona, Richelle, and Rowena. Rolan (Matt
Evans) is a close friend of Angelito and a
member of his clique. Rosalie (Charee Pineda),
on the other hand, was Angelito's schoolmate
and a well-known honour student, and is now
Rolan's batchmate because Angelito's clique
repeated a year level twice. Due to her
intelligence and wisdom, Rosalie was groomed
by the Dimaanos to be their new breadwinner
who would eventually lift them all from poverty
after graduation. Thus, she studied earnestly
and did not entertain any of her suitors.