[비즈한국] There are three children who grew up eating at the same table: Yoon Ju-won, Kim San-ha, and Kang Hae-jun. They have no mothers and two fathers. If this were overseas, people might assume they were a family where a gay couple adopted three children. In reality, these three children, as the common saying goes, do not share a single drop of blood. Yet, they are a family that cherishes each other more than anyone else in the world and shares affectionate memories. This is the story of the drama ‘Family by Choice,’ which depicts a unique family living together, relying on one another despite different bloodlines and surnames.
Yoon Ju-won (Jung Chae-yeon) lost her mother at a young age, but she has a father, Yoon Jeong-jae (Choi Won-young), who cares for her more tenderly than anyone else in the world. Kim San-ha (Hwang In-youp), who lost his younger sister in an accident, carries a deep scar in his heart because his mother, Kwon Jung-hee (Kim Hye-eun), left him while blaming him for the tragedy. The ones who soothed that pain and became a family in place of his mother are the Ju-won family living downstairs. San-ha is not the only one who gained a family because of them. There is also Kang Hae-jun (Bae Hyun-sung), the son of Kang Seo-hyun (Baek Eun-hye), who disappeared after a single blind date with Yoon Jeong-jae. When Seo-hyun suddenly left to make money, leaving Hae-jun behind, Jeong-jae, unable to bear the sight of the poor child, took him in and raised him. Hae-jun called Jeong-jae ‘Dad,’ treated Ju-won as his younger sister, and lived in the same house for 10 years. Add to this Kim Dae-wook (Choi Moo-sung), San-ha’s father, who cares for his son diligently in place of his departed wife and forms a "couple-like" chemistry with Yoon Jeong-jae, and you have quite a peculiar family configuration.
It feels a bit old-fashioned to think that only blood relatives constitute a family in this day and age, yet in Korea, a dated sentiment remains where people are curious about the nature of the relationship when they hear that non-blood-related people live together. This sentiment is even stronger in small neighborhoods like the one in ‘Family by Choice,’ where most neighbors know each other's circumstances. That is why, early in the drama, Yoon Ju-won strongly advocated for the fathers to go through a "formal adoption" to unify their surnames. Then again, even in 2024, there are countless people worried about giving their child their mother’s surname instead of the father’s for fear of being suspected as a remarried family. It is easy to understand why seventeen-year-old Yoon Ju-won in 2013 wanted to share the same surname as the brothers she cherished so much and be recognized as a family by others.
While one cannot completely ignore biological and legal ties, if you think about it, there are plenty of relationships in the world that are worse than being strangers even when linked by blood or law. San-ha’s mother herself blamed her young son for the tragedy of losing her daughter and left him heartlessly, living 10 years without contact. Although they had their reasons, the same goes for Hae-jun’s mother and aunt for not looking after him. If you look around us, not just in dramas, you can find people one degree of separation away who have uncles, aunts, siblings, or parents they never talk to.
That is why the family portrayed in ‘Family by Choice’ is so poignant. I love how Ju-won retorts to neighbors who pity the three for growing up without mothers by calling them "pitiful," saying, "We aren't pitiful at all! We're each special in our own way!" It brings tears to my eyes when Yoon Jeong-jae tells Hae-jun’s aunt, Kang Yi-hyun (Min Ji-ah), who keeps telling Hae-jun to repay the favor of his upbringing: "There's no need. What kind of parent tells a child to pay them back for raising them?"
In particular, Yoon Jeong-jae is the one who played the biggest role in the birth of this poignant family. No matter how good-natured or warm-hearted someone is, isn't it difficult to raise someone else’s children as your own? Especially in a world where people—even regarding adopted children or those from remarriages—are quick to say, "Don't take in a dark-haired beast" (a proverb about ingratitude) when things go wrong. In episode 11, when Hae-jun offers a bankbook containing 800 million won he saved to repay the father who raised him, Jeong-jae explodes in anger. "What kind of parent 'raises' a child for a return? You just raise them! You raise them so they can eat well, sleep well, and have a fun life, not to demand money! Am I raising you to be paid back?" In a world where even blood-related parents and children often growl at each other over money or cut ties, who could dare say such a person is not a parent?
How poignant and heartbreaking are the moments where Ju-won, San-ha, and Hae-jun bicker yet try to hide their own wounds so as not to cause pain to others, while conversely trying to share and soothe each other’s scars? Seeing San-ha, who grew up with the scar of being abandoned by his mother, hear the truth about why Hae-jun’s mother never appeared before him, and then seeking her out to ask her to "make sure Hae-jun knows she didn't abandon him"—who could say they are not brothers looking after one another?
‘Family by Choice’ seems to dedicate a significant portion of its latter half to the romance between Ju-won and San-ha, who meet again in their 20s after being separated for 10 years, but honestly, I don't have much interest in their romance. The atmosphere moving toward the finale—trying to pair up Yoon Jeong-jae and Hae-jun’s mother, Kang Seo-hyun—is also not entirely satisfying. The Korean-style happy ending of creating a "real" family through love and legal ties is familiar, but I find myself more drawn to Hae-jun’s feeling of alienation and hurt at the news of Ju-won and San-ha’s dating, and the chemistry between Yoon Jeong-jae and Kim Dae-wook, who have saved money together for their children for so long, which feels more like a married couple.
‘Family by Choice’ is scheduled to air its 15th and 16th episodes on November 27th. I applaud Choi Won-young for playing Yoon Jeong-jae, a father so sweet he almost feels like a fantasy. I also send my support to the young actors: Hwang In-youp as Kim San-ha, who comfortably pulled off the role from a high schooler in uniform to a man in his late 20s; Bae Hyun-sung as Kang Hae-jun, who showcased "puppy-like" charms while delivering both harmless smiles and heartbreaking tears; and Jung Chae-yeon as Yoon Ju-won, who now seems to be a full-fledged actress. Regardless of the finale, I want to say that I had a wonderful time laughing and crying while watching the true, ideal image of family this drama presented.
About the author, Jung Soo-jin?
Having worked at various magazines, I have covered and written about films, travel, and popular culture. I don’t want to fall behind on trends, but I’ve become an "old soul" who predicts the obvious clichés in the next scenes while watching the latest dramas. I am currently drifting through the vast world of OTT platforms, trying to regain my lost instincts, and my only wish right now is for a unified OTT subscription plan.