Family by Choice episodes 1-2 recap: How do Ju-won, San-ha, and Hae-jun become family?

The series Family by Choice premiered on October 9, 2024. Directed by Kim Seung-ho, the K-drama brings a heartwarming yet complex narrative to the screen. Starring Hwang In-youp, Jung Chae-yeon, Bae Hyun-sung, and Choi Won-young, this 16-episode series is available for streaming on Rakuten Viki.

Family by Choice is based on the 2020 Chinese drama Go Ahead and tells the story of three childhood friends—San-ha (Hwang In-youp), Ju-won (Jung Chae-yeon), and Hae-jun (Bae Hyun-sung)—who grow up as a tight-knit, found family despite not being related by blood.

Family by Choice follows their journey from high school to adulthood, exploring their deep bond, which is tested when San-ha and Hae-jun develop romantic feelings for Ju-won.

---

Family by Choice episodes 1-2 recap: Hae-jun's father finds him

The first episode of Family by Choice starts with an introduction to Ju-won and Jung-jae's lives. Jung-jae, a widower and restaurant owner, does his best to be a kind father to his daughter. One day, San-ha and his parents move to the third floor of Jung-jae's building. It turns out they had lost their daughter, and the mother, unable to cope with it, had started blaming San-ha for it.

San-ha is unable to feed himself and survives on ramen. However, he ignores the multiple attempts from Jung-jae and Ju-won's end to feed him a proper meal. Meanwhile, Kang Seo-hyun, a blind date fixed for Jung-jae by a neighbor, arrives with her son, Hae-jun. Ju-won is not too happy, as she is unwilling to have another woman as a mother.

In Family by Choice, as Hae-jun and Ju-won are taken outside to give Jung-jae and Seo-hyun space to talk, Ju-won runs away to find San-ha. As she hears some kids speaking badly about his family, she and San-ha get into a fight, with Hae-jun also joining. After Jung-jae stands up for San-ha and gets him an apology from the kid, he finally decides to have dinner at their place along with Seo-hyun and Hae-jun.

San-ha spends time with Ju-won playing around as Jung-jae goes to drop Seo-hyun and Hae-jun at the bus stop. Ju-won tells San-ha that he can look at his sister's pictures when he misses her. San-ha takes the advice.

The next day, Seo-hyun changed her phone number and contact, much to the surprise of the grandmother who had set them up. It is revealed that she also left Hae-jun with her sister and went to Seoul to make money.

Jung-jae gets a call from Seo-hyun, asking him to get Hae-jun some food. As he reaches the location, he finds the house is in a mess, and Hae-jun offers to make noodles. He decides to take Hae-jun along till his mother returns.

At San-ha's home, his mother finds a family picture in his drawer and starts blaming him for smiling and happily eating, while she can barely do so. San-ha overhears this and apologizes, promising not to repeat it. While his mother is leaving, Ju-won asks if San-ha can have food with them and watch TV at their place every day. Annoyed, she asks her to keep him and leaves.

Years later, San-ha's father, Dae-wook, and Jung-jae have taken over the parent duties, raising the three children together, who are now in high school. Ju-won now wants the same surname for all of them to make them a family on paper.

Episode 2 of Family by Choice presents a problem that Ju-won has faced since childhood. She has been bombarded with gifts and letters to pass on to Hae-jun and San-ha and then has to deal with the follow-up questions.

Hae-jun's solution is to stop the cycle is by being mean and crazy. When Ju-won tries to apply it, she falls into the pond. She was running while grabbing the arm of a girl who accused her of not passing on her letter to her so-called brothers because Ju-won was not a real sister and had ulterior motives.

However, Hae-jun and San-ha come to her rescue. At dinner, San-ha gets a call from his maternal grandmother. When he does not pick up, she calls Dae-wook. Upset, he politely excuses himself from the table and goes to his room, followed by Ju-won and Hae-jun, who carry meatballs for him. They finally leave his room when they are certain he is feeling better.

The next day, when Ju-won takes Park-dal, her friend, to introduce her to San-ha, she tells him that he has been dating Hui-ju, a classmate. She gets upset that San-ha kept this a secret from her. However, Hui-ju assumed she and San-ha were dating, although San-ha never confirmed the relationship.

Upset about this, Ju-won confronts San-ha, who reminds her they are not a real family. Seeing a suspicious man with a camera, Hae-jun tries to catch him and seizes his camera to find his pictures. Later, he meets his aunt, who comes to visit. As he offers to pay for her cab, she refuses and asks him not to be a burden and to repay everything Jung-jae has done for him.

Later, in Family by Choice, when Ju-won is evidently upset during dinner, San-ha apologizes and tells her that Hui-ju was dating Hae-joon.

The next day in school, Hui-ju tries to get back with Hae-joon but refuses, saying he cannot hurt Ju-won. Hui-ju calls Ju-won to the music room, and the two argue, after which Ju-won walks out. While trying to catch up to her, Hui-ju trips and falls. As a crowd gathers, she blames it on Ju-won. Again, Jae-hoon and San-ha come to her rescue. Hae-joon later apologizes to her with a cake.

In school, Ju-won finds out that Park-dal likes Hae-joon. As Park-dal is waiting at the bus stop, she sees Hae-joon calling a stranger "mom," only to find out he was wrong. Hae-joon takes her out to ask her to keep it a secret. The next day, during his basketball practice, a man comes in and claims to be his father. Here, episode 2 of Family by Choice ends.

---

The next episode of Family by Choice is scheduled to be released on October 16, 2024.