A charming family drama available to watch streaming on Viki, Family By Choice (2024) touched on a subject rarely covered in Korean dramas: non-blood related people forming their own independent family, with all three children in the story coming from three different families but joined together by sad circumstances and the compassion of one excellent responsible male parent who essentially takes them under his wing and raises them, played by the terrific (and prolific!) character actor Choi Won Young (While You Were Sleeping, Heirs, Three Days, Kill Me Hear Me, Mystic Pop Up Bar, Moonshine, Youth Of May, Twinkling Watermelon, Alice). I hope he wins several acting awards for this performance. He was the glue that held the rest of this addictive story together. The Korean drama series is a remake of a Chinese television series titled "Go Ahead" that aired on Hunan TV in 2020.

The three young actors who played children as teenagers to young adult age were (from left to right, below): Hwang In Yeop, Jung Chae Yeon, and Bae Hyun Sung. Their counterparts as elementary school age children were played by Shin Seo Woo, Oh Eun Seo (what a doll baby she was!), and Choi Jae Yoon. All the young actors gave us vivid and memorable performances.

The Story:

A single Dad named Yoon Jeong Jae (Choi Won Young) runs his own restaurant in a seaside village and takes special care of his young, rather spoiled daughter named Yoon Joo Won. Once in awhile he attempts to date and on one such meeting his troubled female date named Kang Seo Hyun (Baek Eun Hye, When The Camellia Blooms) abandons her little son named Kang Hae Joon to Jeong Jae's care and promises to return someday and pay him back financially for his help in raising the boy. Jeong Jae doesn't hesitate to take this abandoned little boy in and care for him.

Around the same time a new family with a troubled mother moves into Jeong Jae's apartment complex, and their quiet son named Kim San Ha seems very depressed and lonely. Even when Joo Won tries to play with him or feed him he finds some excuse to ignore her. His Dad, Kim Dae Wook (Choi Moo Sung), is a cop who works long hours, and the Mom, named Kwon Jung Hee (Kim Hye Eun), is grieving the loss of a beloved daughter who died tragically, a death she blames on her poor son San Ha.

At one point San Ha's Mom becomes so irate that no one seems to understand her grief that she disappears from the family. It is only due to Jeong Jae's compassion and care for these two boys abandoned by their Moms that they seem to grow up to be normal teenagers. The Cop Dad tries to help sometimes but his long work days keep him away from this odd family combination more often than not, though both men do what they can to help the kids heal from past traumas.

 

In high school the kids help each other out, like protecting each other from bullying and gossip from other students. The two boys obviously both grow fond of and attracted to pretty Joo Won, even though they were raised pretty much as brothers and sister. However, the two boys both yearn to find their mothers again and eventually depart to do just that. Poor Joo Won grieves their departure but carries on as best she can, focusing on her own ambitions in life.