# Family by Choice (2024)

> Three young people who grew up as chosen family reunite a decade later and must face what their bond has become.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/154507

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 16
- Episode runtime: 70 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, romance
- Created by: Kim Seung-ho
- Network: JTBC
- Cast: Hwang In-youp, Jung Chae-yeon, Bae Hyeon-seong, Choi Won-young, Choi Mu-sung, Seo Ji-hye, Kim Hye-eun, Baek Eun-hye
- TMDB rating: 8.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30365813/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: wistful, warm, gentle, nostalgic, melancholic

## What critics say

Audiences broadly acclaim the series as a warm, tender youth romance about chosen family.

## Synopsis

Family by Choice (2024) is a South Korean slice of life romance series created by Kim Seung-ho for JTBC, a single-season run of sixteen episodes running about seventy minutes each. Hwang In-youp plays Kim San-ha, Jung Chae-yeon plays Yun Ju-won, and Bae Hyeon-seong plays Kang Hae-joon, three young people who are not related by blood but treated one another as family during their teenage years. The engine of the story is the slow return of that bond: the characters meet again a decade later, and the ordinary friction of adult life, old feelings and unspoken history pull at what they once were to each other. Episodes are built from everyday moments, shared meals, awkward conversations and small acts of care, rather than external plot machinery. The emotional register is warm, wistful and healing, with a gentle melancholy running under its nostalgia for youth. Set in contemporary South Korea, it is a coming of age story told through the years between adolescence and adulthood. Fans of Reply 1988, Reply 1994 and Itaewon Class will find resonance in its blend of youthful friendship, romance and a grounded Korean setting.

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