Promos are now in full swing for JTBC’s upcoming Family by Choice (previously A Prefabricated Family), with Hwang In-yub (Why Her), Jung Chae-yeon (The Golden Spoon), and Bae Hyun-sung (Miraculous Brothers) headlining the coming-of-age romance. Adapted from the hit Chinese drama Go Ahead, we meet the Korean remake’s characters in the newly dropped first teaser and script reading stills.
Bringing the calm and collected Kim San-ha (Hwang In-yub), bubbly Yoon Joo-won (Jung Chae-yeon), and spirited Kang Hae-joon (Bae Hyun-sung) together under one roof, the story has them living together like real siblings over the course of ten years. But cue the music because ~something~ happens and the next ten years are spent as if they’re strangers, before our found family is reunited.
Co-parenting our three young leads, Choi Won-young (Hierarchy) plays noodle restaurant owner Yoon Jung-jae who is doting and affectionate. As the diligent police officer Kim Dae-wook, Choi Moo-sung (Your Honor) is more stoic. But he’s always striving to become a safe shelter for their kids.
In the teaser, we take the view of daughter Joo-won’s phone and we get a sense of the close-knit dynamics as Joo-won initiates a family group chat. Beginning with the message, “Let’s make our last names the same! Certify ourselves as a real family!” she then adds Dad (Choi Won-young), Dae-wook Ajusshi, Kim San-ha, and Kang Hae-joon to join the chat.
It’s a fun detail to see everyone’s profile message match their personalities, with Jung-jae cutely wishing for their family’s good health, while Dae-wook is stilted: “Kangpo police station. Kim Dae-wook. I’m a police sergeant.” It takes Joo-won a few tries to come up with a chatroom name, typing and erasing, “2+3=family” and “special family plus romance,” before settling on our drama’s title in the end.
We then cut to the chatroom, where San-ha teasingly asks, “Yoon Joo-won, did you cause a mess again?” Hae-joon continues the banter, questioning, “Why open a group chat when we live in the same house.” But an unfazed Joo-won tells them both to shush. Although Hae-joon feels a little slighted, wondering why only San-ha gets the oppa tag, Joo-won chooses not to respond and changes the topic: “There’s something I want to say.”
Jung-jae interrupts, though, informing the group, “I brought home beef bone broth that I made at the shop. Come early~” Dae-wook then replies that he’s working late and to eat without him, prompting San-ha to step and remind the family that Joo-won wants to speak. The teaser then closes as Joo-won breaks the fourth wall with her messages, introducing the series and the upcoming premiere.
Helmed by PD Kim Seung-ho (Joseon Attorney, Twenty Five Twenty One) with scripts by Hong Shi-young, JTBC’s Family by Choice will be launching on October 9. Changing up the time slot, the series will also be airing just on Wednesdays with two episodes releasing back-to-back.
