Family By Choice – K-drama Episode 14 Recap & Review

Episode 14

Episode 14 of Family by Choice begins with Hae-joon in disbelief over San-ha and Joo-won’s relationship. He becomes increasingly angry, feeling abandoned now that Joo-won and San-ha might become a real family, leaving him out yet again. San-ha later tries to talk to Hae-joon but to no avail and becomes upset that Hae-joon thinks they would abandon him.

The next day, while Hae-joon is out running, Dal follows him but ends up crashing and getting a cast on her leg. Hae-joon assumes Joo-won sent her to placate him, though the reality is that Dal heard about the situation and decided to check on Hae-joon herself.

Through San-ha, Joo-won discovers that Hae-joon’s father had another child in the United States. This revelation makes Hae-joon feel abandoned once again, but he doesn’t return home despite San-ha urging him to, leaving her upset about the situation. Meanwhile, Hae-joon takes Dal home.

When Hae-joon returns, Joo-won is exceptionally nice to him and tries to pacify him. The next day, San-ha’s father visits the hospital and ends up having lunch with him and Hee-ju, mistakenly assuming she might be his girlfriend. He shares the news with Jeong-jae, and the fathers are happy to see their children moving forward in life.

Elsewhere, San-ha picks Joo-won up from work, and they return to find Hae-joon waiting with a long list of dating rules for San-ha to follow. This hilariously leads to reconciliation on the condition that San-ha refers to Hae-joon as “hyung-nim.”

The following day, Hae-joon sees his mother meeting her lawyer, who had helped with her case. His mother notices him and calls out just as he’s leaving. Their encounter results in Hae-joon finally expressing his feelings, leading both to break down emotionally before Hae-joon walks away. Everyone learns about the encounter but cannot reach Hae-joon. Eventually, San-ha calls Dal over to seek her advice.

Taking Dal’s suggestion, Hae-joon asks his mother why she left him. She reveals everything: she had been in an accident while returning to Seoul to pay her debt, spent six months in prison, and later decided not to interfere in his life after seeing him happy, especially given her criminal background. Jeong-jae also arrives at the salon after locating Hae-joon, who breaks down about always feeling abandoned. Eventually, everyone returns home and enjoys a meal together, including Hae-joon’s mother.

Later that night, Hae-joon and his mother stay at her place while Joo-won and San-ha get flustered about being alone together.

The next day, Hae-joon picks Dal up from the hospital, and she confesses to him publicly at a bus stop before fleeing the scene. Later, Hae-joon drops off medicine for her at Joo-won’s house.

The following day, Hae-joon, San-ha, and Joo-won visit their parents. This time, San-ha and Joo-won reveal their relationship. The episode ends with the two of them dropping the bombshell.

The Episode Review

With only two episodes left, the show is ramping up to tie all the storylines into a happily-ever-after conclusion, even pairing Jeong-jae and Hae-joon’s mother, thereby making Hae-joon a legitimate part of the family.Hae-joon’s outburst upon learning the reasons behind his mother’s decision to leave him is justified. It’s hard to believe in his mother’s ridiculous reasoning, especially since her backstory is only revealed through a single conversation in the past two episodes.

The show has primarily focused on the stories of Hae-joon, San-ha, and Joo-won, leaving much of the parents’ background and history unexplored, which explains why the show is completely focused on the three individuals and their stories. Overall, the plot is wrapping up for the finale next week, and hopefully, we’ll get a satisfying conclusion.