Family By Choice | Episode 2 [patched]

Min-seok stumbles in, hair a mess: “Something smells… edible? Is this heaven?” Ha-eun smiles, serves the rice. Jin-ho takes one bite, stands up, and leaves for school without a word. Min-seok: “Don’t mind him. He’s not rude. He’s just… pre-exploded.”

Jin-ho: “My mom didn’t leave because of anger issues. She left because she said I looked too much like my father. He hit her. She couldn’t look at me without seeing him.” Ha-eun: “That’s not your fault.” Jin-ho: “I know. But knowing doesn’t fix anything.”

Min-seok raises his soda: “To broken people living in a broken apartment.” Ha-eun: “To family. Even the one you choose.” Jin-ho doesn’t toast. But he doesn’t leave either. family by choice episode 2

She looks toward Jin-ho’s room. The door is slightly open. He’s pretending to sleep, but his ears are red.

A hand places a 10,000 won note on the counter. It’s Jin-ho. He doesn’t look at her. Jin-ho: “The tofu is for soup, right? You need green onion too.” Ha-eun (confused): “You… came to help?” Jin-ho: “No. I came to stop you from feeding us garbage.” But he picks up the green onions anyway. Ha-eun notices his shoes are worn through at the sole. She says nothing. Min-seok stumbles in, hair a mess: “Something smells…

At school, a classmate whispers to Ha-eun: “I heard Jin-ho’s mom left him because he has anger issues. And Min-seok’s dad is in prison.” Ha-eun freezes. She sees Jin-ho standing by the lockers—he heard everything. His face is stone, but his hands are shaking. He walks past her, bumping her shoulder hard.

“For new shoes. And better groceries. Don’t tell anyone. – J” Min-seok: “Don’t mind him

The next morning. Ha-eun wakes up early to cook again. She opens the front door to throw out trash and finds a small envelope taped to the door. Inside: 50,000 won and a note in messy handwriting.