‘High school mom’ Choi Ji-hye made a heartfelt apology to her children who were hurt by her three divorces and cohabitation with her fourth boyfriend, and vowed, “I will put my children first,” drawing attention.

On the MBN show ‘High School Mom Pa 5 That Adults Don’t Know’ that aired on the 13th, Choi Ji-hye, who became a mother at the age of 18, appeared and confessed her concerns, saying, “After my third marriage, there have been problems with my family in the past year,” and showed her efforts to resolve them. After three marriages and divorces, and even cohabitation with her fourth boyfriend, Choi Ji-hye had not properly noticed the hurt feelings of her children because she had been focusing on her own happiness. After realizing this too late, she promised, “I’m sorry I only thought of myself. From now on, I will be a mother who puts my children first, not my boyfriend,” receiving support from the three MCs.

First, the story of Choi Ji-hye becoming a ‘High School Mom’ was introduced as a reenactment drama. Choi Ji-hye confessed her life story of being a ‘gold-dippy’, saying, “After giving birth to her first son at the age of 18, she got married and divorced twice and now has two children with different surnames. Then, her third boyfriend proposed to her and she was contemplating whether or not she should get married.”. Choi Ji-hye appeared in the studio right after and said, “I had a child with my third boyfriend and got married, but we ended up getting divorced”, sharing her recent situation after the reenactment drama. Then, she asked for help, saying, “Recently, my family has had problems in the past year, so I came out on ‘High School Mom’ 5’.”. Following this, the daily life of Choi Ji-hye and her three children with ‘different fathers’ was revealed, but the studio cast was flustered to find an unidentified adult male living with her family. Choi Ji-hye explained about this man, “He‘s my boyfriend. We’ve been dating for 10 months and have been living with my family for 8 months.”



While the studio was in shock once again, Choi Ji-hye‘s three children were getting ready to go to school. However, her 11-year-old second daughter was taking care of her 5-year-old third daughter, which was surprising, and Choi Ji-hye slept in late. Furthermore, her 14-year-old first son hardly talked to his mother, let alone his siblings, which raised concerns. Seo Jang-hoon, who watched this, criticized her, saying, “You’ve been through the pain of (divorce) three times, so why are you so hastily moving in (with your boyfriend)?” Choi Ji-hye said, “My current boyfriend is the complete opposite of my ex-husbands. He explained, ”I was the first to make the dash because I am diligent and work hard at my job.“

After her three children went to school and daycare, Choi Ji-hye started a delivery job with her boyfriend on a motorcycle. Choi Ji-hye, who works as a ‘rider,’, said, “It‘s been about 5 years since I started doing delivery work. My boyfriend and I have the same commuting hours. My boyfriend earns 4.5 million won a month, and I work a little more leisurely and earn about 2.5 million won a month.” Choi Ji-hye’s father, who also works as a delivery man, confessed, “I spend most of my income on my daughter.” Seo Jang-hoon expressed his sorrow by saying, “Even at that age, you take such good care of your daughters,” while leaving his father to a restaurant run by an acquaintance.

In the evening, Choi Ji-hye left her two daughters at a restaurant and went back to her delivery job. The two daughters waited for their mother in a small storage room, but Choi Ji-hye spent her time leisurely because there was no ‘delivery call’ at the same time. Seeing this, In Kyo-jin was upset and said, “My second daughter is only 11 years old. It’s so heartbreaking,” and Seo Jang-hoon stuck out his tongue and said, “I’m sorry to say this, but my second daughter is better than my mother.”

Soon, it became night, and Choi Ji-hye and her family sat down at the table to eat the late-night snack her father had brought. However, she was worried because only her eldest son did not come home. A little later, when her son came home, Choi Ji-hye scolded him, saying, “What time is it now? Why is a student coming home now?” The eldest son suddenly expressed his displeasure at his mother who got angry and left the house again. Choi Ji-hye‘s boyfriend hurriedly chased after him and tried to talk to him, but the son would not open his mouth. Immediately after, the son confessed in an interview with the production crew, “I hated it so much when my mom’s boyfriend came to live with us. I wondered how she could act like that after being divorced for so long. (My mom) seems so selfish.” After hearing the son‘s story, Seo Jang-hoon felt sorry for him, saying, “I would leave home if I were in his situation.” Park Mi-sun said frankly, “I think it was too hasty to live with a new man after four months of my third divorce.”

A few days later, Choi Ji-hye took her eldest son, who was dissatisfied with her, and her second daughter, who was taking care of the youngest instead of her mother, on an outing. The two children, who finally opened their hearts while eating lunch boxes prepared by their mothers, confessed their honest feelings. The son said, “When I was in elementary school, my mother divorced and let another man come into the house, and I felt so uncomfortable and hated it,” and the second daughter also said, “My friends had fathers, but I didn’t. But when a strange man came to live with us, my friends kept asking, ‘Is he your father?’ That was hard, but I hope that my mother doesn’t break up with her current boyfriend and lives well.”

Choi Ji-hye, who learned of her children’s hurt feelings later, said, “I didn’t know that my children had such thoughts until now. I think I acted selfishly because I was only looking for my own happiness. I’m so sorry. From now on, I will be a mother who puts her children first, not men.” In response to Choi Ji-hye’s sincere regret and apology, the psychological counselor Jo Young-eun said, “A mother’s number one priority should be her children. No matter how good a boyfriend is, children feel complicated emotions because that person has entered the boundary of family. Clear boundaries between boyfriends and children need to be set,” he said, making Choi Ji-hye nod.

‘Goding Mom Dad 5’ airs every Wednesday at 10:20 p.m. on MBN.

Reporter Choi Yoon-na, Donga.com yyynnn@donga.com