As a teenager, Ah-In didn't necessarily follow the path that his parents had planned for him. He dropped out of high school and chose to pursue acting — a decision that ultimately turned out to be the right move. "I was close with my parents, and we talked a lot about this and that. But then I became rebellious and I came to Seoul," the actor shared on his talk show Do-ol Ah-in Going All Directions in 2019. "Suddenly I changed my career plans and told them I would become an actor. They didn't give their consent or protest; instead they just firmly asked about my personal opinion and then let me be free."
"I think of it as lucky that I had the will to quit school early," he added. "I had the courage to try planning another life and just recklessly threw myself into it. Because I did that, I was able to turn every moment that I've come up against in my life into an opportunity for my personal education."