My wicked step-brothers

Chapter 1

"Rosamunde Shay Christensen, get your butt down here right now," her Mom screamed from downstairs.

Rose threw on her jacket and stomped downstairs. "What woman?" It had just been the two of them for her entire life, and her Mom was super young when she had her, so they grew up together.

"Well, child," she said mockingly, "I know last night's conversation didn't go so great, so after school today, can we have a redo?" She gave her a slight smile, Rose knew this was what her mother wanted, but she was screwing up her entire life. She's two months away from graduating high school, and she wants to up and move to freaking South Korea. Rose grew up in Texas, for Pete's sake. 

"If it's about me moving with you so you can shack up with some rando, then no. I don't care what you do; you are a grown-ass woman, but I'm staying here and graduating with my friends and then going to college somewhere," Rose said with a brave face. Unfortunately, her Mom knows her entirely too well.

She sighed heavily, "If you want to stay here while I move halfway across the world without you, I'll do that. You are 18 and about to graduate BUT think about it. You can finish high school in Seoul and go to college there. The fact that you speak English will be beneficial over there." She gave her a sad look before she left the kitchen.

Rose grabbed a bottle of water and the lunch she had packed. As a single mother, she's done a great job; Rose has never wanted for anything. Her Mom managed to put herself through college and get a decent job. Rose wasn't quite sure what she did, but she met with a lot of people from around the world. She met Mr. Kim a few months ago, and there were instant sparks; he flew to Dallas last week and stayed the whole week. 

They spent every day together, and he proposed to her the night before he flew back home. She said yes but that she needed to talk to her daughter. He seemed nice and made her Mom happy, but she didn't know if she was ready to move to another country. She also didn't know if she was ready not to have her Mom right there whenever she needed her.

Rose made it through school in a daze. Thankfully, she was set to be the valedictorian, so one day wouldn't kill her GPA. She got home, face-planted on the couch, and willed herself to become one with the cushions. Her Mom got home a few minutes after her. She brought her favorite meal from Sonic. Rose immediately jumped and grabbed the bag to devour her chili cheese dog and tater tots with an ocean water slush. She sat at their little kitchen table, happily munching away.

"Did you think about it more?" her Mom asked between bites of her cheeseburger. Rose nodded her head and tried to swallow the food and talk at the same time. It didn't work, resulting in a coughing fit and her Mom smacking her on the back several times. "Geez, kid, don't die on me. I kind of like you, you know!"

She had to laugh. Finally, when she was able to speak without dying, she looked at her Mom. "I don't want to go, but I also don't want to have you here to save me. We both know that I would have died 1,000 times over if it wasn't for you." Rose deeply breathed, "I'll go with you; I couldn't imagine staying here without you."

Her mother jumped up and down and started cheering, "I'm so excited. You are going to love it there. OH, FYI, I doubt you'll remember this, but he has three sons. The youngest is your age, the middle is a year older, and the oldest is two years older than you. The older two are already in college but still live at home. We are going to get married after you and Taehyung graduate."

Rose just held her mouth open, "MOM!" She yelled. 

"What?"

She put her hands on her hips and made the sternest face she could manage, "At no time in our conversations have you EVER told me that he has three sons and that they are my age. That's it, I'm not going." She threw her hands up and stormed off in a dramatic teenage huff.