Audrey Kim is your average Korean-American teenager. She’s angsty, she’s rebellious, and she’s in a whole lot of trouble.

    After being caught in a vandalizing incident at her high school in Los Angeles, California, her stepmother decides to ship her to South Korea to live with her older half-brother who is none other than Kim Namjoon. Or, more commonly known as BTS’ leader, Rap Monster. He’s part of one of the biggest acts in the world, is a talented rapper and songwriter, and is also a self-proclaimed genius.

    But he is also an older brother.

    Audrey’s not too happy once she finds out she’s going to have to live with seven guys, one of which is including her half brother, who she barely even knows. She hardly understands Korean, never particularly had a taste for kimchi, wonders why there are always dozens of screaming girls chasing her brother and his friends around, doesn’t even remotely understand the concept of “kpop”, and tries to find every chance she gets to go back home.

    Until she finds out that home is a person, and not an actual place. She hadn’t expected to fall in love with one of her brother’s bandmates, let alone grow to call Namjoon her brother. But things change, people change, and soon, Audrey Kim will find herself on the ride of her life.

Preface

    I’m on a plane heading to South Korea, a country that seems more foreign to me than anything else. As I lay my head on the window, wondering how the hell I will even survive these next few months, my thoughts drift back to how all this happened in the first place.

February

    It was still supposed to be winter. But in places like LA, winter barely exists.

    The night air didn’t seem cold at all as I ran along the pavement, trying to keep up with the head bouncing ahead of me. I was wearing a Brandy Melville crop top, shorts that were perhaps a bit too short, and my dirty converse high tops. My hair was long, wavy, and flowy, and even a little sticky from the night air.

    “ Audrey, hurry up!” Parker called ahead.

    We had reached the fence. Parker’s grip on my hand was warm and firm, and when he pulled me up and over, I landed right into him.

    But I didn’t have time to think about it as we all headed over to the brick wall. Classes had been killer last semester, and there was nothing about high school that I particularly enjoyed. Senior year had been a total bust so far, with grumpy and intolerant teachers and crappy people.

    I watched as Parker and some other kids from school took out the spray paint cans from their backpacks. Parker fixed his baseball cap and his lips before drawing a big, “ YOU” in bright red. He looks over at me and I take notice of how nice his arms looked in the muscle tank he was wearing, how he seemed to look extra good under the light, no matter how dim it was.

    “Audrey,” he said, tossing me the can of spray paint he had. “Write something.”

    I took a step forward, my heart pounding against my chest. “What should I write?”

    Parker leaned against the wall next to me. “I don’t know,” he said with a flirty smile. “Something like, ‘I love Parker’?”

    I smack his chest. He grabs my hand with a laugh. We’re close to kissing, right then and there, until bright lights suddenly shine on our faces.

    “OH !”

    We all start running, and the last thing I remember is Parker’s hand being pulled away from mine. I should’ve known.

    Fun is always short-lived.

    My stepmother was furious. Then again, what else was new?

    I didn’t really know what to expect. Perhaps disownment, which probably wouldn’t have bothered me much. I'm already eighteen, had some money saved up from my job at Forever 21 and TGIF’s, and I could maybe live with Parker. He has an apartment with some of his buddies.

    What I didn’t expect however, was being sent to Korea to live with my half-brother.

    “You’re kidding, right?” I scoffed.

    When she didn’t answer, the reality of it all dawned upon me.

    I didn’t want to leave LA. I didn’t want to leave my friends, the places we always hang out at, the Starbucks down the street, no matter how ty their frappuccinos are.

    I didn’t want to leave Parker.

    I hadn’t seen him since that night, and to say that I simply missed him would have been an understatement.

    I looked at Dad to see if he would say anything, anything at all. But his lips were pressed in a fine line.

    “I think your mother is right,” he finally said. “It is time you grow up.”

    “No,” I said, shaking my head. “She is not my mother.”

    “Audrey.”

    “ you,” I spat at her. “ you for barging into our lives and ruining everything!”

    “AUDREY!” my dad screamed. “Enough is enough. You are going to Korea whether you like it or not. It is settled. Begin packing your bags.”

    “Who are you to tell me what to do?” I barked. “You’re not even my Dad anymore. I thought things were already bad as it was. But it got a hell of a whole lot worse since you married that !”

    Then the step slaps me across the face. And my dad doesn’t do anything at all.

    I don’t really remember what he looks like. The last time I saw him was Christmas a couple of years ago, when his mother let him visit Dad. Although, once again the step ruined everything that night by “accidentally” throwing away the Barbie doll I got.

I remember Namjoon looking kind of chubby and nerdy back then. Who knows what he could look like now? But we do have the same dad. That’s gotta count for something.

    I peer around the crowd of people at the airport, looking for a sign with my name on it.

    “Audrey?”

    I turn around and nearly whack the guy in the face. Standing behind me was a tall dude decked out in all black, with thick dark Ray Bans and a face mask. The hell?

    He must’ve seen the look on my face because he takes off the glasses and says, “Oops. Sorry about that. Hi. Nice to see you again after what? Seven years?” He grins as he sticks out a hand.

    I just look at it as I whirl around and start walking. I need to get out of here ASAP.

    Namjoon catches up to me. He was a lot taller now, but his English was rusty. “Sorry about the getup,” he apologizes again. “Lots of fans like to stakeout at the airport, so…”

    I give him a look. “Fans? What are you, in a band?”

    He shrugs. “Sort of.”

    “OH MY GOSH LOOK! IT’S RAP MONSTER!”

    “Rap Monster?” I say in disbelief. “Who the hell is--”

    But I turn around to find Namjoon suddenly surrounded by more than a dozen girls, and the numbers were growing exponentially by the second. What the--

    “OPPA!” girls kept screaming. “SARANGHAE!”

    “Sarang-what?” I question.

    Namjoon just smiles humbly as he signs a couple of autographs, then makes his way back over to me. “C’mon little sis, the taxi is this way.”

    “Calling me little sis now?”

    “Well isn’t that what you are?”

    I roll my eyes. It was one thing to have Namjoon be my brother. It’s another to say it aloud, which I loathed. At least he had the good mother. I had two duds.

    “Omo! Is that oppa’s girlfriend?” the girls kept saying. “Her eye makeup is terrible!”

    “HEY!” I shout. I look over at Namjoon in disbelief, who seems completely calm. “What the hell are you around here?”

    “Oh,” he says as he opens the door to the taxi for me. “Just a singer.”

Author's Note

Had this idea pop out of nowhere and started writing stuff right away. More info TBA.