Once Upon A Royal Christmas (Chaennie)

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Despite having her first article go viral, Rosie still quit her job. Perhaps the world of journalism wasn't quite as jaded as she believed, but she had already done enough harm in it and no amount of positive viral articles would make up for that. She figured her upcoming pay check would last her a month or two before she had to find a new job. Her lease on her apartment in Seoul would be over in about the same time frame, so if she didn't find a new job, she could always simply move back to Busan. Rachel would probably like that. Maybe Rosie could actually give them a chance this time and vocalize just how much her traditions and past mean to her rather than sitting in the corner and not saying anything like she normally did.

Even with the goals she set mentally for herself, Rosie still struggled to find any sort of motivation. Ever since her lash out at her boss and packing up her desk after working on edits on her article, Rosie had barely left her couch since she collapsed on it. She knew she should eat, but she wasn't hungry. She knew she should go for a walk, but she didn't want to see the decorations that would remind her of the days past. Instead, she laid curled up in a ball under blankets with the curtains drawn and let sleep drift her in and out of consciousness as she played Golden Girls on the television.

"Are you kidding me?"

Rosie jolted awake and squinted against the sleep stuck to her eyes to see her sister standing in front of her with crossed arms and jaw clenched.

"Alice?" Rosie croaked, her voice still thick with sleep. "What are you doing here?"

"I call you twelve times and you don't answer," Alice told her, the vein in her forehead bulging. "I thought you had died, but here you are asleep!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," Rosie sat up with a yawn.

"You send me the most cryptic text of your life: 'Returning to Seoul now. Don't wait up for me,' and then just ignore all my responses. I thought someone had killed you and was trying to cover their tracks!"

"It wasn't that cryptic."

"You've never sent me a text without an emoji in it in your entire life!"

"Look, I'm sorry, Alice, I didn't know," Rosie sighed as she rubbed her eyes. "I put my phone on Do Not Disturb. Ever since Ms. Choi posted my article, my social media has been blowing up."

"And that's another thing!" Alice continued, still steaming. "You interviewed the Queen of another country and then you quit your job?! What the hell, Rosie? After everything you've given up for that place, you just quit like that?"

"It wasn't worth the cost," Rosie explained as she rubbed her temple as a migraine started to form.

"It apparently was a week ago when you blew off Christmas with your family for it."

"Look, I'm sorry. I was feeling pushed out and--"

"Pushed out? Why on earth would you feel-"

"ALICE!"

Rosie's shout stunned them both into silence. Alice's mouth hung open but nothing came out and Rosie for the first time that day felt like she could breathe. It was time she finally said what she had been holding in for years.

"I love spending the holidays with you and Rachel and Arnold," Rosie started, taking a deep breath. "I really do and you all are a wonderful family. But every year you cut out a different tradition I brought over from my homeland. And I know that you didn't grow up with them and they're strange because no one else you know does them, but they're mine. The pirozhki, the rice fortune-telling, the Australian carols; they do not only make me feel close to my family that's passed, but they also make me feel close and loved by my family now. And with Rachel not making the pirozhkis this year, Bella wearing my Christmas sweaters, and you all decorating the tree without me, I just took that as you not wanting me around anymore. So when Ms. Choi asked if I'd go on an assignment that would potentially cause me to miss the holidays, I took it because I thought it would make it easier on all of us."