"TAERI WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL SLEEPING!"

The sleepy head immediately sat up from her bed, brown hair flying in all directions and one eye still shut in order to adjust to the sudden brightness of her room. Taeri was only awake for two seconds but she was already annoyed at Derek for ruining her dream about-

"YOU HAVE TO GET READY FOR YOUR DATE!" Derek was screeching at this point, attempting to pull her out of her bed. The apartment is completely empty besides the two. Nara was at the supermarket while Hunter and Joonhyuk are probably out on a morning jog. There is no one to yell at Derek to quiet down this morning.

"It's not a date, we're just hanging out and-" Her eyes are both wide and open now, and the first thing her sight lands on is her digital Hello Kitty alarm clock which boasted a proud '9:56'.

"Oh no, oh no no no! I'm gonna go shower, Derek you know what to do." Taeri flung from her bed and dashed across her shared room with Nara, running to the connected bathroom and closed the door with a loud slam.

"Just go already! Your breath stinks." Derek waved her off and opened Taeri's closet sliding door, revealing the glory that is known as her clothes. "Babies, it's OOTD time."

Better hide your kids, because Diva Derek is at work.

Being the sleepy head that she is, Taeri always wakes up late- thus earning her a black belt the art of multi-tasking for hectic mornings like this. The disheveled girl was already in the shower, shampooing while brushing her teeth and conditioning while washing her face. She came out in record time, and dried her hair with the power and heat on high. "Beauty is pain, beauty is pain..." She repeats the mantra to herself, fully aware that her split ends are crying for desperate help.

Stepping out of the bathroom in her favorite cotton robe, she looked at her best friend and his outfit ensemble laying out neatly on her bed. Derek had picked out a cute black dress with sunflower designs and paired it with a knitted cardigan and her everyday go to black leather bag. At the foot of her bed rested a pair of wedge sandals.

"You're the best, you know that?" Taeri tilted her head affectionately, feeling so blessed to have such a supportive and helpful friend. Derek looked up from his mobile game and nodded back a proud "I know."

Her thankfulness didn't last long as Derek became the worst back seat driver while she is putting on her makeup.

"Use this palette, the pigmentation is better."

"Don't you think that BB cream looks a little cakey?"

"I don't think that primer formulation is good, remind me to never get that."

"Use the Dolly Wink falsies, their lashes looks more natural. Guys don't like dramatic makeup."

"Coral goes with your skin tone way more."

Taeri stopped halfway putting on her lipstick and pursed her lips in a straight line, a signal of her annoyance. She looked at Derek with his cheeky smile holding Nara's Tony Moly lip tint. Taeri's stare gave Derek enough warning to back away. "Ok, I'll just... bring out the car." He set the lip tint down and retreated to safety in the kitchen to get the car keys.

Taeri finished her makeup and hair in minutes and went downstairs to the parking structure as Derek is pulling up. She hopped on the front seat and buckled her seat belt. "Here's the directions to the cafe." He took one glace at her phone screen and mumbled a quiet "Got it."

Derek may have only had his permit to drive for only one year, but he is a natural driver on the road. His eidetic memory has come quite in handy not only in memorizing intricate choreographies but also all the streets South Korea may have to offer. He pulled up to Cafe Diem and parked outside the establishment.

"Now are you sure you don't need me to come with you? Tag along to make sure he doesn't do anything, because if he does he is going to feel the wrath of Derek Taejun Amadeus Lee!" Taeri took a minute to let his words seep in. "You're middle name isn't Amadeus." "Yeah but it sounds pretty cool though." She let out a soft chuckle before opening the door. "Don't worry Dad, I'll be fine." The girl remarked with a sweet but sarcastic tone and shuts the door, making her way towards the coffee building. Derek let out a dramatic sigh. "My sweet baby girl is all grown up." He wiped a fake tear and produced some sobbing sounds alone in the car which resembled the cries of an ahjumma watching Titanic.

When she reached the door, Taeri looked back at the car to make sure Derek had driven away instead of stalking her in some alley corner or something, only to see an overly dramatic outline of Derek's feature scrounging into a face that would resemble a very bad actor's attempt in crying... Except the sounds are masked by the distance between her and the car. Out of everything Derek has done, this wasn't the weirdest.

Taeri could see Jungkook sitting at a far booth through the glass entrance. She opened the door and gingerly walked to his table. He had a black face mask on but even so, when he glanced up, no stars would compare to the twinkle in his eyes.

The new cafe is a popular hangout spot for both idols and trainees a like due to it's location. It was within range of most of company headquarter and trainees would often like to grab a drink before or after practice. The store's front was hard to find though, and you would have to turn down a corner to go into the cafe, providing a secured and paparazzi-free place to just relax without worries of having your pictures show up in popular searches the next day.

Jungkook's eyes curved into cresent shapes when he saw Taeri, an indicator that he is smiling. He took off his mask and placed it on the table as she sat down on the chair opposite of his. The first minute was very awkward, the two haven't been talking much in the past months except when texting due to conflicting and jam-packed schedules. Just saying their hellos could make one cringe with all of the awkward chuckles and throat clearings.

"So how's it been?" Jungkook first spoke up after they ordered their respective drinks. His question wasn't towards anything specific. "Everything is fine, we're still training hard and I got a new mile time on my physical... Only thing is that my trainer wants me to go on a diet."

Jungkook chuckled at the thought of her not eating food. She even ordered a slice of red velvet cake just a few minutes ago. "So are you really going to do it?" He asked as the drinks and cake arrived. Taeri took a sip of her blended iced coffee and shook her head. "Are you kidding? Sweet potatos and water for three weeks? Korea has enough bones to last a pack of dogs one hundred lifetimes. I just took the diet as a 'suggestion'." She sliced the tip of her cake with a smooth and tasted the piece, completely satisfying her taste buds with the sweet treat after not eating anything this morning.

"I think you look nice, you don't need to change anything about yourself." Taeri could feel her heart wanting to jump out of her chest at his kind words. Yes, this is the boy who she likes. A boy that is so caring towards others and is beyond charming and talented, a boy that works with so much passion and makes her knees weak just by looking at her direction. Every single aspect you would want in a person, Jungkook had it. He was perfect in her eyes.

Taeri muttered a soft "Thank you." and looked down at her cake, trying to hide her now glowing cheeks and idiotic smile.

They enjoyed eachother's company for an hour or so, talking about memories of their trainee years and funny stories about their lives after Jungkook debuted. The girl seemed so estatic about her own debut also, telling him about the photoshoot mishap of her makeup artist applying eyeliner on Taeri when Joonhyuk next to her yelped at a flat-iron slightly touching his ear, causing the woman to jerk her hand up and drew a long black streak across Taeri's temple.

They exchanged stories and jokes, and even told each other cheesy pick-up lines at one point. "Aw, you're as sweet as Suga, I J-Hope you aren't like that to every girl you meet!" Yes, these cringe-worthy words came out of Taeri's mouth. All Jungkook did was laugh at her cute but corny improvised line.

He paid for their bill and stood up. "You ready to go?" He asked her, raising one hand towards her to help her up. She nodded, slinging her bag over her shoulder and held his hand to stand up from her seat. Even towards the entrance, her heart was beating like battle drums and her cheeks flushed red... He didn't let go of her hand.

"We still have the whole day free of schedules, practices, and members. What do you want to do?"

Taeri barely heard him over her own screaming thoughts. She took a couple of seconds to process his words, of which seemed like mumbles at the time to her, and answered with a delightful choice.

It didn't take long for them to go back to Taeri's dorm. Since Derek took their only remaining car to go have lunch with his family, the two took a taxi to her place. The ride was a smooth fifteen minutes, granted it would have been ten if there hadn't been a flashmob on the street a block from the cafe.

In the cab, the two were talking about what movies they should watch since Hunter had streamed about a dozen for one of his horror/action/whatever movie marathons (to feel manly after finishing his Kdrama marathon).

Taeri sort of felt bad, since Jungkook has been paying for almost everything they had done within that past hour including the cab fare. So why not. There are snacks, drinks, and movies at her place without charge.

They walked past the sleeping apartment maintenance manager and to the elevator. On the way up, she noticed Jungkook was figetting around with something in his pocket. Figuring it was nothing, she simply shrugged and exited the lift once it had stopped on her floor.

After a quick jiggle of her keys, the two entered the now empty apartment. Joonhyuk and Hunter are probably out doing some "dude" stuff, Derek is with his family, and Nara is shopping with her friend. Yup, completely empty.

Jungkook made himself comfortable on the sofa while Taeri gathered some snacks. She came back to the living room with a bowl of popcorn, a plate filled with fruits (though it was covered with plastic wrap and had a sticky note on it with a bolded 'NARA'S' in a threatening manner, Taeri didn't care), and of course Joonhyuk's personal candy stash.

Pulling out a movie selection file on the upgraded Smart TV, Taeri scrolled through the choices of horror movies or the whole Fast and Furious series (wow Hunter). She was always a closet fan of horror movies; how it causes her adrenaline to spike and her heart to pound, almost like a substitute high, but she always put up a scared front. Something about being a fragile little girl have people bending their backs to make her happy and keep her safe. She didn't do chores for a whole month after accidentally falling off a step ladder trying to dust some high cabinets. Hunter and Nara basically did all her chores, since she got hurt while in their care.

"How about 'It Follows'?" Jungkook turned his attention to the TV, where the glowing selection displayed the movie poster.

"It's a new movie isn't?" Taeri nodded. His eyes skimmed through the movie summary and shrugged his shoulders. "Sure."

So with the lights turned off and 30 minutes into the movie, Taeri was already curled up next to Jungkook, her legs were risen next to her chest and his arm around her shoulders in a protective embrace from the imaginary monsters on the screen. Back in their trainee days, this was how it always was. The two would come to each other's houses and just watch movies all day any chance they can get. And everytime, Taeri felt like a lottery winner with him next to her.

Though her images of the two together as a couple were very common... Yes, she daydreams about her crush, deal with it. It was always ruined by one simple word. Friend. "You're such a great friend Ri.," he would always say.

In her mind, the only differences between a girlfriend and a girl friend is the space in the middle. That little annoying space is called the friend zone.