A MORNING PERSON, BUT NOT A COFFEE PERSON

JUDE

I wake up to a shrill noise.

Without opening my eyes, I fumble for my phone, stopping the alarm before groaning. I have barely slept four hours, but here I am, awake at four am.

I get up and make my bed before going to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I change to my workout clothes, take my earpods, and get out.

The whole house is asleep, and I wonder at what time they normally wake up. I make as little noise as I can as I open the door and get out of the house before picking a trail and starting running.

I love my morning runs. It doesn't matter how many hours of sleep I have gotten, my body is usually active by four and tingling for me to start my jog.

It's still dark out, the cold air whipping my face, making my nose red, but I welcome it.

I think one of the main reasons I love morning runs is because of the way the air feels, the freshness of it and how the day is still quiet, young and untouched.

Pure.

The estate is large. As I follow the trail, I see a field lit up by the lights; there are trees surrounding the wall by the trail I am following, and the whole property is walled high up, with electric bars at the very top.

No one can get in, it seems.

I don't miss the security cameras. The company I have been signed under is big, wealthy, and doesn't seem to shy in splurging all of the perks to the young idols.

I don't know how I have gotten so lucky. This life, this line of work, the most I was expecting was to be taken under a small company, work and struggle my way up before debuting.

We still haven't debuted, the Mars have added me on board, and it's no lie: we are a long way from the big break. Yes, we still have to work and perform our best, but the struggle isn't there. I don't see it.

It all seems surreal.

I slow down, stopping by a bench, heaving as I begin to stretch.

I dance, but not so much that I could call myself the best. The group all have their strong skills.

Zein is the rapper, Andre is the main vocalist, Rex is the face of the group and the second vocalist, Rin is the captain and the composer as well as the producer, and Miko is the main dancer and choreographer.

I still haven't been told my role, and to say this is making me nervous would be an understatement. I need to keep up with them, I wouldn't want to drag them behind or make the wait for me.

The main reason why I was brought, as Ava told me, is because I have what they have been missing.

Today is the official big meeting with the bosses and all the right people. Today is the day I get to know my role, and I can't help but feel like a kid in a new school about to introduce themselves in front of the class.

I finish my run, making my way back to the house feeling much better. Going straight to the kitchen, I brew the boys a pot of coffee before making my cup of tea. I don't like coffee, no matter how I try to take it.

After making sure they will see it and feeling like I have done something useful for my new brothers, I make my way to my room.

After a long cold shower, I take my laptop and start looking at the MARS official page on YouTube. They are gods. Not well-known gods at the moment, but nevertheless.

I don't know how much time has passed, but I find myself so deep into the rabbit hole that I find myself watching their edits from their growing fans. They have daily vlogs, which I find more fascinating than their dance recordings.

I am in awe. I am lying on the bed, halfway through the vlogs, when my door opens slightly. I look up, removing my headphones to see ahead pop in.

"Sorry, you weren't answering. I have knocked a couple of times now," Andre says, looking a little embarrassed.

I smile, closing the laptop. "No, come in. I had my headphones on."

"What were you watching?" he approaches me on the bed, flipping beside me.

"Uhh, just some videos," I put the laptop on the bedside cabinet.

"Spicy videos?"

That makes me whip my head to look at him in horror. "No! What!"

Andre is now full-on laughing. "I don't know, you just look like someone who has been caught in the middle of the, you know …"

"I don't know!"

"It's normal. We are boys, right?" Andre tries to look serious, even though he is barely containing his laughter.

I am sure I am beet red. "I wasn't, I swear. I was watching the Mars official page."

"Really? What were you watching in particular?" he asks me as he positions himself beside me, leaning on the bedframe.

I take the laptop and open it. It lights up and shows where I had left off. Right at the first vlog they ever did. "I haven't watched all of these yet. You are all amazing. I feel intimidated."

Andre shoulder-bumps me. "Don't be silly. I appreciate that you think so highly of us, but you do realize now that you are one of us now, right?"

"I know. I think I am still catching up on everything."

"Do you dance?"

"Yeah."

"Well, our dance god, have you seen him?"

I exhale, thinking about how Miko's dance videos have the most views. It's no secret that he is hot and sexy; the fans were all screaming in the comments about it. But when he is dancing, it's just on another level.

I still do not understand how I can share a stage with such a person.

"Yes, he is just on another level."

"Well, don't be so beat down when you say that," Andre chuckles when he sees my expression.

"What are you guys talking about?"

I think I yelp a little from the way Miko chuckles as he stands at my door.

"Jude was catching up on us on the official page," Andre outs me. A blush creeps up from my neck to my ears.

"Wonderful. You just couldn't keep that to yourself, could you?" I ask Andre, unable to look Miko in the eye.

"he is the one who curates the page. He is probably going to tell everyone that you love and were looking at it." Miko walks in, closing the door behind him.

"You do?" I ask Andre, who looks smug and so happy with himself.

"Yep. That's me. It's good, right?"

Very good. "Yeah, I…" My brows knit in confusion. "So you do this on your own?"

"Well, not on my own. I do some editing and posting. We all help. Sure, the company provides us with most of the things, but when it comes to the group activities and content, we do that on our own. Plus, I love this. I love everything to do with social media."

"he curates our pages as well. Our youngest is so talented." Miko ruffles Andre's hair before Andre pulls himself off him, leaning towards me.

"You are messing with my hair! I took so long to fix it!"

Miko ignores Andre as he gets off the bed and walks to the bathroom, probably to fix his curls.

"Did you sleep well?" he sits next to me, where Andre was.