#this post brought to you by a stellar headache

[orcelito]

I have the immune system of a God and the constitution of a kitten

#speculation nation #my stellar immune system throws off the constitution stat tests #no allergies. rarely ever get sick. no wound infections in my memory DESPITE being bitten/scratched by cats Many times #but stand in the sun too long? Headache. go a lil too long without eating? Cant Stand. eat a bit of the Bad Food? Immediate Nausea. #this post brought to you by the: i have no fear of my ears being infected given proper cleaning #but i have a bad headache from focusing for too long #it's bedtime. lmao.

[gemgirl28]

ZKDD Chapter 9: Lock and Key

Zuko reflects on his feelings for Katara. @zkdrabbledecember

Back to a G rated chapter for G the author is an idiot and waited until she was ready to post the chapter before realizing the prompt could be a metaphor but instead took a weird direction with it and is still posting it anyways. 

Read on ao3 here or below.

Katara let out a happy sigh as she snuggled closer to Zuko. A grin tugged at his lips as he gently kissed the top of her head.

They were cozied up on the couch in his office in front of the fireplace. Though it was nearly midnight, neither of them were ready to separate and head to bed.

After his return from the prison, Zuko and Katara were unable to steal away from their duties to finish their conversation. Finally, nearly a week after her return, they had managed to clear their schedules. They shut themselves into his office after dinner under the guise of finishing up work ensuring they would not be interrupted.

They had discussed the direction their relationship was heading. Each of them confessed their dedication to continuing their…courtship. They spent a solid hour discussing their respective country’s courting traditions, which ones they would keep and which they would ignore.

Zuko felt like he bared his soul to Katara. He told her things he previously imagined taking to the grave. He confessed he intended to stay with Katara as long as she would have him. He even admitted his feelings for her had begun when she first offered to heal his scar all those years ago under Ba Sing Se.

And yet… he couldn’t tell her he loved her. Throughout their conversation, the words had rested on the tip of his tongue, eager to jump off and confess. Each time he swallowed them back, willing the confession out of his mind.

He was scared. Logically he knew there was no reason to keep the depth of his feelings from Katara. Katara would always be gentle and supportive with his feelings. He hoped and sometimes even suspected she felt the same.  Yet the old demons of his less than stellar upbringing reared their ugly heads whenever he imagined he could be worthy of love from someone as amazing as Katara.

Zuko studied his girlfriend as she rested in his arms. The firelight cast a warm glow over umber skin. Her dark tresses tumbled over her shoulders save for her characteristic loopies framing her peaceful face. Her eyes were closed as she basked in the rare quiet moment, just the two of them. He marveled at how well she fit in his arms, the way she effortlessly slotted against his chest.

“Like a lock and key…” He mumbled under his breath. Katara shifted to look up at him over her shoulder.

“What was that?” She asked, her words tinged with a sleepy tone, her eyes struggling to keep open.

Zuko chuckled and brought a hand up to trace the edges of her face. “I think we should head to bed. I know you have a full schedule tomorrow. Maybe you won’t get a headache during your meeting with Minister Chan after a decent night of rest.”

“I could say the same for-” A yawn interrupted her thought. “Ok,” she agreed sheepishly, “time for bed.”

Zuko gently kissed her one more time before shifting to sit all the way up. “Here, let me escort you to your chambers.”

“What a gentleman,” she teased, “you honor me, Fire Lord.”

He glared at her but there was no heat in his stare, only affection. Her giggle was interrupted by another yawn, and he felt himself falling even more for her at the simple gesture.

Each day he fell in love with her a little more. He knew someday he would fall so far he would be unable of keeping his feelings to himself.

As she kissed him goodnight, he realized maybe his love for Katara would be enough to slay the demons that told him he was unworthy of her, of her love. As he drifted off to sleep in his own chambers, he imagined her reaction to his proclamation of love.

In each dream she was smiling, and as he slept, so was he.

#atla #zutara #zuko x katara #zutara fic #zkdd #zkdrabbledecember #zkdrabbledecember2020

[mrs-steve-harrington]

Fics I enjoyed this year #1

It’s the end of the year and I thought it would be nice to do this again. I read significantly less fic this year than ever before. Partially because I’ve been writing so much, but also I think because of how draining 2020 has been.

But I did read and enjoy some stuff and want to share the love!!

These will be in no particular order beyond me trying not to shove all the pairings together in one post at a time.

--

It's not like people live like this by @pterawaters

Fandom: Stranger Things | Pairing: Stonathan, Stoncy

Summary: Concerned that Steve's less-than-stellar grades might have been making them look bad, his parents hired him a tutor, Jonathan Byers, they were sure he wouldn't find as distracting as his last one. Sure, Jonathan had good grades in school, but he really wished he didn't have to take the extra work to help his mother put food on the table. After all, everyone knew Steve Harrington was a jerk. Right? It turned out, not so much. After an impromptu study-session-turned-party and a game of spin the bottle, Steve and Jonathan both found themselves dating Nancy Wheeler. And that wasn't even the strangest thing that happened to any of them that week.

My Thoughts: Where to even start with this fic? It is so, so good! There are going to be more than one season 1 aus on my rec lists this year because there have been more than one great fics written for it. This one is definitely up at the top for me. You know how sometimes it’s nice when the relationship part of the fic works out fairly well and the conflict is more from outside of it? Yeah, this fic hit that just right. The way Stonathan get together still makes me smile. And when Nancy is brought in? Damn! So good :D And of course there’s actually a plot because this is ptera, queen of plots tbh, and it’s awesome!

A Nice Ring to It by @beatrice-babe

Fandom: Knives Out | Pairing: Benoit Blanc/Marta Cabrera

Summary: Inheriting the estate of a well-known reclusive mystery author, especially inheriting in the specific circumstances in which she did, Marta learned a lot of things quickly. She learned that there was a wine cellar in the house, which housed the kind of liquor she was afraid to breathe on, after Googling how much it was worth. She learned that after the Instagram Live video of her and her car, Marta had to get a new car and fast to avoid being tailed by press and fans. And it meant, fastest of all, Marta learned to dread lawyers. Luckily, Benoit is a good friend to have in a tight jam.

My thoughts: There’s just something about marriage of convenience that is so good, you know? This fic is short and sweet and doesn’t need to be longer because it gives you everything you need. Harlan has a flare for the dramatic and I have no trouble believing he would keep causing Marta a headache like this. The Benoit voice in all of this author’s fics is just *chef’s kiss*. So good! I can hear him so clearly when he speaks, it’s lovely. Just a great fic!

'Cause I dream about nothing but you by comedy-witch

Fandom: Stranger Things | Pairing: Steve Harrington/Reader

Summary: You promised yourself that you would never rewind time unless it was for a fight or to save a friend. The night Steve Harrington confessed was the night you broke that promise.

My Thoughts: This is a gut punch of a fic, wow. I don’t have the words to adequately express how good this was. The angst in this is done so well. The power to repeat something over and over but still remember how it went that first time? Wow. IDK man, I can’t do it justice. It’s just one of my favorite x reader fics. It still crosses my mind all these months later.

#fics i enjoyed in 2020 #stranger things #knives out #stoncy #marta x benoit #steve harrington x reader #fic recs

[gwentoryfics]

Hot for Teacher, Part 6.

Genre | College Student x College Professor Smut AU

Pairing | Reader x Hongseok x Hyunggu (Kino) x Wooseok

Words | 14k

Summary | You never realized how much one drunken night could color the rest of your college experience until you discover that the handsome stranger from your cousin’s wedding is also the new professor at your university.

Warnings | Mentions of abusive familial relationships. Explicit sexual content. Grinding. Penetrative sex. Swearing. And, as always, poor choices.

Parts | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 5.5 • 6 • More Coming Soon

Note | Added Wooseok to the official Pairing list because, let’s be real. He’s earned it. Thank you all for your never-ending patience! I love each and every one of you, and I’ll never get over how much love and support you all give me.

The morning brings with it a throbbing headache and a brief moment of surprise when you realize you’ve woken up in an apartment that is not your own. You remember quickly, however, that you ran into Kino last night and ended up crashing at his place, so you’re not alarmed.

You’re sweaty under the blanket that’s draped over you, and your shirt- er, the one you borrowed from Kino- sticks to your back. Vague bits of a dream mix with faded memories of last night, and you have to take a moment to sort everything out.

You went to the club with the seniors from jazz band. The boys were so supportive, and their performance was stellar, and… and they fucking signed you up to play. Right.

And then you ran into Professor Yang, who sent you home. Your whole body had throbbed with want for him, as per usual. But instead…

Wooseok.

You went to Wooseok’s place, and he fingered you on the kitchen counter.

What was that all about? How did you end up making out with him of all people? Not that he was a bad choice or anything, maybe just an unexpected one.

Desperately, you try to piece together what you feel about the whole situation. So you start with the things you know to be true about him:

Wooseok is tall and attractive, especially in a jean jacket.

Wooseok is an incredible kisser.

Wooseok knows how to use his fingers.

And then you think of things that you know to be true about you:

You’re feeling turned on again just by thinking about Wooseok.

You’re blessedly distracted by something that isn’t Professor Yang for once.

You don’t know what you feel towards Wooseok emotionally, but you maybe wouldn’t mind if something like last night happened again. Maybe.

You puff out your cheeks and let the air rush out in a deep sigh. Somehow, you had managed to make a messy semester even messier. Literally all you had to do was just get your shit together. Is that really such a difficult thing for you to accomplish?

Thoughts of Wooseok’s lips, tongue, and fingers swirl in your brain, and it’s weirdly relieving. It feels like there may be hope for you after all - your world doesn’t have to revolve around Professor Yang. You can move on. You can see other people and stop feeling so hung up on him. 

Maybe the rest of this semester won’t be so bad.

Grabbing your phone off of the coffee table, you check your notifications. Just a message from Nailah - oops, you forgot to let her know you weren’t coming home last night - and an email in your school account. You send off a quick reply to Nailah letting her know that you’re alive and that you’ll make it up to her, and then you check the email.

“_____,

Because you missed our meeting last week, I would like to reschedule. I have set aside time this Thursday afternoon to meet with you. Please let me know if this time does not work for you.

Thank you,

Professor Hongseok Yang”

The email is so formal, it makes you roll your eyes. You get it - your school email is probably monitored and he doesn’t want to at all hint at any kind of comfortability between the two of you, but it doesn’t have to sound like a fucking dissertation. 

You know what? Whatever. You’ll meet with him. It’s not a big deal, anyway, because you’re getting over him. 

Without the slightest hint of sass or sarcasm or whatever else, you genuinely write back: 

“Professor Yang,

Thursday afternoon works great for me. I’ll see you then.

Thank you!

_____”

Sending the message, you feel relieved. You’re turning over a new leaf. All that’s left for you to do is send a quick text to Wooseok letting him know that you won’t be able to tutor him this week, and once that is on its way to him you feel like you’re ready to start the day.

As you sit up on the couch, about to get up and go to the bathroom, you notice a Kino-sized lump on the floor between the couch and the coffee table. Had he slept there all night?

You reach down, lifting the end of the blanket that covers his head. “Psst.”

He inhales deeply and shifts, eyes opening and squinting at the sunlight pouring in from the windows. Passively, you note that he’s actually really cute when he’s so sleepy.

“Good morning, sunshine,” you coo. You ruffle his hair, and he swats your hand away, emitting a noise that sounds like a cross between a chuckle and a groan. 

“Five more minutes.”

“No. I’m up so you should be up, too.” 

“Oh, is that how this works?” He peeks up at you, one eye still squinted shut. 

“Think so. I am the guest of honor here, so you should probably do what I say.”

“Guest of honor, my ass.”

“I’m not the one sleeping on the floor, so I think that puts me a step above you.”

“Please. I’m only down here because of you.”

You laugh. “Why? Were you worried I might have nightmares out here by myself?”

“No, I thought you’d be fine.” He sits up, stretching his arms and back, which are surely stiff from sleeping on the carpet all night. “You’re the one that asked me to stay with you.”

Your cheeks suddenly warm and your eyes widen. “...I did?”

He nods. “Yeah, I was going to head in because I thought you were asleep, but the second I stood up you asked me to stay. So I stayed.”

“Shit, Kino, I was drunk. You didn’t have to do that for me.” You frown. “You’re probably stiff as hell because of it.”

Kino just shrugs. “Well, now you know what I’m willing to do for you.”

“Would you be willing to make me some eggs?”

With a broad smile, Kino stands. “Anything for you, dear.” And then he pushes you back onto the couch, giggling like a maniac as he runs for the kitchen.

“Shithead!”

***

You’re grateful to find Changgu at the reception desk on Monday. You never actually sent the apology text that you drafted, and at this point it’s probably better to just do it in person - no matter how embarrassing it might be.

“Hey, Changgu.” You approach the desk, greeting him quietly. Shyly.

He looks up from the computer, eyebrows lifting in surprise before a smile settles on his lips. “Quite the weekend, huh?”

Oh, he has no idea. “You’re telling me.”

“How can I help you?”

“I wanted to apologize for everything. You guys could have all had a perfectly good time without me. I shouldn’t have lied to you about my age.”

“Yeah, you probably shouldn’t do that too often. But I’m not going to lecture you.”

“Thanks.” You shift your weight awkwardly, not really sure what else to say. “Anyway, I really appreciate you inviting me to the jazz club, and getting me into the jazz band practice. I really enjoyed it. Both of those things.”

“It’s not a problem.” Changgu smiles warmly. What a gentle ray of sunshine he is. Then he grabs a stack of post-it notes and scribbles something down before handing it over. “I’m supposed to give you this.”

“Oh?” You look at the square of paper to find what looks to be a phone number.

“From Yanan. You don’t have to text him if you don’t want to. He can be a little forward sometimes, but he won’t be weird about it if he doesn’t hear from you. He just always has to try, you know?”

“Oh. Okay.” You slip it into your pocket, not exactly sure what you want to do with it. “Um, I should probably get going. Class and all. You know.”

As you turn to head out, he calls your name. “_____?”

“Yeah?” You look back at him.

If you’re not mistaken, Changgu’s cheeks are the most delicate rose color. “Don’t forget that you have my number, too.”

Is he flirting?

You smile reassuringly. If Bad Choices is becoming your middle name, you may as well embrace it. “I won’t forget.”

***

Thursday afternoon, you find yourself in Professor Yang's office, as he requested. You feel surprisingly level-headed, but you do notice just a hint of nervousness in the back of your mind. After all, you’re getting over him - so you’re not quite over him yet. He’s still beautiful and tempting and damn him for wearing such a delicious cologne all the time.  

Professor Yang sits across from you, behind his desk, as always. He’s looking through the two incorrectly-graded assignments you brought in, and he takes the time to correct them.

"I apologize. You were right about my miscalculations." He plugs the updated grades into his computer, and they hardly even affect your total grade. "I assure you that I'll take my time with your midterm and all other assignments from here on out."

"Thank you." You take back your labs and stuff them into your backpack. The midterm you took on Tuesday hadn't been terribly difficult and you're anticipating that you'll get a good grade anyway. But at least you know that he's aware of his mistakes so you won't have to confront him about it again (hopefully). 

You stand, ready to leave now that your meeting’s purpose is complete, but he beckons you. "I need to speak with you about something else."

You meet his caramel eyes, and he's just as impossible to read as always. Begrudgingly, you fall back into your chair. "What is it?"

Professor Yang's tongue swipes over his lower lip, but in such a way to indicate that he's thinking, considering where to start. Still, it catches your attention, and you probably look at his lips a hair longer than you should. Damn him.

"About what you said this weekend..." He searches your face. "I don't have a girlfriend."

Why the fuck did he have to say that, of all things?!

"Okay," you spit out, trying to act aloof even though you're fucking mortified that he would even bring that up. You're sure that your furiously warming cheeks give you away. "Good for you."

Professor Yang looks dissatisfied. "Can we perhaps have an adult conversation about this?"

"I don't have to have anything with you." You cross your arms over your chest, defaulting to your usual sass mode that always seems to emerge around him.

His eyes narrow and he scoffs. "See, this is exactly why I said you needed to leave Saturday night. Do you at all notice the childish fit that you're throwing right now?"

With a roll of your eyes (yes, you realize that's still childish), you uncross your arms and take a deep breath. "Fine. Let's talk. What do you want?"

"I want to know what's going on with you. Why did you tell me to say hi to my girlfriend?"

The thing is, you know that he knows exactly why you said it. He just wants you to admit it out loud. "I was heated." That's as much as you'll give him.

"Is that why you left our last appointment? Because you were heated?" Professor Yang recalls the way you stormed off after seeing that woman in his office last week.

"You seemed busy."

"I wasn't. She was leaving."

"Whatever. I didn't feel like talking."

"Did you think she was my girlfriend?"

"I don't care who she is."

"She's my sister."

Somehow, that genuinely catches you off guard. You shift in your seat, curious. "You have a sister?"

Professor Yang nods calmly. "Two. Both younger than me. The sister that you saw was in town for a conference, and she just stopped in to visit. I don't get to see her very often."

Shit. Well that certainly explains why she was so gorgeous, since they share the same gene pool. You try to remain neutral about it all. "I'm glad you got to see her, then."

"The way you've reacted to her is very concerning." His brow furrows. "I knew this would be an issue if we tried to do a class together."

"This has nothing to do with you and me, okay? This..." you gesture between him and yourself, "...is nothing. You can date whoever you want. I literally don't care."

"You want me to believe that after the way you acted?"

"You think I'm jealous or something?" You scoff, laughing, but it's awkward and forced. He notices, and gives you the look of oh-please. Defensively you say, "I'm not jealous!"

Pause. A lull in conversation. You’re both aware that you’re lying, and it’s obvious that you will never admit to it, no matter what he says. You hold each others' gaze, and you wonder which of you will be the first to look away. And then he speaks.

"I wanted to tell you something else. Something honest. But I need you to not read into it, okay? Just take it at face value. Promise me you can do that."

Faintly, you notice the way your heart skips. "Okay. I promise."

"You obviously shouldn't have been at the club over the weekend, but I just thought you should know that you're a really talented pianist. I was very impressed to hear you play like that."

It hadn't even occurred to you that he was in the audience while you were playing. But now that he's acknowledging it, you feel retroactively nervous about your performance. "Thank you... I appreciate that."

He nods once and then turns to his computer, closing out of the grading screen and generally avoiding your gaze.

"I want to say something honestly, too." You get up the nerve to speak, but you have to hold your hands together to keep them from trembling. How could he affect you so much?

His gaze is so intense, full of warning. "Please be careful with whatever it is you want to say."

He doesn't trust you. You can't blame him. You don't really trust him either. You're both tiptoeing around very dangerous territory even allowing yourselves to be in the same room. But this time you want to share with him something genuine, something that has absolutely nothing to do with whatever may have transpired between the two of you in the past.

"I'm truly enjoying your class. And it's not because you're the one teaching it, I swear. The material is really interesting to me and I'm really looking forward to building my dulcimer."

He smiles, and it's almost unguarded. Like he's relieved that you didn't say something else. "That means a lot to me. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I’m not kidding when I say I've been looking forward to this class since I heard about it last year. And I think you're a great teacher, everything else aside."

"Thank you."

"Can I actually ask you a question? About building instruments and stuff."

He sits back a little, as if he's finally able to relax around you, now that you're actually acting like a student speaking with their teacher. "Of course."

"When did you start building instruments? And did you build that guitar?" You gesture to the instrument resting in the corner of the room, with its beautifully stained wood and delicate detailing around the sound hole. 

“I did!” He lights up and stands, retrieving the guitar. “I built my first guitar when I was sixteen. Didn’t turn out that great because I was not very skilled. But after honing my craft for a few years, I saw more success in the instruments I built. This little lady came along just two years ago.”

“She’s beautiful,” you praise his handiwork. “Seriously. I’m impressed that it’s actually a handmade guitar.”

Professor Yang looks at you like you just sprouted a second head. “Of course it’s handmade. All of the best instruments are. You expect a machine to produce something that sounds like this?”

He strums the strings gently, an arpeggiated chord ringing sweetly through the room. The warm, buttery sound is enough to raise goosebumps on your arms.

“You’re right. No robot could ever make that.” 

“This guitar is my heart and soul.” He smooths his hand over its curves lovingly.

“Can you play that? ‘Heart and Soul’?”

“Why on Earth would I want to play that atrocity on my masterpiece of an instrument? Absolutely not.”

You laugh. “Fair enough. Play something else, then. I want to hear what she can do.”

With no further prompting needed, he dives into a beautiful melody, plucking the strings softly and tapping his nails against the strings to create a beat. The sound is gorgeous, and it’s incredibly special to see him get swept up in the music he’s creating. He’s entirely focused on the movement of his fingers, the swell of each phrase, the gentle groove he’s creating.

Your eyes close so you can hear the music more deeply. It seeps into you, and you can feel him in each note. He is part of the music, giving himself to the melody and turning it into something beyond notes on a page. He breathes life into it.

The song ends, and you wish it never had to. You could listen to him play forever. In the end, all you can manage is a soft wow.

“Nice, right?” Professor Yang grins widely, clearly proud of himself.

“Seriously incredible. And you’re so good at playing it, too.”

“Thank you, thank you.”

You sit up a little more, interested. “The way you were tapping the strings… it reminds me of those people who can, like, play the strings and drum on the guitar body at the same time. Can you do that?”

“I used to. Let’s see…”

He plays something a little more upbeat this time, tapping his fingers, knuckles, and the heel of his palm against the guitar’s body as he strums. It’s not perfect and eventually he stumbles, but it’s still incredibly impressive.

With a short laugh, he gives up. “Like I said, I used to. It has been a while.”

“That’s probably the coolest thing in the world,” you laugh along with him. “I don’t know how you have enough coordination to do that.”

“It’s a skill. Like anything else, you just have to take the time to practice and learn.” Professor Yang drums his fingers against the wood softly. “Clearly I’m a little out of practice.”

“I mean, if you don’t have the time to grade my labs properly, I can’t imagine you have time to sit around drumming on your guitar.”

He cocks his head and purses his lips. “You try teaching a class at a university and we’ll see how easy it is for you to keep up with everything.”

“Hey, I’m not doubting the incredible stress you must be under.” You tease. 

It hits you then how incredibly comfortable you feel with him, how easy it is to be with him unguarded. It’s really… nice.

There’s a knock at the door, then, and Professor Yang glances at the clock on his desk. “Ah. Come in!”

The door opens to reveal another student - a boy from your class. “Hi, Professor.” He notices you still sitting in the office. “Am I too early for our meeting?”

Professor Yang reassures him, “Right on time, actually.”

You nod. “I was just getting ready to leave.” Grabbing your bag, you stand and address Professor Yang. “Thank you for meeting with me today. Really.”

“Not a problem. Thank you for making the time to stop in. I’m glad we got everything sorted out.” He nods once to you. “Have a good weekend and I’ll see you in class.”

“You, too.” 

The two of you exchange a smile, and it feels delightfully innocent. It feels like it means something different, like an agreement to be okay with each other from now on. An agreement to not be at each others’ throats this semester. It gives you hope that you’ve finally broken through into a more peaceful part of your relationship as student and teacher.

This semester is going to be just fine.

***

“_____.”

Your eyes lift from the keyboard to find that the tallest human you know somehow snuck into the R&B Ensemble rehearsal without you noticing. You forgot that he was allowed to rejoin the group this week. “Oh. Hi.”

“...hi.” Wooseok tries to smile, but it’s small and awkward and he looks kind of concerned.

You haven’t spoken to him at all during the week or so that has passed since you made out with him. The only communication that happened was the text that you sent to let him know you had to cancel tutoring. He hadn’t responded, and now that you think about it, you probably should have reached out to him again at some point.

A smile pulls across your lips, although you’re sure it seems just as ingenuine as his. But if it’s ingenuine, it’s only because you’re actually wildly nervous about being in front of him again. From your seat on the piano bench, he towers over you, tall and handsome and… and he’s wearing that fucking jean jacket. It’s devastating.

The silence between the two of you stretches on for far too long, and he eventually gives up on having a conversation as he retreats to the drumset. 

Yikes. You didn’t mean for that to get so weird.

Rehearsal goes much more smoothly now that Wooseok is back, and he drums like he never missed a single practice. Every rhythm and fill is spot on. The whole ensemble falls into a groove that’s just a little bit deeper, a little bit smoother than before. And you can tell that your instructor, Typhanie, is jazzed about it.

After rehearsal, Kino darts over to the keyboard. “_____, your solo was killer tonight!”

“You know I’d say the same to you, but I compliment you every week and eventually you’re going to get a big head about it.”

He pouts. “Nonsense. Compliment me.”

You rise to your feet and pat his head twice. “Well done.”

Kino rolls his eyes, but his smile is bright. He nods his head in the direction of the door, tugging on your sleeve absentmindedly. “Come on, let’s go. I want to ask you something.”

You grab your things and follow him. “Alright. Go on.”

“So, um, two-fold question.” He pushes the door open, and ushers you out of the room. “First, are you free this weekend? Specifically Saturday night?”

“I think so. Are we gonna do something?”

“Yeah, I just wanted-”

“_____! Hold up!” Wooseok’s voice precedes him down the hall as he comes thundering after you. Both you and Kino pause as he approaches. “Sorry, can I talk to you? Please?”

You look over at Kino, who wears a slight frown. As much as you don’t want to do this to Kino, you know you really should talk with Wooseok. “Can I catch up with you later?” 

Kino cocks his head, like he’s surprised you would choose Wooseok over him. But you’re not choosing Wooseok over him, you just… you just have to do this. Kino throws on a half-hearted smile and says, “Sure. Later.”

Wooseok pulls you aside as Kino departs, heading down a different hallway to get you away from the other students leaving rehearsal. You don’t protest, but you tell yourself that you will if he tries anything funny.  

“What is it?” you ask, knowing full well what this conversation is going to be.

“I was kind of hoping you could tell me.” Wooseok expression is unsettled. “I’ve been dying to talk to you, but I thought you might need space, since you just kind of stormed off and then immediately canceled tutoring.”

Oh shit. You didn’t mean for it to come off that way. You canceled because of Professor Yang, not because things were weird between you and Wooseok. Nevertheless, you had run out of his apartment without any kind of explanation, and that is entirely your fault. “I’m sorry I left like that. And I swear, I didn’t cancel tutoring because of… everything. Something else came up. That’s all.”

The gentle giant takes a deep breath, his eyebrows knitting together in concern. “I’m sorry, too. I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable. We were both a little drunk and I shouldn’t have taken it so far. If you don’t ever want to be around me again, I understand. But I just wanted to talk to you about it and let you know that I’m sorry. Honestly.”

Your chest warms. It’s so sweet that he’s worried about you, but it’s also unnecessary. There’s nothing for him to be worried about. “It’s okay. Really. You have nothing to feel bad about. I… I wanted it. And I liked it.” You have to look away from him as you admit it.

It feels like a weight is lifted between you. “I did, too. You’re a good kisser.” He chuckles softly, his hands shyly slipping into his pockets.

“Not so bad yourself,” you chime, still avoiding his gaze. “Um, so even though I enjoyed it, I just felt kind of confused after? I’m…” Go on. You can say it. “I’m getting over someone. So I didn’t know what to feel about all of it. Other than fucking mortified because of your roommate.”

“Don’t worry about him. I promise he doesn’t care.”

Finally, you look up at him. He really is quite handsome, and you fully understand why your drunk self had enjoyed him so much. 

“But I totally understand. I didn’t assume that it meant anything, but thanks for letting me know. Oh, by the way…” Wooseok drops his backpack from his shoulder and unzips one of the small side pockets. “I brought something for you.”

You accept the square of tissue, confused about what he could possibly be giving you - until you unwrap it. He had nicely folded your abandoned underwear to return to you, which is simultaneously embarrassing and sweet.

“Oh my God,” you mumble as you recognize the underwear, a stupid little chuckle leaving you. “I… um, thank you.”

“I’ve gotta be honest, I thought about keeping them.”

“W-what?”

Wooseok shrugs nonchalantly, a goofy grin on his face. “I mean, it’s kind of hot to have a girl’s panties. And they’re cute.”

“You really have no filter.” You stuff the panties into your own backpack, flustered.

“Just wanted to see your reaction,” he laughs. “Worth it.” 

“Glad you thought so. Can we head out now?”

“Mm.” He nods once, and you both head for the stairs. “So, just to make sure we’re both on the same page, I still want to be your friend and I don’t expect anything else from you.”

“Agreed.” You smile, grateful that he’s so considerate about all of this. But against your better judgment, your words don’t stop there. “But if it happens again…”

Wooseok freezes a few stairs ahead of you, turning to face you exactly at eye level. He peers at you curiously. “If it happens again...?”

You shrug, trying to play it cool. You can’t turn back now, so you may as well embrace it. “Then it happens. But I’m not just a booty call, so don’t even think about treating me that way.”

“So…” He moves up a step towards you, regaining a few inches of height. His voice is low as he asks,  “...what exactly are you saying?”

“I’m saying… if it feels right and we’re in the moment, then it is what it is.” You know that you’re still being incredibly vague, but you just can’t bring yourself to say I’m down to fuck if you are. “But no catching feelings because I’m still trying to sort mine out.”

“Right, with the guy you’re getting over and everything.” Wooseok leans in a little, the smallest smirk on his lips. “So I shouldn’t call you up out of the blue. But if we’re both here, and we’re both in the moment…”

He leans in further, and you realize he’s going in for a kiss the second he grabs your hand. But you’re all too aware of the fact that you’re standing on the main staircase of the music building, and anyone could walk past you at any time.

You shake off his hand and put your hand on his chest, holding him back. “Not here, idiot. Someone might see!”

He grins mischievously and shrugs. “Worth a shot.”

After that, Wooseok walks you all the way to your dorm, and he’s a total gentleman. He stands with you in front of your building for a moment, his hands buried in his pockets. 

“Just so you know, you’re welcome to come over to my place whenever,” he offers. “Even if you just want to hang out. We could play games or something. We’re friends, after all.”

“That we are. Thanks.” You hold your fist out for him to bump. “See you at tutoring on Thursday, if not before then?”

“Yeah.” He bumps your fist with his own and smiles sweetly. “Catch you later.”

As he walks off, you’re actually really pleased with the way things turned out. Although you didn’t expect to actually bring up the whole maybe-we-could-do-this-again thing, it excites you that he’s at least open to the idea. Who says you can’t have a fling?

You head upstairs and open the door to your room, and you remember that Kino was in the middle of asking you something when he left - and he didn’t seem too pleased by the interruption. So… maybe you should call him to see what’s going on. You do feel kind of bad that he had to leave on his own.

You’re not sure why your impulse is to call and not text, but he answers the phone before you can really question it too much. “Hey, _____.” 

“Hey, Kino. Did you make it home?”

“Yeah.” 

“Go to your window and look up at my building.”

“...Okay…”

You flicker your bedroom light on and off to catch his attention. “Do you see my room? With the flashing light.”

A quiet chuckle comes across the line. “Yeah, I see it.”

“Now show me where you are.”

A short moment later, you notice one of the windows on the building across the street repeatedly light up and go dark. “Found you!”

“What’s this all about?”

You watch as his silhouette reappears in the window. “You didn’t get to ask me your question. I wanted to know what it was.”

“Oh.” He drags his hand through his hair. “So, I haven’t told you yet, but a piece that I choreographed is going to be performed at the Dance Department Showcase.”

“What? Kino, that’s amazing!” It’s not easy to get work presented at a department-wide showcase, so you know that it’s a huge accomplishment for him. “I’m so proud of you. Oh my gosh, that’s so cool.”

“Thank you! Thank you.” Kino laughs, pleased at your reaction. “So… the showcase is this Saturday night and I’m freaking out. I’m not performing, but I’m still incredibly nervous because it’s like… this project, this baby of mine… it’s being put on display and it’s going to be critically watched by all of my peers and professors. It’s just such a big deal.”

“Can I come?” The question eagerly bursts out of you. You would absolutely love to see what he’s capable of choreographing. If it’s anything like his dancing and singing, you know it’ll be awesome. But then you realize that he’s already freaking out about the people in the audience… maybe you shouldn’t add to that stress. “Actually, would that make it worse? I don’t want to stress you out more by being there.”

“No, no, not at all. That’s actually why I brought it up. I want you to come with me.”

You lean against your window, playing with the hem of your shirt. “I would be honored to go with you.”

He exhales deeply. “I think I’m going to feel much better with you there. Thank you.”

“Of course! What are friends for?”

“Exactly.” Kino’s hand comes to rest on the glass, like he’s reaching out to you. “I’ll see you Saturday, then. Well, and probably before then, too.”

You touch your window, too. “Yeah. I’ll see you soon.”

“Goodnight, _____.”

“Night, Kino.”

***

Your class with Professor Yang has officially moved over to the woodshop, now that your midterms are done. He had gone over standard dress code the week before (no loose, drapey clothing or open-toed shoes), but you hadn’t realized that he would be dressed differently as well.

Up until this point, you’ve only seen him in dress slacks and button-downs. But now that he’s teaching a woodworking class, he’s dressed way more casually than you expected. It makes sense that he would dress down, but it still surprises you to see him in jeans and a fitted t-shirt. His hair is swooped up and back, exposing his forehead and keeping his hair out of his eyes. 

It would be great if you could go a day without drooling over him. Seriously.

Professor Yang goes over the basics of the woodshop with everyone, explaining some of the general tools you’ll all use regardless of instrument. You’ve never used any sort of woodworking tools before, and it makes you a little nervous to think that you’ll be responsible for keeping your fingers intact while sawing away at the body of your dulcimer, but you know he’s there to help if you’re struggling (or injured).  

If nothing else, you and Shinhye can struggle together.

Beside you, Shinhye observes the slab of wood that is to be the neck of her cigar-box banjo. Her calculations are all finished and she knows exactly how far apart to mark each fret along the neck, but she hesitates. “I don’t know man, I’m going to fuck this up for sure.”

“Look, all you have to do is mark it with pencil, and then Professor Yang will come to check your work. Just don’t make any cuts into the wood without his approval and you’ll be fine.” You start marking up the wood that you’ve been given, confident in your math.

As you measure and make your marks, your ears tune in to the music Professor Yang plays throughout the workshop. He’s playing an old rock station, to be expected, and you perk up when a certain Aerosmith song comes on.

A smile grows on your face as Steven Tyler starts singing, and you remember when you sang “Dream On” in Professor Yang’s office.

You glance up to the front of the room to find Professor Yang looking right at you with a stupid grin on his dumb little face.

Oh, he remembers, too.

You struggle to hide your laughter as he breaks into a huge smile. What a loon you are.

“What are you giggling about?” Shinhye questions, still concentrated way too hard on her little pencil marks.

You’re about to respond with a simple nothing, but then she tucks her short hair behind her ear, revealing a purplish mark just under her jaw. “Oh my God, Shinhye, is that a hickey?”

She looks up at you like a deer in headlights, quickly ruffling her hair out with her fingers. “You didn’t see that.”

“What the hell do you mean? Of course I fucking saw that.” With a shit-eating grin, you lean in close. “Why didn’t you tell me you were hooking up with someone? I need to know these things!”

“It’s not important! I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Dude. Fine. I’ll give you a pass since we’re in class right now but you need to dish later.” Shinhye looks disgruntled at your demand, and you try to make her feel better about the whole situation. “Look, I’m proud of you. I never thought this day would come and I just want to know what happened! This is kind of a big deal.”

“It’s really not.” She rolls her eyes.

A third voice joins the conversation. “How are we doing over here?” Professor Yang stands next to Shinhye, looking over her work.

“Oh, perfect timing. I think I’m just about done. Can you check my marks?” Shinhye hands over her wood, seemingly grateful for the change of topic.

He takes a moment to check her math, but not her measurements. “Your math is good, so as long as you measured according to your numbers you’ll be good to go.”

You don’t even have to ask - he immediately picks up your scrap paper to check your math, too. It astounds you that he doesn’t feel the need to pick up a calculator, as if he could do all of the calculations in his head.

“Your math looks good, too.” He sets your paper down. “Go ahead and put your frets in.”

You cock your head, still surprised that he could be so good at math. “You can do all that math without a calculator?”

“I do have a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Mathematics, so believe it or not, I don’t really need a calculator.” His voice is touched with sass, as if to say I’m your teacher and I shouldn’t have to explain myself to you.

But you can’t help the question. This man has not one but two math degrees, and he still fucked up your grades? The probability of that being an accident is practically zero - as you’re sure Mr. Math Wiz would agree.

So it must have been intentional. No matter how much he denies it.

It doesn’t seem like he was doing it to punish you, though. It doesn’t seem to have any purpose besides getting your attention.

Getting you into his office.

Getting you one-on-one.

And he succeeded - you sat in his office with him for a solid half hour as he re-graded your papers and chatted. He hadn’t tried to make a move or anything, so why did he want that alone time with you?

Could it be as innocent as just wanting to spend time together?

It doesn’t matter, you remind yourself. I’m getting over him. He doesn’t want anything from me, and I don’t want anything from him. The past is the past and I’m moving on.

You avoid his gaze for the rest of class.

***

Wooseok sits next to you in the practice room, working diligently on the exercises you’ve given him regarding figured bass. Overall, not at all an important concept for him as a drummer, but it’s definitely going to be on his final and he needs to know it for the sake of his grade.

You don’t know if it’s just because the nature of your relationship has changed, but you’ve felt so distracted through the whole session by how cute he looks. His hair is ruffled and he’s not wearing anything different than what he usually wears, but he just looks so damn attractive.

You know you shouldn’t say anything. You should let him work like the good little tutee he is. But since when do you pay attention to what you should and should not do?

“I think tutoring you is going to become increasingly more difficult.”

He pauses, his pencil still in his hand as he meets your gaze. “Why’s that? Because of the material? I feel like I’m actually doing pretty well.”

“No, idiot. Because, well…” Jesus, you never really know what to say in these situations. “Things are different between us now, you know?”

“It’s not that different.”

You can tell by the face he’s making that he’s teasing you. “It is! Don’t make me feel stupid.”

“You’re the one calling me an idiot!”

“It’s a term of endearment.”

“How sweet.” Wooseok shifts in his seat, turning towards you and placing his arm across the back of your chair. “So you’re flirting with me?”

“That may or may not be true.”

His fingers brush gently over your shoulder as he silently watches you, letting the air between you thicken with the thought that it would be so easy to close the gap.

Really, there’s nothing stopping you anyway.

“Wooseok… Have you done something like this before?” You ask before you convince yourself to cross the threshold. “Being friends with benefits and all of that?”

“No, actually.” Wooseok’s fingers reach your collar bone, delicately tracing the peaks and valleys. “I don’t have much experience with girls. I had a girlfriend in high school, but that’s it.”

“Really?”

He nods. “Dating’s not my priority.”

“Is this something you want, though?”

“Well yeah. I probably said it when I was drunk, but you’re really cool and you’re hot, so of course I’m down. This is totally different from dating.” He tilts his head minutely. “Have you done this before?”

Almost instantly, an image of Professor Yang flashes in your mind. “Not technically a friends with benefits situation, but I have hooked up before.”

“How’d it go? Were you okay with keeping it casual?”

Big fat fucking no, you were not okay with keeping it casual. Well, maybe you would have been if he hadn’t turned out to be your teacher. Things might have been so different. But the fact of the matter is that you’ve been an absolute wreck for the last two months because of your failure to keep it casual.

You’re fully aware of the fact that you should be honest about your hookup history. You should tell Wooseok that you most definitely caught feelings the last time you hooked up. It’s your duty to stop this trainwreck before it happens.

But… that means that you wouldn’t be able to hookup with Wooseok. And you really want to hookup with Wooseok right now.

“Yeah, it was totally fine,” you lie through your teeth. “No problems at all.”

“Cool.” He reaches out to cup your face. “Let’s stop talking about it then.”

As if they have always belonged together, your lips meet his. The kiss is sweet and gentle, and his hand is warm on your cheek. It feels so, so good to give in to your urges, to do what you want instead of overthinking. A friends-with-benefits situation is exactly what you need.

You don’t stay in your chair much longer as you continue to kiss. His lap is a much more appealing seat. Without pulling away from his lips, you get up and straddle him, your hands sliding behind his neck. 

Wooseok’s teeth bite down on your lip and his large hands are quick to venture into less innocent territory. His fingers slip down your sides and into the back pockets of your jeans, cupping your ass and giving a gentle squeeze. You roll your hips to show him that you’re pleased, and he lets out the quietest groan.

“Be careful moving your hips like that,” he warns against your lips, “or you’re signing yourself up for a whole lot of trouble.”

You smirk and roll your hips again as you say, “Maybe I want trouble.”

He responds by claiming your lips, his tongue diving deep into the cavern of your mouth as his fingers dig hard into your ass cheeks. 

You feel so alive. And so blissful - especially as you feel him start to harden through his jeans. The extra friction provided by rubbing against his thickness is absolutely delicious, and you shamelessly grind against him.

It’s clear that Wooseok is enjoying himself, too. He kisses you deeply as you grind, and his hand sneaks under your shirt, pushing your bra out of the way so that he can pinch and rub your nipple. 

You moan for him, careful to stay quiet - the sound proofing in the practice rooms isn’t perfect, after all. But you sigh and groan to let him know that you feel amazing and you love everything he’s doing to you. You would be totally content to just stay like this for the rest of your session, and it doesn’t seem like Wooseok would mind.

Unfortunately, though, you know this can’t last forever - you have to leave soon for your piano lesson. But he’s just such a good kisser…

You’re not sure what causes it, but suddenly the mood changes. His hurried kisses and touches melt into something much softer. Wooseok’s hand migrates to the small of your back, pulling you in close and embracing you as he kisses you. 

It’s mind-numbingly sweet, and you hold him tight, too.

With one last kiss, you part, but you rest your forehead on his as you catch your breath and try to process how he could be such a phenomenal kisser.

“What are you doing after this?” Wooseok asks, his voice low - and you know exactly why he’s asking.

“Piano lesson,” you huff quietly.

“Skip it.” Kiss. “Come back to my place.”

“Ugh, I wish. But I can’t. My lessons are important.” Your fingers glide through his soft hair, your gaze connecting with his sweet eyes. “What about tonight?”

Wooseok shakes his head as his fingers drum a rhythm against your spine. “Minho’s having some guys over. Tomorrow?”

“Girl’s night with my roommate.” You sigh. Who knew it would be so difficult to find time to hook up?

“I’m pretty sure Minho said he was going out of town this weekend, so we’d definitely have the place to ourselves.”

That sounds like a blessedly perfect scenario. “I have a thing with Kino on Saturday, but I could come over later that night?”

“Stellar. I’ll make sure Minho is out of the apartment.” Wooseok presses another kiss to your lips before helping you stand up. “You should probably get going though, since you have your lesson. Right?”

You glance at the clock on the wall and realize you have exactly thirty seconds to get downstairs. “Shit. Yeah, I have to run.”

Wooseok helps you gather your things. “I’ll see you Saturday night then?”

You hoist your backpack onto your shoulder and run a finger down Wooseok’s torso. “You bet.”

***

“Remind me why we’re doing this,” you grumble as you follow Nailah and Shinhye through the gym locker room on Saturday morning. Being physically active has never been your favorite thing, yet Nailah has managed to drag you along.

“Cute boy. You love cute boys, don’t you?” Nailah turns, tucking you under her arm and leading you over to the row of lockers. “This is all for you, baby.”

“But whyyyyy…”

“_____, exercising is good for you.” Shinhye tries to boost your morale as you each claim a locker, tossing your gym bags but keeping your water bottles in hand. “I promise it won’t be as bad as you think.”

“Since when have you become such a gym rat? Little Miss I-Live-On-The-Couch.” You tease her. She never seems to be interested in working out, but she looks like a total natural in her mid-calf leggings and moisture-wicking tank top.

She shrugs, touching the outer rim of her glasses to push them further up her nose. “I don’t know, I just go when Nailah invites me. And I think it’s actually pretty fun.”

“Yeah, Shinhye’s a great gym partner. She doesn’t complain.”

You roll your eyes, ignoring Nailah. “So have you seen this cute guy, then? Is it worth the effort?”

Shinhye shakes her head. “We’ve never seen him when I come along.”

“Okay, hold on.” You close your locker, realizing that this mystery cutie hasn’t been spotted in quite some time. “Are you telling me that it has probably been, like, a month and a half since you last saw him? Does he even go to this gym anymore?”

Nailah sighs exasperatedly. “I don’t know, _____. But we’re here now, so we may as well sweat a little.” She lifts her shirt up over her head, so she’s just in her spandex shorts and a sports bra. The shirt gets tossed into her locker and she holds out her hand to you. “Give me your shirt.”

“What?”

“Do it. We’re gonna go out there looking hot so you can seduce cute guy.”

“He’s probably not even out there!”

“Come on. It’s not even a big deal.” She gestures for you to hand her your shirt, and you begrudgingly do as she asks. 

“What about you, Shinhye?” You ask as your shirt disappears into Nailah’s locker.

Her face reddens. “Isn’t it weird to just wear a bra?”

“Not at all,” Nailah reassures her, closing her locker and patting Shinhye on the head as she walks away. “But don’t worry, my little Shinhye doesn’t have to do anything she doesn’t want to.”

You notice Shinhye’s eyes grow wide and her blush deepen, and look at her quizzically. What the hell is that reaction all about? She just avoids your gaze and tails after Nailah.

As you follow them into the equipment room, you try not to feel embarrassed about your lack of shirt. It’s not that unusual for a girl to work out in just her bra and shorts, but you don’t feel particularly confident since you are bound to make a fool out of yourself on the machines, anyway.

The three of you head for the stationary bikes on the opposite side of the room, scoping out all of the other gym-goers along the way. When you reach the bikes, Nailah turns on her heel and pulls you and Shinhye in close.

“Don’t make it obvious, but he’s here. He’s at the bench press.”

What are the odds that he would actually be here today? You take a swig from your water bottle before setting it next to one of the bikes and casually turning around to try to spot him.

Shinhye finds him first. “Oh my God. Him?” She bursts into laughter. “Nailah, you don’t know who that is, do you?”

“Should I?”

“He teaches at our school! _____ and I are both in his class!”

“What?!” You and Nailah respond simultaneously, both for different reasons. Is it really him?

Your eyes scan over the weight machines, and just as you spot the row of bench presses, he sits up and wipes the sweat from his brow with a hand towel.

Fucking Professor Yang is sitting halfway across the room, biceps bulging, a delicious V of sweat forming on the chest of his muscle shirt. 

God, you wish you could just melt into a puddle and disappear from this world.

“No way.” Nailah chuckles. “He’s a Professor? Oh, this is gold.”

Shinhye starts giggling, too. “Yeah, and _____ totally has a crush on him. You should have seen them in class this week.”

“Well just look at her now.”

You finally snap out of your trance. “I do not!”

“No shame, girl.” Nailah smirks as she settles onto a bike. “We’ve all had an innocent crush on a teacher before.”

Oh, if only she knew how not innocent this was.

“Yeah, no shame.” Shinhye chimes, climbing onto the bike next to Nailah.

“Whatever. Shouldn’t we stretch first?” You quickly change the subject. You’re going to spend the rest of this hour pretending like the world’s most handsome professor isn’t over there keeping up his gorgeous physique with which you are unfortunately quite familiar. 

“It’s bad to stretch cold, so we do an easy five-minute ride just to get things warmed up a bit.” Nailah states.

“Alright, then.” 

So you bike, stretch, and tackle a few machines - and you’re incredibly aware of the fact that Nailah’s routine is strategically getting you closer and closer to wherever Professor Yang is stationed. 

You trail along behind her from machine to machine, and next thing you know you’re headed straight for him.

As the three of you approach, you hope and pray that he doesn’t notice you. And when you look over, you’re blessed. He grabs the bottom of his shirt and lifts it to wipe his face, but you’re too distracted by his abs to be grateful for his blocked view of you.

Professor Yang is absolutely chiseled under his muscle shirt, and you shouldn’t even be surprised. You’ve seen him shirtless before, you’ve felt the ripples of his muscles, but you’re still taken off guard by the body that hides beneath his clothes.

The glimpse of his abs is so distracting that you actually forget how you’re supposed to act around him. He drops his shirt and looks up just as you’re passing him, and you unintentionally flash him a coy smile. When his eyes widen as he recognizes you, you realize that you do not want to try to look cute right now. 

Well, you want to, but you shouldn’t.

Somehow that doesn’t stop you.

Professor Yang’s eyes travel down your body, taking in your shirtless state. But you don’t feel shy or nervous - you feel weirdly confident, and you walk with a little extra sass in the swing of your hips. You hope with all of your might that he’s as flustered by the sight of you as you always are by him. 

If your appearance gets to him at all, he certainly doesn’t make it known. Without any hint of what he might be feeling, he gets up and moves to a different machine farther down the row, and he doesn’t look back at you again.

Thankfully, it seems that Nailah and Shinhye did not notice anything that just happened, but you feel suddenly embarrassed about strutting past him the way you did. You need to step out for a second and collect yourself.

“I’m going to grab some more water.” You hold up your mostly empty water bottle for the two girls to see and tear off before either one of them can offer to come along.

That was so dumb. Why did you react that way when he saw you? You know better. You should be avoiding him at all costs, because you’re getting over him. You’ve got Wooseok to keep you entertained now, so you can finally let go of Professor Yang.

He just looked so good… and you want the confidence boost of knowing he thinks you look good, too.

But the thing is, though, you know that he thinks you look good. He’s made it kind of obvious throughout the semester that he’s still attracted to you, so you’re positive that he must have felt something when he saw you in your tight leggings and sports bra. He’s just really good at masking it.

You fill up your bottle and take a sip from it as you turn around, and you accidentally bump into a warm, solid body that immediately fills you with dread.

“_____.”

You’re surprised by the face you see when you look up - this is not the human you were expecting. “Yuto?”

He has a black bandana rolled up and tied across his forehead, and honestly it’s a look. Yuto hardly gives you so much as a smile before his hand comes to rest on your shoulder, gently pushing you aside so he can access the water fountain.

“I didn’t know you worked out here.”

He stands upright after taking a leisurely drink, looking you up and down. “I didn’t know you worked out. Wouldn’t have guessed it.”

“Don’t be rude, asshole.” You huff, stalking off towards the weight room. You don’t need to deal with him if he’s going to be a jerk.

“Hey, wait.” Yuto catches up to you, matching your stride. “I just meant that I haven’t seen you here before.”

“Yeah. Roommate dragged me along.”

“Nailah, right?” He points off to the left, and your eyes follow to that part of the room. Nailah’s hands rest on Shinhye’s hips, guiding your friend into the correct form for squats. You frown, worried about what that could mean.

If she’s starting to crush on Shinhye, she really needs to cut it out before she gets herself hurt. Shinhye’s straight - she’s not going to reciprocate any of Nailah’s feelings. And really, Nailah needs to make sure she’s not making Shinhye uncomfortable by being too forward with her flirting.

“That’s her.” You can’t help your frown as you beeline for them. 

“Wait, wait.” Yuto grabs your arm. “I need to talk to you.”

Surprised, you pause. “What about?”

“Wooseok.”

Your frown deepens. Does he know about your agreement? “What about Wooseok?”

“Be careful with him. He’s a kid.”

“We’re the same age...? What are you getting at?”

“He’s naive, okay?” Yuto looks frustrated that you don’t understand what he’s trying to say. “Just try not to hurt him. He’s a lot more delicate than he seems. He told me about you two, and I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“It’s none of your business what we decide to do.” You scoff. “But yeah, okay, I’m the Big Bad Meanie here so I’ll be ‘gentle’ or whatever.”

Yuto’s voice noticeably softens when he realizes you’re upset. “_____…”

“I don’t want to have this conversation with you.” You brush off his hand. “Have a good workout.”

You stomp back over to your friends, and they both watch you quizzically as you approach. 

“What was that all about?” Nailah asks.

“It’s nothing.” Your first instinct is to just dismiss all of it, but these are two of your best friends. They deserve to know at least a little bit of the boy drama in your life - but you don’t want to spill the tea in the middle of the gym. “I’ll fill you in later.”

Shinhye chimes in, “Professor Yang left while you were gone. We thought you might run into him out there.”

“No, I didn’t see him. Just Yuto.”

“Who’s Yuto?” She asks. “The guy you were just talking to?”

Nailah responds for you, nodding. “He’s our neighbor, right across the hall.”

“Oh.” Shinhye chews timidly on the inside of her cheek. “He’s kind of cute, too.”

“Shinhye! I didn’t know you liked dark, brooding boys.” Nailah reaches out to smooth Shinhye’s hair, and Shinhye blushes.

“Apparently you really don’t know her type, Nailah.” There’s a slight edge to your voice as you say it. It’s just so weird to see Nailah being so forward with Shinhye, and you feel the need to stop it. Shinhye isn’t particularly vocal, so she probably won’t say anything if she’s feeling uncomfortable.

Seems like you’ll have to have a chat with Nailah later.

***

Kino meets you in your dorm’s lobby at exactly 6:15pm. Doors open for the dance department showcase in fifteen minutes, and you can sense the energy bubbling out of him when he arrives.

“Hi.” He bounces slightly, standing still for a moment before pulling you into a hug.

“Hi,” you echo, a small smile spreading across your lips. “How are you feeling?”

“Nervous. Oh my God, I’m nervous. But let’s not talk about that because I’ll literally die before the show.”

“My CPR skills aren’t exactly stellar, so I guess we should probably do what we can to keep you alive before that becomes necessary.”

“Good call.” He places his hand on the small of your back, guiding you out of the building and into the brisk night air. “You look really nice, by the way.”

“Thank you!” You look down at yourself, taking a second to button up your jacket over the burgundy dress and black tights you’ve chosen for the evening. Your heels click along the sidewalk as you walk, and then you realize how Kino is dressed; his burgundy pants didn’t immediately draw your attention, but you have to laugh at the coincidence now that you’ve noticed. “Oh my God, are we actually matching?”

Kino nods, laughing. “Yeah, we are.”

So this is what it feels like to wear a couple’s outfit... Obviously you’re not a couple, but it’s still kind of cute that you’ve got similar tastes in clothes.

Kino is oddly quiet as you make your way towards the theater, and you know it’s just because of his nerves. You speak up to try to distract him. “Is your family coming tonight?”

He shakes his head. “I didn’t invite them.”

“Oh.” That surprises you. “Why not? This is a big deal. I’m sure they’d love to be here.���

“I don’t really want to talk about that right now.” Kino frowns slightly, clearly bothered by the topic.

Has something happened? He never really talks about his family, so you don’t know what his relationship with them is like. 

Wait - he has talked about them before. You remember the first night you talked to him after R&B Ensemble practice, when you both bonded over your unsupportive parents. How could you be careless enough to forget something like that? Are you really that distracted by your own life?

“I’m sorry, Kino. I shouldn’t have brought that up.” You link your arm with his. “I’m here to support you no matter what.”

“Thanks, _____.” He smiles slightly. “And no worries. It’s fine.”

To keep the mood light, you chat with him about your excursion to the gym this morning, leaving out the parts about Professor Yang, of course. Mostly, you just complain about how you have to use the baby weights because everything else is too heavy.

Thankfully you can keep him chuckling until you’re seated in the theater and the lights go down, signaling the start of the show. That’s when the terror sets in - Kino takes a deep, nervous breath, and his leg bounces wildly as the first performers step on stage. His piece isn’t until a little later on in the show, but you know he’s going to feel anxious until then.

Normally it doesn’t bother you when someone else bounces their leg, but his movement shakes your chair and you don’t want to sit through the whole show like that. Without even thinking about it, you place your hand on his thigh, squeezing gently to grab his attention. His movement stalls and he stares at you wide-eyed.

You lean in so he can hear you whisper over the music. “It’s gonna be great, okay? Everyone’s going to love your piece.”

Kino’s gaze flits between your eyes, and it occurs to you just how close your faces are. Then his hand covers yours, and he smiles. “I was right to bring you along.”

His attention returns to the stage and he seems much calmer now, but you struggle to focus on the dancers. Your whole consciousness is alert to the fact that his hand is so warm and secure around yours, and for some reason that makes your heart beat just a little bit faster.

All rational thought goes out the window. When the first performance ends, you don’t want to let his hand go. Kino notices the way you cling to his hand when he tries to let go to clap, and he gives you a funny look - not one of judgment, but one of curiosity.

You’re immediately embarrassed, so you let go and hurriedly clap before the applause ends. 

It’s fine. You’re just friends. Friends can hold hands. It’s seriously not a big deal - worst case scenario, Kino’s just going to tease you a little bit after the showcase. You do your best to shake it off.

But then the applause ends, and Kino places his hand on your lap, palm up. It’s an invitation, and his smile makes it so that you cannot refuse. You interlace your fingers with his, your heart beating happily in your chest.

You don’t know what it means, or if it even means anything. But you’ll sort it out later.

That becomes your routine, your hands letting go only to clap between pieces and then quickly returning to each other. It feels foreign yet completely comfortable, exciting yet confusing. 

And then he squeezes your hand tightly and leans over, whispering in your ear, “This one is mine.”

For just a brief second you think he’s talking about your hand, but then you realize that he means his piece is next. Your cheeks flush because of the way you misunderstood him, but you pretend that didn’t just happen and whisper back, “I can’t wait.”

A delicate piano melody guides the two male dancers on stage, but it isn’t until the lyrics kick in that you realize just how mournful the performance is going to be.

“Don’t know where I am with you Forgetting time and space with you Oh I wish we had a common view You see my red as blue I don’t belong in your universe For better or for worse…”

The dancers move fluidly across the stage, embodying the story of two people - maybe lovers, maybe friends - who want to be together despite the invisible force that’s keeping them apart.

“I’m the same but I’m bolder You get home, but I’m on my way out now Not the same destinations I will stay when you get off the train…”

No, they don’t want to be together. It’s not mutual - you see that now, how one dancer is caught in the other dancer’s world and he is trying to break free. Is this an abusive relationship?

“You’re safe as a mountain But know that I am dynamite Oh, oh, you’re safe as a mountain But know that I am dynamite…”

The pieces come together, and it suddenly makes sense. Maybe you’re making a huge assumption, but you can’t help but think that this is the story of Kino’s relationship with his family.

It moves you to tears, and you struggle to keep your composure. It feels like you’re watching a little piece of Kino’s soul through these dancers, and it’s devastating to think that someone as sweet and gentle as Kino would ever be caught in such a terrible situation. He deserves so much better than that. He deserves a family that loves him.

When the performance ends the whole audience applauds, but you can only look at Kino as he wipes away his tears, a melancholy smile on his lips. 

***

Kino walks you back to your dorm, and you stop just outside the front door. You haven’t said much since the performance because he was immediately bombarded by other students and professors coming up to congratulate him. But now, you finally have his undivided attention.

“Your piece was absolutely beautiful,” you gently praise him. “I think you’re incredibly talented to draw that much emotion out of the audience. Seriously, it was incredible.”

“Thank you.” He looks down, his soft voice accompanied by a shy smile. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you came with me tonight. Thank you so much for being there to support me.”

“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, Kino.” You pull him in for a hug, feeling proud of him and also feeling much closer to him than you were before. 

When you pull away, he asks, “Do you want to maybe come over for a little bit? Just to hang out?”

That would be nice, but you remember your plans with Wooseok. For some reason, though, it doesn’t feel right to tell Kino about that. “Ah, I can’t. I told Nailah I’d spend time with her tonight.”

You immediately feel guilty about the lie, but Kino isn’t bothered by your excuse. “Have fun with her, then.”

He reaches out, his hand gliding down your forearm until his fingers interlace with yours. You look down at your intertwined hands, your pulse quickening just as it did in the theater. You’re not sure why you react that way. And then you feel the soft press of lips on your forehead.

Did…? Did Kino just…?

You look up at him, shocked. He had just kissed you. What was that all about?

His eyes scan your face, the sweetest, gentlest smile on his lips. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

You nod, still kind of confused and surprised by what just happened. But he walks off before you can really process it, and you just stand there like an idiot for a minute or two.

Reading into it is probably the worst thing you could do. Kino is a touchy guy, so it shouldn’t seem unusual for him to kiss you on the forehead. It’s just a sweet, friendly gesture, right? He probably doesn’t mean anything by it, so you shouldn’t assume he does.

The last thing you want is to make things weird. He’s a great friend, and you don’t want to lose him. So you’re not going to make a big deal out of this.

Desperate for a distraction, you pull your phone out as you head inside. A few texts from Wooseok are waiting for you, just as you had expected.

Wooseok (8:13pm): Still want to come over?

Wooseok (8:13pm): Minho just left and won’t be back until tomorrow

You respond.

You (9:02pm): Of course. Just got back. Give me 10 to freshen up and I’ll be over.

Wooseok (9:02pm): I’ll give you 5

You (9:03pm): 7?

Wooseok (9:03pm): 6.5 starting now. 

Wooseok (9:04pm): see u soon, short stuff 😘

***

You make it to his place in exactly seven minutes because you’re a glutton for punishment, but you think you’ve devised a plan to help you earn back his favor.

“You’re late.” He greets you at the door to his apartment.

“But I brought a gift.” You try your best to look cute as you hide the small ‘present’ behind your back. “Close your eyes and hold out your hands.”

He looks suspicious, but he smiles slightly as he does what you ask. Into his large palms, you place the panties you’ve been wearing all day. If Minseo has taught you anything, it’s that men go crazy for a girl in a dress with nothing on underneath.

“You said you wanted to keep them, so these are for you.”

Wooseok’s eyes shoot open as he realizes it’s silky, lacy fabric puddled in his hands. He looks at them with a sly smile. “Are you wearing any right now?”

You just smile coyly and shake your head. Success.

“Christ, woman, get in here.” He grabs your wrist and pulls you inside, letting the door slam shut behind you. You don’t even have time to kick off your shoes before he picks you up, your legs naturally wrapping around his hips to hold yourself up.

Wooseok’s lips crash into yours like he can’t stand the thought of waiting one more second. He’s way too eager, but you could never complain. You love feeling so wanted.

He presses you against the wall and you lace your fingers into his hair, tugging gently as you bite his lower lip. A deep growl vibrates in his throat, and it immediately shoots pleasure straight to your core.

You let yourself moan as you feverishly return every kiss he offers. You just can’t get enough of him, and it’s making you crazy. 

For just a second you pull away, but only because you need more. “Bedroom?” you pant.

Wooseok nods and carries you deeper into the apartment, throwing open the door to the bedroom and dropping you onto the bed.

“Hey! I’m not a doll!” You lecture him, but you can’t help the giggle that escapes you. “Don’t toss me around like that.”

Wooseok just ignores you. “You’re wearing too many clothes.” His long fingers immediately find the buttons of your jacket, fiddling with one after the other until he pulls it off of you.

“It’s freezing outside! What did you expect? That I’d run across the street without a jacket on just so it would be easier for you to strip me? It’s bad enough that I came over without my tights on.”

“I mean… You probably would have gotten here when I asked you to if you hadn’t stopped to put a jacket on.” Wooseok runs his fingers over your bare thighs. “But next time, keep the tights on. They’re hot.”

“You’d like that?”

“Yeah, but you’re hot like this, too.” 

You raise an eyebrow. “You’d be hotter with your shirt off, if it counts for anything.”

“Sassy,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to your neck. Still hovering over you, he grabs the back of his collar and easily pulls the t-shirt over his head.

You’re right - you definitely like him better without the shirt. His torso and arms are nicely toned, and he just looks so good. Even his face is somehow more attractive than it’s ever been, and you know you’ve made the right choice in coming over here tonight.

You touch his cheek, and you can sense the depth behind his irises as his eyes scan your face. He’s fully present, and you just want to live in this moment with him.

“Why do you have to look at me like that?” he asks.

“Like what?”

“Like… I don’t know, you’re just fucking cute.” Wooseok dives in, laying you back onto the bed as his lips connect with yours. His hand starts at your neck and runs down over your arm before transferring to your hip, his kiss overwhelming your senses. Everything about him feels so good, so nice.

As you wrap your limbs around him, you remember what Yuto said to you at the gym this morning.

Be gentle with him.

Try not to hurt him.

Even though it’s none of Yuto’s business, you can’t help but keep his warnings in mind. The last thing you want to do is hurt Wooseok. This is all supposed to be harmless fun, after all.

You press a hand to his chest, silently asking him to stop kissing you.

“You good?” Wooseok asks, concerned.

“Yeah! I just wanted to make sure… You’re totally cool with this, right? Like, with us just being friends and doing this for fun? This isn’t going to make anything weird, right?”

Wooseok shrugs calmly. “Yeah, it’s cool with me. I don’t mind it at all and I promise I won’t get weird around you. You cool?”

You nod. “I’m cool with it. I just needed to know we were still on the same page. I, um, ran into Yuto today…”

“Shit, did he say something?”

“He told me to be careful with you. Like he thought I was going to break your heart or something.” You search his eyes. “Also, not cool that you told him about us. I thought this was going to be a private thing.”

Wooseok closes his eyes, sighing quietly. “I’m sorry. I should have kept my mouth shut. He’s my best friend and I tell him everything. I didn’t even think about it.”

“It’s okay. Just don’t go telling the rest of the school, okay?” You chuckle quietly, not quite realizing how much you sound like a certain Professor asking someone to keep things a secret.

“I won’t breathe a word of it to anybody else. I promise.” He smiles. “And don’t worry, I’m not gonna catch feelings.”

“Okay, I’m going to trust you on that. But if either one of us starts to feel something, we have to be honest and stop. Deal?”

“Deal. But, not gonna happen. You can’t lock me down, woman.”

You roll your eyes. “You can lock me down, tie me up, whatever you’re into…”

Wooseok lowers himself onto you again with a devilish grin. “You’re bad.”

“What are you gonna do about it?”

“Probably just get you naked and plow you into tomorrow.”

Laughter bursts from you and you can’t control yourself. “Did you really just say that?”

He laughs too, never one to take himself too seriously. “Yeah, I think I did. That was pretty awful.”

You slide your fingers into his hair and pull him down to you, crashing your lips together now that your concerns are alleviated. Your body is already aching for release and you’ve hardly even started.

Wooseok’s large hands roam your body, gliding over your curves and massaging your chest. Your fingers trail down his back and the groan he emits is absolutely precious. It feels like it has been ages since you’ve gotten laid and suddenly you’re starving for it.

Every kiss fuels the fire burning deep within you, your core throbbing with want. Your legs are wrapped around his waist and you wiggle your hips in search of some sort of friction. 

Wooseok gets the message loud and clear. His hand glides under the skirt of your dress in search of your folds, which are already delightfully wet by the time he reaches them. Even though you’re more than ready, he teases you, taking his time to caress your most sensitive spot. 

A quiet moan escapes you, and you reach down between your bodies in search of his length. You just have to know what it feels like, what kind of fun you should expect for the rest of the night.

Your fingers brush over the front of his jeans until you find an unmistakable bulge, and he sighs deeply as you pass over it. The sound is actually really hot, and you know instantly that you need to get him naked. 

“Take off your pants,” you murmur against his lips, your fingers already working to unfasten his jeans. You get the button and zipper of his pants undone, and he steps out of his pants and boxers all at once.

Seeing Wooseok naked is both weird and thrilling, and you realize how incredibly sober you are. The last time you were here in his apartment, you were both a little drunk. But this time you’re not inebriated in the least bit.

You definitely don’t need any alcohol to be convinced that you should have sex with this man right the fuck now.

“Condom?” You seriously hope that he has some, because you definitely didn’t think to bring one over.

“Yeah, hold up.” He opens the top drawer of his dresser and pulls out a rubber from his stash.

You pull him back down onto the bed as soon as he’s within reach, and he chuckles at your eagerness. You climb on top of him, kissing him passionately and wrapping your hand around his cock. 

“I don’t want to wait,” you whine as you stroke him. He’s already incredibly hard, and he’s just the perfect size for you. Usually you would insist that foreplay is a good idea, but you are way too impatient at the moment. “I want you inside of me.”

“Then stop waiting.”

Wooseok tears open the condom packet and rolls it on, and you lift yourself up, lining him up with your entrance. 

You let out a slightly strained breath as you slide down onto him, your walls stretching around his girth as you finally fill yourself with his cock. You unfortunately have to take it easy since you completely skipped the foreplay bit, but you slowly rock your hips, indulging in every bit of pleasure even the smallest movements bring you.

Eventually you’re able to increase your speed, and you lean back, helping his cock hit just the right spot inside of you, the spot that you know will leave you blinded with ecstasy. 

You don’t even realize that you’re still in your dress until Wooseok’s hand pushes your skirt back, bunching it at your hip as you ride him. “Lemme see.”

He fixates on the place where your bodies connect, his gaze full of lust. The sight of him beneath you only serves to turn you on more, and it only gets more perfect when his thumb grazes over your clit.

“Oh my God, yes,” you murmur, placing a hand behind you to hold yourself up as you lean back more. Between Wooseok’s touch and the angle of his cock, you felt yourself very quickly becoming unraveled.

Wooseok’s fingers dig into your hip, his cock sliding deliciously in and out of you. Your walls contract tightly around him as you work yourself up, entirely obsessed with the beautiful pleasure pulsing through you. 

“I’m… so close…” You moan for him. “Please, keep going. Don’t change a thing.”

He groans softly. “Already, baby?”

“It feels good,” your voice is absolutely blissful. “Count down from five. Slowly.”

It’s something you like to do when you masturbate - you’ve practiced orgasming on demand because there’s something you absolutely love about forcing yourself to hold off right when you’re ready to explode.

Wooseok doesn’t question. He just keeps rubbing circles into your clit, and he counts. “Five.”

Your chest is already growing warm, your abdomen tight. 

“Four.”

You force yourself to take deep breaths, but they’re littered with moans.

“Three.”

Your pussy swells with pleasure, hot and electric.

“Two.”

“Fuck!” You can barely keep yourself together. “Please please please…”

“One, baby-”

“Oh!” 

You don’t just explode - you burst like a fucking broken dam. Ecstasy overwhelms you as you unintentionally squirt all over Wooseok’s stomach. You’re an absolute gushing mess for him, but you’re too caught up in your pleasure to care. Your whole body feels bathed in sunshine and you’re convinced there is no better feeling than this.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

You’re brought back to reality when Wooseok finally speaks up. He looks absolutely shocked by what just happened, and you realize that you didn’t give him any sort of warning that you might soak him.

Panicked, you apologize. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“Shut up, you’re so fucking hot.”

Wooseok sits up and pulls you to him, kissing you more roughly than ever. You eagerly return each kiss, grateful that he’s not upset like you originally thought. 

“Wooseok,” you smile against his lips at what you’re about to say. “I think now’s the time to get me naked and plow me into tomorrow.”

He laughs loudly, and his smile is adorable. “Hell yeah.”

In no time, your dress is on the floor and Wooseok has you pinned under him. Per his request you’re lying on your stomach, and he straddles your legs. He nestles his cock between your thighs, pressing into your slit with a pleased groan. 

“Shit, you feel good.” He holds himself up on his forearms, and his lips find your shoulder as he thrusts into you. He starts slow but very quickly picks up the pace until you’re both panting.

You lift your hips as much as you can to meet him, your fingers deftly working your clit. A second orgasm is definitely feasible at this rate, but you’re not going to try to force it.

Wooseok leaves a trail of bites and sucks from your shoulder up your neck until he reaches your ear. He sucks your earlobe into his mouth, biting and toying with your earring as he pounds into you. The sensation drives you wild, and very suddenly you crash into another orgasm.

A weird half-squeak, half-moan comes out of you as you dissolve beneath him, and you hear a strange series of noises come from Wooseok, too. He starts to laugh, but it’s strained and broken up by strangled, awkward moans as he finishes - then he collapses on top of you, shaking with laughter.

You know he’s definitely laughing at the sound you made, and you’re definitely laughing at the way he just laughed through his orgasm. It’s just such a drastic change of mood, and it’s absolutely endearing the way he clutches onto you as he laughs.

Wooseok is everything you thought he might be in bed, and it doesn’t even phase you that your hookup ended in a less-than-hot circumstance. How could you be bothered when you’re laughing this hard?

Something about the laughter makes his embrace feel exceptionally warm. And you kind of adore that.

You feel lighter than you have in a while, even though you’re sort of being crushed by him.

“Can’t breathe!” You squeal.

“Sorry,” he chuckles, rolling off of you and onto his back. “Hey, whatever the fuck that noise was, it was super cute.”

“I could say the same about your laughing orgasm,” you retort, scooting closer to him to indulge in his warmth.

Wooseok pushes your hair back, his dark chocolate eyes locking with yours. “It’s your fault I laughed through it. I don’t know how the hell your voice even got that high.” 

Just for fun, you try to recreate the noise, reaching as high as you can through your vocal range to pull out the most ridiculous note you’re capable of. You both laugh at your attempt, and then Wooseok gives it a try - and somehow far surpasses whatever pitch you had managed.

His eyes get so wide you think they might just fall out of his head, and you laugh more hysterically than you ever have in your life. It has to be physically impossible for him to screech as high as he just did, but he succeeded!

“Wooseok, what the fuck?” It’s impossible to catch your breath, but you manage to get some words out.

“I don’t even know.” He shakes his head and shrugs, laughing right along with you.

Eventually you’re both able to calm down. Your arm is draped across his chest, and his hand glides up and down your spine in a way that soothes you. The friends-with-benefits line is a little blurred because you’re not sure if cuddling is part of that package, but as per usual you tell yourself that you’ll figure it out later. You’d rather just enjoy yourself.

“_____?” Wooseok gently breathes your name into your hair, and you prop yourself up on your elbow so you can look at him. He’s gorgeous and you don’t know how you didn’t see it before. “I’m glad you came over.”

You don’t think - you just act on instinct. Your fingers glide up to his cheek and you lean down to kiss him. Wooseok’s lips are warm and soft, and the kiss is sensual and provocative and...

And it melts deep into your heart, lighting you up from head to toe.

It stirs up every romantic thought that you know you shouldn’t have about him.

Fuck.

Post Script | Thank you for reading! Please stay tuned for Part 7.

All Rights Reserved © gwentoryfics. No translations, reposting, and/or modifying of the material is allowed without my direct permission.

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[uni-life-tips]

Grades aren’t what matter; Dreams are what matter

I've been thinking back on High School a lot recently, after graduating from Post-Secondary.

I still remember the morning of my Math 30 diploma. I remember sitting on a bench in the foyer of my school, waiting for us to be let into the exam room. I remember sitting there and thinking, "Nobody will stop me if I were to run--right now."

I spent the night before the exam wondering if I should kill myself. I was that terrified of the Math 30 exam. I was trying to weigh my options: 1) Not take the exam and fail at life. 2) Take the exam, fail it, and still fail at life. I spent the whole night in tears rather than getting the recommended hours of sleep. Not like sleeping a full night would have prevented me from completely blanking on the exam.

I was remembering all of that tonight. I remember feeling an overwhelming sense of dread in the hours before the Math 30 exam. I remember truly believing that if I failed Math 30 my life was over. All I could think was that my parents would forever be disappointed in me, I'd be barred from post-secondary, and I'd have no future whatsoever. I truly thought failing Math 30 was a death-sentence that would doom me to living life on the streets of downtown, being a homeless bum because I was too dumb to pass Math 30 and math was essential to life.

That was about seven years ago. I'm still here. I graduated from a post-secondary institution. I don't have a career yet...but I have a life and I have aspirations for a field I want to get into that will require more education (and thus more funds...funds are the step I'm on now).

I was thinking back on that Math 30 exam. I don't remember my exact grades. I know there was a 55 or a 54 and a 46 or something. I think I got a 40-something% on the diploma exam alone, but with my 60-something class-average I managed to pass overall with a 54% or something. I don't remember the exact numbers and nobody but some nosey, gossipy, boastful, vindictive housewives/friends of my parents have cared (and they don't matter). Just like that--those number don't matter and haven't mattered for years now. The anxiety of that day is still fresh in my mind though.

The amount of tears I shed over my grades in math would probably be enough to drown myself in if I had managed to collect them all. It'd be a really shallow bowl of tears...but it would have been enough.

The grades don't matter...but what about that anxiety? What about all of the pain the students went through? While we were living through High School, everyone around us made a big deal of our grades and how we'd do on that exam. Parents threatened to disown their kids if they brought home another bad grade. Teachers ridiculed students for getting less-than-stellar grades. Students made fun of each other when they compared their marks. Those of us on the "wrong" side of the bell-curve genuinely wanted to die. It hurt beyond words.

What was the point of all that? Seven years later, am I just supposed to forget that I wanted to die? That I was terrified enough of that exam to wet myself? Or that I watched a classmate hurl into a trash-can going into the exam because they were so damned anxious they couldn't keep it down? People kept saying that once you were accepted into a post-secondary institution your high school grades wouldn't ever matter again. Awesome...so what about the trauma? What about how we were made to feel that our fates would be decided in that three hour exam? What about those of us that still wake up in a cold sweat years later because we were dreaming about sitting in those uncomfortable desks crammed into the gym?

For anyone reading this that is currently going through High School or whatever, please try to relax. Your worth has nothing to do with that damned "mandatory" course or test or whatever. If you've got your heart set on a mathematics career, but you do less-than-stellar in Math 30, it's not the end of the world. I didn't know how to properly study or apply myself in High School. That was something I had to figure out through experimentation during the first three years of University. In first year I thought "studying" meant locking oneself in one's dorm room and reading the textbook. In second year I thought writing out notes by-hand was the way to go and I spent hours and hours writing my right arm sore...only to realize after the exam that all I had done was re-write the powerpoints and textbook in point-form. In year three I learned I couldn't focus properly while locked in my own room. There were too many temptations to spend hours on youtube, or take a nap, or cook something. I found out in third year that I focus/apply myself best when I settle down with the material in a crowded location (e.g. the cafeteria, a fast-food restaurant) and plug my headphones in, listening to ambient noise (rain noises, white-noise, slow instrumental music, etc.). I couldn't do that in High School. There were no fast-food joints near enough to my house or school to do that; my parents were the sheltering type and would freak out if we went anywhere near the doors and windows.

My grades and academic performance in University were supposed to matter more than High School. And yet, I wasn't nearly as anxious over my University stress-load as I was for that Math 30 exam. I broke down a few times in University. I had a few panic-attacks. I developed stress/tension headaches. I got anxiety so bad that some nights I wouldn't sleep, I'd forget to eat, and I'd cry in the shower every night for weeks at a time. There were weeks where I forgot how to hold a pencil or write my own name because I was stressing over a typed-out research paper I had to hand in within a week. Despite all of that, I look back on my University days fondly where I still cry over Math 30. University was hard...but it was enjoyable. Math 30 felt like a dead-end.

I remember how much Math 30 hurt. I remember how scared I was seven years after it went down. That is not education. That is not how High School should go. We shouldn't be putting so much pressure on anyone--especially high school kids. The Diploma exam is just like any other exam they've taken in their lives--the only difference being that it's cumulative. Stop psyching them out. We all know that getting anxious over something impacts performance negatively...so why are we amping up the diploma exams like they're the be-all-end-all of life? As though there is no life if one fails the exam?

Anyone out there that's going through this, regardless of your level of schooling, your feelings are valid. Your fears are valid. Your anxiety is valid. It feels like the biggest damned thing in your life right now with a million repercussions. I'm not trying to downplay how it feels to you in that moment because I remember it vividly. I want you to know that when you get over this--and you will, because the exam has a set end-time. When it's all over it's just another thing you did. In my memory, the diploma exam was just like any of the other unit exams I did poorly in. Everyone around me was treating it like some great decider or that it was somehow different. It was just an exam. It was just ink on paper. Take it, get it over with, and don't let it weigh on your mind when you walk out of that exam room. Regardless of how you did on it, regardless if you even tried--the exam will end and you will be the one left standing. To my knowledge, the standardized tests are only kept for up to 5 years before they are shreded/incinerated or whatever (I heard something like that when I was in an Education degree...originally trying to become a High School Social Studies teacher). It's ben seven years since my Math 30 diploma exam...I'm pretty sure my exam has been cremated. I'm still alive. Now...if someone would like to point me in the direction of the grave of exams, I'd like to tap-dance on the SOB that still gives me lingering anxiety.

Anyone out there going through something like this: what matters is what you want to do. If you've got your heart set on a mathematics career but you failed Math 30, spend a while figuring out how you learn best. Hire a tutor. Go to tutorials. Youtube how to do certain questions or how to use certain formulas. Figure out how you learn best. Practice. What matters isn't the grade on an exam; what matters is what you are passionate about, what you want to do in life, and what the steps are to reaching that goal. It's not the damned exam that matters, but what your next step is.

Good luck!

#test anxiety #school trauma #high school #diploma exams #exams #encouragement #personal #rant #education system is broken

[jacklacy70]

Ireland Trip Day 1

28 October 2018

Crystal Schuldt

Wow! Okay, Ireland…. due to having used most of my paid time off this year at work, I actually had to work half a day before our flight.  This killed me because I was overwhelmed with excitement and could barely focus on anything else, (especially knowing my guy was home without me)!  I did all of my prep of the weekend prior and, thank God, my guy is killer at picking up the rest of the slack for me.  So, I’m on pins and needles and hardly able to focus on my work this day because I know what lies ahead.  Plus, I have bragged about Ireland to nearly everyone, especially my best friend (Shalene), so they are all asking me about it as well which makes my anticipation grow like wild-fire.  Jack picks me up right after 1pm and we head to the airport.  Can I just say again how stoked I am for this trip?

Our flight leaves on time and we are both conversing on our way to Chicago about how wonderful it’s going to be and trying to imagine all of the beauty we have always dreamed of.  Chicago airport check-in is successful and we find out a short while later that our flight is delayed due to possible mechanical issues on the plane.  This turns into a three-hour ordeal and we are very tired by the end of this mess.  However, we are not short on conversation and just enjoy being in each other’s presence, as usual.  I just cherish every moment we are together no matter where we are.  Besides, we are not at work, our boys are not with us, and we basically have no responsibilities right now.  AND… we are going to Ireland!!! WHAT?!?  This delay is a small sacrifice considering the circumstances.  Finally, we are able to board our flight to London.  I can’t sleep on the plane because there is an enormous woman sitting behind me that is preventing my chair from reclining. I’m telling you, there is nothing quite like sitting up completely straight to try to sleep. You can’t move, you can’t put your legs underneath you… nothing. Needless to say, I achieved next to no sleep on our very long plane ride.

London comes with another delay since we missed our connection but, once again, we enjoy the airport, the people, the diversity, and all of the neat little things to see in a new country, even if only in the airport.  Jack and I already begin to notice differences in this new country. People, on average, are thinner in Europe. Lol who knew?!? We are hearing all types of different languages. Predominantly British which, I Happen to have a knack for understanding well, because of British Friday (I’ll have to explain that in another post). I immediately feel like I should look for platform 9 3/4 (for all the fellow Harry Potter fans). Two and a half hours later, we board our flight to Dublin. This is one of the coolest flights I’ve ever taken because the pilot, flight attendants, and many of the passengers are speaking with an Irish accent. Also, we are flying through a thicket of clouds so dense it looks like a river of marshmallow fluff. I’ll never forget that. So intense!

Less than two hours later, I begin to see the lush green lands neatly trimmed with tree and bushes from the airplane. I am already in awe of how different the land looks compared to where we are from (Oklahoma). We’re trading brown and red for green, green, and more green! Did I mention my favorite color is green?

We arrive in Dublin!  I’m seriously about to pee my panties!!! There are planes with shamrocks and harps on them! I can already tell that humans here are very trendy.  Jack and I get our crap and make our way to pick up our baggage and retrieve our rental car. I’m wondering if the very tall Jack will be able to fit in this navy blue Volkswagen Golf. He is so tall that his head is probably half an inch from the ceiling. Let the games begin!  Jack has to very quickly learn the very busy streets of Dublin and, at night!  Obviously, the Irish drive on the left-hand side of the road but, bonus… we have a manual car and Jack not only has to drive on the passenger side of the car but also shift gears with his left hand! We have already noticed the Irish accents. We enjoyed them so much we even recorded some of them. It was very pleasing to witness first-hand.

Jack drives us through the outskirts of Dublin to our first bed and breakfast. The first thing we notice is the beautiful gate and sign out front accompanied by a sign that says “weed available here”. We check in to our room with a super cool skeleton key, immediately change clothes and head to our very first pub in Ireland. It’s chilly tonight, but I brought a sweater, thankfully. The coolest pub we see has a little side street opening and it’s called The Hut. Inside, it is full of loud, happy, conversing Irish! Jack and I instantly realize we came to the right sort of place! We sit down at the bar and are in awe of all of the vintage Irish trinkets and beautiful stained glass placed strategically throughout the pub. Our red-headed bartender, Tara, is immediately friendly and explains to us that this bar is least two hundred years old. We are in complete disbelief that we found something so stellar so quickly. We met several people here and they were all ridiculously nice and very welcoming. They even invited us to sit with them and have a pint. The architectural detail in this pub is mind-blowing! I can’t stop looking around to soak up all of the hidden treasures in the woodwork, tile, and even the bar stools.

                                                                                                                                      We met a lovely couple here and a cute older Irishman named George Clooney. They begin answering all of our questions about Ireland and, they have a few for us as well. We had great conversations with all of them. Even other people passing by us in the pub said “Hallo” and smiled. No one is on their phone. Everyone is talking and having a good time. It’s wonderful to see people so in tune with each other and just enjoying their presence. Jack and I are having our first pint of Guinness and yes, the rumors are true. Guinness in Ireland tastes like heaven. It is particularly different that it is in the states. George Clooney shows us his initials “G.C.” on his fingers to prove to us that is his real name. Lol! We learn from George that, in Ireland, when you want a Guinness, you ask for a pint or a glass. George tells us that the police there are a joke and don’t even carry guns. I asked George if that was because they had a significantly lower crime rate than we do in the states. He astoundingly agreed. Also, the legal drinking age there is eighteen. I think that must have something to do with it as well. I just cannot get over how incredibly nice everyone is that we have met in the very short amount of time we have been here. I am curious to see if the next day is the same! We have had a lovely first evening in Ireland and we even got a picture with out new-found friends. They even invite us back for another pint.

We return to our bed and breakfast for the night and shower and get ready for bed. The room is small and cozy and has a very Irish vintage look. The windows are open and there are no screens. I’m wondering how this is going to treat our allergies. To my surprise, the next morning we could wake up and breathe well through our noses and no sniffling, coughing, draining, or headaches. I am so intrigued and amazed! This place must be a slice of heaven…

[soysaucevictim]

Final week of current stuff~

-

June 20

I woke up before 9AM... somehow. (Itching + heat probs didn’t help.)

I rambled a bit on Twitter about grapefruit, felt a bit risky/curious about eating just a quarter of one this morning. (Was a bit concerned about drug interactions.)

Did some sketches, chatted, did some dishes, and made today’s Hello Fresh meal. Zucchini pomodoro penne bake an enjoyable meal, even moreso thanks to it’s relative ease to make.

I spent a few hours after that- chatting, playing KH, and steaming some leftover zucchini grandma brought us.

(Okay it was late, but I really jumbled up my exercise itinerary today...)

First, Day 25 of the CSP. Level 3, max rest. Counts were fast and form wasn’t stellar... but I’ll accept it. That was nevertheless intense. Also, had a few moments of “but wait, what side am I holding for again?“

Second , Day 25 of the MC. 15′ meditation + OM Mantra. I decided to sit against my bed and let my arms rest in lap. It went alright... got interrupted  twice and had a few moments where I think I was dozing off a bit. I’ll call it done.

Third , today’s DD. 1′ tree pose with EC. Out of order, since I barely remembered to get this one done before calling it a day. Breezy and fun work.

Last , Day 25 of the VP. Level 3, no rest. Pretty fun and breezy. Hip flexors felt it a little, too.

I regretted my decision to break out my 2DS... got to bed way too late again.

-

June 21

I woke up a bit before 2PM.

I believe the first thing I did waking up was accompanying brother to get some Subway. After some YouTube, I got started with today’s exercise.

First, today’s DD. 30 side-to-side lunges with EC. Just about manageable.

Second, Day 26 of the VP. Level 3, 30″. Arms needed some recovery time to work with, but got it done.

(After watching Lord of War, Dinner for Shmucks, and chatting with a friend...)

Third, Day 26 of the CSP. Level 3, max rest. I debated heavily on rain checking it, since it was past midnight. But I did it anyways. Also doable, but I felt I had to try to be a bit more quiet.

Last, Day 26 of the MC. 1′ equal breathing + 15′ meditation. Got a little impatient at the very end. But I did have a few moments of enjoying some ujjayi-style breathing sounds.

I then repeated yesterday’s mistake of playing more 2DS games, despite sense telling me not too... oh well.

-

June 22

I woke up around 2PM.

Ate dinner, just some Chinese fast food. I spent a few hours watching some YouTube and reading some cool SaSi analysis posts before getting started on exercises.

First, today’s DD. 1′ hollow hold with EC. Still not particular fond of this one, but can still manage.

Second, Day 27 of the VP. Level 3, no rest. A bit of stretching stuff, overall quite breezy~

(After chatting and passing some more time to allow food to go down...)

Third, Day 27 of the CSP. Level 3, max rest. That was pretty intense, but it was a good call to stall a bit for more food digestion beforehand. Honestly, quads got a good deal of action with the core/abs. But, consider it done.

Last, Day 27 of the MC. Backup & Restore + 15′ meditation. One thing I always like about B&R is the rush of cool you get after getting out of the second child’s pose. Did doze off a lil during tonight’s session and it took a bit for my right quads to stop trembling from fatigue to stay relatively still. Eventually stopped but did crush my left foot a tiny bit awkwardly (was sitting cross-legged).

After YouTube and some gaming, I decided I would try to actually get to sleep in the green zone. Despite the impulse to play more games crossing my mind. Yay!

-

June 23

... I woke up just shy of 5AM. Had a restless night’s sleep. Got to be PROFOUNDLY itchy. I think ti was because of the heat. =_=

After some deliberation on twitter, I ordered some OTC antihistamines, did some dishes, confirmed an appointment, and followed up on our census response. I then took a nap.

Woke up again at around 3PM.

Tanked my ENTIRE day playing Gemcraft and regretted it.

Got to bed obscenely late again, too.

-

June 24

I woke up before 1PM.

After a bit of YouTube and a phone call from my case manager, I started to play catch-up with my exercise stuff.

First, yesterday’s DD. 2′ jumping Ts with EC. Took a false-start trying to find a sustainable pace. But I eventually I nailed an exact 1/sec pace, 120 reps. "Forbidden Fruit" turned out to be a good tempo to work alongside. (As well as in terms of run-time.) :,D

Second, today’s DD. 20 up/down planks with EC. I went at this as fast as I could so I could get through it. Did wear some long sleeves for it. Elbows still had to look forward to doing more tho. :P

Second, Day 28 of the VP. Level 3, no rest. The heat plus those 2 DDs made this harder than it otherwise would be. Notably, especially at the start - doing balanced leg raises was hard and had a few drop-downs (still a self-imposed challenge there.).

(After a bit of time recovering from that with a bit of rest and pickle juice for electrolytes...)

Third, Day 28 of the CSP. Level 3, max rest. Elbows were not the most happy about more up/downs... but I was able to manage. If barely in the last couple sets.

Second, Day 29 of the VP. Level 3, 30″ rest. Arms were a bit tired after that, and this was an arms day. So I started off with that rest period, did think to close it after a couple sets... but eh. Might as well go a bit easier on myself after everything...

(After a bit of debate on whether to do more doubling up...)

Third, Day 29 of the CSP. Level 2, max rest. Accrued fatigue made me feel like Level 3 wasn’t happening today. Neck strain was probs the worst part to contend with here...

(After some dishes...)

Last, Day 28 of the MC.15′ meditation. I did some slow breaths, counting upward for each inhale/exhale. Had a few brief moments losing count, but doing such does help to maintain a bit more deliberate focus.

After a bit of a headache setting things up, I streamed that chibi!Remus drawing. I wound up pulling an allnighter, by the time I finished it.

-

June 25

After posting that art and doing a bit of gaming, one of the first things I did was take a hot shower. Sleep dep made me feel my tired muscles more... taking a hot shower just now helped that for a bit.

I wound up staying up so I could get to the laundromat as planned and deal with clothes. Afterwards, spent time unpacking some deliveries, taking out the trash/recyclables, making dinner, feeding/watering dog, and putting away my laundry... honestly was too tired to be saddled with all that. But I did what I needed to do.

Very late, but one of the last things I spent energy on today was exercise.

First, today’s DD. 1′ climbers with EC. 130 reps were counted by the end. Given my food choices, I’m glad this was the only exercise on docket that could aggravate the stomach. And even then, it went without much issue.

Second, Day 30 of the Vitality Program. Level 3, no rest. Honestly, the only hard part here was probably the calf raises - given how sore my calves were getting (after those Jumping Ts and no sleep to recover from them). But this was just manageable.

Third, Day 30 of the Core Strength Program. Level 3, 30″ rest This was pretty breezy by this program’s standards. Was arguably too exhausted to mind how high I was targeting for the leg raises, but I won’t dock any points for it.

Last, Day 29 of the MC.15′ meditation + OM Mantra. Because tired, leaned against bed again. Did have a few moments of drifting focus from the mantra. But I did the best I could and appreciate the activity.

I went to bed in the green zone. Because my wall was hit.

-

June 26

I woke up proper around 1PM.

One of the first things I did today was make today’s HF dinner. Hoison-sesame roasted veggie bowls. I was thrilled that dad liked this one, given that he has stated not liking sweet potatoes / yams before. This def speaks to how much of a big deal is in HOW you cook stuff (than only just what's in it).

I then spent time doing dishes, before doing a little bit of exercise.

First, today’s DD. 40 raised leg circles. Just about manageable.

Last, Day 30 of the Meditation Challenge. 20′ meditation. Tried to focus on breathing, but I did have some trouble staying focused on it (was fidgety in thought and with my hands/arms)Observed left leg went to sleep and took a good minute or 2 to normalize sensation. Didn’t stop me from getting up and walking around, KNOWING after the first window where the sensation feels okay you get slammed with weakness/parasthesia. :,D

I then spent some time to clean the kitchen countertops and toilet. Did some logging and video editing before turning in. Pretty late, later than yesterday.

-

Summary of Experience:

I finished both my programs on time, in June 25.

The Vitality Program. was a good warm-up and mostly a breeze to get through! Easily managed Level 3 for the whole program. What I did note was how long I needed to rest between sets.

No rest for 25 days

30″ rest for 5 days (arm-centric days)

The Core Strength Program had a lot of days that kicked my ass a bit. But I’m happy with how far I could take it most of the time. I only needed to knock 2 days down to Level 2 (16 & 29) and did Level 3 for the rest. I also recorded the spread for how long I needed to rest between sets.

No rest for 3 days

30″ rest for 2 days

1′ rest for 5 days

1′30″ rest for 5 days  

Max rest for 20 days

I finished the in Meditation Challenge June 26. This was a good thing to rerun, for many reasons. I did it all to silence. I occasionally experimented with different sitting positions (largely determined by how tired I was). Focused on breath most of the time, counting them a couple times.

#adventures with fitness #adventures with hello fresh #sharon play kingdom hearts

[braywashed]

anyway, i should note the tat place was super friendly and casual and they had a great pandora station on playing a bunch of songs i hadn’t heard in forever of like theory of a deadman and danzig and shit.

my artist was super chill. we didn’t really strike up any huge conversations but we chit chatted on and off about random mundane small talk things and my job and such. a couple other people were getting shit done. it was the kind of layout where it’s just an open floor instead of individual rooms so you could kinda spy on everyone’s work. and i got to watch him set up his machines which was neat.

it was a pretty easy sit. he made a remark that i don’t even flinch (which i took as a compliment considering we took my right side up to my collarbone and i expected it to hurt like a bitch lmao). i didn’t expect to do both today but he was pretty much just like OKAY GO STRETCH I’LL TURN THE CHAIR AROUND so it was like OKAY (since finding time to get scheduled in was such a pain the first time around). he had me panicking with his colors at first (i told him cool tones and brightish). the one purple he brought out looked SUPER pastel and ater he finished the black i was like ‘okay i have to tell you i hate that purple’ but he assured me it wouldn’t look like it did in the pot and yeah the colors are a+ stellar. and after the first side he had me check the mirror a few times and was happy to add anything more/etc.

the only shitty thing was like mid second one i kind of started to check out bc i got a headache and the feeling was becoming kind of static by that point so i wasn’t as invested in watching/conversing which kinda sucked. i got food after and had to sit down for a sec and chug some water. but whatevs. it was a long sit on a mostly empty stomach, i expected some iffy feelings. but the second one turned out great and i’m glad we did the yellow on that side. i think he was a little concerned i wasn’t as... idk, collaborative? with that side. because when he drew on his rough idea i was like ‘eh i’m sure it’s fine’ without looking in the mirror and when i looked at the end i didn’t have anything to add, but it wasn’t lack of interest it was just that i think he got the formula down for how i wanted the first one and he did it great the first try on the second so?? lmao. not much to add bruh you done good.

i’d had a $60 deposit down and he charged me $200 for the actual visit. i tipped him $50. i think it was worth it. i’m super happy with them and so long as they heal alright, which they should, i’m just stoked to finally have gotten them done so i can show my shoulders again without constantly thinking ‘these look awful.’ because i really was in that mind set for the past couple years with the state the symbols alone were in. and i’m happy to pay the money to get the artist i wanted after researching SO MANY in the area for one that could do watercolor well. i really think he did a great job with it.

much like anything else i kind of have that ‘it’s over already? now what?’ post-event depression but hey.

plenty of other tats i can get down the line. =)

#just rambling about my day

[whatacartouchebag]

When you’re on day seven straight and tired af after pulling all nine-or-ten hour shifts, and you’ve been there for all of ten minutes before the boomers start trying to gaslight you and pick a fight.

#i am one Exhausted millennial so you came to the wrong neighbourhood buddy #janice honey learn to read #karen sweetie i Just Don’t Care #this post brought to you by a stellar headache #retail is suffering #irl Cart #other than that my day’s been super #even my coworkers agreed i seemed to be attracting them like bugs in a swamp today lmao

[marie-dufresne]

White Day.

Marie had a knack for finding things for Rufus that were ‘unique’ by nature. A few times she had even surprised him—though the biggest surprise was how she was still around, according to some. While the office was in a tizzy with men delivering gifts to all the women that made their day a little special, Rufus was contemplating what to get his secretary. A secretary that certainly did her job well considering his high standards. 

Teeth chewed the inside of his cheek while he softly tapped his fountain pen on the parchment on the desk. She didn’t seem too materialistic. The items that she kept on her desk seemed far more personal than flamboyant—except for that damn glitter pen. With a frustrated groan, he lifted himself up from his chair and silently slipped out the frosted doors. For a few minutes he simply observed her in her natural surroundings—how her phone calls teetered on professional and flirtatious vibes depending on the other side of the phone. She had the charm, the charisma of a perfect innocent woman. 

When she at last finalized one of the calls, he approached with his hands in his pockets. “I want to give you a proposition,” he announced, watching he flinch to the suddenness of his voice beside her. There were times when he startled her; it always brought a smirk to his face. “Marie… how about a dinner date with me?” It would be his treat—she could choose the restaurant if she so inclined to do so. “You can choose whatever you want to do afterwards and I’ll grant you the day off for preparations.” What else could be better than getting a day off from his ruling hand?

“Think about it and have your report—“ he stopped himself, shaking his head. “Not report, your … say on when and where. Got it?” It sounded more like a forced order than for something for her to decide willingly on her own. This was the way of Rufus. 

@ivory-paragon

In the bustle that was the upper offices of ShinRa, Marie had forgotten about White Day. Typically in her line of work, much like Valentines Day, her father held an auction a few days prior to decide just which if his clients would have the luxury of showering her with affection for the entire day, but that did not stop tokens from arriving on the steps of the Dufresne Estate anyway.

On her current mission, she was spared the auction, but not the tokens, and had not realized just how popular she was inside of the power company. Roses and chocolates piled up on her desk from men she didn’t even know existed, but according to half of them, she’d been ‘exceptionally kind to’, and continued this kindness as she accepted their gifts and pretended to know their names and positions.

Reno had also been part of the gift giving, but in his own way, naturally. Thankfully he did not present a sex toy to her (she was still on edge around Rufus about that), but a bulk pack of glitter ink cartridges for her favourite pen—an unusually practical gift, but one that would frustrate the President on a mild level so still perfectly appropriate given his nature.

So lost in the frenzy of the day, she did not notice Rufus approach her, jotting away important notes from her phone call and scribbling on her cat-shaped post-it notes as the pen struggled to use up the last of its ink.

Stellar timing, Reno.

She jumped when he spoke, and with a hand on the string of pearls she wore, she took a breath and apologized.

A dinner date? It wouldn’t be the first time they’d dined in public together, so she didn’t see why not, but a day off had her hesitating.

“But sir…will you manage?”

It wasn’t a question she was asking because she thought him incapable of keeping his own schedule in order, it was a question she asked because she kept a good deal of his headaches at bay. Figuratively, she imagined anyway. There was no better guard to those doors than a well trained, silver tongued secretary, and said secretary knew the many hassles she stopped on the daily.

Her face melted into a cheeky grin and she shrugged one shoulder.

“All I mean is that if I get a night with you all to myself, I’d hate for you to be more stressed than you need to be.”

Dinner would be easy. There were a number of restaurants she favored and with them both having the same standards of excellence as far as that was concerned, she doubted he would disagree.

But afterwards?

What would a man like Rufus even want to do after a nice dinner other than—well she imagined he’d be the sort who might catch up on some reading in a favourite chair before turning down his bed in the most routine and meticulous way, preparing his suit for the morning, and going to sleep.

Hm. She’d have to think on that one.

“I’ll let you know by day’s end,” she conceded, “thank you, Mr. President.”

#what DO you do after dinner with the man you're pretty sure you're in love with #but you're also pretty sure is actually the devil #and thoroughly enjoys the sight if you in extreme distress #and you're pretty sure actually does not care about you in any real form of substance #WHAT DO YOU DO WITH SUCH A MAN #she's asking for a friend #taking down a titan #ivory-paragon #submission

[dainiaolivahm]

6 Reasons to Unite Your Customer Service and Marketing on Social Media

If you haven’t ventured over to REI’s social accounts lately, you should. Something amazing is happening. For years, we’ve been told that silos between customer service and marketing are just facts of life–something to expect. Yet, REI’s customer service replies look like, feel like, and even using the same language as their other posts.

It’s common knowledge at the enterprise level that silos wreak havoc. But how to fix the problem? REI breaks theirs down through social, a channel more visible and real-time than any other. Social should be your brand’s first responder: available to support your customers whenever they want to reach out.

The management of social channels is evolving at a mind-numbing pace. Customer expectations, network features, and, as a result, business responsibilities have grown, creating pressure on the different teams responsible for handling social channels. According to recent Forrester research, one of the most significant hurdles to excelling in this new reality is support teams and marketing teams not being on the same page. The report’s authors, Ian Jacobs and Erna Alfred Liousas, say that when brands don’t tackle these silos, “customers lose.”

On the flipside, creating alignment can pay dividends. Customers enjoy a better and more consistent experience, and brands gain more control of the customer journey. Let’s explore six great benefits businesses reap when service and marketing unify on social.

1. Consistent Brand Voice

REI recently dedicated the remainder of 2017 to promoting gender equality in the great outdoors. The effort is called Force Of Nature: It tells the stories of women outdoors, features female-oriented adventure gear, and of course, boasts a hashtag. So when REI’s marketing team publishes a post on the latest women’s rock climbing gear (which was finally brought up to the same standards men have enjoyed), the folks replying are right there with them. For a brand to live its values—that is, on its public social channels—marketing and support must be united.

REI’s marketing team spearheaded the #forceofnature campaign, but it was Support who spotted and responded to this fan’s touching photo.

Marketing owns the voice of the company, while service owns that voice’s support. Both are well-versed in talking to customers and prospects. It’s marketing’s job to ensure what they say to customers matches how service is responding. When REI’s support team uses marketing’s #forceofnature hashtag, they reinforce marketing’s message and unify the brand’s voice.

For a brand to live its values on public social channels, marketing and support must be united. Click To Tweet 2. Unified Customer Experience

I recently purchased a GMC. After the enthusiastic, smiling, and incredibly friendly salesperson handed me the keys, I was back just a day or so later for some follow-up services. And what do you know? An equally enthusiastic, smiling, and incredibly friendly service person was there to greet me right when I pulled in.

Car dealers learned a long time ago that offering an excellent customer experience anywhere the customer interacts with their brand is not only a differentiator but something they can use in marketing. Brands should take this same approach on social: No matter how a customer wants to interact with a brand, they should expect a cohesive experience.

3. Smarter Planning

Spredfast’s vice president of Research and Insights, Chris Kerns, created one of my favorite quadrants ever. It describes various scenarios marketers might encounter on social and was originally designed to help brands understand real-time marketing. But, with a bit of rewording, it works perfectly to help brands get service and marketing on the same page when it comes to the type of scenarios they may encounter with their marketing content.

Planned messages: These are scheduled social posts your brand plans well ahead of time. These are the messages you control and can include anything from daily engagement to huge product announcements.

Agile messages: These are opportunities that may arise or problems that pop up during events known well in advance. For example, the Oscars botching the best picture announcement and your brand deciding to make a post about it.

Watchlist messages: These are known topics that could bring about a totally unanticipated headache. Example: The President of the United States decides to tweet about your pending military contract.

Left-field messages: These are things you know nothing about that flare up on a semi-regular basis. Wendy’s could not have predicted that their response of “18 million” to a kid who asked how many retweets it would take to get chicken nuggets free for a year would turn into the hashtag #nuggsforcarter (and become the most retweeted tweet of all time).

In every quadrant, coordination between marketing and customer support makes the brand’s overall response smarter. Giving visibility to the support team on the upcoming editorial calendar pays dividends: Teams can plan resources, write FAQs, and pre-approve response language more effectively. Marketing keeps support up-to-speed on upcoming posts and big brand events, both internal and external. Both teams win big.

4. A Holistic View of the Customer

Stellar customer experiences are the foundation for loyalty and advocacy, but you can’t expect the customer to feel the love if you greet them like a stranger every time they reach out because of your internal setup. As Forrester says, “Customers don’t care about your internal organizational silos.”

When the service and marketing teams have a united view of their audience, everyone wins. The marketing team gains valuable information about the people who are contacting the brand and for what purpose, helping to identify influencers and better segment their audiences. The support team has a full interaction history, meaning they don’t need to dig around or ask the customer for information they have already given in previous interactions. The customer receives a personalized experience tailored to their particular location, status, and personal preference.

5. Data to Influence the Rest of the Business

Brands use social data to inform product decisions and trigger PR responses on the marketing side. The most advanced companies also include information gathered via social support channels into their day-to-day decisions—like influencing the type of products that need to be on the shelves, tracking the most commonly reported issues on a product, or helping R&D make decisions on product direction. Social care data can help with triggering recalls, informing press releases, and understanding if the brand has “permission” to lean in on an inevitable controversy—or should stay far away.

The marketing team understands the macro trends on social. The support team can spot potential PR threats early and use that information to prepare for a crisis. The customer support team can, well, “support” its marketing team, too. The support team can help the marketing team understand when a brand wants to lean into a conversation, or even what messaging is working best.

6. Breaking Down Social Silos with Technology

“Technology to the rescue!” says the technology marketer. But it’s true. It’s the origin of why we (Spredfast) exist. Facebook, Twitter, and others have made it easy for someone to reach out to your brand, publicly and privately. But brands historically lack a unified interface or controls for the tens, even hundreds, of people who work for the brand that needs access to those channels. It’s technology, specifically Spredfast, that allows for teams across the company to control company social accounts. Spredfast provides a holistic picture of customers on social, keeping track of history and influence. Spredfast also provides visibility into planned content, collaboration among teams via chat, workflows between groups, and enables shared asset libraries.

But establishing an integrated social strategy is only half the battle. Marketing and support teams must unify on the technology platform that drives this strategy. It’s what makes all of the benefits possible, ensuring your company’s values truly come across to customers no matter where they interact with your brand.

But How?

With two cooks in the kitchen, you might ask, “Who will do what?” If marketing and support are together on social, it must be clear who will address which types of interactions, on which channels, and to what extent. Typically, in a “best of both worlds” scenario, the marketing team owns proactive messages, focusing on brand awareness, lead generation, conversion, and driving positive mentions of their brand. The support team will react, handling questions, problems, and complaints. Basically, if the content is negative or requires some action from the business, it likely belongs to the support team.

Put yourself in the shoes of your customers. How can you improve the way your business communicates with people? Customer interactions on social offer brands too valuable of an opportunity to not get right. Forrester offers great advice on how you can be using social to bridge the gap between marketing and customer service.

Editor’s Note: This post is part of a paid partnership between Convince & Convert and Spredfast. To find out more about how Spredfast can help you tackle the divide between support and marketing at your enterprise, request a demo today.

http://ift.tt/2B2S6AW

#6 Reasons to Unite Your Customer Service and Marketing on Social Media

[byronheeutgm]

6 Reasons to Unite Your Customer Service and Marketing on Social Media

If you haven’t ventured over to REI’s social accounts lately, you should. Something amazing is happening. For years, we’ve been told that silos between customer service and marketing are just facts of life–something to expect. Yet, REI’s customer service replies look like, feel like, and even using the same language as their other posts.

It’s common knowledge at the enterprise level that silos wreak havoc. But how to fix the problem? REI breaks theirs down through social, a channel more visible and real-time than any other. Social should be your brand’s first responder: available to support your customers whenever they want to reach out.

The management of social channels is evolving at a mind-numbing pace. Customer expectations, network features, and, as a result, business responsibilities have grown, creating pressure on the different teams responsible for handling social channels. According to recent Forrester research, one of the most significant hurdles to excelling in this new reality is support teams and marketing teams not being on the same page. The report’s authors, Ian Jacobs and Erna Alfred Liousas, say that when brands don’t tackle these silos, “customers lose.”

On the flipside, creating alignment can pay dividends. Customers enjoy a better and more consistent experience, and brands gain more control of the customer journey. Let’s explore six great benefits businesses reap when service and marketing unify on social.

1. Consistent Brand Voice

REI recently dedicated the remainder of 2017 to promoting gender equality in the great outdoors. The effort is called Force Of Nature: It tells the stories of women outdoors, features female-oriented adventure gear, and of course, boasts a hashtag. So when REI’s marketing team publishes a post on the latest women’s rock climbing gear (which was finally brought up to the same standards men have enjoyed), the folks replying are right there with them. For a brand to live its values—that is, on its public social channels—marketing and support must be united.

REI’s marketing team spearheaded the #forceofnature campaign, but it was Support who spotted and responded to this fan’s touching photo.

Marketing owns the voice of the company, while service owns that voice’s support. Both are well-versed in talking to customers and prospects. It’s marketing’s job to ensure what they say to customers matches how service is responding. When REI’s support team uses marketing’s #forceofnature hashtag, they reinforce marketing’s message and unify the brand’s voice.

For a brand to live its values on public social channels, marketing and support must be united. Click To Tweet 2. Unified Customer Experience

I recently purchased a GMC. After the enthusiastic, smiling, and incredibly friendly salesperson handed me the keys, I was back just a day or so later for some follow-up services. And what do you know? An equally enthusiastic, smiling, and incredibly friendly service person was there to greet me right when I pulled in.

Car dealers learned a long time ago that offering an excellent customer experience anywhere the customer interacts with their brand is not only a differentiator but something they can use in marketing. Brands should take this same approach on social: No matter how a customer wants to interact with a brand, they should expect a cohesive experience.

3. Smarter Planning

Spredfast’s vice president of Research and Insights, Chris Kerns, created one of my favorite quadrants ever. It describes various scenarios marketers might encounter on social and was originally designed to help brands understand real-time marketing. But, with a bit of rewording, it works perfectly to help brands get service and marketing on the same page when it comes to the type of scenarios they may encounter with their marketing content.

Planned messages: These are scheduled social posts your brand plans well ahead of time. These are the messages you control and can include anything from daily engagement to huge product announcements.

Agile messages: These are opportunities that may arise or problems that pop up during events known well in advance. For example, the Oscars botching the best picture announcement and your brand deciding to make a post about it.

Watchlist messages: These are known topics that could bring about a totally unanticipated headache. Example: The President of the United States decides to tweet about your pending military contract.

Left-field messages: These are things you know nothing about that flare up on a semi-regular basis. Wendy’s could not have predicted that their response of “18 million” to a kid who asked how many retweets it would take to get chicken nuggets free for a year would turn into the hashtag #nuggsforcarter (and become the most retweeted tweet of all time).

In every quadrant, coordination between marketing and customer support makes the brand’s overall response smarter. Giving visibility to the support team on the upcoming editorial calendar pays dividends: Teams can plan resources, write FAQs, and pre-approve response language more effectively. Marketing keeps support up-to-speed on upcoming posts and big brand events, both internal and external. Both teams win big.

4. A Holistic View of the Customer

Stellar customer experiences are the foundation for loyalty and advocacy, but you can’t expect the customer to feel the love if you greet them like a stranger every time they reach out because of your internal setup. As Forrester says, “Customers don’t care about your internal organizational silos.”

When the service and marketing teams have a united view of their audience, everyone wins. The marketing team gains valuable information about the people who are contacting the brand and for what purpose, helping to identify influencers and better segment their audiences. The support team has a full interaction history, meaning they don’t need to dig around or ask the customer for information they have already given in previous interactions. The customer receives a personalized experience tailored to their particular location, status, and personal preference.

5. Data to Influence the Rest of the Business

Brands use social data to inform product decisions and trigger PR responses on the marketing side. The most advanced companies also include information gathered via social support channels into their day-to-day decisions—like influencing the type of products that need to be on the shelves, tracking the most commonly reported issues on a product, or helping R&D make decisions on product direction. Social care data can help with triggering recalls, informing press releases, and understanding if the brand has “permission” to lean in on an inevitable controversy—or should stay far away.

The marketing team understands the macro trends on social. The support team can spot potential PR threats early and use that information to prepare for a crisis. The customer support team can, well, “support” its marketing team, too. The support team can help the marketing team understand when a brand wants to lean into a conversation, or even what messaging is working best.

6. Breaking Down Social Silos with Technology

“Technology to the rescue!” says the technology marketer. But it’s true. It’s the origin of why we (Spredfast) exist. Facebook, Twitter, and others have made it easy for someone to reach out to your brand, publicly and privately. But brands historically lack a unified interface or controls for the tens, even hundreds, of people who work for the brand that needs access to those channels. It’s technology, specifically Spredfast, that allows for teams across the company to control company social accounts. Spredfast provides a holistic picture of customers on social, keeping track of history and influence. Spredfast also provides visibility into planned content, collaboration among teams via chat, workflows between groups, and enables shared asset libraries.

But establishing an integrated social strategy is only half the battle. Marketing and support teams must unify on the technology platform that drives this strategy. It’s what makes all of the benefits possible, ensuring your company’s values truly come across to customers no matter where they interact with your brand.

But How?

With two cooks in the kitchen, you might ask, “Who will do what?” If marketing and support are together on social, it must be clear who will address which types of interactions, on which channels, and to what extent. Typically, in a “best of both worlds” scenario, the marketing team owns proactive messages, focusing on brand awareness, lead generation, conversion, and driving positive mentions of their brand. The support team will react, handling questions, problems, and complaints. Basically, if the content is negative or requires some action from the business, it likely belongs to the support team.

Put yourself in the shoes of your customers. How can you improve the way your business communicates with people? Customer interactions on social offer brands too valuable of an opportunity to not get right. Forrester offers great advice on how you can be using social to bridge the gap between marketing and customer service.

Editor’s Note: This post is part of a paid partnership between Convince & Convert and Spredfast. To find out more about how Spredfast can help you tackle the divide between support and marketing at your enterprise, request a demo today.

http://ift.tt/2B2S6AW

#6 Reasons to Unite Your Customer Service and Marketing on Social Media

[maryhare96]

6 Reasons to Unite Your Customer Service and Marketing on Social Media

If you haven’t ventured over to REI’s social accounts lately, you should. Something amazing is happening. For years, we’ve been told that silos between customer service and marketing are just facts of life–something to expect. Yet, REI’s customer service replies look like, feel like, and even using the same language as their other posts.

It’s common knowledge at the enterprise level that silos wreak havoc. But how to fix the problem? REI breaks theirs down through social, a channel more visible and real-time than any other. Social should be your brand’s first responder: available to support your customers whenever they want to reach out.

The management of social channels is evolving at a mind-numbing pace. Customer expectations, network features, and, as a result, business responsibilities have grown, creating pressure on the different teams responsible for handling social channels. According to recent Forrester research, one of the most significant hurdles to excelling in this new reality is support teams and marketing teams not being on the same page. The report’s authors, Ian Jacobs and Erna Alfred Liousas, say that when brands don’t tackle these silos, “customers lose.”

On the flipside, creating alignment can pay dividends. Customers enjoy a better and more consistent experience, and brands gain more control of the customer journey. Let’s explore six great benefits businesses reap when service and marketing unify on social.

1. Consistent Brand Voice

REI recently dedicated the remainder of 2017 to promoting gender equality in the great outdoors. The effort is called Force Of Nature: It tells the stories of women outdoors, features female-oriented adventure gear, and of course, boasts a hashtag. So when REI’s marketing team publishes a post on the latest women’s rock climbing gear (which was finally brought up to the same standards men have enjoyed), the folks replying are right there with them. For a brand to live its values—that is, on its public social channels—marketing and support must be united.

REI’s marketing team spearheaded the #forceofnature campaign, but it was Support who spotted and responded to this fan’s touching photo.

Marketing owns the voice of the company, while service owns that voice’s support. Both are well-versed in talking to customers and prospects. It’s marketing’s job to ensure what they say to customers matches how service is responding. When REI’s support team uses marketing’s #forceofnature hashtag, they reinforce marketing’s message and unify the brand’s voice.

For a brand to live its values on public social channels, marketing and support must be united. Click To Tweet 2. Unified Customer Experience

I recently purchased a GMC. After the enthusiastic, smiling, and incredibly friendly salesperson handed me the keys, I was back just a day or so later for some follow-up services. And what do you know? An equally enthusiastic, smiling, and incredibly friendly service person was there to greet me right when I pulled in.

Car dealers learned a long time ago that offering an excellent customer experience anywhere the customer interacts with their brand is not only a differentiator but something they can use in marketing. Brands should take this same approach on social: No matter how a customer wants to interact with a brand, they should expect a cohesive experience.

3. Smarter Planning

Spredfast’s vice president of Research and Insights, Chris Kerns, created one of my favorite quadrants ever. It describes various scenarios marketers might encounter on social and was originally designed to help brands understand real-time marketing. But, with a bit of rewording, it works perfectly to help brands get service and marketing on the same page when it comes to the type of scenarios they may encounter with their marketing content.

Planned messages: These are scheduled social posts your brand plans well ahead of time. These are the messages you control and can include anything from daily engagement to huge product announcements.

Agile messages: These are opportunities that may arise or problems that pop up during events known well in advance. For example, the Oscars botching the best picture announcement and your brand deciding to make a post about it.

Watchlist messages: These are known topics that could bring about a totally unanticipated headache. Example: The President of the United States decides to tweet about your pending military contract.

Left-field messages: These are things you know nothing about that flare up on a semi-regular basis. Wendy’s could not have predicted that their response of “18 million” to a kid who asked how many retweets it would take to get chicken nuggets free for a year would turn into the hashtag #nuggsforcarter (and become the most retweeted tweet of all time).

In every quadrant, coordination between marketing and customer support makes the brand’s overall response smarter. Giving visibility to the support team on the upcoming editorial calendar pays dividends: Teams can plan resources, write FAQs, and pre-approve response language more effectively. Marketing keeps support up-to-speed on upcoming posts and big brand events, both internal and external. Both teams win big.

4. A Holistic View of the Customer

Stellar customer experiences are the foundation for loyalty and advocacy, but you can’t expect the customer to feel the love if you greet them like a stranger every time they reach out because of your internal setup. As Forrester says, “Customers don’t care about your internal organizational silos.”

When the service and marketing teams have a united view of their audience, everyone wins. The marketing team gains valuable information about the people who are contacting the brand and for what purpose, helping to identify influencers and better segment their audiences. The support team has a full interaction history, meaning they don’t need to dig around or ask the customer for information they have already given in previous interactions. The customer receives a personalized experience tailored to their particular location, status, and personal preference.

5. Data to Influence the Rest of the Business

Brands use social data to inform product decisions and trigger PR responses on the marketing side. The most advanced companies also include information gathered via social support channels into their day-to-day decisions—like influencing the type of products that need to be on the shelves, tracking the most commonly reported issues on a product, or helping R&D make decisions on product direction. Social care data can help with triggering recalls, informing press releases, and understanding if the brand has “permission” to lean in on an inevitable controversy—or should stay far away.

The marketing team understands the macro trends on social. The support team can spot potential PR threats early and use that information to prepare for a crisis. The customer support team can, well, “support” its marketing team, too. The support team can help the marketing team understand when a brand wants to lean into a conversation, or even what messaging is working best.

6. Breaking Down Social Silos with Technology

“Technology to the rescue!” says the technology marketer. But it’s true. It’s the origin of why we (Spredfast) exist. Facebook, Twitter, and others have made it easy for someone to reach out to your brand, publicly and privately. But brands historically lack a unified interface or controls for the tens, even hundreds, of people who work for the brand that needs access to those channels. It’s technology, specifically Spredfast, that allows for teams across the company to control company social accounts. Spredfast provides a holistic picture of customers on social, keeping track of history and influence. Spredfast also provides visibility into planned content, collaboration among teams via chat, workflows between groups, and enables shared asset libraries.

But establishing an integrated social strategy is only half the battle. Marketing and support teams must unify on the technology platform that drives this strategy. It’s what makes all of the benefits possible, ensuring your company’s values truly come across to customers no matter where they interact with your brand.

But How?

With two cooks in the kitchen, you might ask, “Who will do what?” If marketing and support are together on social, it must be clear who will address which types of interactions, on which channels, and to what extent. Typically, in a “best of both worlds” scenario, the marketing team owns proactive messages, focusing on brand awareness, lead generation, conversion, and driving positive mentions of their brand. The support team will react, handling questions, problems, and complaints. Basically, if the content is negative or requires some action from the business, it likely belongs to the support team.

Put yourself in the shoes of your customers. How can you improve the way your business communicates with people? Customer interactions on social offer brands too valuable of an opportunity to not get right. Forrester offers great advice on how you can be using social to bridge the gap between marketing and customer service.

Editor’s Note: This post is part of a paid partnership between Convince & Convert and Spredfast. To find out more about how Spredfast can help you tackle the divide between support and marketing at your enterprise, request a demo today.

http://ift.tt/2B2S6AW

#6 Reasons to Unite Your Customer Service and Marketing on Social Media

[mercedessharonwo1]

6 Reasons to Unite Your Customer Service and Marketing on Social Media

If you haven’t ventured over to REI’s social accounts lately, you should. Something amazing is happening. For years, we’ve been told that silos between customer service and marketing are just facts of life–something to expect. Yet, REI’s customer service replies look like, feel like, and even using the same language as their other posts.

It’s common knowledge at the enterprise level that silos wreak havoc. But how to fix the problem? REI breaks theirs down through social, a channel more visible and real-time than any other. Social should be your brand’s first responder: available to support your customers whenever they want to reach out.

The management of social channels is evolving at a mind-numbing pace. Customer expectations, network features, and, as a result, business responsibilities have grown, creating pressure on the different teams responsible for handling social channels. According to recent Forrester research, one of the most significant hurdles to excelling in this new reality is support teams and marketing teams not being on the same page. The report’s authors, Ian Jacobs and Erna Alfred Liousas, say that when brands don’t tackle these silos, “customers lose.”

On the flipside, creating alignment can pay dividends. Customers enjoy a better and more consistent experience, and brands gain more control of the customer journey. Let’s explore six great benefits businesses reap when service and marketing unify on social.

1. Consistent Brand Voice

REI recently dedicated the remainder of 2017 to promoting gender equality in the great outdoors. The effort is called Force Of Nature: It tells the stories of women outdoors, features female-oriented adventure gear, and of course, boasts a hashtag. So when REI’s marketing team publishes a post on the latest women’s rock climbing gear (which was finally brought up to the same standards men have enjoyed), the folks replying are right there with them. For a brand to live its values—that is, on its public social channels—marketing and support must be united.

REI’s marketing team spearheaded the #forceofnature campaign, but it was Support who spotted and responded to this fan’s touching photo.

Marketing owns the voice of the company, while service owns that voice’s support. Both are well-versed in talking to customers and prospects. It’s marketing’s job to ensure what they say to customers matches how service is responding. When REI’s support team uses marketing’s #forceofnature hashtag, they reinforce marketing’s message and unify the brand’s voice.

For a brand to live its values on public social channels, marketing and support must be united. Click To Tweet 2. Unified Customer Experience

I recently purchased a GMC. After the enthusiastic, smiling, and incredibly friendly salesperson handed me the keys, I was back just a day or so later for some follow-up services. And what do you know? An equally enthusiastic, smiling, and incredibly friendly service person was there to greet me right when I pulled in.

Car dealers learned a long time ago that offering an excellent customer experience anywhere the customer interacts with their brand is not only a differentiator but something they can use in marketing. Brands should take this same approach on social: No matter how a customer wants to interact with a brand, they should expect a cohesive experience.

3. Smarter Planning

Spredfast’s vice president of Research and Insights, Chris Kerns, created one of my favorite quadrants ever. It describes various scenarios marketers might encounter on social and was originally designed to help brands understand real-time marketing. But, with a bit of rewording, it works perfectly to help brands get service and marketing on the same page when it comes to the type of scenarios they may encounter with their marketing content.

Planned messages: These are scheduled social posts your brand plans well ahead of time. These are the messages you control and can include anything from daily engagement to huge product announcements.

Agile messages: These are opportunities that may arise or problems that pop up during events known well in advance. For example, the Oscars botching the best picture announcement and your brand deciding to make a post about it.

Watchlist messages: These are known topics that could bring about a totally unanticipated headache. Example: The President of the United States decides to tweet about your pending military contract.

Left-field messages: These are things you know nothing about that flare up on a semi-regular basis. Wendy’s could not have predicted that their response of “18 million” to a kid who asked how many retweets it would take to get chicken nuggets free for a year would turn into the hashtag #nuggsforcarter (and become the most retweeted tweet of all time).

In every quadrant, coordination between marketing and customer support makes the brand’s overall response smarter. Giving visibility to the support team on the upcoming editorial calendar pays dividends: Teams can plan resources, write FAQs, and pre-approve response language more effectively. Marketing keeps support up-to-speed on upcoming posts and big brand events, both internal and external. Both teams win big.

4. A Holistic View of the Customer

Stellar customer experiences are the foundation for loyalty and advocacy, but you can’t expect the customer to feel the love if you greet them like a stranger every time they reach out because of your internal setup. As Forrester says, “Customers don’t care about your internal organizational silos.”

When the service and marketing teams have a united view of their audience, everyone wins. The marketing team gains valuable information about the people who are contacting the brand and for what purpose, helping to identify influencers and better segment their audiences. The support team has a full interaction history, meaning they don’t need to dig around or ask the customer for information they have already given in previous interactions. The customer receives a personalized experience tailored to their particular location, status, and personal preference.

5. Data to Influence the Rest of the Business

Brands use social data to inform product decisions and trigger PR responses on the marketing side. The most advanced companies also include information gathered via social support channels into their day-to-day decisions—like influencing the type of products that need to be on the shelves, tracking the most commonly reported issues on a product, or helping R&D make decisions on product direction. Social care data can help with triggering recalls, informing press releases, and understanding if the brand has “permission” to lean in on an inevitable controversy—or should stay far away.

The marketing team understands the macro trends on social. The support team can spot potential PR threats early and use that information to prepare for a crisis. The customer support team can, well, “support” its marketing team, too. The support team can help the marketing team understand when a brand wants to lean into a conversation, or even what messaging is working best.

6. Breaking Down Social Silos with Technology

“Technology to the rescue!” says the technology marketer. But it’s true. It’s the origin of why we (Spredfast) exist. Facebook, Twitter, and others have made it easy for someone to reach out to your brand, publicly and privately. But brands historically lack a unified interface or controls for the tens, even hundreds, of people who work for the brand that needs access to those channels. It’s technology, specifically Spredfast, that allows for teams across the company to control company social accounts. Spredfast provides a holistic picture of customers on social, keeping track of history and influence. Spredfast also provides visibility into planned content, collaboration among teams via chat, workflows between groups, and enables shared asset libraries.

But establishing an integrated social strategy is only half the battle. Marketing and support teams must unify on the technology platform that drives this strategy. It’s what makes all of the benefits possible, ensuring your company’s values truly come across to customers no matter where they interact with your brand.

But How?

With two cooks in the kitchen, you might ask, “Who will do what?” If marketing and support are together on social, it must be clear who will address which types of interactions, on which channels, and to what extent. Typically, in a “best of both worlds” scenario, the marketing team owns proactive messages, focusing on brand awareness, lead generation, conversion, and driving positive mentions of their brand. The support team will react, handling questions, problems, and complaints. Basically, if the content is negative or requires some action from the business, it likely belongs to the support team.

Put yourself in the shoes of your customers. How can you improve the way your business communicates with people? Customer interactions on social offer brands too valuable of an opportunity to not get right. Forrester offers great advice on how you can be using social to bridge the gap between marketing and customer service.

Editor’s Note: This post is part of a paid partnership between Convince & Convert and Spredfast. To find out more about how Spredfast can help you tackle the divide between support and marketing at your enterprise, request a demo today.

http://ift.tt/2B2S6AW

#6 Reasons to Unite Your Customer Service and Marketing on Social Media

[christinesumpmg]

6 Reasons to Unite Your Customer Service and Marketing on Social Media

If you haven’t ventured over to REI’s social accounts lately, you should. Something amazing is happening. For years, we’ve been told that silos between customer service and marketing are just facts of life–something to expect. Yet, REI’s customer service replies look like, feel like, and even using the same language as their other posts.

It’s common knowledge at the enterprise level that silos wreak havoc. But how to fix the problem? REI breaks theirs down through social, a channel more visible and real-time than any other. Social should be your brand’s first responder: available to support your customers whenever they want to reach out.

The management of social channels is evolving at a mind-numbing pace. Customer expectations, network features, and, as a result, business responsibilities have grown, creating pressure on the different teams responsible for handling social channels. According to recent Forrester research, one of the most significant hurdles to excelling in this new reality is support teams and marketing teams not being on the same page. The report’s authors, Ian Jacobs and Erna Alfred Liousas, say that when brands don’t tackle these silos, “customers lose.”

On the flipside, creating alignment can pay dividends. Customers enjoy a better and more consistent experience, and brands gain more control of the customer journey. Let’s explore six great benefits businesses reap when service and marketing unify on social.

1. Consistent Brand Voice

REI recently dedicated the remainder of 2017 to promoting gender equality in the great outdoors. The effort is called Force Of Nature: It tells the stories of women outdoors, features female-oriented adventure gear, and of course, boasts a hashtag. So when REI’s marketing team publishes a post on the latest women’s rock climbing gear (which was finally brought up to the same standards men have enjoyed), the folks replying are right there with them. For a brand to live its values—that is, on its public social channels—marketing and support must be united.

REI’s marketing team spearheaded the #forceofnature campaign, but it was Support who spotted and responded to this fan’s touching photo.

Marketing owns the voice of the company, while service owns that voice’s support. Both are well-versed in talking to customers and prospects. It’s marketing’s job to ensure what they say to customers matches how service is responding. When REI’s support team uses marketing’s #forceofnature hashtag, they reinforce marketing’s message and unify the brand’s voice.

For a brand to live its values on public social channels, marketing and support must be united. Click To Tweet 2. Unified Customer Experience

I recently purchased a GMC. After the enthusiastic, smiling, and incredibly friendly salesperson handed me the keys, I was back just a day or so later for some follow-up services. And what do you know? An equally enthusiastic, smiling, and incredibly friendly service person was there to greet me right when I pulled in.

Car dealers learned a long time ago that offering an excellent customer experience anywhere the customer interacts with their brand is not only a differentiator but something they can use in marketing. Brands should take this same approach on social: No matter how a customer wants to interact with a brand, they should expect a cohesive experience.

3. Smarter Planning

Spredfast’s vice president of Research and Insights, Chris Kerns, created one of my favorite quadrants ever. It describes various scenarios marketers might encounter on social and was originally designed to help brands understand real-time marketing. But, with a bit of rewording, it works perfectly to help brands get service and marketing on the same page when it comes to the type of scenarios they may encounter with their marketing content.

Planned messages: These are scheduled social posts your brand plans well ahead of time. These are the messages you control and can include anything from daily engagement to huge product announcements.

Agile messages: These are opportunities that may arise or problems that pop up during events known well in advance. For example, the Oscars botching the best picture announcement and your brand deciding to make a post about it.

Watchlist messages: These are known topics that could bring about a totally unanticipated headache. Example: The President of the United States decides to tweet about your pending military contract.

Left-field messages: These are things you know nothing about that flare up on a semi-regular basis. Wendy’s could not have predicted that their response of “18 million” to a kid who asked how many retweets it would take to get chicken nuggets free for a year would turn into the hashtag #nuggsforcarter (and become the most retweeted tweet of all time).

In every quadrant, coordination between marketing and customer support makes the brand’s overall response smarter. Giving visibility to the support team on the upcoming editorial calendar pays dividends: Teams can plan resources, write FAQs, and pre-approve response language more effectively. Marketing keeps support up-to-speed on upcoming posts and big brand events, both internal and external. Both teams win big.

4. A Holistic View of the Customer

Stellar customer experiences are the foundation for loyalty and advocacy, but you can’t expect the customer to feel the love if you greet them like a stranger every time they reach out because of your internal setup. As Forrester says, “Customers don’t care about your internal organizational silos.”

When the service and marketing teams have a united view of their audience, everyone wins. The marketing team gains valuable information about the people who are contacting the brand and for what purpose, helping to identify influencers and better segment their audiences. The support team has a full interaction history, meaning they don’t need to dig around or ask the customer for information they have already given in previous interactions. The customer receives a personalized experience tailored to their particular location, status, and personal preference.

5. Data to Influence the Rest of the Business

Brands use social data to inform product decisions and trigger PR responses on the marketing side. The most advanced companies also include information gathered via social support channels into their day-to-day decisions—like influencing the type of products that need to be on the shelves, tracking the most commonly reported issues on a product, or helping R&D make decisions on product direction. Social care data can help with triggering recalls, informing press releases, and understanding if the brand has “permission” to lean in on an inevitable controversy—or should stay far away.

The marketing team understands the macro trends on social. The support team can spot potential PR threats early and use that information to prepare for a crisis. The customer support team can, well, “support” its marketing team, too. The support team can help the marketing team understand when a brand wants to lean into a conversation, or even what messaging is working best.

6. Breaking Down Social Silos with Technology

“Technology to the rescue!” says the technology marketer. But it’s true. It’s the origin of why we (Spredfast) exist. Facebook, Twitter, and others have made it easy for someone to reach out to your brand, publicly and privately. But brands historically lack a unified interface or controls for the tens, even hundreds, of people who work for the brand that needs access to those channels. It’s technology, specifically Spredfast, that allows for teams across the company to control company social accounts. Spredfast provides a holistic picture of customers on social, keeping track of history and influence. Spredfast also provides visibility into planned content, collaboration among teams via chat, workflows between groups, and enables shared asset libraries.

But establishing an integrated social strategy is only half the battle. Marketing and support teams must unify on the technology platform that drives this strategy. It’s what makes all of the benefits possible, ensuring your company’s values truly come across to customers no matter where they interact with your brand.

But How?

With two cooks in the kitchen, you might ask, “Who will do what?” If marketing and support are together on social, it must be clear who will address which types of interactions, on which channels, and to what extent. Typically, in a “best of both worlds” scenario, the marketing team owns proactive messages, focusing on brand awareness, lead generation, conversion, and driving positive mentions of their brand. The support team will react, handling questions, problems, and complaints. Basically, if the content is negative or requires some action from the business, it likely belongs to the support team.

Put yourself in the shoes of your customers. How can you improve the way your business communicates with people? Customer interactions on social offer brands too valuable of an opportunity to not get right. Forrester offers great advice on how you can be using social to bridge the gap between marketing and customer service.

Editor’s Note: This post is part of a paid partnership between Convince & Convert and Spredfast. To find out more about how Spredfast can help you tackle the divide between support and marketing at your enterprise, request a demo today.

http://ift.tt/2B2S6AW

#6 Reasons to Unite Your Customer Service and Marketing on Social Media

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6 Reasons to Unite Your Customer Service and Marketing on Social Media

If you haven’t ventured over to REI’s social accounts lately, you should. Something amazing is happening. For years, we’ve been told that silos between customer service and marketing are just facts of life–something to expect. Yet, REI’s customer service replies look like, feel like, and even using the same language as their other posts.

It’s common knowledge at the enterprise level that silos wreak havoc. But how to fix the problem? REI breaks theirs down through social, a channel more visible and real-time than any other. Social should be your brand’s first responder: available to support your customers whenever they want to reach out.

The management of social channels is evolving at a mind-numbing pace. Customer expectations, network features, and, as a result, business responsibilities have grown, creating pressure on the different teams responsible for handling social channels. According to recent Forrester research, one of the most significant hurdles to excelling in this new reality is support teams and marketing teams not being on the same page. The report’s authors, Ian Jacobs and Erna Alfred Liousas, say that when brands don’t tackle these silos, “customers lose.”

On the flipside, creating alignment can pay dividends. Customers enjoy a better and more consistent experience, and brands gain more control of the customer journey. Let’s explore six great benefits businesses reap when service and marketing unify on social.

1. Consistent Brand Voice

REI recently dedicated the remainder of 2017 to promoting gender equality in the great outdoors. The effort is called Force Of Nature: It tells the stories of women outdoors, features female-oriented adventure gear, and of course, boasts a hashtag. So when REI’s marketing team publishes a post on the latest women’s rock climbing gear (which was finally brought up to the same standards men have enjoyed), the folks replying are right there with them. For a brand to live its values—that is, on its public social channels—marketing and support must be united.

REI’s marketing team spearheaded the #forceofnature campaign, but it was Support who spotted and responded to this fan’s touching photo.

Marketing owns the voice of the company, while service owns that voice’s support. Both are well-versed in talking to customers and prospects. It’s marketing’s job to ensure what they say to customers matches how service is responding. When REI’s support team uses marketing’s #forceofnature hashtag, they reinforce marketing’s message and unify the brand’s voice.

For a brand to live its values on public social channels, marketing and support must be united. Click To Tweet 2. Unified Customer Experience

I recently purchased a GMC. After the enthusiastic, smiling, and incredibly friendly salesperson handed me the keys, I was back just a day or so later for some follow-up services. And what do you know? An equally enthusiastic, smiling, and incredibly friendly service person was there to greet me right when I pulled in.

Car dealers learned a long time ago that offering an excellent customer experience anywhere the customer interacts with their brand is not only a differentiator but something they can use in marketing. Brands should take this same approach on social: No matter how a customer wants to interact with a brand, they should expect a cohesive experience.

3. Smarter Planning

Spredfast’s vice president of Research and Insights, Chris Kerns, created one of my favorite quadrants ever. It describes various scenarios marketers might encounter on social and was originally designed to help brands understand real-time marketing. But, with a bit of rewording, it works perfectly to help brands get service and marketing on the same page when it comes to the type of scenarios they may encounter with their marketing content.

Planned messages: These are scheduled social posts your brand plans well ahead of time. These are the messages you control and can include anything from daily engagement to huge product announcements.

Agile messages: These are opportunities that may arise or problems that pop up during events known well in advance. For example, the Oscars botching the best picture announcement and your brand deciding to make a post about it.

Watchlist messages: These are known topics that could bring about a totally unanticipated headache. Example: The President of the United States decides to tweet about your pending military contract.

Left-field messages: These are things you know nothing about that flare up on a semi-regular basis. Wendy’s could not have predicted that their response of “18 million” to a kid who asked how many retweets it would take to get chicken nuggets free for a year would turn into the hashtag #nuggsforcarter (and become the most retweeted tweet of all time).

In every quadrant, coordination between marketing and customer support makes the brand’s overall response smarter. Giving visibility to the support team on the upcoming editorial calendar pays dividends: Teams can plan resources, write FAQs, and pre-approve response language more effectively. Marketing keeps support up-to-speed on upcoming posts and big brand events, both internal and external. Both teams win big.

4. A Holistic View of the Customer

Stellar customer experiences are the foundation for loyalty and advocacy, but you can’t expect the customer to feel the love if you greet them like a stranger every time they reach out because of your internal setup. As Forrester says, “Customers don’t care about your internal organizational silos.”

When the service and marketing teams have a united view of their audience, everyone wins. The marketing team gains valuable information about the people who are contacting the brand and for what purpose, helping to identify influencers and better segment their audiences. The support team has a full interaction history, meaning they don’t need to dig around or ask the customer for information they have already given in previous interactions. The customer receives a personalized experience tailored to their particular location, status, and personal preference.

5. Data to Influence the Rest of the Business

Brands use social data to inform product decisions and trigger PR responses on the marketing side. The most advanced companies also include information gathered via social support channels into their day-to-day decisions—like influencing the type of products that need to be on the shelves, tracking the most commonly reported issues on a product, or helping R&D make decisions on product direction. Social care data can help with triggering recalls, informing press releases, and understanding if the brand has “permission” to lean in on an inevitable controversy—or should stay far away.

The marketing team understands the macro trends on social. The support team can spot potential PR threats early and use that information to prepare for a crisis. The customer support team can, well, “support” its marketing team, too. The support team can help the marketing team understand when a brand wants to lean into a conversation, or even what messaging is working best.

6. Breaking Down Social Silos with Technology

“Technology to the rescue!” says the technology marketer. But it’s true. It’s the origin of why we (Spredfast) exist. Facebook, Twitter, and others have made it easy for someone to reach out to your brand, publicly and privately. But brands historically lack a unified interface or controls for the tens, even hundreds, of people who work for the brand that needs access to those channels. It’s technology, specifically Spredfast, that allows for teams across the company to control company social accounts. Spredfast provides a holistic picture of customers on social, keeping track of history and influence. Spredfast also provides visibility into planned content, collaboration among teams via chat, workflows between groups, and enables shared asset libraries.

But establishing an integrated social strategy is only half the battle. Marketing and support teams must unify on the technology platform that drives this strategy. It’s what makes all of the benefits possible, ensuring your company’s values truly come across to customers no matter where they interact with your brand.

But How?

With two cooks in the kitchen, you might ask, “Who will do what?” If marketing and support are together on social, it must be clear who will address which types of interactions, on which channels, and to what extent. Typically, in a “best of both worlds” scenario, the marketing team owns proactive messages, focusing on brand awareness, lead generation, conversion, and driving positive mentions of their brand. The support team will react, handling questions, problems, and complaints. Basically, if the content is negative or requires some action from the business, it likely belongs to the support team.

Put yourself in the shoes of your customers. How can you improve the way your business communicates with people? Customer interactions on social offer brands too valuable of an opportunity to not get right. Forrester offers great advice on how you can be using social to bridge the gap between marketing and customer service.

Editor’s Note: This post is part of a paid partnership between Convince & Convert and Spredfast. To find out more about how Spredfast can help you tackle the divide between support and marketing at your enterprise, request a demo today.

http://ift.tt/2B2S6AW

#6 Reasons to Unite Your Customer Service and Marketing on Social Media