#its like when i talk about cheesecake and people make ignorant comments

[duskythesomething]

if i'm not allowed to say "eww" at other people's "normal" animals then they shouldn't be allowed to say it about my hermit crabs or snake. it's equally rude :/

[jeoniius]

Next Life | kth (m)

☆ summary:  Although you and Taehyung didn’t believe in first and second lives, you both wished you’d find each other in the next life as you both looked at the sky that night.

☆ pairing: husband!tae x wife!reader

☆ genre: angst, smut.

☆ warning: sexual content, angst

☆ word count: 4k

☆a/n: Finally this is done. Thank you so much @jkiddingjeon for beta-ing the fic, it meant A LOT. I really love this fic and I hope you enjoy it too. ngl it's a pretty heartbreaking fic so get ready for some ANGST.

Love. Hate. 

It’s always adjacent to each other. Something that’s always there when the other is present. It also changes people. How it makes people go from loving someone and being best friends with someone to trying everything they can to pull them down, to take them out. 

You’d say you can relate to it. In more ways than one. You had seen your fair share of people going from loving them unconditionally to talking shit about them the next day. Divorce was one of them. All the promises and vows made of staying through health and sickness, through good and bad, thrown out of the window. 

You thought of it as one of the most heartbreaking things and now you were here. Doing the exact thing as you watched the clock tick by, thinking of ways and excuses to get you out of this marriage. This marriage that ended everything. It hadn’t always been like this. No, you were in love. You were so madly in love that if anyone had told you you’d stand in this place today you’d not believe it. 

You are still in love. So madly in love but the difference being you want it to end. Maybe that way you’d find each other again.

As time went by, you stood by the railing of your balcony. The bright light of the city shined underneath you as you thought Tomorrow would be it. The end of what once was seen as a beautiful love story by not only you but by many others. The final chapter.

Maybe love and hate stood adjacent to each other but you could never hate him. 

And so you stood there, taking it all in, you thought about where it went wrong.

7 months ago

“I can’t believe you think that!” you shouted, hands up in the air as you walked back into the apartment, him following you behind. 

“Well I wouldn’t if you kept your distance!” he said, raising his voice.

“Oh my god. One hug. It was one hug. And that too because he was leaving.” 

“It didn’t look like one,” he argued back. 

“Are you freaking kidding me right now? Nothing happened, you know that.” you said trying to calm yourself down. 

“Stop trying to argue with me all the fucking time.” he bit back. 

“Oh, I am arguing? You were the one who started it.” You took long strides towards him. 

“You were the one who accused his wife of cheating although you have no proof whatsoever” you gritted through your teeth as your finger poked his chest. 

He let out a loud groan as you run your hands through your hair. “You know what, Taehyung? You can stay here. I’m leaving.” and with that you grabbed your purse and keys and strode out the door, slamming it behind. 

Kim Taehyung. 

The love of your life. You met him in college. As cliché as it sounds, he was the heartthrob with his extremely good looks and his unbelievable flirting skills. You weren’t supposed to know him at all if you thought about it. 

Your college held its annual fest, and you were the head of the management. You had stumbled across him when he had come to drop off some supplies instead of his best friend. You got into a small quarrel when he commented on how you were the head of the management when you were only a freshman and questioned your ability to pull the entire thing off when it was only three days from the fest and not even one percent of anything was done.

You got into a bet with him as you made him promise you that he’d treat you to something of your choice if you pulled it off. Nevertheless, you pulled the entire thing off within the next two days, proving him wrong. As a promise, he treated you to something really expensive(of course you had picked it) and then swore to never question your ability.  

You started seeing more of him, with his surprise visits to your class (which usually ended up with girls surrounding you asking how you knew him) or him coming to your seat in the cafeteria just to give you some new juice he got for you. Sometimes he’d ask you to come to one of his basketball matches and then took you to dinner afterward. 

You felt your heartbeat increasing every time you saw him or heard his name in fact, and before you knew it, you were confessing to him, putting your heart on the line. 

The day you confessed, you ran out before he could even reply. Too scared to be rejected. But Taehyung did something you’d never expect. He brought you to an amusement park, took you to dinner, and then confessed to you with thousands of chocolate (literally). 

You both had your fair share of arguments and then makeup sex. Mind-blowing sex to be exact. 

Your relationship with Taehyung was built on trust. He’d be there waiting for you every time you came home late and vice versa. You’d be at all of his games. You’d go to every party, hang out with your friends.

Once he graduated, he’d wait to pick you up every day. Every day you’d go to your favorite café, with your friends, complete assignments and projects, argue about who won the last UNO game, girls vs boys. 

He spent every hour with you when you struggled with your dream job and you did the same. When you finally did get the job, he asked you to marry him. You nodded then and there. Tears escaped, phone calls were made. Everyone came to the engagement party and then the wedding and you truly thought everything you ever wanted was there. Your family, your friends, his friends, him. 

But what you didn’t know then was what followed after. Just like promises are made, they are broken. Trust is broken and the bond doesn’t stay. 

The first two years were bliss. You went to Paris for your honeymoon and then to New York. Yes, New York for your honeymoon. You experienced the love in Paris and the rush in New York. 

You spent most of the days in Paris, going to spots of attractions, enjoying the food in the café, walking around the streets drunk and completely in love, having late night sex, morning sex,  just lots of sex to be exact. 

But in New York, you spent your days going to Times Square, Bars, and Pubs had ‘the’ New York pizza and cheesecakes and hotdogs and whatnot. Went shopping and sightseeing. Roamed around the streets at night, met so many people.

You believed you had found what you had been looking for all your life. Someone to go to romantic dinners and the craziest parties with.  

But what followed was something you didn’t think would happen. Every marriage has its ups and downs. You had to. But then it started.

Every party would become an excuse to start arguments, every late night at work would lead to assumptions. At first, you thought it would be fine. Talking would help, it was always the key for the both of you but lately, every time you spoke or tried to solve the issues, it would end in huge fights, sometimes followed by sex, or even if not sex, you’d stop talking to each other and then one day pretend nothing happened. 

Although in heels you walked around the park near your apartment. ‘It will be fine’ you told yourself as you tried not to break down. Deciding it would not be a good idea to go anywhere at that hour, you sat by a bench.

The cold wind hit you as a shiver ran down your body, the thin wine slip dress doing nothing to stop it. The screen of your phone lit up as you saw multiple texts from Taehyung. A part of you was happy that he cared enough to text you. You clicked on his profile as a series of texts came up.

Tae: where are you?

Tae: come on Y/N, don’t be stupid. 

Tae: it’s really late. where the fuck are you?

Tae: baby, you’re scaring me. 

Sighing you got up and made your way out of the park. Since you lived in a complex, it didn’t take you too long to walk. As you opened the keys, you saw Taehyung pacing around the living room. “Where are my keys?” he muttered to himself, not noticing your presence. 

A clinking sound made Taehyung look up as the keys hit the ceramic bowl on the kitchen top. “Where were you?” he asked, trying to control his anger. You didn’t answer him as you took off the heels, internally sighing when the cold floor hit your barefoot. “Are you seriously gonna ignore me? I asked where the fuck were you?” he pulled you by your wrists stopping you from going further. “Don’t do this.” you gritted through your teeth as you harshly pulled away before going inside your shared bedroom. 

You slipped out of the dress and you got inside the shower, the hot water touching your skin as you stood there. No matter how much you tried not to think about it, you always went back. Where did it go wrong? 

You changed into shorts and one of Taehyung’s oversized shirts as it reached mid-thigh. Getting inside the covers, you relaxed, the cool sensation of your bedsheet and covers calming you somehow as you turned towards the glass wall. 

You heard a sigh as Taehyung got inside the room. He got inside the covers and stared at your back as you tried to keep calm. You felt an arm wrap around your waist as he pulled you closer, back colliding with his chest, nuzzling his face at the crook of your neck. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” his voice came muffled as you felt the vibrations on your neck. 

“I really am.” he said, taking a deep breath pulling you closer if that was possible. You sighed, turning to him. 

“I felt really cheap, you know” you said, hands reaching to cup his face. “I’m so sorry baby.” he sighed, closing his eyes as you ran your hand through his hair. “I know.” 

He pressed a kiss on your lips as you pulled him closer, hands wrapping around his neck. You sighed into the kiss as his lips trailed down towards your collarbone, sucking and nipping then. Soon enough he was inside you as he went on an animalistic pace. “Do you think he can fuck you like this?” he growled. You ignored him as you knew you were close, focusing on your climax. You came within the next few minutes as he rubbed your clit while thrusting.

Later on, he lapped up the spilled contents lazily as you screamed his name, your cries stroking his ego.

He wrapped an arm around your naked waist as he fell asleep on his stomach, head on your chest, legs tangled over your naked ones. You stroked his hair as you stared at the ceiling, his words ringing in your ear ‘Do you think he can fuck you like this?’

A small realization crept inside your head. He was never gonna trust you.

He stirred in his sleep, pulling you closer, he pressed an open-mouth kiss above the swell of your breast in his sleep. Releasing a long sigh, you kissed his head, quickly pushing the thought aside. 

That was the first mistake. 

“I love you so much,” you said. 

You pulled the robe over your body tightly, a coffee cup in your hand. Picking up your phone you looked at the time. 3:08 am it read. The city still buzzed with life. The cold breeze hit your face soothingly as you closed your eyes. Only if you had done something before, things wouldn’t have gone wrong. 

4 months ago

Your phone buzzed as you frustratedly rubbed your face. You dreaded picking up the call, not wanting to have to shout again. Things had been gradually worsening between you and Taehyung. Late-night fights, coming home drunk, not talking to each other for weeks had become a common thing nowadays and no matter how hard you tried, no matter how many times you both tried to co-operate, you didn’t seem to escape it.

“You should talk to him.” Ae-ra said, handing you a cup of tea. 

Tea. 

You never liked tea. You were more of a coffee person. You preferred the rush, the adrenaline. But nowadays, you were tired. Tired of doing the same thing over and over again. Having the same quarrels and fights over and over again. Tea seemed to calm you. 

“And then what? Get into another fight?” 

“You know what I mean, babe.” She said as she rubbed your arm soothingly.

“Maybe later. I cannot deal with him now.” you sipped on the cup.

What you didn’t know was that “later” would come that fast. You went back to your apartment to get more of your clothes. You planned on going at night, when he was most probably out with his friends or whoever kept him busy nowadays. But to your surprise, he was there. 

You opened the main door, using the key you had with you to meet with his laying figure on the couch. His head shot up at the sound of the door, eyes meeting each other. He looked drained, hair messy and bags under his eyes. You cursed under your breath, debating if you should just go back to Ae-ra’s place and come later for your clothes. 

“Look who’s here.” he scoffed as he got up from the couch.

Deciding on the former, you walked past him without taking another glance, into your shared bedroom. Taking a bag out, you shoved as many clothes as possible wanting to stay away from this mess. “Are you gonna ignore me now?” you heard him as he entered the room. 

You zipped up the chain as you walked towards the door wanting to leave. He grabbed your hand before you could go any further. He felt so scared when he saw you packing your stuff, so much that it suffocated him. “Fucking answer me.” his voice raised as he stared at you. 

Taehyung’s eyes softened as he saw the dry tears on your cheeks and he wanted nothing more than to pull you close and never let go. To talk to you and tell you it would be fine, that you would figure it out together. 

As he saw your tired eyes, glossy as you tried to keep your composure, he wanted to kiss you so badly and keep you tucked away from every bad thing; ever, even himself if he was bad for you.

And maybe he would have done that. Hugged you and kissed you. Kept you in his arms if you didn’t start talking. 

“Leave me the fuck alone.” you pulled away harshly. “You know what? Yes, I am ignoring you and gladly will.” 

“What is wrong with you? You cannot just come and go like that.” he said, hands gesturing to your bag.

“I can and I will. You cannot stop me” you clarified.

“ Yes, I can. I am your husband for god’s sake.” a frustrated tone laced his words.

“Husband?” you scoffed. “When were you a good husband? Where did this go when I stayed up till dawn every day waiting for you?” 

“You know how hectic things have been at work.” he looked at you knowingly. 

“That doesn’t mean you’d stop spending time with me!” you yelled.

You knew you were being unreasonable. Things really were hectic at work for him. But you couldn’t help but feel lonely when you came home after a long day to an empty and cold apartment and then stayed up every day almost all night for your husband. You felt so neglected when he’d come home and go to sleep straight away without saying anything. 

All the doubts about your marriage slowly were coming true and you wanted nothing more than to prove it wrong. But talking about it led to arguments with Taehyung. So you decided to stay away from home, so that you didn’t have to think about it, to begin with. 

That was the second mistake. 

“You are going nowhere.” Taehyung took the bag from your hand and walked towards the bed. “You’ll stay at home.”

“Home?” a humorless chuckle left your throat. “I will go anywhere I want, but home.” 

“I mean it Y/N. Stop acting like a kid. Go wash up and come to bed.” he sighed. 

“I’m not staying” you concluded, ready to leave your stuff behind as you turned. 

You felt a pair of hands wrap around your waist as he stuffed his face in the junction of your neck and shoulder. A tear left your eyes, followed by streams, and for some reason, your heart broke, it felt like he was pulling you apart from inside. 

You felt his warm breath as he mumbled something. He pressed you towards him as you silently cried. 

Later that night, as he fucked you slowly, something different than his usual dominating aura, your heart ached, but you couldn’t pinpoint why. He kissed you ever so passionately, that you cried. 

Something told you that it would be over soon, so you hugged him as close as you could when he slept. You cried as he hugged you in his sleep like you would go away if he didn’t have you in his arms. 

“I love you so much,” he mumbled in his sleep.

That’s when you realized how bad the entire situation was. How bad you were for him just like he was for you. How bad this marriage was. 

And what followed after confirmed everything you ever doubted. 

2 months ago

“You think I didn’t see you?” you yelled. 

“What are you talking about?” he looked curious. 

“Oh sure, play the good guy, make me look bad, why don’t you?” you scoffed.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” he repeated. “How would you? You thought you were good enough to keep it away from me.” you said. His eyebrows crashed as he tried to understand. “I saw you with her. Maybe that’s why you were always late. You were too busy fucking her.” a bitterness stayed in your mouth. “Are you kidding me?” he said as he raked his fingers through his hair. 

“You are accusing me of cheating, Y/N? You?” he scoffed. “Don’t think I forgot about the party.” 

“Oh my god. You were never going to believe me, were you?” you looked at him with a glint in your eyes. 

“You are being paranoid Y/N,” he said calmly. 

“You know what? Maybe I will go to him. The guy you accused me of cheating. Maybe I will let him fuck me. Clear all your doubts and make it true!” you were screaming now. 

“I can’t do this anymore,” he said, voice so calm maybe you would have been scared if you were thinking straight. 

“Neither can I.” you said as you walked out of the house. 

The next day when you woke up, you felt bad for yelling at him. So you decided to go back and talk to him. And maybe you would have if fate didn’t have anything else planned. 

As you walked into the house, you saw a man sitting on your couch, Taehyung at his side as paper lay in front of him. The man looked at you briefly before turning back to Taehyung. “Thank you for coming on such short notice, Mr. Lee.” he said as he shook hands with the man. The man nodded. 

Before leaving, he looked at you, “See you in court.” 

You furrowed your brows before realization hit you. “Tae, what did he mean by that?” 

He kept quiet as he gathered the papers. “Baby, what’s wrong? Talk to me.” you tried again. Taehyung got up as he handed you the papers, then went to the bedroom. You stared at them as you couldn’t process anything. 

You cannot get divorced. You cannot live without him.  

You walked inside the room as you saw him looking out. “Tae, we can talk, right? You don’t mean this.” your voice shook. 

Walking up to him you wrapped your arms around his, face buried in his back as you mumbled “This is a joke, right?” 

You heard his sigh before he turned to you, eyes glossy. “We can’t keep doing this.”

“We won’t. We’ll figure it out. We don’t have to do this.” you went on. 

“Y/N-”

“No, no, you don’t understand. You are out of your mind. We can’t get divorced.”

“I’m sorry, but I cannot do this anymore.” he said,

You looked at him. “Why are you saying it as if it is all my fault?” 

“I don’t mean that.”

“You absolutely mean that. Your face says it all.” you gestured toward him. “Oh. You really are gonna do this?” you said as he rubbed his face. 

“Well, fuck you, Kim Taehyung. You can do whatever you want. You can blame me all you want but you and I both know the minute I walk out, you are going to regret this.” 

“You can keep going for my heart and put all this on me, but you will miss me to your bone the minute this is over.” you said as you stormed off. 

That night, you went back to Ae-ra’s place. You screamed at the sky pretending it was him while he stayed awake that night as he looked at the sky. “I’m so sorry Y/N. I love you so much” he said, tears freely falling.

It really was over. All your doubts came true. Your marriage ended. Maybe it was for the better. ‘You’re being paranoid’ he said. He was right. You became paranoid.

You wiped the single tear and looked at the sky, soft light spread across as the birds sang. 5:00 am

You picked out the attire you were going to wear to the court. Your phone buzzed as you picked it up. It was Ae-ra. It’s gonna be okay. You’ll get through it. she said.

You went to the court that day. You watched him as he entered the room, a black tux hugging his frame. He had become more buff than he was the last time you saw him two months ago. As he ran his fingers through his hair, his shoulder blades flexed. The same shoulder blades that had your nail marks reminding the night before from every morning you’ve spent together. You smiled at that memory. 

Soon the judge walked in and the process went on. 

At one point in your relationship with him, assuming was something you both picked up. Long gone was the trust which was the key in your relationship. Maybe it was for the better. You both were paranoid; assumptions feeding more into it. 

But what you both gradually became, was bad for each other. Not at the beginning of your relationship, but somewhere in the middle, it went out of hand. Maybe if you spoke to each other more, maybe if you hadn’t pushed your thoughts the first day it came, then maybe you wouldn’t be here. But everything happens for a reason. 

Kim Taehyung was the heartthrob of the campus. Kim Taehyung was the first person you confessed you loved. He was the first person who heard ‘I love you’ from you. He was your first love. 

As the saying goes, some people are in our lives, just to teach us a lesson. Good and Bad. Kim Taehyung was that for you. You were still in love with him. Distance makes the heart grow fonder and yours did. You loved him more than you did before. And so maybe letting him go was easy. You were bad for him and he was bad for you. But that didn’t stop you from loving him.

And that didn’t stop him from loving you as you sat at the courthouse, as he looked at your face when it was over, as he lay in his bed alone that night.

Maybe you weren’t meant to be. Or maybe you were, but you didn’t know-how. But it was fine. And maybe as time goes by, it would hurt less. 

Although you and Taehyung didn’t believe in first and second lives, you both wished you’d find each other in the next life as you both looked at the sky that night. 

taglist: @mwitsmejk​

[jae-canikeepyou]

| into you | j.jh

pair: jaehyun x fem!reader

word count: 7.7k+

summary: as the uni campus’ social butterfly, it’s a given you have a lot of friends, invited to almost all gatherings and all adore you. for the latter, jaehyun does too. he’s so into you and likes how you’re his happy place. or; jaehyun— an unsocial, often misunderstood person, finds his behaviour different with you and perhaps wants to keep you for himself, not anyone else.

genre: fluff + elite!au

a/n: i’m back after a while since i’ve been so so busy! this is not proofread again and i’m sorry if there are any grammar mistakes down there :> this is not canon with “letting go” scenario in case there’s any similarities with the characters. hehe anyway i hope you all enjoy reading! ♡ ~j.

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seated at the front row in the amphitheatre-shaped lecture hall, jaehyun frustratingly put his hood back on to hide himself from those who were staring from all around. they were definitely whispering about him, hands by their lips to conceal their voices in case he heard them. he hated this much attention, all because he chose stay of out school and classes— and claimed that it didn’t interest him.

so did coming today.

but the point was his attendance for this class was on the line and his busybody parents were sick of receiving phone calls or mails that kept filling their boxes, all for the same reason; that their son could be expelled despite handing assignments.

he rolled his eyes at the heat creeping up his ears as the whispers grew louder. he slammed the thin granite table, causing everyone to flinch at the sound and his presence. “can i have some quiet?! i can hear you guys talking crap about me!” he turned around at the pairs of eyes, soon frozen like meerkats.

they ticked him off. he couldn’t stand being in the same room with people who repeatedly questioned his existence of being here. he knew that rumours were going around, that the ‘jeong jaehyun’ in high school got into an private elite university— it could be anywhere but never expected it‘d be this campus. it was written in the judgment of their faces.

“chill man,” a guy his age swung his lollipop with legs on the desk. “some are curious why you decided to show up today since first semester’s a week away from ending, while some even wonder why you got into such prestigious and elite university.”

jaehyun’s eyed him slowly from legs to head. “who are you supposed to be?” he snorted at the stranger.

“just a guy who wants to break the distraught you’re trying to start.” he kicked his legs off the desk and stood up on his suede shoes, showing off his pearly whites.

he looked at everyone whose eyes averted from the two of them. “our town’s a small neighbourhood, so everybody knows everybody. we know exactly who you are, jeong jaehyun.”

“excuse me?” he swirled his tongue that it was evident he was pissed. “careful what you accuse me of. you and i both know it’s not going to end well-”

“they’re near they’re near!” a voice echoed the hall, cutting jaehyun’s attempt to intimidate the young man any further.

and with that signal alone, jaehyun could see and observe ladies fixing their hair and make-up, while the guys gave fistbumps to those near them. he rolled his eyes at him returning the favour to them as the guy unbuttoned his collar. “what’s wrong with you?” jaehyun was utterly weirded out. “with everyone?”

the crimson-haired guy only gave a flirty grin with raised brows. “this happens everytime.“

the door swung open with the professor rushing in. the students swifted heads, it wasn’t the first time he ever was late. he was young and good-looking, and it was hard to believe he still a bachelor. he gestured someone at the door, then the held-in giggles and mumbles were soon replaced with whispers of awe, as you walked in carefully with a tower of binder folders halfly covering your view.

clearly the guys around him have been secretly admiring; some had the confidence of taking selfies even if you were far, while others took a picture with their eyes so you were marked in their memories. ladies flocked towards the flustered professor like little chicks and surrounded him.

and that’s when the comments started coming in.

“park seojoon is so hot.” “hey remember to use ‘professor’.” “i guess genes runs in the family.” “his sister is ethereal too.” “i see her weekly and y/n’s a goddess.” “y/n! are you coming to the party tonight?”

jaehyun knew who you were through social media and common friends. and he included himself part of the people who admire you. he also remembered because he bumped into you during orientation. he wouldn’t usually care about passerby’s and strangers and although that was a brief moment and short eye contact, something about you was hard to not forget. you had people and friends under a charming spell he couldn’t describe, and that was in a good way.

you tucked a strand behind your ear and became shy afterwards as they whistled and cheered towards your gesture, making you heat up a thousand degrees higher. you should be used to this but every time it happens, you were just as flustered as your brother.

jaehyun’s legs got up on its own and was surprised at himself for making his way to help you. he picked up the fallen binder files and scattered papers while the whiskers by your eyes creased up in shyness.

he hitched a breath realising that the clumsy you was adorable too.

“thank you.” a smile then appearing at the corners of your lips caused jaehyun to freeze for a while. yuta wouldn’t miss anyone’s reaction. he slid his chair close to jaehyun’s as the he came back, nudging his chair for him to give into your beauty.

“i know a person with heart eyes when i see one. now you understand why we’re whipped for y/n. isn’t she a babe- agh.” he held the back of his head from the smack.

“don’t call me that, nakamoto.” you hissed sharply with how confident and careless he could get, especially with people you weren’t familiar with. you looked at the guy in a black sweater and let out an embarrassed sigh. “i’m sorry about my annoying best friend. yuta tends to be chatty when he feels lonely.” you winked at him.

it was jaehyun’s turn to flash short chuckle, its faint sounds perked not only your ears, but yuta’s as well. “not a problem. i know a lonely person when i see one.” jaehyun emphasised through his gaze.

“i’m not lonely! i have y/n and my men!” he whined and turned towards you. “see what you did y/n?”

“it’s good to finally see you, jeong jaehyun.” you ignored yuta and brought out a hand for a greeting.

you pursed your lips to stifle a laugh, jaehyun’s ears quickly turned from pink to red. he gulped loudly and took your hand in his, eyebrows lifting at how you knew his name.

lost for words and you both locked eyes where he forgot to let your hands go. “we take the same course together? i know your name because you’re the only one missing from the class-” you said, shaking his hands to subtly let him know it had been a minute since your hands felt his vainey flesh.

“okay young lad that’s enough time holding my sister.” seojoon separated your hands and jaehyun snapped out of his admiration, inhaling quite stressfully with how stupid he looked. “get to your class y/n.”

“alright, i’ll see you at tea hour.” you waved at the boys.

“as long as you’re treating i’ll go.” yuta hummed in a monotonous voice, fixing his laces that went untied.

“i’m not talking to you dimwit.” you flicked his forehead, leading to your satisfaction of the nut-like sound from it. “jaehyun, because you missed yesterday’s class, prof assigned me to assist you, along with the other topics you’ve yet to cover. i’ll be expecting you at the café near campus.”

before you stepped out of the hall, yuta pulled your sweater, yanking you back. “are you going to taeyong’s party tonight? you never miss an event!”

you puckered your lips, pinching his cheeks that a cute gummy smile came out from it. “you know my rules. as long as you’re driving me home, i’ll go. see you later.”

jaehyun nodded yet was still in a daze. he realised what you said when yuta pushed him. “gross. don’t act as if we’re already close.”

“hm? was i really? i think it’s normal when you’re making a move on my best friend.” he brought out his laptop and typed his password.

i wasn’t. “whatever.”

and to say that jaehyun didn’t feel butterflies flying uncontrollably in his stomach would be an understatement. they made the intestine churn in ways he couldn’t imagine, and he himself wanted to deny that what he was feeling was just from the influence of others. but wouldn’t that mean his feelings were temporary? because if it were, he should perceive you an ordinary person.

yet here he was outside, still admiring you before he entered the café. he found it was amusing of how oblivious you were of his presence— you were too immersed into this assigned task by professor, but others found it funnier when jaehyun looked stupidly in-love and cowardly the lad looked, despite having the overall aura of a stuck-up.

as the sun’s rays brightened the city and the wind’s breeze made the trees leaves dance, only then had you raise your head to see jaehyun waving at you. ten minutes early, not bad for an actual first impression. “hey,” he greeted, making you smile with his low but gentle voice. “am i late?”

you took your bag from across and asked him to sit down. “no no. you’re just in time, it’s really nice to have an early bird around.”

his dimples deepened at the compliment. “how about the project? is it too late? you think i can still catch up?” jaehyun cleared his throat.

“that depends on your dedication. based on the record professor gets, you’ve been doing your tasks and homework quite diligently. he’s just worried about your habit of not attending his lectures might lead to procrastination when second semester starts.” you gave him a slice of cheesecake to eat. “he’s still teaching us another subject.”

“it’s quite the contrary.” he dove in for the dessert. “i don’t have the will to procrastinate at all.”

“then good.” you twisted the pen in your fingers. “let’s get started?”

for that span of two hours, how he wished it could be more. who knew you would have a lot of things in common with him? that time alone was not enough to talk about vinyl and jazz singers and pretty much everything that were overlooked by people. he brought up his favourite spots in the city and how they became a safe haven to escape the reality.

to cut the explaining short, his shell slowly started to open, bits and new things were showing. if you were surprised he was a good person, jaehyun himself couldn’t believe he was able to converse with people normally. being the awkward and shy type, doing this almost seemed impossible.

was it your magic that caused him to do so?

you learnt that jaehyun was rather special and by special it meant he had gifts that you believed were way beyond human limits. he never studied in a library, rewatched lectures or written his notes. and the professor mentioned how jaehyun received good grades in most of the things he submitted.

to be very honest, you were a little jealous. from how he was sitting in front of you, he didn’t seem to be interested but was definitely listening. and you sort of gave up in continuing anyway. “i don’t understand why i’m told i need to guide you when you’ve already caught up with everything.” you let out a soft chuckle that seemed more of a question.

“i was waiting for you to stop..” jaehyun said quite blatantly and stretched his arms and you were hurt because if he didn’t want to, he could’ve said so. heck, even more so, he shouldn’t have come here and wasted time-

“..because it looked like you were forced to do this by prof.” his smile then faded seeing you mirror the same. “are you alright? you’re a little pale..”

your eyes widened. “oh uh, sorry, i assumed-” you sputtered and probably died inside with what he said. you cursed in your mind. dammit y/n.

jaehyun raised his brows, making you more flustered and panicky. you sighed and waved your ‘its-nothing’ hand. “assumed that i’m brusque and a stuck-up?”

he pierced his eyes at you and you weren’t going to lie, he scared you a bit. but that fear immediately disappeared when a gentle giggle and adorable dimples replaced it. “i get that a lot, but don’t worry. i’m different from what people think. they think i’m not friendly, a-and a loner too.”

“you’re not.” he heard you counter him, slightly slamming the fork down. “if you were, you wouldn’t be here with me. or even bothered to come.”

his heart became warm through your words, that act of kindness torn down his walls of inferiority and his perception towards people changed. “thanks.” he checked the time on his watch and twisted his wrist to show to you. “don’t you have a party to attend to?”

“lee taeyong’s?” you stood up to leave the café. “i feel like skipping it for tonight. i’m not in the mood for parties somehow.”

“because i’m a better company for you?” jaehyun teased and boy was he proud with his remark, you didn’t even deny it. “you don’t have to go if you really don’t want to. it’s better to have time for yourself sometimes.”

“you’re saying from experience?” you asked, putting pressure on your words about his claim of being alone.

“it’s more of an advice for you.” he winked.

you thought he was quite observant even though he barely socialised with others. he noticed the light in your eyes sparkling, in which he felt his chest squeeze. you twirled in your toes as you hugged your laptop. “say.. are you up for a movie marathon?”

—

including now, it’d be the fourth time you both have rewind the specific scene just for that certain song jaehyun kept singing nonstop. and although you loved his voice, having the song on replay would be a little too much and the purpose of the marathon might go in vain. it seemed jaehyun was way into it, so interrupting him would be mean of you so you sang along.

“the nostalgia still hits me ‘til this day.” jaehyun tossed a bag of chips from your kitchen island to you.

jaehyun kept saying it may sound stupid and corny coming from him, but as a child he liked the whole high school musical series; and he pretty much became one when breaking free started to play.

because you both couldn’t decide where to watch the beloved movies by everyone, the marathon ended up being at your apartment. it was subtle, yet quite obvious to you he didn’t want it to be held in his place. you thanked your psychology course for giving lessons to notice even the little things in behaviour.

“how many times do i have to keep telling you it’s okay to like it? not like anyone would tease you for it.” you giggled as you opened the bag and popped a couple of chips into your mouth.

“yeah sure, but i know you would.” he squinted his eyes for you to admit that that was your plan eventually.

“have i?” you singsonged, sipping on the large cola cup.

he pointed at the hairbrush you held and suddenly you bursted out in laughter since jaehyun was obviously— maybe a little— offended with how you mimicked him singing earlier. “okay you caught me.”

jaehyun felt his entire body heating up. still in denial about actually being into you, he took a challenge upon himself and scooted next to you. his arms slightly brushed and touched against yours. “you in for hsm 2?”

“well we are having a marathon, might as well go for camp rock later.” you shrugged and eyed him with a confirming gaze.

“uh-huh.. but i’m still a fan of the trilogy.” jaehyun stole the chips in your hands.

“now aren’t you cheeky.” you gasped at his playful behaviour, and you didn’t dislike it. perhaps you prefer this naught over yuta’s as it didn’t get into your nerves or have the urge to hit him because of the hyperness.

he sat deeper into the beanbag. “i’m comfortable in here. your house feels too homey.”

“so is it my fault that you’re in your comfort zone?” you stated, taking the bag of chips back into your arms.

“yes.” he protested with frequent waves of his palms. “you’re too kind and i might come here to visit often.”

“suit yourself.”

since he arrived here it had him wondering, why did he decide to show up today at campus when there was actually a pure human being like you? he just needed a person— just one— to knock onto his heart. yet with many people in his life trying to do the same thing, none held the correct key. and somehow,

it had to be you.

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you’ve lost count of the number of times jaehyun has been hanging at your crib since then. it became a normal routine but never have you been to his place. it was always yours and you didn’t mind that. though he did promise, you respected his decision.

you found out he could be little dorky and corny but that was the unique trait about him. like friends at kindergarten, you both were still at a get-to-know-each-other stage. so that day, he created a schedule where he would hang out with you on wednesdays and fridays, claiming that he didn’t want to be seen by others, e.g. mr. nobody with ms. golden girl.

however, since then, people close to you have been looking at you rather differently. it wasn’t because they sometimes see jaehyun following you around, they sensed a different aura from you. you could feel their piercing stares from all directions, as if you were the centerpiece of a watch. there was something a little different than usual.

and you tried to ignore this ominous feeling for now.

yuta shook his legs vigorously, in which was an unsightly act to see for someone on the soccer team. you could see him from afar with his hands by his lips, biting it as he waited for your arrival at the university’s sports ground. jaehyun jogged towards you with his bag slung diagonally across his torso. he poked your neck and as a person with severe tickle spots, that caught you off guard into a fight-me position to the doer.

“chill, it’s just me.” jaehyun had both of his hands up, whiskers appearing just by the sides of his nose.

“jaehyun!” you relaxed your limbs. “got a better way of greeting? i don’t like being surprised.” you pulled the hem of his sleeve, missing how he pursed his lips in glee when you both instantly became close, like it was overnight.

he let you grab him as you both walked towards where yuta was standing by the bleachers. “i’m sorry?” he giggled loud enough only for you to hear. “i thought i’d get a priceless reaction from you.”

you rolled your eyes that it almost hurt doing so. “be glad i have enough patience for you.”

“and i didn’t have enough patience last night!” yuta joined the conversation seeing you and jaehyun before him. “where have you been? you said you were coming to my place yesterda- why is he here?” he looked at him then at you. “with you? again?”

“ever thought that i want to have my own ‘me’ time for once?” you took off your cardigan and placed it on the bleachers. you could feel jaehyun chuckling softly when you made reference to his remark.

and boy was he proud. “you’re emphasising on that quite often nowadays.” he helped you carry your bag as you to settled down.

“that’s because i never realised how true it actually is until i say it out loud, since being in everyone’s eyes does pressure me.” you balled your fists to nudge him lightly on the arm, and for him to dramatically receive the attack did put yuta in an awkward position.

“uh hello? i’m still here!” in front of you and jaehyun, yuta snapped his fingers several times to divert attention. “what’s going on with you two? how are you both suddenly so close when you’ve just met for the first time two weeks ago?”

jaehyun swifted his head towards you, and the telepathic exchange of words between you and him had yuta clicking his tongue in disbelief. “you were right, he will react.” jaehyun’s voice prolonged while munching on a corn dog.

“told you so.” you flicked your hair and turned to yuta as you continued talking. “bestie, we’ve been seeing each other since then.”

what the hell? the way yuta’s face turn sour at your smile towards jaehyun, he could almost faint right then and there since he swore he saw mr. dimples smile subtly at you too. “and with just that i’ve been replaced-”

“no i would never replace my best friend.” you held his palms hoping he would calm down from his high emotions, but he immediately pulled his hand away from you, much to your dismay. “hey, i’m here to make amends-”

“yeah?” he clicked on a pen and wrote something on a tissue, soon grabbing your bag from the seat and fished out your wallet. “then you’re treating me my meals for a month. i have another order right now.”

now it was your turn whose face became sour. “a month?! i can’t do that- hey!”

yuta tossed your credit card up in the air and upon seeing his eyes darken— though that was all in your head—you gave in and sighed heavily. you stomped your way to the caféteria while yuta comfortably put one leg on the benches with a satisfied grin. “man she’s easy to tease.”

“is that so? then i know now who she gets it from.” jaehyun said through his chews on his food, making yuta’s ears perk up at the response.

the atmosphere lingering between the two of them invited dark clouds. both could sense the change in their moods, and they both weren’t liking it.

yuta spun and played the ball on his hands then forearms, later let out a scoff when jaehyun raised his brows. he didn’t like the vibe jaehyun was giving and so did the latter. “i do it for fun. it’s natural between us.” yuta said.

“hm? she told me she doesn’t like it when you do.” he saw you on your tiptoes as you struggled to tell the order to the person at the high-levelled counter. but another scoff came out from yuta. “you got a proble-?”

“yeah kinda.”

“i don’t think so. i can tell it really bothers you when y/n hangs out with me.” jaehyun sat up straight at yuta’s comment about him.

“i should be. because i’m her best friend and who knows what type of person you are.” he did a few tricks with his legs. “but if you really want to know then your attitude is what i have problems with.”

“i remember telling you it wouldn’t be good for you when accuse me wrongly.”

he let out a monotonous and rather mocking laugh, taking jaehyun aback but he anticipated this kind of response from him. “and what? you’ll go berserk like you did years ago? as a high school freshman? beating the innocent up or whoever comes your way?”

“look i don’t know where the hell that came from but it’s not what you or everyone else thinks.” jaehyun aggressively crumpled the hotdog wrapper in his palms.

“c’mon you don’t have to hold it all in,” yuta set his ball aside and rested his hands on his waist. jaehyun was getting uncomfortable the more he listened to him. “unleash that side-”

jaehyun rolled his tongue, nodding his head to test him. “alright, i guess i don’t have to when i have feelings for y/n. thanks for the advice.”

what the..? yuta stared at him when there wasn’t a change in his expression. jerk- “now you’re talking. you wanna fight? let’s do that-”

“tsk yuta! the bill’s too expensive!” you whined and gently put down the tray.

while yuta clicked his tongue at your sudden entry and with how quickly you came back, for a moment jaehyun wanted to hug you for being his saviour. he was so close to lose his temper towards your best friend. the relief seen in his tensed shoulders, but you interpreted it otherwise. “are you okay?” you asked while you sat down beside him.

he hummed, folding his arms and looking at the distance, clearly avoiding eye contact with yuta. “mhm, i just realised the deadline is coming up in three days.” he excused.

you managed to utter out a giggle as you finally ate, finding out how jaehyun’s ears always turned red when given attention to. “you’re stressed about it?”

“aren’t you?” jaehyun drank the remains of his soda.

“not really since i finished mine. but, if you’re worried about your progress, i can help you.” you swirled the fork in the air like a wand. jaehyun smiled to himself when yuta took his ball to throw a fit.

“i’m not worried about the project. but there’s an annoying bug i’m trying to hit so help me.” jaehyun’s dimples appeared deeply again and as the darkening ombré sunset shoned his side profile, there you witnessed how pure he actually was— and you missed out on yuta’s frown towards jaehyun.

you gulped and almost choked on your own saliva, eyes still locked in jaehyun’s. his hair caught in the wind, making it look fluffy and his entire demeanour softer than you usually see him. you hitched a breath since jaehyun seemed like he had no plans to avert his gaze too. both of you were definely mesmerised and hypnotised, and for jaehyun it was just like that time. he remembered the colour palette of your makeup while you recalled the perfume he wore.

in the recent marathons with him you’ve never been this close, physically speaking. so this close-up really debunked the impression you heard from people, especially from yuta.

however, as you were oblivious with the pressure behind jaehyun’s words and even smiled back at him, yuta flicked your temple. he was indeed a worry wart and sometimes he would like to flick you just this once for being too much of a social butterfly. he knew it was in your nature to be kind and always on the look out for others. he’s fine when you were with anyone except with this guy you befriended. not him.

he dodged your flying limbs in attempts to hit him. “oi, you’re not going to ask how i am? if i’m worried?”

the pain from the flick remained on your temple. “no? you look fine to me-” you stared at your phone. the message reminding you of the singles elite party a month from today at 8pm. “a party?”

“yeah if you attended the previous party you’d know that there’ll be another one after taeyong’s.” yuta took off his shoes in change for his casual.

“hm. i’m don’t feel like going.” you jumped off the bleachers to dust off your pants. “probably gonna be boring.”

“i’m the one who’s holding it this time!” yuta put you under a headlock in his arms. “you’re ditching your best friend?!”

you giggled and ticked his sides and followed it with a playful hug. “just kidding. i heard from momo! i’ll be there.” you brushed your hair up into a messy bun while spotting jaehyun starting to feel out of place. “oh! do you wanna come to the party, jae?”

yuta mentally facepalmed and it was given he didn’t like what you did. but your eyes were quick to see his reaction and you slapped his chest. he glared at you while his hands caressed it. why did you have to invite him? it was the whole purpose why he decided to hold a party; maybe you’d finally appreciate his hardwork, or perhaps, notice him as someone more and as not a best friend who only worries and teases you.

jaehyun nodded in response, no words needed. a smile crept your lips as if you were given chocolates on valentine’s. “cool.” you pulled him on the wrist after hearing the coach calling yuta, followed with a loud whistle. “ah yuta, we‘ll get going! see you.”

“mm yeah..” yuta hummed, seeing you both vanish in the distance. “see you..”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

your sulking self laid sideways by jaehyun’s lap, head rested on a pillow. it’s been too long since yuta avoided you, purposely ditched your hangouts, seenzoned your messages and ignored your calls. as if these weren’t obvious enough for you to know something was up. there definitely was but you couldn’t put a finger to it. so you forced jaehyun to let you stay at his place, being it your apartment was currently invaded by your brother’s friends from abroad.

but honestly it was also because you discovered jaehyun’s unit was blocks away from yours. fate was gladly on your side.

“y/n, you know i can’t work properly when you’re like this.” jaehyun sighed while he adjusted his sitting posture and lifting his laptop.

you slightly and lazily your body turned upright, seeing his dimples beginning to show themselves. “let me be.” you complained.

jaehyun put down his laptop. “i can’t. you’re in my way of cramming hours. plus, how long have you been coming here? it’s getting too frequent..” he paused when your eyes were no longer on him— rather they were on your phone, staring at the last conversation from yuta.

he couldn’t bring himself to say that he was reason why yuta acting the way he was to you. and for all honesty he would keep this matter to himself. “did i do something wrong?” you asked.

“of course not. he’s probably in his emo phase. guys have them a lot more than you think.” jaehyun typed on the keyboard for the remaining parts of the essay. “but he’ll get out of it eventually.”

“fine i’ll trust on that.” you sat up and scooted over to see his progress. you submitted your assignment hours ago. looking at jaehyun, it seemed he was struggling at some parts. were you unconsciously pressuring him? the beads of sweat began to roll down his temples and that made you giggle if it was the case. uh-huh. he was really feeling that way.

he gulped so loudly that it came out as a weird noise. he hoped you didn’t hear that. but the way you pursed your lips to hold the laughter in only had him discontinuing his report. “d-don’t do that.”

“do what?” you snicker.

jaehyun rolled his eyes and poked your forehead. “you’re too distracting.”

oh how the tables have turned. that comment flipped your head upside down, your heart in a frenzy and stomach churning. it wasn’t “so”, but “too”— that only meant he wasn’t concentrating on his work for a while.

even so, you waited for him to finish despite questionable feelings you’ve been feeling. his coffee cup already did seconds and thirds. and suddenly you remembered the happy hour the local café was promoting and there was a few minutes left until it ends for the day. you had to bring him there.

but you decided that because you wanted to be out of that suffocating air jaehyun caused.

—

the more you walked faster, the more jaehyun’s wrist reddened and hurt. but he let you be as he liked how you were comfortable with someone like him. your hair flowed with the wind, the remains of your shampoo left a sweet scent. was it lavender? and the wind blew stronger, making the scent clearer to the nose. his heart skipped beats, because it was indeed lavender. he swore in his head. scrap aside the frequent marathons and meet-ups. lavender’s all the more reason why fell for you quickly than ever.

and when the local café closed early for the day, you almost lost sight of the pedestrian signs. jaehyun pulled you in as the light emitted red. though you had your emotions get the best of you, you realised how childish you were for something so minor. you laughed in awkwardness, he did too. “i didn’t want anyone to see this side-”

warmth. that was all you thought of right there. you were in his embrace.

“..of me.” you soon mumbled in his chest, realising later of the action he just did. “jaehyun-”

“it’s okay. i don’t too.” his hand gently caressed the back of your head, treating it with care as if he held a newborn baby. “so can i keep you?”

that warmth became hotter, almost boiling that you weren’t able to breathe properly. “i’m sorry.” he said, that must’ve surprised you.” jaehyun chuckled.

surprised? of course you were. how was it natural for him to do skinship? and that smoothly? you both weren’t at that stage yet, let alone have a relationship with mutual feelings. even yuta couldn’t hug you because of how conscious you felt.

but then again, you looked up. you saw his ears. it was red, the usual reaction whenever you were with him. was it normal though? you were never aware of it up until now.

because it was so clear now.

“i’ll see you tomorrow? i have to help my mom with some things.” you lied as you scratched your neck.

jaehyun nodded and pulled away. “alright, go on ahead.”

you poked his dimples because he has been staring at you like he had questions to ask. “what is it?”

maybe he didn’t notice or maybe he did, but he was leaning closer, his head tilting to the side and eyes staring into your soul. you knew what he was about to do, you feel like letting him do so but at the same time you weren’t sure of your feelings.  

just a little more and you could’ve locked lips but..

your phone vibrated.

in panic you looked at your device and eyes widened that brought jaehyun aback.

“ah yuta!” you brought your phone so close to your face, not believing your best friend’s announcement on social media, in which he then followed up with a text message.

the light in your eyes was something jaehyun liked seeing, but didn’t so as well.

“oh! he said the concept for the elites’ party is live wardrobe. all singles will go through a ballot draw. it’s for the clothes to wear for the night..” you locked your phone. “tsk i wanted to wear my favourite dress.”

“i think you’ll look great in whatever gown is chosen for you.” jaehyun pat your head while you were immersed in your phone. “now go. it’s getting late.”

“i’ll expect the same for you.” you replied.

he laughed and that didn’t want to make you leave just yet. “nah don’t. i’m just ordinary in a suit.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

funny how he was so damn wrong.

fate let him draw red, and confidently chose a suit once it was his turn to change. it was as if he knew this attire would go well with him. a suede texture with a black outline on its collar accentuated his brushed up light brown hair, while his black under-shirt contrasted with his porcelain skin. gladly it wasn’t halloween, or else you would’ve mistaken him for a vampire.

he had you feeling all sorts of things, and you didn’t know why when you were nothing more than friends.

an hour ago he was in his usual casual wear. now he was surrounded with ladies who already seemed like they were friends with him for decades. you could see jaehyun was uncomfortable but he kept his cool with folded arms as he leaned against a column. the comments from them irritated you, because at one point they were badmouthing him— and the second he showed up they flooded him with compliments of his good looks and how they named him the “model elite”.

you swirled the wine glass in your hand, the other arm hugged your waist. you rolled your eyes at the falseness these people have towards him. “can’t believe it.” your fingers curled as irritation began to cover your sight. “look at them trying to make a move on him. erlgh too close. they weren’t like that before.”

sicheng rolled his tongue, hands in pockets and walked to be in front of you. “really? you weren’t like that before too.” he pointed out.

“i agree. recently you’re stuck like glue whenever you’re with him.” yuta gestured.

“am so not?” you gasped while your eyes trailed to jaehyun, who was still had patience for the ladies surrounding him. “i just like how he’s a good friend.”

“doubt it.” sicheng poked your cheek. “you wouldn’t feel like this when you have feeli-”

not this again. “i’m grabbing a drink.” yuta suddenly cut the conversation.

“get me one too!” the younger one yelled and after he was satisfied with the gesture, he winced as you pinched his sides from the remark he said earlier. “ow! y/n! it’s true though! i know what i’m seeing!”

truthfully, nothing about sicheng’s words or actions bothered you. but if there was anything that did, it was your own heart. as of tonight, you began to question your feelings towards jaehyun. when did it start? how was it possible to like someone so quickly? “i’m telling you i don’t.” your eyes trailed to him, not realising the rush of heat creeping your cheeks.

jaehyun was approached by yuta, who was giving him a glass of beer. the ladies fled after stealing pictures of the guy and he took the drink in his hands. then they headed towards the garden of the mansion. wonder what he’s here for?

“nice party you have here. concept’s cool.” jaehyun started to break the lingering silence because he knew how awkward this was going to be with your best friend.

“yeah, never knew you’d end up in red. it’s y/n’s favourite colour.” yuta’s voice lowered. there was an impact jaehyun could describe but assuming that would be too rude of him.

“really? i didn’t know.” he hummed. aren’t you a little too happy, jaehyun told himself. he shook it off, for he doesn’t expect him and you to go any further than this.

“now you do. so can you back up for a while? take a week off or something from y/n.” yuta raised his brows.

this was the same feeling from before. he knew this feeling because he felt the exact same way. he wanted to be selfish for once. not like he hated yuta, it was just.. he always had to appear whenever he didn’t want him to. then he would mess his mood. he interrupted his joy of admiring you. jaehyun licked his lips to dampen them. “i’m sorry, who are you to tell me what to do?”

yuta grinned and leaned against the column as he mirrored jaehyun. “don’t you get it?” he asked, his tone rising. “i love y/n. you entering the picture just ruins everything.”

my hunch’s correct. he does love y/n. “if you love her you wouldn’t ignore her.”

“it’s because you’re with her! and she does the same to me! it’s like she’s found someone else-”

“you’re being dramatic.” jaehyun pushed himself off the column and turned to him. “y/n’s sad and moping around because you treated her like she’s all alone. you have no idea how much she waited for you to contact her.”

“what do you know, smartass? you’re just another guy trying to fit in when you know you couldn’t. no matter how much you tried, everyone’s afraid of you. and now you’re telling me you have feelings for y/n? please.” his lips jutted with sounds of disbelief while his body posture challenged jaehyun. “y/n’s kind to everyone she meets. it’s who she is. but to think you have hope to be with someone like her? if you ask me, all i see is a greatest mismatch.”

jaehyun usually didn’t give a damn of the comments about him. he couldn’t care less of any of those. in fact he’d hear them through one ear and out they went. but when he said anything, it irked him.

you see, that was the thing— right now, he actually listened.

he turned a blind eye on yuta’s words and let it off for the night. he was given a drink and maybe the alcohol didn’t work its way on him than it did to guy. in the end, yuta was probably spilling tea even if he didn’t intend to.

“what i feel for y/n has nothing to do with you. just like people can’t control the tides,” jaehyun lightly knocked onto yuta’s chest. “i can’t control mine.”

the footsteps echoed in yuta’s ears, he could hear them despite the noisy hall. “rghhh!” he grabbed hold of his glass and threw it towards jaehyun.

sounds of shattering glass met the ground, as well as catching everyone’s attention. then there was silence. jaehyun began to lose his patience as he turned around. his smirk challenged him. ouch. this was the fight yuta was looking for, seeing jaehyun’s heavy breaths only made him stand on his toes.

jaehyun punched him in the jaw though he knew it wasn’t worth his time. but he wanted to give him a taste of stepping beyond boundaries. yuta punched him back too. he made sure the star of the night was the other— shone the brightest and reveal his true nature. he didn’t count the number of hits he received, as long as jaehyun stayed that way.

“i told you it wouldn’t be good if you provoked me!” jaehyun growled. “you’re asking for show? i’ll give you one!”

“huh..” yuta wiped his bleeding lip. “you sure about that, beast?”

jaehyun held himself for the next punch, feeling all of the pairs of eyes on him. yours included. that was what he feared. “aw. what impression does she have on you now?” yuta’s cooing words caused jaehyun’s eyes to soften.

all bleeding and bruised, jaehyun’s injuries have matched with his suit. he clenched his fists as he frustratingly left the hall.

in your peripheral, your eyes trailed his direction and your legs followed him by heart, without realising yuta calling out your name several times. everything went blank, not thinking things straight because while everyone watched, no one understood. you glared at yuta before heading outside, a more disappointed sigh was the only response he got from you.

yuta was then nudged by sicheng. the latter could see the change in his expression. “what did i tell you?”

“you don’t have to tell me.” yuta dusted his pants.

“i’m still gonna.” sicheng rolled his eyes and poked the lad’s temple. “that’s what you call ‘stupidity’. if only you confessed to her before maybe things would be different between you guys.”

“i don’t want things to be different dude.”

“i’m gonna state the obvious, you probably already know this but.. you lost this battle.”

“crap..” yuta’s voice changed from a nervous chuckle to a soft sob. “i liked her first.”

you spotted jaehyun sitting atop a metal barrier just in front of the carpark— head down to mend his injuries and scratches. he sniffed from the cool night breeze before hopping off. “you’ll hurt your feet.” he pointed at the heels you had dangling in your hands.

his gaze softened when you pointed at his face, especially the black eye. “touché.” he chuckled, later feeling your cold hands against his throbbing flesh. “it’s no big deal-”

“i’m sorry about yuta’s behaviour.” you sighed. “don’t let it get into you. he’s an airhead when he’s drunk-”

“you sure? he seemed pretty sober when he said- ah.” he pursed his lips to speak any further. “nevermind.”

now that gotten you curious. “what did he say? spill it!” you whined, causing jaehyun mouth to curve a little in amusement.

jaehyun prolonged the silence and grabbed your shoes, leading you towards his car. once he unlocked it and opened the door, he bursted out in a loud, healthy laugh. “he said he was head over heels for you.”

you pushed him to the driver’s seat and slammed the door, rolling your eyes at the pun. “that was so lame!” you sat on the other side. “but i know that already if you thought i didn’t. i subtly turned him down ages ago. guess he didn’t take the message.”

“clearly.”

as you tended to his wounds, one question still had your curiosity at its peak. jaehyun was quiet through-out, so it was hard to bring the topic up for a while. until your eyes and his met.

“what did you tell him before he threw the glass at you?” you dabbed the cotton onto the beaten area. “it must’ve pissed him.”

he dropped his car keys and let out a nervous hum. “uh..” he didn’t know what else to say. right when he was finally about to tell you, you suddenly giggled.

“unless you told him you like me and that made him angry, but i doubt that happened.” your lips shrank to a circle, cursing at yourself for assuming too much. girl the guts you have was incomparable—

jaehyun’s large hand held yours while you continued to apply medication. the warmth, the heat and the building tension of skinship made you weak. “you’re right.”

your smile and breaths changed in an instant when he fixed himself on the seat. he smirked a little, finding how cute you were. it drove him crazy.

“i like you, for the longest time, since the orientation. i’m so into you that i couldn’t help myself be selfish and have you to myself— i- i don’t know what i’m saying.” he sighed, pushing himself away in embarrassment with arms above his face.

“t-thanks.” you fiddled with your fingers.

“i’m not asking for an answer. i just wanted to let you know.” he said. “gosh this is a bad timing for confession.”

“then is it a bad timing if i said i’m into you too?” you looked away and out in the distance. you could see his reaction on the window’s reflection. he was shocked, but an uncontrollable smile was forcing itself on the surface. it was written in the dimples.

“no,” his husky voice called you to look back. “you’re just about right.”

[ggukjoons]

best you’ve ever had (m) | 01

» theme — jeon jungkook x reader //  fuckboy!jungkook, badboy!jungkook, university au, fluff, romance, future smut, angst

»  warnings — sexual tension, language

»  word count — 2.2k

»  synopsis — you hate jungkook. or so you thought. he was the world’s #1 fuckboy and you didn’t want anything to do with him. until an event had changed everything, including the way you saw him. who knew how easy it was to fall for a fuckboy?

»  a/n — completely inspired by this video i watch it everyday and it ruins me omg + this is the first part and it is already lowkey kinda steamy LMAO this is the first fic i’ve ever written i’m not sure how many parts this fic will consist of but i know for sure that its going to have more than just one part, so hope u enjoy, and pls pls pls tell me what u think! tysm! ✩

»  song recommendation — always never - bria’s interlude

↳   01 || 02 || 03 (ongoing) ✩

»  ♔  posted on february 7th, 2018.

You groan deeply as the clock hits 6:30 in the evening.

Customers are seated comfortably at the tables, coffee in hand, speaking amongst themselves. Your shift ends in thirty minutes, which you would be acquiescent with on a daily basis, except today is different. 

You have a monster report due the next day, in which you’ve only wrote about two pages- out of eight. As a matter of fact, you cannot wait to take your ass back to the dorms and gulp five cups of coffee down your throat to help fully gain your focus (and not fall face down on your computer) while writing six more pages about nonsense which hopefully, won’t get you kicked out of university. 

As you pull yourself out of your thoughts for your boring plans tonight, you grab a rag off the countertop as you head over to a table that has recently vacated. 

As you scrub the tables and pick up the coffee cups, you spot a wrinkled piece of notebook paper that reads, “To the waitress in the white v-neck: you got a nice set of lumps, mind if we see? ;) - two college bois who need satisfaction”. You scowl in disgust as you crumple the piece of paper and toss it in the trash can. 

You knew who those boys were, just two nasties who happen to share the same psychology class as you. You haven’t even bothered to talk to them, even if they made advances to you. You don’t pay attention to anyone, not a lot of people seem decent enough to catch your eye. That’s why you attend parties away from here, the boys were cuter so you hooked up with them instead. 

After scrubbing the table and pushing the chairs in, you realize how many customers have left their tips and exited the coffee shop. You were the only one who was still currently working, your other colleagues had already finished their shifts hours ago. Looking at the clock that reads 6:37 PM., you exhale a deep breath.

Alright Y/N, just twenty three minutes to go. 

You actually debate on closing early, but your boss’s words ring through your head. Do not close the coffee shop early, no matter how late it is! Never close the coffee shop minutes or even seconds before the closing time. I will be damned if I hear anyone closing the shop early! You ALL have been warned! You roll your eyes at the memory of your boss’s dramatic words. 

As you head to clean the table near the back corner of the shop, you hear the doorbells chime and footsteps that follow inside.

“I’ll be right there!” You say as you hurriedly scrub the remains of spilled coffee and crumbs of the tabletops. 

“Now that’s a beautiful sight.” You whip your head toward the source of the voice and scowl when you look at the person’s features. 

He was dressed in all black, outfit consisting of a black turtleneck cladded with a black leather jacket, black ripped skinny jeans that clung very tight to his sculpted thighs. Lastly, he topped it all off with a cap that was imprinted with the words “You Never Walk Alone”. 

You hated the fact that you admit he looks amazing. 

But this was him. 

Jeon Jungkook. 

The world’s #1 fuckboy. 

You instantly understand why he made that remark. 

You were still leaning over the table, rag in your hand, back bent over, and your jean-covered ass on display for his eyes to ogle. 

Quickly standing straight, you narrow your eyes at him. “What are you doing here, Jeon?”

“Ah, I love when my name comes out of your pretty lips.” Jungkook says with a grin as his eyes follow your form when you head over to where he’s standing near the countertop. 

You ignore his comment. “Seriously Jungkook, what are you doing here? My shift ends in about twenty minutes.” 

Groaning, you pull your notepad out of your back pocket. “What would you like to order?” You ask in a monotonous voice, greatly lacking enthusiasm.

“Hmmm, a strawberry cheesecake sounds really good right now.” Jungkook chirps as you scribble his order down on your notepad, “Is that all?” You look up at his dark orbs and wait for his answer. 

You regret it. 

“Can I also have you spend a night at my apartment dressed in absolutely nothing?” He says with a wicked smirk. 

“You are a nasty perv.” 

Wrinkling your nose in disgust, you walk around the countertop to acquire a slice of strawberry cheesecake for Jungkook. Grabbing a paper bag and knife, you bend down to cut the cheesecake. 

The coffee shop is silent with the exception of the sounds of you placing the slice of cheesecake into the bag.

“How long have you been working here?” Jungkook inquires.

You raise your eyebrow at that, suspicious as to why he would care.

“I’m not a stalker, love. Just curious.” He chuckles.

You stand up straight, facing him. “I’ve been working here for about four months now. I need to bring in some cash and this job pays pretty good. It’s also off campus so its nice to see different people that come in. Well at least not now, cause you’re here anyways.” You hand him the bag as Jungkook grins at your remark.

“Its really nice to see you too, babygirl.” Your body betraying you by making your stomach flutter at the pet name.

“Don’t call me that.” You say, faking a grimace, heading back to the countertop, opposite of him.

He smirks at that.

“Why should I not? I mean, its true. You are my babygirl. Whether you like it or not.” Jungkook leans in closer to your face, locking your eyes with his gaze.

“You know, love. I’ve always had a thing for you. You’re gorgeous and you got a sharp tongue. Let’s be honest here, I’m always going to pick you over anyone.” He whispers, soon grinning at your inability to maintain eye contact.

You look away before he notices your reddened face.

“I-Your order comes to $4.50.”

Jungkook bites back a chuckle at your flustered state, pulling a $50 bill from his wallet and placing it on the countertop.

Your eyes widen at the gesture, quickly waving your hands back and forth in the manner of saying “no”.

“Jungkook!” You exclaim. “You made a mistake, the order is only $4.50, just hand me a five dollar bill and that should be oka-”

He doesn’t let you finish your sentence and interrupts. 

“I didn’t make a mistake, love. You just told me you needed to bring some cash in, and here you go. I just want to help you.” Jungkook says, his eyes staring into your widened ones, gaze unwavering. 

Your expression softens at his gesture for a second before you realize who this is. 

Goddammit, Y/N. He’s a fuckboy. Don’t get all soft for a fuckboy. 

You sigh, not wanting to fight with him on this. “Um, thank you, Jungkook. This wasn’t needed but, thank you for helping me out.” You say softly, managing a tiny smile on your face. 

Jungkook smugly returns it. 

Looking at the bag, he says, “Also, who said this was to-go?” 

You furrow your brows, confusion painting your features. “I figured you had places to be. Aren’t you supposed to be with Sooyoung?” 

Jungkook releases a deep sigh. “No. We aren’t a thing. She’s showing symptoms of ‘I know we aren’t dating but you shouldn’t fuck other girls’. She’s a great girl, but she’s getting clingy. And I don’t do relationships.” 

You roll your eyes towards the sky at his words. He is such a fuckboy. 

“You know, Jeon. Just tell her that what you two have isn’t serious. Are you sure you’re not leading her on?” He scoffs at that. 

“I’m always straight up with every girl I have sex with. I make it extra clear that there are no feelings whatsoever. I know she understands that, but you know, she keeps coming back for more. Girls always do.” Jungkook sneers as you wear a disgusted expression on your face.

“Cocky much?” 

“Not at all. Because its the truth. I’m the best they’ve ever had.” He smirks, shifting his weight forward to rest his elbows on the countertop, meeting you at eye-level. 

“Its never enough for me, though. Because the one person I want to spend a night with is incredibly stubborn.” He says, locking his gaze onto your lips, travelling downward until he stares at your cleavage through your v-neck.

“Me? Stubborn? Have you seen yourself, Jungkook? You’re a fuckboy. And I don’t fuck with fuckboys.” You respond, smiling to yourself at your words.

He snickers. “That’s really cute, love.” 

His expression darkens as he starts to lean a bit more forward. Your eyes widen slightly and you press a hand onto his firm chest to create some distance between you two. 

“Have you ever imagined spending a night with me?” 

You raise your brows, and place your hands on the countertop. “Only, in your dreams Jeon.” Your gaze locking onto his. 

Jungkook chuckles and lowers his head toward the ground. Once he lifts his head up, you notice how much darker his eyes had gotten. His pupils dilating slightly. His unwavering stare and the look he gives you makes you awkwardly shift your feet. 

“Do you have any idea how erotic my dreams are? And somehow, you appear in mostly all of them.” 

You inhale sharply at his lewd words. “F-Feeling frustrated? Go relieve yourself by having sex with another girl. Cause I would never.” 

Jungkook releases a dark chuckle. “Alright, babygirl. I see. But I’m telling you right now, nobody will ever fuck you as good as I ever will. So why don’t you just experience it with me?” He smirks at your furious expression. 

“You want to know why, Jeon? I don’t even think you’re all that. Your dick game is probably weak.” You retort, wiping the smirk off his face and painting it on yours. Jungkook releases a breathy chuckle and starts to stare at your apron. 

He starts walking not toward the door, no. 

He is walking towards you. 

Your eyes widen in panic as you watch him approach the same side of the countertop as you. You didn’t fail to see his tongue roughly poking his inner cheek. His dark orbs are staring back at your bulging ones as he starts to lean in closer. 

You have nowhere to go except to press your back against the countertop, only to find Jungkook backing you into it, barely an inch is left between you two. Your breathing quickens when he starts leaning his head in closer. 

He brings his lips toward the shell of your ear, his hot breath fanning over you, causing you to visibly shiver. Jungkook notices that, and his smirk broadens. 

“If you want me to stop babygirl, I will. But don’t deny how much I affect you, too.” He whispers, planting his hand on your hip to bring you impossibly closer to him.

“You don’t affect me.” Voice surprisingly steady, contradicting your feeling of being afraid by the fact that he could hear your labored breathing, and quickening heartbeat. You felt heat rising in your abdomen when you felt the press of his bulge through your apron.

“You sure about that, love?” You nod.

Jungkook turns his head to look directly into your orbs, his unrelenting gaze solely fixed on you, watching your every movement.

“Then why haven’t you pushed me away yet?” 

You don’t know why you haven’t pushed him away. 

You don’t know how it had gone this far. 

Jungkook waits for your answer and twirls a strand of your hair in his finger, leaning forward to press his lips right under your jaw. You gasp at the contact, feeling the way Jungkook’s lips quirk into a smile. 

“The guys and I are hosting a party again tonight. You should come. I hope to see you there.” 

And with that, he presses a light kiss on your sensitive skin. He leaves his lips there for a few seconds before pulling away. 

He takes a few steps back and turns around to grab the bag of cheesecake. 

You stand there shocked at his actions, and a tiny part of you longs for the warmth of his body again. You miss the way he starts walking toward the door of the coffee shop. 

He slows his footsteps down and looks toward you. “It’s 7:04, love. Your shift was over four minutes ago.” You falter at his words, disbelief showing very evident through your expression. 

Jungkook takes one more look at you, and smiles. “I hope to see you at the party tonight, Y/N.” He turns around and heads out of the coffee shop, door shutting as it lets in a breeze.

You immediately exhale as you held onto the countertop behind you. You throw your head back and close your eyes, releasing a deep sigh. Slowly processing the events that had just happened, you mentally kick yourself in the face for putting your guard down. 

Your head turns to look at the traitorous clock, time reading 7:06 PM. You would have left the coffee shop already. 

But why do you feel like staying? 

Why do you suddenly crave the warmth of Jungkook’s body again? 

The monster report that you had been thinking about all day was no longer something you thought of again.

Instead, something else was on your mind.

» masterlist | 01 || 02 || 03 ♡ (ongoing)

[lady-divine-writes]

Klaine one-shot - “Contraband” (Rated PG)

Kurt is supposed to be working, but instead he's spying on a handsome guy sitting in his section - a guy that he knows from school, who he's been dying to ask out for coffee ... and who happens to be exhibiting some rather odd behavior. (2024 words)

Notes: This is a re-write. Alternate first meeting.

Read on AO3.

“Hey, Hummel! You polish those glasses much more, you’ll wear holes through them!”

“Laugh all you want, Bret, but I’m pretty sure the people sitting in my section appreciate it when their cups are actually clean.”

“That, or you need something to do with your hands!” Bret fires back, subtly making a lewd gesture before heading off to a booth with three bundles of silverware.

“Ha-ha,” Kurt mumbles, but Bret has a point. He has been standing behind the diner counter for the past hour, wiping down glasses and silverware in an elaborate ruse to spy on a man in a blue hoodie seated at a booth in his section. It’s not because Kurt has no other work to do. The diner has been hopping since the start of his shift. There have already been two birthday parties and three random sing-a-longs. They’re expecting a group of twelve in a little less than half-an-hour, but Kurt is scheduled to leave in about ten minutes, so he should really be focusing on getting his section cleared of the loiterers, nursing watered-down sodas, who have yet to pay their checks.

But this handsome man, with his sunny smile that extends to his eyes, so rare in their weekday afternoon diners; his funky, retro manner of dress; and his charming haphazard curls; has Kurt absolutely captivated. To top it off, Kurt knows him. His name is Blaine. He goes to NYADA, same as him. It has been quoted by most of their professors and a huge portion of the student body that he’s one of the most uniquely talented and charismatic students NYADA has ever known.

And Kurt knows for a fact that the man is gay.

From the first day Kurt walked into school and saw him strumming his guitar, performing one of his original songs in the student commons, Kurt has been trying to work up the courage to ask him out. This might be the perfect time. He can stroll over to his booth, ask him if he needs a refill on his Coke, strike up a conversation, slide him a complimentary slice of cheesecake, and stealthily write his phone number on the customer copy of the receipt. In his head, it sounds like a rom-com in the making.

However, Kurt has hit a snag. This man, who for all intents and purposes Kurt could describe as perfect (or, at the very least, perfect for him), has started feeding bits of his tuna fish sandwich to the pocket of his hoodie.

Kurt sighs. Only in New York.

Why? Why is it always the handsome ones that turn out to be so bizarre?

Kurt figures he should consider cutting his losses, hand the man his check, and let him go on his way. They’ve only had a handful of conversations at school as it is. Blaine probably doesn’t even know Kurt exists apart from the fact that Blaine was the T.A. in the Intro to Mime workshop Kurt attended over Spring Break. Kurt tripped outside of his invisible box and bumped Blaine with his hip. They shared an awkward smile before Blaine went off to help another student tug on an invisible rope.

Not really the basis for a long-standing relationship.

But there’s something about the way Blaine looks down at the pocket he’s feeding, the soft smile on his lips, the crinkle at the corner of his eyes. Plus, he appears to be talking to it, or more to the point, cooing. Kurt is too curious, and before he makes the decision to stop pursuing his daydream of inviting this man out for coffee, he needs to know what’s so interesting about that pocket.

Blaine is a Musical Theater Major. That might explain a thing or two. They do tend to be an odd breed.

Kurt walks around the counter and heads for Blaine’s booth, hoping to catch him off guard. As he approaches, he cranes his neck to look over the seat, but his view of the pocket remains blocked by Blaine’s elbow.

“Hey there!” Kurt says, coming up behind him with still no luck for a decent view.

Blaine jumps. “Hey!” he says, clamping his hand carefully over his pocket, shielding it from Kurt’s view.

“So, are you just about done here?” Kurt gestures at the picked-apart food on the man’s plate and his empty soda glass.

“Uh … yeah. Yeah, I’d say so,” Blaine replies after a cursory glance at his table.

“Were you thinking about ordering any dessert today?” Kurt asks, stalling for the time he needs to come up with a way to unravel the mystery. “We have ten milkshake flavors, our Boston Cream pie is pretty popular, and we have an excellent New York-style cheesecake. Though, technically, I guess it would just be cheesecake since we’re in New York.” Kurt raises his eyebrows, hoping something he named sounds appetizing enough to make Blaine stick around a bit longer.

“No, not today, I think … uh …” Blaine gets distracted by his pocket when, to Kurt’s surprise, it squirms. “If I can just get the check … please?”

“Certainly,” Kurt says, politely ignoring the fact that Blaine’s pocket mewled. He takes a step away from the booth, but he can’t leave. He has to find out what’s in that pocket; he just has to. Of course, prying could kill his chances with Blaine, if he ever had any, but he can’t help himself. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but Kurt has to know.

“Hey,” he says, standing closer to the booth than usual, blocking other waiters’ view of Blaine and his pocket, “before I go, can I ask you a question?”

“Hmm?” Blaine says, a little tight, a little anxious

Kurt bends slightly to keep their conversation hush-hush. “What’s in your pocket?”

Blaine stares back at Kurt with an expression of severe discomfort. “Uh … in my … in my pocket? There’s nothing …”

“I promise, I won’t tell anyone,” Kurt whispers. He looks at Blaine with pleading eyes and an honest smile. “Please?”

Blaine sighs, a bit defeated, but he smiles back.

“Alright,” he says. “But I’m trusting you. Not a word?”

Kurt puts two fingers to his lips and makes a locking motion. “Mum’s the word. I swear.”

“Okay. It’s this little guy.” Blaine pulls down the lip of his pocket, and a puff of orange fur with bright green eyes peeks out. The kitten looks at Blaine, then straight up at Kurt, and lets out a soft but poignant, “Meow.”

“Oh my God!” Kurt gasps. “That is the cutest kitten I’ve ever seen!”

“Yes, he is,” Blaine agrees, baby talking to the tiny creature and giving it a scratch underneath its chin, which it lifts to accommodate him. “I found him a few days ago, cold and hungry, limping on the sidewalk outside my building. So I took him in and fed him. I was going to take him to a shelter, but I … I couldn’t do it.” Blaine gives Kurt a sheepish shrug. “I just picked him up from the vet this afternoon. He has a broken paw, so I couldn’t leave him at home to fend for himself.”

“Of course you couldn’t,” Kurt says, shaking his head emphatically.

“Unfortunately, I can’t keep him, either.”

Kurt’s head snaps from the precious ball of floof to Blaine’s gloomy face.

“Wha---why not?”

“My roommate,” Blaine explains. “She’s extremely allergic to cats.”

“Oh.” Kurt watches the kitten close its heavy eyelids, its head drooping as it drifts off to sleep, surrounded by the warmth and comfort of Blaine’s hoodie. “That’s … that’s too bad.”

“Yeah, it is,” Blaine says. “I don’t have anywhere else to take him. Most of my friends live in dorms, and they don’t allow animals. It looks like I might actually have to take him to a shelter after all.”

“No!” Kurt thinks fast when he imagines this poor kitten, stuck in a cage, shivering in the cold, alone with no one in the world to love and care for it. Kurt hasn’t been to a shelter before, so that’s actually probably the furthest thing from the truth, but it’s the first image that pops into his mind, and it sticks. “No, don’t do that! You know, my roommate and I have been discussing getting a cat ...”

“Really?” Blaine asks, his eyes lighting up.

“Sure.” Kurt bites his lower lip – something he does when he fibs, he’d recently discovered. But it’s not entirely a lie. He and Rachel had discussed it. She wanted to get a cat for the loft, name it Macavity, and make it their mascot. On holidays, she envisioned the three of them wearing coordinating outfits and performing festive musical numbers from the fire escape for their neighbors, whom she was certain would appreciate the whimsy. Kurt, on the other hand, said that any animal that pooped in an open box of sand had no business being in their home. But he’s not completely repulsed by the thought of a feline companion, to curl up beside him on the sofa during rainy days, or on his bedspread while he watched his late night Judy Garland marathons. This adorable munchkin, with his freckled nose and his melodious meow, might be just the cat to change his mind.

Besides, it came with the added bonus of a smitten former owner, who might be persuaded to stop by every once in a while.

“Plus, if you let me take this little guy home with me, then, you know, you could come by and visit him whenever you want.”

Blaine looks blankly at Kurt, and Kurt wonders if Blaine thought that last comment was too forward. Or maybe he has no clue who Kurt is, the way Kurt originally suspected.  

“You might not remember me,” Kurt says, swallowing his pride. It takes a rather large gulp to get it all down. “I go to NYADA, too. My name’s …”

“Kurt,” Blaine fills in.

“You---you know my name?” Kurt chuckles, shocked at hearing this man call him, unprompted, by name. Suddenly, Kurt remembers he’s in uniform. He puts a hand over the name sewn on his shirt.

“Oh,” he says. “I almost forgot. It’s on my …”

“Your name is Kurt Hummel,” Blaine interrupts. “You got into NYADA with an audition Carmen Tibideaux sprang on you during the Winter Showcase, probably because she knew you would blow everyone away. But that was your second audition, if I’m not mistaken.” Kurt feels himself blush at Blaine spouting off this information, as if he’s been composing the history of Kurt’s time at NYADA. “You also recently won Midnight Madness against your roommate, Rachel Berry - not that she stood half a chance, if I do say so myself. Yes, Kurt, I know exactly who you are.”

“Well, I …” Kurt stutters, then settles for dumbstruck silence. And to think he wasn’t sure that Blaine even knew he existed. “Alrighty then. So … what do you think?”

“I’ll need to take a look at your home environment before I make my decision. You know, to make sure it’s feline friendly,” Blaine replies, a teasing smile on his face. He takes his wallet out of his pocket one-handed and slips his credit card from the top slot. Kurt can’t stop staring, blown away by the enviable dexterity of his fingers. Blaine hands the card over to Kurt and winks.

He’s a guitarist, Kurt reminds himself. And a pianist … and a violinist.

There may be no limits to what those talented fingers can do ...

“Of---of course.” Kurt takes the card, forgetting that he hasn’t even given Blaine his check yet. “I get off in a few minutes. We can ride the subway together.”

“Sounds great! Thank you so much for offering to take the little guy in. It’s a tremendous relief.”

“You’re welcome,” Kurt says, heading for the register.

“And Kurt?” Blaine’s voice stops Kurt mid-step. “You’re a lifesaver.”

Funny you should say that, Kurt thinks to himself, fiddling with the card in his hand, because you may just be a life ruiner.

[quarantinebreakup412081121]

Day 6: I slept through the night and didn't wake up crying this morning

So that's progress, right??? I think that the Theraflu helped me to kick whatever fever, etc. I had, because now I only feel sadness, not debilitating sickness. Head hurts a little- the way it hurts the day after I've cried intensely about something. I know this feeling because I had it probably weekly when I was with J, and I'd experienced a couple instances of it with R over the past month.

I'm trying to frame R as the bad guy, but it's still hard because I can't forget about all of the good--- because there was SO MUCH GOOD. I'm coming to realize though, that a large amount of the "good" was the face you put on for a person when you first meet and you're trying to get on their good side- even if you're not being 100% you. He did do some bad things, yes, but I keep finding my mind gravitating to the positive memories. That's natural and that happened with J right after we broke up, even though I knew he was 85% shit bag and 10% nice guy and probably 5% lizard person.

So here are some of the things that didn't, as he said "sit right with me" about him; let me know what you think.

1. He drank- like every day- like a couple or a few beers. I rarely drink, but I thought, if he can hold his shit together, we’re still having a good time- it's all good! Then one day, I was bringing up something we'd had a 20 minute conversation about the day before and he had NO IDEA what I was talking about. No recollection. He laughed and said "I was drunk!" I had NO idea because he seemed totally sober and I didn't realize that he'd had however many beers and like an entire large bottle of wine while we were playing video games with his friends. Come to think of it- I think the only times we were together and he wasn't drinking were when he drove here (I mean, I hope he didn't drink before he drove- WITH HIS DOG- over here.) And when we were out for a date day in Raleigh. He did have a couple drinks at lunch, but that's reasonable.  Any time he had a long day or something difficult happened- his first comment was about how he needed a drink.  I wish he’d sometimes just talked about some of those things instead of handling it with alcohol all the time.  That’s not healthy for anyone and eventually it will take its toll.

2. He drove tired. It was to see me (a 1 hour drive,) which I appreciated, but I'd have rather come to him or seen him a little less frequently if it meant he'd only drive when fully rested. Once again-- he had his dog with him every time, so he was putting them both-- and others-- at risk! This bothered me and I think it bothered him that I was bothered by it. He said he'd fallen asleep- like dozed off for a couple seconds- driving all the time and it was fine... 🤔🤔🤔 That's very much not okay.

3. He texted while driving. He said it's fine and he's okay and it's not a big deal. It stressed me out. Once again, I think he was bothered that I was bothered by him putting everyone in the car (plus others) at risk by driving distracted. But he's a cop and former military (and a white American man) so I guess there is that piece of him that believes he's above the law and he can just do what he wants.

4. He would not talk about his previous sexual partners- not a number, not anything, and he was adamant about it. I didn't like that; I didn't need details, I just wanted to have an idea of how many people he'd been with before me.  I just wanted to know that he was taking us seriously enough to talk about real life stuff like that.

5. He would not make our relationship official. We "dated exclusively" for 5 months and then he ghosted me.  And I was the one who asked him if we were exclusive during our first month because I assumed we were, but then I thought I should say it and get verbal confirmation before I ended up in a situation where I was dating someone who was dating other people because we’d never officially established those boundaries.

6. He wouldn't add me on social media because he "hardly used it." That was a gigantic red flag and I intentionally ignored it because he seemed genuine and it seemed like something silly to make a big deal of-- but I should have made it a big deal.  It didn’t sit 100% right with me, but I figured, not everybody is into social media and I don’t want to make it out to be a bigger thing than it was.  But what I realize now is that since it wasn’t a big deal, the fact that he was fighting against it was a sign that he was trying to hide something from me.

7. The only time he did a "weekend getaway" type of thing was when we were going to go to the beach a month after we first met. He was going to pick me up, we'd go to the beach for a few days and stay at a hotel there together. Then he said the person who was going to dog sit while we were gone had just lost their parent so they couldn't do it anymore, but he'd ask some other people. He said everyone he asked was unavailable, so he cancelled the hotel and said we could go to the beach for just the day and then do a Raleigh date- Disney Store, Build A Bear, cheesecake, sushi, etc. instead on the following day. But he's still be stealing me for the weekend. These were the first nights we spent together. After our Raleigh date, which included Disney Store (yay!) but no build a bear because the line was too long, and picking up cheesecake to go, we went to a different place to eat than originally planned because the restaurant wait was 2 hours. When we got back to his place, we watched TV and he gave me wine- I had a couple glasses- and those hit me pretty hard because I am a lightweight lol. I knew we were going to have our first time that night. It wasn't discussed, I just kind of knew, and he did, too... We had been building up to it so it wasn’t out of nowhere.  And I was ready- and I wanted to- so there was no issue with that. But looking back, I can't help but feel like he was trying to get some alcohol in me so I’d be more likely to go with it. He did not force anything on me at all, I could have stopped it at any time if that’s what I wanted, but I was totally aware and did what I wanted to do-- this still doesn't change his motivation for doing what he did and that on its own just doesn't "sit right with me." Also, it's convenient how he never sent me the hotel info before the trip got cancelled, and how everybody was unavailable, and how he was able to cancel the hotel so close to the time as well as the aquarium reservation (that I think you had to pay for.) Not saying any of this isn't what happened; it just seems really odd.

8. He would tell me the same stories again and again. I noticed him do it with his friends, too. And they'd just kind of laugh along- as if that's something they're used to. Had he already done some damage to his brain? I was concerned about that, for him and for me, but I figured, it's a quirk. I can deal with it.

9. He would always shit talk kids. Like he really disliked kids. He didn't want to go to the pool if there were "screaming kids" there. He said he did an escape room and there were kids there who ruined the experience. He talked about living with his ex (for many years) and how he got along okay with her kids but was closer with the toddler than the one in school. How do you LIVE with a person for years and then move out, but continue to date on and off, and just kind of get along okay with their kids?  And when he met my best friend and her husband and daughter, he was so great with her!  Didn’t even skip a beat talking to her and playing card games with her.  But I guess that’s all part of his ability to act like the “good guy” when he has to.  That makes more sense now.

10. The story of how he got his dog. The day we met he said as part of his sheriff dept rotation he had to work at the animal shelter and he ended up meeting Luna falling in love with her so brought her home with him. Couple months later, he's telling a story about it and said that it was his ex who wanted to get Luna and he only brought her with him after he moved out because Luna couldn't stay in the house alone with the cat and it was better for her to be with him where she didn't have to be crated all the time. So that was a good way to handle it, but that's definitely not the story I was told about him and his bond with Luna. He absolutely loves her more than anything now, but that's just something that there's no need to lie about?

11. He didn't like taking pictures. He said he didn't like his smile. I liked his smile; I still like his smile. It's cute and sweet and him and I always loved seeing it. But I get it, everyone has their issues with themselves. I told him I loved taking pics and that I was just taking them for me- they wouldn't be posted anywhere. He obliged a couple times for selfies and Snapchat filtered pics, but I could tell he didn't want to, so I wouldn't ask- and when we were at his friends' wedding party, there was a lovely floral setup and I wanted a pic together, and he saw the pic I took there by myself and asked if I wanted one of us there together, but I thought I should say no, so that if be compromising with the photo taking and his dislike of photos. I said, do you want a pic? And he said he never wanted to take pics, did I want a pic? And I said it's alright, he'd already been in another pic with me earlier. I was clearly disappointed and he should have just said-- it's fine, give ********* your phone and let's get one. But he said okay and we never got it. And if I had to do that kind of thing forever, I would have absolutely hated it.

12. When we met, he said he wanted to go to Disney with me, and that even though he gets motion sickness, he'd take Dramamine and go on rides with me and he'd be fine. Then another time he said if I could convince his other couple friends to go, me and the girl could go on rides and he and the guy could wait for us and drink 🤦🏽‍♀️. Then another time he said that he probably wouldn't much fun at the parks because he couldn't do anything. I never even asked him again-- these were just things he was bringing up to back out. Disney is my life and if my partner can't- or won't- do park trips with me, what's the point???

13. He said he loved the beach and used to love there and that he goes all the time. Then I told him I love the beach, too! He said that as a school resource officer, it was easy to get time off during the summer when school wasn't in session. I waited. We never went to the beach. He took one day off all summer and that was because his friend came over to spend Friday night with him before a card game competition on Saturday. I only benefited from part of that because I drove up Thursday night (through the worst storm of the year) and we went to the pool for a couple hours on Friday. I thought he did it for me, for us to spend time together... But it turns out, he didn't. He just fit me into something that was already in the works.

14. He didn't have any pet names for me, he didn't really ever compliment me outside of a few times when we first met, or the occasional, "I like those shoes/that dress/your hair like that." He didn't greet me through text with cutesy things, just a couple times when he said "what's cookin good lookin?" And that was it.

15. Presents- this isn't about physical presents, but rather about thoughtfulness and effort being reciprocated. The only presents he ever gotten me were two Build-A-Bears when we were at the mall another time, after the first date BAB plans fell through. We were walking around and the line wasn't super long, so I kind of pushed to go and he tried to avoid it, sort of, but gave in. I got a brown bear with a Captain America suit and R's voice saying "I'm Captain Falcon, huhu." He'd gotten confused once and called Falcon & Winter Soldier Captain Falcon, so that was a little joke we shared. And the laugh was just a cute and silly laugh he'd do. It was adorable. Also got a mermaid bear with a shiny beachy dress because she was as sassy and extra as me! It was so sweet and so fun and I just thought, this is real- I've found someone who gets and accepts me without judgement.

I had given him a matching St. Patrick's day shirt- we wore those together. I special ordered custom "pea in a pod #1" (him) and "pea in a pod #2" (me) shirts because he always said we're two peas in a pod. I tried to get him to wear it, but he said he was saving it for another time and that we'd get pics in them and then it was forgotten and we never wore them together. I took mine every time I visited; it was a staple in my overnight duffel.

I gave him a Grape Soda Ellie Badge Pin (from Pixar's Up) to show him how much I really liked him. I sent him cards in the mail. I got him a huge candle- like a nice $30 candle- because he always had candles lit around his apartment. I got him a beach/pool towel because he would just use a regular bath towel when he went out to the pool. He said he liked mint tea, so I got him a large Epcot Starbucks mug and a container of Starbucks Mint Tea. I gave Luna multiple bags of dog treats and a couple bandanas. I gave him a nice blanket to lay on the couch so Luna could sit on the couch without messing it up- because before that he wasn't letting her on the couch because he said it would ruin the couch. My mom made meals and sent them at least 4 or 5 times. I made cheesecake- his favorite dessert- more times than I can count and took it for him. I also made rice pudding for him when he mentioned that he liked rice pudding. Anything he mentioned or anything I noticed- I was on top of it because I wanted to do things to show him I was listening and I cared. I already had a Christmas present for him and a couple presents for his friends.  They’re still up in my closet. I know he wanted the next Mario Party game for Switch so I was going to get it for him for his birthday, along with a new pair of Crocs because he showed me how his were wearing out at the bottom, but he still kept wearing them. I'm also not working right now and he is working- so if $ is a factor- it's harder on my end for this stuff. I never got flowers- even just a couple. He made dinners for me, but I made dinners for him too. He'd buy us Taco Bell sometimes, but it wasn't like a thoughtful gesture type of thing. I guess he isn't a card writer, so that would have been too much to expect... I always talked about my interests and passions and things that I enjoyed- so I would have been super easy to surprise with something- anything! Maybe like a cupcake from the cupcake shop down the road from him that would be closed by the time I'd arrive in town when I was visiting him. I didn't need anything huge, but he just isn't that type of person- not with me. He'd tell me how he went to this place or that place, because his ex wanted to go to a certain place for New Year's, so they went, or she wanted to check out somewhere else, so they went. And it hurt that I was getting a different side of him than she got- especially considering this was so early on and this was probably the best I'd get from him. One day I noticed that Luna's tags were never updated, so they still had R's number and his ex's number as contacts. I popped her # into Facebook and found her. She seems nice. I wouldn't know. The kids seem like regular kids. She's white. I think I already knew that though. I guess I'm 2 for 2 on being given less than I deserve by a man because I'm brown. It's f*cking hurtful.

16. He didn't brush his teeth after waking up; he'd eat first and that's just something I'm not a fan of. It's like a pet peeve of mine, and I refuse to kiss someone in the morning before we have both brushed our teeth. I did it one time-- I'd already brushed my teeth because I HATE morning breath. He hadn't. We were messing around I guess, and for some reason I just did it. Never again.

17. I never slept through the night with him in his bed. Maybe that was my subconscious telling me something was wrong and I shouldn't be there, but try as I might, I never could. We switched sides once, that helped some, but I was still up throughout the night. I took Benadryl to make me drowsy, it just made me sick. I took Melatonin; it didn't help. I had wine before bed once, it didn't help.  I guess my body was never going to acclimate to it because it was fighting its way out of something it knew it shouldn't be in.

18. He insisted I sign the wedding frame with him at his friends' wedding party (that's what his friends had instead of a guest book.) I told him he should just do it by himself, but he insisted. This seemed like he was telling me that he wanted us to be long term and that I'd be a part of his life and his friends' life for a while. He gave me hope and intentionally/unintentionally misled me into believing that everything was great and that he thought we were a good fit. He did this until he hit me with "I don't think we're a good match" and disappeared. Who pulls a 180 like that?? Rather, what kind of functional adult does something like that? Answer: they don't.

19. He didn't like stand up comedy. None of it, not at all. He said it's too forced. What the hell does that even mean. Everyone likes standup????

20. He wouldn't plan things, because he said his mom would plan vacations and other things down to the hour and that ruined trips for them-- okay I get that. And he has really intense and negative feelings toward his mother- they don't even speak. A lot happened in his family and he has his reasons. He told me about that stuff and it all made sense and he needs to handle those things in a way that's best for him. But he never stuck to plans with us. Everything was always changing. It was stressful to expect to go to the beach and aquarium and then hear, oh were going to the mall instead and tomorrow we'll do that. Then tomorrow it would be, oh we missed the aquarium window so we're just going to go to the beach. Then on the way to the beach, he pulls into a zoo parking lot and now we're at the zoo. This is too much crazy for me and if this is how he does everything... I can't handle it long term.  Or he would say we were going to do things- long term and short term, small things and big things- and I’d get excited about them, but then they’d just never happen and he;d make no effort to make them happen.

21. He's really wasteful. It's kind of a side effect of living along as a single guy and trying to be efficient. He tosses like a few things into the wash or the dryer, doesn't wait for a full load. One time I'm pretty sure he put in two towels and that was it. He only uses his dishwasher, but used almost as much water to rinse off the dishes before he loaded them in the dishwasher as he would to just wash them. He throws out recyclables (not his fault, the apartment is only collecting trash since the pandemic started.) But instead of using like a Brita filter, he just buys shit tons of bottled water.

22. All of his meals consist of the same basic group of foods. Cut up turkey sausage, turkey bacon (half of the time burnt- not crispy, BURNT,) eggs, hot sauce, wonton strips, salad, wontons, beyond meat/shrimp tacos. I didn't love the tacos, but they were the first thing he made me (our first date at his place) and he was so excited about them that I couldn't not love them. He made them again when I met his dad.

23. He wore one of two pairs of shoes all the time. He wore solid polos and khaki shorts or pants anytime we went out. At home, it was athletic shorts and an old Hanes t-shirt (usually a white one, sometimes a black one.) I understand comfort but like... He never tried to look nice for me and I always had multiple outfits with me just in case. He did wear the St. Patrick's day shirt I got for him a couple times.

24. I think he was genuinely bothered by my celebrity crush on Chris Evans. And this isn’t like how I used to be kind of jealous of Taylor Swift when my ex was obsessed with her-- because I knew he was never going to pursue her or walk up to her on the street and leave me for her.  Obviously the same goes for Chris Evans.  I'm not even going to say anything else about this because it's ridiculous.

25. When we met he said he was respectful of people's passions and the things they like because why wouldn't you be? We even talked about how my ex looked down on me for the things I enjoyed.  But I really do feel like he wasn't about my love of Disney or Concerts or beach time... You can never trust men in the beginning. They all just lie until they get what they want and then you see true colors.  Why not support the passions of someone you care about?  What does that take away from you?

To be continued... I need to make myself eat something. Fever didn't come back today so hopefully it's done for real now.

[hellomissmabel]

Nothing under 7 inches (2)

MASTERLIST

Pairing: Baker!Bucky x reader

Warnings: Mentions of a sugar daddy/baby relationship. Mentions of sex but nothing NSFW. Mentions of disease. It’s also unedited haha

Word count: 3k

Summary: Bucky is a baker in Y/N’s hometown and with her mother’s birthday right around the corner, he’s excited to see her again. Y/N however doesn’t plan on staying for too long and aims to return to the city life, a dirty little secret getting in the way of her love life.

A/N: My prompt was “cottage”. This fic is written for @soldatbarnes her writing challenge.

Series masterlist can be found here

Previously

“So turns out you’re not such a nun after all,” the redhead grins wickedly. “Who was that, hm?” Your lips move to deny her statement but she instantly shuts you down. “Don’t you dare lie to my face, Y/N. I know what I heard. You’ve got a man on the side, haven’t you? A sugar daddy. And that’s why you never date.”

“Nat,” you address her in a warning tone, worried she’ll jump to incorrect conclusions. “Before you say anything else, would you please let me explain?”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she nods softly. “I’m listening.”

She closes the front door behind her, stepping inside the hallway so your conversation is more private. “First of all, I am not a prostitute or an escort. If that’s what you’re thinking, you’re so wrong. But that man you saw, he’s some kind of benefactor to me. Some people would call him a sugar daddy, but I’d rather not use that term.”

Natasha squints her eyes at you but doesn’t say anything – yet. Taking a deep breath, you continue in a hushed voice. “Tony and I met at a party. Sharon had set me up with this guy, Sam Wilson. We were supposed to go for a drink at a bar but ended up at a frat party instead. Turns out Sam was more interested in getting to know the hostess than me. So I sat down at the bar and ordered myself a drink, waiting for a reply from Sharon.”

“I was about to leave when Tony came up to me and offered to buy me another drink. I wanted to refuse but there was something about him… I just couldn’t say no. So we had a couple drinks and afterward he asked his driver to take me home. I woke up to a delivery of two dozen red roses from Tony.”

Natasha rolls her eyes at this and makes a gagging noise, not one to fall for grand romantic gestures. “He took me to dinner, and after dinner came lunch and after lunch there was breakfast. Like I said, there was just something about him that intrigued me. I thought I had found a man where I could really tick all the boxes.”

“But you were wrong.” Nat purses her lips and gives you a sour look. “Surprise, surprise.”

You didn’t feel the need to tell Natasha the whole story, but she kept digging and prying, giving you no other option but to share it with her after all. “We had rented a hotel room for the night. The next morning, room service knocked on my door and Tony was nowhere to be found. The hotel bill had been paid already and there was a note and a check on the bedside table… for services rendered.”

The redhead scrunches up her nose in disgust. “Such an asshole!”

You tell her to keep her voice down, holding a finger to your lips. “I called him for an explanation, demanding he’d talk to me face to face. So we met up at the same bar we first met.”

“Let me guess,” Natasha hijacks your clarification, “He just used you for sex.”

Giving her a hard glare, you ignore her comment. “No,” you reply harshly through gritted teeth, getting frustrated by Nat’s tendency to jump the gun all too eagerly. “He told me about his divorce and how he found out his now ex-wife had hired a girl, an escort to seduce him so she could divorce him on grounds of infidelity and ask for more money. He thought I was that girl. Later he found out that his wife only said that to anger him.”

“Still, what happened really hurt me and I didn’t feel like continuing the relationship. But Tony wanted to give us another shot… He had already fallen for me and thought he could buy my love with expensive gifts and such. At first I let him because I really needed the money, and I still do.”

You look down at your feet, a guilty expression etching your face with the shame that bubbles up in your chest. “That’s how we came to our present arrangement…”

“You have sex with him in exchange for money?” Natasha hits the nail right on its head.

You confirm with a slight nod of your head, accompanied by a heavy sigh. “Tony… despite his flirtatious nature… I believe he really does love me.”

Your answer is met with a scoff. “Love? A guy like that doesn’t know what love is.”

“I need the money, Nat.” You gently rest your hand on her shoulder. “I have student loans to pay off and medical bills and…”

“Yeah, yeah,” Natasha sighs, getting a little fed up by your need to clear your name. But as soon as you mention medical bills, you’ve grasped her attention again. “Medical bills? I know about your student loans, but I thought your parents were helping you with those?”

Eying her awkwardly, you cough once to voice your uneasiness with the subject. Yet Natasha isn’t one to let you get off the hook that easy. “Come on, Y/N. You’ve already told me this much…”

“I – I -,” you stutter in an attempt to find the courage to speak plainly. “I am…,” you swallow thickly. “I’m sick, Nat. I have sickle cell disease.”

The redheads eyes soften at your words, her arms enveloping you in a comforting hug while she whispers soothing, sweet nothings in your ear. “I got it from my father,” you mumble into the fabric of her shirt. “And my kid will most likely get it, too.”

Coming face to face with your roommate again, she stares into your eyes with a puzzled expression, like she is debating something in the clever head of hers. Or plotting. You never know with Nat. “I won’t tell anyone, Y/N. I won’t do that to you.”

“Thank, Nat. I appreciate it,” you exhale in relief.

“But,” she continues and you dread what’s coming next, “You gotta stop seeing that guy. I’m sure there are other ways to pay for your medical expenses. You don’t need a sugar daddy. You don’t need him.”

“Nat,” you whine softly, distancing yourself from her. “I know. Just one more party on Friday and then I’m done.”

“Sounds like you have a busy weekend ahead,” Natasha comments dryly, clearly not amused. “Your trip home, the party, your dinner date with Steve. Yeah, I heard,” she adds matter-of-factly, marking the end of your conversation. “Sharon has a very loud voice.”

Your friend reaches for the door knob to enter the apartment again and you follow right behind her. She goes straight back to the couch to finish up on her article and you head back to your room where Sharon is still waiting for you, bored out of her mind.

“What took  you so long!,” she practically yells at you, throwing her phone on the bed as dramatically as she can to make her point.

“I’m sorry. Just a guy from work handing over some paperwork. He’s really chatty.”

Sharon doesn’t question it any further and goes back to scrolling on her phone. You look over her shoulder and see she’s checking out guys on Tinder again, but when you want to make a comment about it, she shuts you down at once.

“Look who we have here,” she coos as she shows you the picture on the screen of her phone. It’s a pic of Steve and as she wiggles her eyebrows at you, she secretly swipes right.

“Steve’s on Tinder?,” you gasps as you open your closet, prompting a giggle from your friend’s lips. “How scandalous…” You go back to selecting a couple of clothes that you’re sure you want to take with you, too busy to notice her gloating when she finds out it’s a match, your attention focused on packing your suitcase.

Bucky waits for you at the train station, casually leaning against his car as he watches you get off the train and run towards him, right into his arms. “Hi there, doll,” he greets you with that one pet name you’ve always loved so much. It’s a pleasure to hear your name roll off his tongue, but you can’t resist the warm and fuzzy feeling that erupts in your tummy when he calls you doll.

He’s just as you remember. That same brown hair brushing his shoulders ever so slightly, those same baby blues that can pierce your heart like an ice pick, and a mild scruff dusting his razor sharp jawline. “I’ve missed you, Buck.”

“Likewise.” His breath fans your cheek as he presses a tender kiss to your skin, smelling like cookie dough and sugar, a dash of flour on his plaid shirt. “You haven’t changed a bit.”

The brunet picks up your luggage and puts it in the trunk of his car, opening the door to the passenger side for you. He rushes to the other side and slides into his car, revving the engine for added effect. He’s still a bit of a show-off too, you see.

The car ride home is filled with light banter and a lot of catching up. Bucky tells you that his bakery has been getting a lot more attention, people coming from all around to taste his marvellous white chocolate cheesecake. You tell Bucky you finally managed to get a job in graphic design for a company that specialises in coming up with, creating and designing advertisements.

“Seems you made it big in the Big Apple,” he whistles lowly, impressed by your achievements.

“I can say the same for you, Buck. Why haven’t you moved to a bigger city yet? You’re so talented! And it’s a shame to deprive the world of your heavenly pastries!”

Bucky’s grip on the wheel tightens. “Nah, I’m good here. This is where I belong,” is his answer.

What follows is a short silence, your nerves tested by Bucky’s reluctance to start another conversation. You have no clue why this struck such a sensitive nerve, but you decide to drop it anyway. “So… what kind of cake have you made for my mom?”

“Raspberry chocolate cake,” he chuckles softly. “She didn’t want anything with too much chocolate.”

You burst into a fit of hearty laughter, giggling at your mother’s ridiculous reasoning. “Let me guess, the raspberries make it healthy?”

He smirks and gazes over to you, promptly taking your hand in his and squeezing it affectionately. “God, I’ve missed the sound of your laugh.”

You don’t know how to react to his sudden touch, so you pull back your hand after a little hesitation. Bucky is surprised by your reaction and puts his hand back on the wheel, shifting gears when he reaches a red light and stops the motor.

“I’m sorry. It’s just…”

“It’s fine, Y/N,” he sighs as he leans the back of his head against the head rest.  “I shouldn’t have… I guess some part of me still thinks we’re together.”

Turning your head to look outside, you focus your eyes on anything but the man sitting next to you, deflecting his words and banning all memories from your mind. “I need you to drive me back Thursday evening, not Friday morning. It’s okay if you can’t, I’ll just take the train back again.”

“No,” he quickly replies, “I’ll drive you back. Why you need to be back in New York so soon?”

You shrug, humming quietly as you see your parents’ house pop up in the distance. “A boring office party. I have to go because I’m up for promotion and I wanna make a good impression.”

Parking the car outside the house, Bucky takes a couple more minutes to just look at you, cupping your cheek so you’re looking back at him, too. You don’t say anything, your lips don’t move and your mind stop reeling for just those few seconds. But it feels like an eternity, an eternity of Bucky.

“I promised myself I wouldn’t fall in love with you again,” Bucky whispers eventually, smiling sadly at the girl in front of him. “But I guess I never fell out of love with you in the first place.”

Tagging: @avengerofyourheart @a-little-hell-to-raise @marvelingatthewonder @mrshopkirk @hardcorehippos @knittingknerdy @winterboobaer @italwaysendsinafightt @viollettes @hymnofthevalkyrie @feelmyroarrrr @justareader @austinamelio @volklana @howlingbarnes @themcuhasruinedme @theoneandonlysaucymo @caplansteverogers @amrita31199 @emilyevanston @minervaem @howlingbarnes @buchananbarnestrash @youandb @you-and-bucky @fvckingsteverogers @thatawkwardtinyperson @barnes-heaven @that-sokovian-bastard @abovethesmokestacks @marvelrevival @marvel-fanfiction @justanotherbuckydevotee @barnes-heaven @heartmade-writingbucky @buckyywiththegoodhair @captnbarnesrogers @its-not-a-phase-hux @melconnor2007 @ivvitm1109 @toofuckinfabulous @ailynalonso15 @hollycornish @delicatecapnerd @camigt1999 @learisa @curlyexpat @palaiasaurus64 @fanndas-snow-goddess @crisssivonne @yourenotrogers @tomhollandzs @supernaturaldean65 @beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep @aletheladyinred @tessiethompson @xbergiex @reniescarlett @promarvelfangirl @capbuckybuchanan @lovemarvelousfics @yknott81 @rrwilson66 @pegasusdragontiger @salty-holographic-stickers @sammyissassy @sebstanchrisevanchickforever19 @kudosia @bellejeunefillesansmerci @lumelgy @mizzzpink @southernbellestatues @daringtodreamawake @neurotic-narwhal @cokamarie24 @blue1928 @movingonto-betterthings @breezy1415 @isnt-the-blog-youre-looking-for @jesspfly @weenie-butt @debzybrazy @fuckingchaotic  @always-an-evans-addict @petersunderroos  @thegreentgirl @nedthegay @eve1978 @yourtropegirl @4theluvofall @lostinthoughtsandfeelings @pineapplebooboo @curvybihufflepuff @thefridgeismybestie @supernatural508

Series tag list: @buckyappreciationsociety @alexaduke @incoherentsmiles

Strikethrough means Tumblr wouldn’t let me tag you!

[traincat]

what do you personally dislike about Slott's ASM? also do you know how he has been the main writer for so long? It feels like marvel should have switched it up

This turned out so long, sorry, anon.

I don’t know the circumstances that have led to Slott’s extremely long run on Amazing Spider-Man, but I do feel it’s long past time to switch it up for a number of reasons, and frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t chose Legacy as the perfect time to bring in a new writer. I’ve got two bones to pick with Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man, and one is a couple of personal experiences I’ve had that centered around Superior Spider-Man (importantly, they’re both scenes involving the run’s treatment of women) and then just a general note on why his Peter Parker voice doesn’t work for me, personally. I have liked other comics by Slott, for the record.

The personal experiences first:

I’ve witnessed Slott harass a friend of mine on social media over a comment on a frankly awful panel in Superior Spider-Man, saying that they shouldn’t criticize Otto’s actions because he was “on a journey.” This kind of behavior is apparently not an isolated incident where he’s involved, but I should note that my friend was at the time very young (I can’t remember if they were 18, but quite possibly they were younger). I believe it was made obvious to him at one point that he was arguing with a teenager, but I can’t recall for sure. I do know they did not tag him in their criticism. But most importantly, this is the panel they were discussing:

For those unaware, Superior Spider-Man was a storyline where Doctor Octopus bodyjacked Peter and intended to live his life as Peter and as Spider-Man. Nobody knew that Peter had been replaced. 

Otto’s thought boxes are positioned over Mary Jane’s dialogue, effectively silencing her, and not only is HIS gaze clearly fixed on her breasts, but the reader is essentially forced to stare at them, too. I don’t know how the average man feels looking at this panel, but I can say, as a woman, it 100% feels like the comic is creepily staring at my boobs and I’m not cool with that. This is not a fun cheesecake page, embracing Mary Jane as a confident, sexually attractive woman – it’s treating her like a piece of meat. If this was intended to be funny, I’m sorry, but the joke is bad. Even if we were to say Otto was “on a journey” to become a better person and that his behavior in the first issue is not indicative of who he’ll become so he shouldn’t be judged on it – which, currently, he’s in a Peter clone body, being all sad because his Parker Industries coup failed and the woman he lied to and seduced using Peter’s identity doesn’t want to date him, so I guess the last stop on the train was Disgusting Man Valley – it’s still a page where a man infiltrates a woman’s private life using the body of one of the closest people to her and then ignores her voice to stare at her breasts. (Make no mistake: Otto was explicitly and aggressively trying to trick her into bed using Peter’s identity. Later, when he realized he could access Peter’s memories, he replayed Peter’s sexual encounters with Mary Jane. I don’t like any stop on this journey, guys.)

The “journey”, I suspect, was meant to refer to Ock’s growing feelings towards Anna Maria Marconi, but that just highlights another set of problems I have: Mary Jane, a beautiful model turned entrepreneur, is ultimately deemed by Otto as “unacceptable” for someone of Peter’s intellect, and cast aside in favor Anna Maria, who works in STEM, can cook like an Italian grandmother, and who is pretty but not conventionally desirable. It would be one thing for the character to do this, but Slott did once say that Otto was better at appreciating “real beauty” than Peter, and that Peter’s love for Mary Jane was “anti-Marvel”, because Mary Jane’s “superficially beautiful”, implying that she lacks inner beauty and ignoring the canon fact that Mary Jane’s moral center has always been stronger than Peter’s. This disregard for Mary Jane solely because she’s pretty continues in a scene where Mary Jane gets all dressed up and goes to meet a new guy she’s interested in, only to get pushed into the mud before he sees her. While humor via humiliation is common in Slott’s Spider-Man, I don’t really think I need to elaborate on why a scene all about taking a woman who is confident in her appearance and sexuality down a peg leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I really dislike how often Mary Jane is disregarded by fans because she’s “a shallow male fantasy” (please read comics) so to say that Peter loving her is anti-Marvel is just, like, no. 

More under the cut.

(It’s also out of character for Mary Jane not to realize Peter’s not Peter, considering she outfoxed (and then bludgeoned) the Chameleon and can pick Peter out from among his clones:

but for the sake of Superior’s deceit, I can let this go. The Superior Spider-Man scene where she sits in a burning building waiting for Spider-Man to come save her, The Most Out Of Character Mary Jane Scene Of All Time, I cannot.)

So there’s just, generally, the treatment of Mary Jane in Superior Spider-Man, as well as his reaction to a criticism of it. Then there’s an encounter with a male Spider-Man fan I had which, while this isn’t a direct criticism of Slott’s work, I do think it ties into the way women are treated in it, especially within the body of Superior Spider-Man.

So I used to cosplay, and one time I went to a big outdoor shoot with a bunch of friends and friends’ friends and some photographers, etc, and afterwards we all crowded into a big diner booth together, Jersey style, and this guy I don’t know starts chatting me up. (I guess he missed the memo about superficial beauty.) And it’s a cosplay thing, so like, we’re all nerds, and somehow we start talking about Spider-Man. And this guy rushes to tell me he is loving Superior Spider-Man. Do you know what he just can’t wait to tell me he loved about Superior Spider-Man? He loves that Doc Ock punched Felicia Hardy in the face. “That was awesome,” he told me, referring to a scene where Felicia comes across Spider-Man and, not knowing it’s Ock in there, initiates some playful banter, which he responds to by punching her in the face hard enough to knock a tooth out. Because he’s the Superior Spider-Man! And obviously that’s ~superior~ to what “shallow” Peter would have done, which was most likely engage in consensual sex with Felicia, because they’re both adults who enjoy having sex with each other. Did Dan Slott hold a gun to that guy’s head and make him tell me how awesome and funny it is when men violently assault women in fiction? No, but he did write a scene that it’s possible to interpret as glorifying said assault. At the very least, it does not condemn it.

Dating tip, guys: when talking to a girl for the first time, please don’t tell her how cool and funny you think violence against women is. (Actually, if you find it cool and funny, please be upfront about that, so she can get out of there and never talk to you again.)

Ugh. You guys. I do not like how this title treats women. I don’t like how other Slott titles treat women, although they’re less egregious about it, because at least when Peter Parker is in control of his body and the title you’re forced as a writer to deal with the fact that, while Peter canonically is real enthusiastic about sex with women, the character does actually like, respect women as human beings. Slott has also fridged several important Spider-Man women, notably both Dr. Ashley Kafka and Marla Jameson – both professional women. I love Cindy Moon and I love what other writers have done with the concept of someone who spent ten years locked away in a bunker, but I’m not actually sure Cindy’s introduction needed to be about a woman who was locked in a box since she was a teenager, you feel me?

My issues with Slott’s Peter characterization are entirely a matter of personal taste. I’ve already mentioned that I don’t love humor via embarrassment or humiliation, but I really, really don’t like it. And Slott uses it a lot – his conception of Spider-Man as a funny superhero involves Peter being the butt of a lot of jokes, instead of Peter just… being funny. I also find that his Peter lacks an edge. This is also my problem with Bendis’ Peter, though I feel Bendis nails the rhythm of Peter’s banter better than Slott does, and his dialogue-heavy writing is a good fit. Also, he knows Peter’s Jewish. But like, for instance, you have an iteration of Peter who was only ever written by Bendis in Ultimate Peter! And he’s a good boy! He is! I care about him so much less than 616 Peter. This is related to my dissatisfaction with Homecoming, where he was completely toothless and the narrative went out of its way to point out how NOT scary he was. I’m sorry, but a teenage boy who can punch through concrete no big deal is actually always going to be at least a little scary – instead of rejecting that fact, I’d rather explore how Peter makes himself gentle as he grows up, and how he struggles to be as good and as moral as Spider-Man is, and when he leans into that threatening nature. I want that struggle, and that relationship with violence, throw in some Spider-Man as a predatory animal metaphors okay at this point I should note that the modern Spider-Man writer whose voice for him I like the very best is J. Michael Straczynski’s. You can see what I’m talking about in this scene, for example:

He’s completely gentle with Mary Jane – but when Tony gets in his way to keep him from going after a paparazzo (Tony wouldn’t know this, but Peter once threatened to rip a sleazy photographer’s head off after he called Mary Jane cheap, so y’know, trying to get him to calm down is reasonable), Peter’s reaction is hostile – threatening to forcibly move him, the clenched fists, etc. (One of my big Peter characterization rules is you can’t write how he interacts with other people the same as the way he interacts with his family.) He also just tossed Wolverine out a window, so.

“You were chosen for your rage” ooooh Mr. Stracyznski, tell me more. This sounds like I am joking no 10000% give me more of Peter shirtless and beating up the Kingpin. His freaking murder polo:

Basically, as a reader, I appreciate the depths of Peter’s kindness best when they aren’t necessarily first nature for him. Slott’s Peter doesn’t have that same edge to him. He’s not reining himself in. (There was a Norman vs Peter fist fight and I WAS NOT INTO IT, which should be impossible.)

[mysableeze]

we are all liars

in which eijun and kazuya are both in denial and pining like clueless idiots

“You’re one nasty bastard,” Eijun says.

Kazuya takes the insult completely in stride; it isn’t something new coming from Eijun’s mouth after all. He loops an arm around Eijun’s neck and tugs him closer, pulling Eijun flush against the hard lines of his body. A corner of Kazuya’s mouth twitches when Eijun reflexively struggles against his hold -- though it’s obvious he’s not really putting that much gusto to wrestle away from Kazuya. “Who’s the one asking for extra practice today, hm? Learn to be nicer if you want something, brat.”

“I bought you the stupid salmon onigiri you like this afternoon.” Eijun scowls up at him, his fringe parting in the middle of his forehead and revealing annoyed, brown eyes that were previously partially shielded by his hair. “That’s nice enough.”

“What about my coffee and slice of cheesecake?” Kazuya asks, a lofty lilt in his tone. He continues resting his arm on Eijun’s shoulder, who’s by now given up any semblance of resistance as they make their way to the clubroom. 

Eijun scrunches his face up in distaste. “I’m not part of your fanclub, Miyuki.” 

Kazuya snickers right by Eijun’s ear, and then cleanly dodges a half-hearted swing at his face. “Would have thought you are by now.” 

The corners of his mouth twitch as he attempts to smother his rising amusement at Eijun’s expression of disbelief. “You don’t even like cheesecake!” 

“Fancy you noticing that,” Kazuya remarks, and he doesn’t bother to veil the surprise in his voice. Eijun has never pointed that out before, and Kazuya has never mentioned it. He’s mildly impressed -- Eijun might have some hope after all. He draws Eijun closer to him and reaches to flick Eijun’s forehead mischievously with his free hand. “There really might be something in there.” 

He squeaks, springing away from Kazuya almost immediately, face flushed with indignant anger and one hand clapped over his forehead protectively. Rather absentmindedly, Kazuya thinks Eijun looks rather cute. Like a provoked kitten, maybe, with big round eyes and brown fur standing up on its ends, soft and completely non-threatening. 

“Miyuki Kazuya!” Eijun practically hollers, and Kazuya would’ve been embarrassed if it had been any other time probably, with students still streaming in and out of the gates, but he can’t bring himself to care right now. He ignores the giggles and whispers that he can’t make anything of in the background and lets his amusement slant across his mouth. “Wipe that damned smirk off your face!”

Kazuya tries.

And fails. 

Not that he really tried that hard, anyway. He feels his lips curving into a grin again, and Eijun closes the distance between them with one big stride to prod Kazuya’s chest with his finger rudely. Kazuya hardly feels anything, and he raises both his brows to drive his point. Eijun bristles, definitely annoyed now. “Treat your underclassman with respect!”

“I can’t if he doesn’t extend the same courtesy to me first,” Kazuya drawls, unperturbed by Eijun’s antics.

“Ugh.” Eijun grabs Kazuya by his elbow and pulls him roughly forward to the direction of the clubroom. “Let’s go.” 

Kazuya complies, deciding to take a break from riling Eijun up. He doesn’t want to take it too far, and contrary to popular belief, he does have his limits. 

As they approach the door of the clubroom, Kazuya thinks it’s better to let Eijun know what to expect from today instead of hearing him get all excited about the pitches he’s been dying to try in the equipment room later on. He ends up all disappointed and pout-y for the entire afternoon (and night, if Kazuya’s unlucky) if Kazuya shoots his suggestions flat-down and asks for another pitch instead. 

It isn’t that Kazuya doesn’t appreciate Eijun’s tendency to explore new possibilities, but they can always do those later and prioritize the things they should work on first. 

More importantly, a petulant Sawamura Eijun is a little difficult to deal with. Not that Eijun purposefully shoves it in Kazuya’s face that he feels let-down and all that shit, but because he usually sits near Kazuya (Eijun always accuses him of the same thing, however, and Kazuya oddly can’t tell who’s being truthful here), he can’t help but notice all the little things do when Eijun’s sullen and downtrodden. Like him eating his meal at half his speed and making ugly and hilarious faces when he thinks Kazuya isn’t looking. 

“I think we should do number eleven today. It needs a bit more work before we can put it to test in an actual game.”

“That’s what I have in mind too!” Eijun beams at Kazuya, and that abrupt transition in mood takes Kazuya off-guard and his heart seems to beat a little faster. He clears his throat and digs into his bag for the keys while Eijun waits off the side, humming his favorite band tune under his breath. 

Kazuya feels oddly at peace. 

He finds his keys, maybe just one second slower than he should. Then he feels Eijun tugging on his arm, and when he looks up Eijun is angling his head to the back of the clubroom. Kazuya’s brows knit together in confusion.

“I heard something behind just now,” Eijun explains. “Maybe someone’s waiting for the room to be unlocked too.” 

Kazuya shrugs his shoulders as he unlocks the door. “It’s not unusual. Go call whoever’s out there in and I will go unlock the equipment shed.” Eijun agrees readily and is about to turn when Kazuya grabs Eijun’s bag by its straps, causing Eijun to stumble back in surprise. Kazuya snickers and steadies Eijun by his shoulders. 

“What?!”

“Pass me your bag, brat,” Kazuya says, rolling his eyes. 

"Oh.” Eijun flashes him a bright toothy grin and hands his bag over. “Thanks, Miyuki-senpai!”

Kazuya doesn’t deign him with a response and heads into the room first to place their bags. When he finishes changing, he realizes with a start that it’s far too quiet outside. Frowning, he decides to head for the equipment later and check on Eijun first. 

He leaves the room and turns around the corner, expecting to find Eijun there and is mildly perplexed when he doesn’t. Where did that brat go? He walks further back and hears someone talking -- then laughing -- and cocks his head to the side, curiosity piqued. That sounds like Chris. 

He nearly bumps into Eijun, who’s standing right at the next turn. “What are you doing?” Kazuya asks, unable to keep his exasperation out of his voice. 

“They look good together,” Eijun comments lightly, not looking at Kazuya but at something else straight ahead. There’s something about the way he says it that makes Kazuya stare at Eijun instead. 

Kazuya has always been pretty adept at reading people and it’s an ability he prides himself for. Eijun is one of the easiest people to read for Kazuya, and it makes him easy to be around with because he’s so bluntly honest that it’s refreshing. Perhaps even endearing. But this expression now is something Kazuya has never seen on Eijun’s face. It’s carefully shuttered close, completely void of emotion, and it is at this moment that Kazuya realizes that Eijun chooses to wear his heart on his sleeve.

There’s a swell of quiet admiration and something else, something warm and suffocating, and Kazuya chucks it aside. He follows Eijun’s gaze and everything falls into place. 

Ah. The first thought that crosses Kazuya’s mind is that Eijun’s probably disappointed that Chris won’t have that much time to mentor him any longer. The second thought is annoying, eats away at Kazuya in all the wrong ways and squeezes around his gut unpleasantly. 

“I heard that they are dating.” The information tumbles from his mouth before he even thinks about it, delivered so flatly and coldly that it surprises even Kazuya himself. 

Eijun turns to him now, blinks at Kazuya like he has just realized that he’s here. “Oh. I see.”

Kazuya hates the odd queasiness at his stomach and how sick he feels all of a sudden. He holds Eijun’s gaze nonetheless and feigns nonchalance with a shrug of his shoulder. 

“It’s just a rumor.” Kazuya manages to push the words out of his throat, feels like he has ruined things somehow and he has to make it right. There, that’s right. “You know how speculations regarding Chris-senpai go out of hand.”

“They often don’t go too off the mark.” Eijun’s gaze strays back to Chris and the girl he’s laughing with, seemingly without thinking. Kazuya’s jaw clenches as he attempts to keep his sudden rising temper in check. 

They are both quiet for a moment.

“He looks happy.” Eijun’s voice sounds slightly strangled now when he speaks up this time. “That’s good.” 

But you are not. 

There’s a stiff smile plastered across Eijun’s lips when he looks at Kazuya like he’s waiting for him to agree with him. Kazuya lets his mouth curve upwards, edges soft and sharp at the same time, and it’s definitely more convincing than Eijun’s. 

“You deserve it too,” Kazuya says. Eijun blinks at him owlishly, obviously not expecting that response. Then, realizing that sounds way too weird and disgustingly sappy, Kazuya hastily adds: “Idiot.” 

Eijun stares at Kazuya like he’s trying to figure out a puzzle. 

Kazuya turns away and searches his pocket for the keys as he leaves. They have wasted enough time. He’s not here to spread rumors or witness someone getting their heart broken. He hears Eijun’s footsteps follow after his. “Hurry and change. I will be at the equipment shed.”

“Okay.” Eijun quickens his pace into a light jog ahead of Kazuya. When Kazuya passes the door of the clubroom, he sees Eijun’s hunched back facing the door, shoulders shaking and arm raised to his face.

His chest tightens unbearably and he wrenches his gaze away. This is a private moment and he’s not anyone to intrude. He hurries over to the equipment shed and there’s a distinct urge to laugh. 

God, I’m a surprisingly good upperclassman at times.

[jaeminlore]

Vice Versa // Jung Jaehyun

-

the prompt: Since I’m already up in your requests, may I request a Jaehyun scenario. Maybe about him meeting you for the first time at a coffee shop then it winds up being yall’s meeting place.

words: 1605

category: fluff + drabble (?)

author note: since its jaehyuns birthday and also Valentine’s Day I thought I would write this first! it’s really simple but also kinda cheesy and idk how I feel about it haha. please enjoy it anyway and look forward to more requests being written soon!!

- destinee

-

Hearts everywhere. Couples holding hands. Heart-eyes all over the place.

Jaehyun felt sick. It was his twenty-first birthday, and yet he was spending it alone. The reason being that it was also Valentine’s Day, and all of his friends had significant others to spend the day with.

Now he had to sit in a stupid coffee shop and eat alone.

Only in his woe, he hadn’t anticipated that a cafe was the first place many couples would go.

The coffee shop was filled with couples, holding hands under the table and staring into each other’s eyes. However, there was no way he was going to leave after walking all this way for a drink.

He found an empty booth in the far back and ordered a black coffee. The day was actually pretty cold outside, so Jaehyun thought it felt nice to stay inside sipping a warm beverage.

“Excuse me. Is anyone sitting here?” Your voice broke Jaehyun out of his comfortable silence.

“What?” He looked up and his breath caught in his throat. You had to be one of the cutest people he had every seen in his life. A red beanie covered your head, matching the red on your nose and cheeks from the cold.

“I asked if anyone was sitting here,” you repeated. “This is usually where I do my studying and I can’t find an empty booth. But if you’re waiting on someone, I can leave.”

“No!” Jaehyun said, rather quickly. Realizing he startled you after seeing your widened eyes, he cleared his throat. “I mean, I’m not waiting on anyone, so the booth is free if you want it.”

“Thank you,” you smiled, sliding in across from him. “Its busy today isn’t it?”

“Valentine’s Day is a big holiday,” Jaehyun replied.

“Oh, that’s why.” You hit your head playfully, “I’ve been too busy with finals that I completely forgot. Hey, at least chocolate is on sale tomorrow!”

You sent Jaehyun a warm smile, but the boy couldn’t return it.

“Why so down?” You reached out and grabbed his wrist, shaking it gently.

Jaehyun looked at you solemnly, “I don’t want to sound whiny, but today is my birthday. I can’t spend it with my friends because they’re all hanging out with their girlfriends.”

“It’s your birthday?” You asked. “We should get you a cake!”

Before Jaehyun could object, you were already on your way to the counter.

Jaehyun sipped his coffee as he waited for your return. When you did, a waitress followed you with a tray.

Suddenly, five different flavored cake slices were placed in front of Jaehyun. “I didn’t know which kind you liked so I bought you a variety.”

“You really didn’t need to do that.” Jaehyun said, already feeling bad.

“I know,” you said, handing him a fork. “But we’ll share so it won’t be too bad.”

“Okay, but I’ll pay you back.” Jaehyun said.

“Whatever you want,” you casually replied. “Now try the blueberry cheesecake because it’s really good.”

Jaehyun obeyed and took a bite of the cheesecake. He pursed his lips, “I don’t like it that much.”

“That’s okay,” you replied. “This is why I got a variety. Maybe you’ll like the peanut butter chocolate cake better.”

You pushed the plate of peanut butter chocolate cake towards him and awaited his reaction.

“I like that one a lot better.” He said.

“Take it. I’ll take the cheesecake, and we’ll share the rest.”

Jaehyun obliged and the two of you began to eat happily.

After trying all of the cake, the two of you decided that the vanilla cake was too plain, the carrot cake was surprisingly good, and the s'more cake was actually kinda gross.

Jaehyun crinkled his nose. “That doesn’t taste right.”

“I’ll pay for this entire meal and the next one if you eat that entire cake,” you dared him.

Jaehyun picked up his fork. “Does that mean you’ll spend the next meal with me?”

You blushed and looked away, shrugging nonchalantly, “If you want.”

“Okay. Let’s meet up tomorrow.”

You smiled, “Only if you eat the whole cake.”

Jaehyun reluctantly shoved a forkful of cake in his mouth, glaring at you.

-

“You’re here early,” you said the next day, pulling out the seat across from Jaehyun.

His sent you a cute smile, dimples exposing themselves.

To be completely honest, you had no idea how you had become so confident in front of the handsome boy. Perhaps it was because he had a friendly aura around him, one that made it easy for you open up and talk to him.

Not to mention he was extremely attractive. His hair was dyed a nice brown color and his eye-smile had to be the nicest you had ever seen.

“I didn’t want you to think I was going to bail,” he said. A shy smile adorned his face. “I already ordered my coffee, but I didn’t order anything for you yet because I wasn’t sure what you liked.”

“I kind of want to try the mint hot chocolate,” you commented. “And I’ll get us some crepes to eat.”

While the two of you were waiting for your order, Jaehyun cleared his throat, “So what are you studying for?”

“Huh?”

“You had finals. What were they for?”

“Oh.” You looked outside, “I’m a medical student. I want to be a doctor.”

Jaehyun smiled, “That’s cool. I don’t know if I could stand medical school.”

“It’s not easy,” you agreed. “Although, I think it will be worth it in the end. Now what about you, Valentine’s boy? What do you want to do?”

Jaehyun rested his chin on his hand and sighed, “I’m a music major. I don’t know where that’s going to take me, but I really want to work with music.”

The waitress brought the two of you your food. After thanking her, you turned back to Jaehyun, “Do you sing?”

“A bit.”

“Will you sing for me one day?”

Jaehyun’s face flushed. “I don’t even know you name, you know.”

“It’s Y/n,” you answered. Then you giggled, “I guess that never came up in the conversation, did it?”

“No, it didn’t,” Jaehyun countered. He cleared his throat, “I’m Jaehyun.”

“That’s cute,” you spoke before you could stop yourself.

Jaehyun took a sip of coffee to hide his blush. Then, “Y/n is cute too.”

“Thanks!” You ate a piece of the crepe. “You know, Jaehyun, I think we’re going to be great friends.”

“Me too.”

-

Jaehyun closed his umbrella as soon as he stepped inside of the coffee shop. After hanging it up, he greeted the shop owner.

“May I have two hot chocolates?”

While he waited for the beverages, you ran into the shop, rainwater plastering your hair to your face. You shivered, but smiled at seeing Jaehyun.

“Seriously, Y/n,” he sighed, shrugging off his long coat and wrapping it over your body, “You’re going to get a cold.”

“Not when I have you to keep me warm,” you cheekily replied.

Jaehyun elbowed you gently. “Go find a table while I wait for our drinks.”

The two of you had been friends for a few months now. It had happened naturally, but now Jaehyun felt himself wanting more.

You were compatible with him in more ways than one, and you always encouraged him. Even Jaehyun’s friends thought the two of you needed to date already.

It was constant flirting and blushing on both ends, and yet neither of you would do anything about it.

Jaehyun was about to change that.

“Excuse me,” he leaned over the counter, “Can I also add a slice of blueberry cheesecake?”

-

“What took you so long?” You asked him as he handed you your drink.

“I had something to deal with.”

“Okay…” You ignored his mysterious tone and motioned for him to slide into the same booth as you. “Anyway, I am so done with my anatomy professor.”

“What happened?” Jaehyun asked.

You leaned your head onto his shoulder, “He speaks too fast and it’s hard to take notes. Also, he wants us to participate more in the class. I don’t want to answer questions. I thought that duty left in high school.”

Jaehyun chuckled, “I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

You sighed. Jaehyun didn’t have to say much to make you feel better. Maybe that’s what you liked about him.

Determined to change the status of your relationship with him, you had something planned.

You had called ahead and made sure that the shop owner knew to give Jaehyun a slice of chocolate and peanut butter cake.

A waitress came over, and your heart sped up as you thought of his response.

What if he didn’t accept your feelings?

“Thank you,” Jaehyun smiled at the waitress.

That was when you noticed the second dessert. “What’s this?”

Jaehyun picked up the cake you got him, “I could ask the same.”

“Oh,” you looked down at your lap and wrung your hands together nervously. “I wanted to confess to you and I thought getting you the dessert you had when we first met would be a cute way to do it.”

Jaehyun burst out laughing. “No way! I was going to do the same thing!”

He slid the plate of cheesecake over to you, and you could see the blueberry syrup was positioned in the shape of a heart.

You looked up at him, grinning, “So this means we both like each other?”

“I think so?” Jaehyun returned your smile and grabbed your hand, “This is like our first date.”

You leaned forward and kissed his cheek, right over his dimple. “First of many.”

~the end~

[biofunmy]

Arby’s Has an Answer to Plant-Based Meat: A Meat-Based Carrot

It has been christened the marrot.

In the past year, several prominent restaurant chains have added plant-based burgers, sausages and ground beef to their menus, embracing a growing consumer demand for vegetarian products that simulate the taste and texture of meat.

But Arby’s is going in the opposite direction. Rather than invest in such alternatives, the chain has unveiled a product designed to poke fun at fans of meatless meat: a carrot made from turkey.

A recent promotional video shows the step-by-step preparation of this “meat vegetable,” which consists of turkey breast wrapped in cheesecloth and coated in a carrot marinade. “If they can make meat from veggies (and other stuff),” a caption on the video says, “we can make veggies from meat.”

The advent of the marrot highlights a broader challenge facing the plant-based meat movement: Even as chains like Burger King and White Castle embrace meatless alternatives, most restaurant brands remain skeptical.

Arby’s insists that its marrot is not a stunt — or, at least, not entirely.

“It is pretty funny,” said Rob Lynch, the company’s president. For now, it is unclear whether the product will ever end up on a menu. “We are actively working to determine whether or not we can scale this,” Mr. Lynch said. “I would probably put it at 50-50.”

While Arby’s has flatly rejected plant-based meat, other chains are taking a more cautious approach.

“Most restaurant chains are really opting out for now,” said Jonathan Maze, the executive editor of Restaurant Business Magazine, a trade publication. “There’s a strong argument to be had for taking a wait-and-see approach. A lot of this just really smells fadlike. It’s still a very new thing.”

On the whole, it has been an impressive year for Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, the leading makers of plant-based meat. Restaurant sales of meat alternatives have risen 268 percent. Beyond Meat’s share price has soared since the company went public in May. Impossible Foods’ partnership with Burger King has increased foot traffic at some of the chain’s locations. And several other major chains — including Carl’s Jr., the Cheesecake Factory, Little Caesars and Qdoba — have introduced meatless meat products.

But among big chains, there are also plenty of naysayers.

After The Information reported in May that Arby’s was in talks with Impossible Foods, the fast-food company publicly disavowed plant-based burgers, and cast itself as the guardian of “real meats.”

In June, Shake Shack’s chief executive, Randy Garutti, said on CNBC that he had no plans to introduce a plant-based product. “Shake Shack was built on doing classic things better than other people did them,” he said. “So let’s watch a little bit.”

And Taco Bell, which is introducing a new vegetarian menu this fall, has also chosen to stay on the sidelines.

Of the 15 largest fast-food chains in the United States, only Burger King and Little Caesars offer plant-based meat. A spokeswoman for KFC said the company had “no plans” to test a plant-based meat product. Nor does Dairy Queen: “Currently we are focused on other priorities involving our menu,” a spokesman said.

A Wendy’s representative said that the response from customers was mixed when the chain tested a bean-based burger in a few cities, but that it might “look for opportunities in the future.” Domino’s said it “may consider testing” meatless meat at some point, and representatives of Pizza Hut and Dunkin’ said the companies were in the early stages of “exploring” plant-based alternatives.

One major fast-food chain that has not ruled out selling a plant-based burger is McDonald’s. A few months ago, the company worked with Nestlé to test a meatless patty in Germany, the Big Vegan TS. For now, though, top McDonald’s executives seem unconvinced that bringing the burger to the United States makes financial sense.

“We’ve got to make sure the consumer trend is sustaining,” Steve Easterbrook, the company’s chief executive, said on an earnings call in May. A McDonald’s spokeswoman said the chain would “continue to listen to customers to understand changing trends and evolving tastes.”

Adding a plant-based cheeseburger would not be easy for McDonald’s. The company is trying to simplify its menu, and the introduction of a meatless Big Mac would “add a considerable amount of complexity to the kitchen,” Mr. Maze said, noting that valuable grill space would have to be reserved for the product.

“It warrants taking some time,” he added.

Beyond Meat declined to comment on the reluctance of some major chains to adopt plant-based meat, citing a mandatory quiet period before the company releases its quarterly earnings report in August. Jessica Appelgren, an Impossible Foods spokeswoman, said in a statement that the company had “met with the majority of national chains and will continue to do so.”

“We plan to be everywhere meat is sold as quickly as possible and hope to work with all of the restaurants where consumers are delighting in meat,” she added.

Some of the skepticism about meatless meat stems at least partly from the products’ nutritional content. Climate experts have argued that switching over to plant-based meat could help the environment by eliminating thousands of tons of carbon emissions. Dietitians have been less enthusiastic, voicing concerns over the lengthy ingredient lists on products like the Beyond Burger and Burger King’s Impossible Whopper.

“There’s definitely a trend of people moving out of red meat,” said Ricardo San Martin, the research director at the alternative meat program at the University of California, Berkeley. “But at the same time, another trend is against processed foods, and all these products are processed.”

Ms. Appelgren, the Impossible Foods spokeswoman, said that the company “makes products that are at least as nutritious as the products the company is trying to replace” and that its signature burger did not contain any cholesterol.

For some health-conscious consumers, that assurance may not be enough. Executives at Panera Bread have spoken informally with the leading companies in the plant-based meat industry and have sampled their products. At the moment, however, Panera Bread customers simply are not asking for plant-based meat, according to Sara Burnett, the chain’s vice president for wellness and food policy.

“They’re looking for whole food protein, things like quinoa and black beans and edamame,” rather than processed ingredients, Ms. Burnett said.

That does not mean Panera intends to ignore plant-based meat forever. “We have looked at probably everything that’s out there,” she said. “Never say never.”

Arby’s has no intention of changing course. Just days after unveiling the marrot, Mr. Lynch, the chief executive, said the chain already had another meat-based plant in the works.

“We’re calling it moccoli,” he said, “which we think would go really well with our Cheddar sauce.”

Sahred From Source link Business

from WordPress http://bit.ly/2jJGlbt via IFTTT

[fairchildlingpo1]

Why I Spent 18 Months Ignoring My Family and Writing This Book

Word of mouth is the original marketing. It was, for a LOOOOONG time, all we had.

Even today, 50-91% of all purchases are influenced by word of mouth. Yet, NOBODY has an actual strategy for it. You have a digital strategy, and a content strategy, and a social strategy, and a bunch more strategies. Yet we all just take word of mouth for granted.

That inequity, between the importance of word of mouth and the scant attention we pay to it, is why Daniel Lemin and I wrote Talk Triggers: The Complete Guide to Creating Customers With Word of Mouth.

I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever made, in any format. I know it will help people. After all, the best way to grow any business is for the customers to do the growing. Turning customers into volunteer marketers is possible—and necessary—and Talk Triggers provides the reliable system for doing just that.

I’ve spent the past 18 months working on this book, although I started writing about Talk Triggers here at Convince & Convert way back in 2011. Since we started on this project, I have had a total of two days off; two days where I didn’t open my laptop over the past 550 days.

Is it worth it? Is it worth it to sequester yourself to do research? To lock yourself away to write? To give up nights and weekends to promote the book? I guess it depends on who you ask. I certainly know that the sacrifices made for a project like this are predominantly made by my wife, my kids, and my team. Not by me.

And that’s not to say I’ve been ENTIRELY neglectful during the creation and promotion of Talk Triggers. But there’s no question that when I go into “book mode”… priorities shift.

I don’t love that. It’s not for everyone, and I’m not proud of it. But rightly or wrongly, I don’t know any other way.

As my Dad told me when I was just a tyke, “if you’re going to do something, you might as well do it all the way.” That’s how I feel about writing books, and especially about this one.

I’m driven by the need to teach, and I very much hope that this book teaches you – and many more people – how to systematically grow your business with word of mouth.

I’m blown away (as is Daniel) by the early reactions to the book. And now, with the official launch happening tomorrow (October 2) I’m excited to see what everyone else thinks.

A quick reminder that the book itself includes the greatest guarantee in the history of business books. If you buy Talk Triggers (please do) and you don’t like it, let us know and we’ll buy you any other book of your choosing. No risk, no reward.

Here’s the complete first chapter of Talk Triggers. I hope it will whet your appetite enough to go to TalkTriggers.com, see the amazing bonus materials we’ve made available to you, and order your own copy – or copies for your team, or book club.

To my family and my team at Convince & Convert, I can only say this, on the precipice of my sixth book launch: “Thank you. And I’m sorry.”

All my best,

~ jay

  Talk Triggers: Chapter One

Do you like chicken? Do you really, really, really like chicken? Do you like chicken as much as Jimmy Buffett likes the beach? If so, The Cheesecake Factory is your perfect restaurant.

Each of the chain’s 200 locations offers eighty-five different chicken dishes. Unsurprisingly, given how many chicken dishes alone it includes, the menu itself runs 5,940 words long. That is more than twelve percent of the book you are about to read.

You might think that’s too long, but for The Cheesecake Factory, it’s just right. Why? Because the vastness of the restaurant’s menu is so unusual that it compels conversation among its patrons. Menu breadth is their secret customer acquisition weapon—it hides in plain sight, in the hands of each and every diner.

The menu at The Cheesecake Factory is a talk trigger: a built-in differentiator that creates customer conversations.

Every day, consumers comment on the remarkable menu variety with a combination of bewilderment, awe, and frustration. Twitter alone produced this cross-section of commentaries (and dozens more) about The Cheesecake Factory menu in early November 2017, riding along the digital winds like a smartphone-enabled messenger pigeon, spreading the word about the brand’s core differentiator to thousands and thousands and thousands of potential new customers.

Like extravagant sunglasses at an Elton John concert, the menu is such an iconic part of The Cheesecake Factory experience that some customers refer to it that way.

The menu’s benefit to The Cheesecake Factory’s business is massive. Financial filings for the public company show that The Cheesecake Factory spends just 0.2% of total sales on advertising.

Darden Restaurants, a major competitor, operates Olive Garden, The Capital Grille, Yard House, and several other dining brands. Darden is roughly three times larger, but spends 1,799 percent more on advertising (as a percentage of sales). In real dollars, Darden spends $268 million per year more in advertising than does The Cheesecake Factory.

The Cheesecake Factory doesn’t have to buy awareness because its menu is remarkable enough to compel patrons to tell their friends, which in turn creates new customers. When you commit to a talk trigger like The Cheesecake Factory menu, that difference creates conversation that clones your customers, bringing you new revenue for free.

Researchers David Godes and Dina Mayzlin found that a single word of mouth conversation by a new customer leads to an almost $200 increase in restaurant sales. When that occurs over and over and over again, you end up with The Cheesecake Factory, a multi-billion dollar company that barely pays to promote itself despite operating in a category that typically requires heavy advertising.

Researchers David Godes and Dina Mayzlin found that a single word of mouth conversation by a new customer leads to an almost $200 increase in restaurant sales. #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet The Right Kind of Talk

You might be wondering, “how often do customers really notice talk triggers?” And more importantly, how much do those differentiators actually get discussed? After all, an operational strength that doesn’t encourage conversation may grow repeat business from the original customer, but it does not create new customers at little to no cost. This pass-along effect, where customers tell your story almost involuntarily, turning themselves into volunteer marketers, is what makes word of mouth so delightfully impactful for companies that possess a talk trigger.

To better understand the impact of The Cheesecake Factory’s talk triggers, we partnered with Audience Audit, a respected provider of consumer panels to identify hundreds of adults who had dined at a Cheesecake Factory location within the prior thirty days.

Respondents were asked, “Have you ever recommended The Cheesecake Factory to someone who was not specifically asking for recommendations, just because you were particularly pleased with your experience?” Among them, sixty-six percent had.

Perhaps even more impressive is our research finding that more than nine in ten customers discuss The Cheesecake Factory when directly asked for restaurant recommendations. Respondents were asked, “Have you ever suggested The Cheesecake Factory to someone who was specifically asking for a restaurant recommendation?” Nearly every patron of The Cheesecake Factory becomes an advocate when the opportunity arises.

It was immediately clear that diners at The Cheesecake Factory talk about the experience. But when these customers converse, do they discuss generalities (e.g. “The Cheesecake Factory has good food”), or do they discuss specifics?

The difference is important. Word of mouth impact is higher when the information exchanged is specific.

A consulting client of ours asked us an interesting question that you might also be wondering. She said, “What’s the difference between a talk trigger and a unique selling proposition (USP)?” A USP is well-worn marketing shorthand defined as “a factor that differentiates a product from its competitors, such as the lowest cost, the highest quality or the first-ever product of its kind.

Here’s how we answered the client: “A USP is a feature, articulated with a bullet point, that is discussed in a conference room. A talk trigger is a benefit, articulated with a story, that is discussed at a cocktail party.” A USP is important, but the problem is that almost every one of them has plenty of SP, and very little U. Sure, “quality food” or “good service” are selling propositions. But they aren’t unique, and that atrophies word of mouth.

In our survey of The Cheesecake Factory customers, we asked this question two ways. First, we asked, “What do you typically mention about The Cheesecake Factory when you recommend it to someone?”

Sixty percent of customers said “food quality” which we classify as general information—it’s a USP. It’s also not a particularly compelling or memorable story, since food quality is not—in and of itself—a differentiator in the category. Many restaurants offer food quality, so it doesn’t have a tremendous amount of story power.

But the second-most mentioned aspect of the brand is the breadth of the menu. Nearly four in ten customers said they’ve talked about this differentiator. It’s a talk trigger!

The effectiveness of the menu breadth is even more pronounced when customers are given a list of attributes about which to talk. Options included menu breadth, their favorite menu item, portion size, the number of cheesecake flavors, friendliness of staff, and other features and benefits.”

When presented with this list, more than half of all surveyed customers said they have mentioned the number of menu items to someone else, the second-most common attribute discussed.

Customers of The Cheesecake Factory notice the size of the menu, and discuss the size of the menu, propelling awareness and encouraging new patrons to visit the restaurant for the first time. They have successfully turned their customers into volunteer marketers. And you can do the same.

You Can’t Afford to Ignore Word of Mouth

Word of mouth is perhaps the most effective—and most cost-effective–way to grow any company. Yet, we often take it for granted, like free coffee refills or another U2 album.

One of the reasons we wrote this book is to solve this mystery: As consumers, we all know how impactful word of mouth recommendations are, and we have first-hand experiences with them consistently. But in our jobs, we give very little thought to making sure our products activate word of mouth recommendations. Why and how is this the case?

Perhaps businesspeople don’t actually believe in the power of word of mouth? That hardly seems possible, given the available evidence.

A very detailed examination of the impact of word of mouth by Engagement Labs in 2017 found that nineteen percent of all consumer purchases in the United States are directly caused by offline or online word of mouth activity. That’s approximately ten trillion dollars of economic impact. And a lot more than nineteen percent of purchases are influenced by word of mouth, even if consumers don’t fully realize or recognize it (the same way that people unwittingly hum Katy Perry songs in the shower).

19% of all consumer purchases in the United States are directly caused by offline or online word of mouth activity. #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet

Word of mouth isn’t only applicable to consumer spending, either. In fact, a study by Blanc & Otus and G2Crowd discovered that the impact of recommendations and referrals in business-to-business (B2B) scenarios is actually far greater, due to the considered nature of most purchases, the high average prices, and the limited number of total customers.

And right now, word of mouth is more effective and important than ever for these three reasons:

First, it is hyper-relevant. The recommender customizes the recommendation to fit the receiver’s perceived needs. No other form of marketing is as personalized, and consumers increasingly desire personalization.

Second, positive word of mouth saves the recipient time by giving them a referral and recommendation, eliminating some or all of the research needed to make a sound decision.

Third, when offered by consumers to one another, word of mouth is independent, as the talker has no financial interest in the sale of the service. This adds credibility and persuasiveness to the recommendation. This trust advantage is the key to why word of mouth is so crucial today. Fundamentally, we trust businesses and organizations less than ever, and we trust people more than ever.

According to the research firm Nielsen, eighty-three percent of Americans trust recommendations from friends and family, and sixty percent trust online reviews—an important form of asynchronous word of mouth. In comparison, just fifty-two percent of citizens trust businesses globally, and in 16 of the 28 countries surveyed, fewer than half of respondents say they trust companies.

83% of Americans trust recommendations from friends and family. #WordofMouth #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet

Regardless of the size, shape, category, and history of your business, the reality is that half of your customers do not believe you. The author and keynote speaker David Horsager says “trust is a company’s most important asset.” He’s right, but the best distribution vehicle for that trust is not the company itself, but rather its customers. We’re in an era where trust matters more than truth, and the truth is your customers simply don’t trust you as much as they trust each other.

Trust is a company’s most important asset. #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet

People have the power now in ways that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. This is why the time for talk triggers has never been better—or more necessary. Businesses’ ability to unilaterally dictate consumer attitudes and subsequent purchases and loyalties is fraying like the hem of a cheap dress.

The best organizations are running ahead of this shift, purposefully crafting differentiators that get customers to tell authentic, visceral, trusted stories about the business and its products or services; stories that create new customers through referrals and recommendations.

In his book The Referral Engine, John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing, researched 1,200 small and medium-sized businesses and discovered that sixty-three percent felt that more than half of their overall revenue comes from referrals. Yet, 80 percent of those respondents had no defined system for generating those referrals. As Jantsch told us in an interview, “today, most referrals happen by accident.”

Jantsch figures that one percent or fewer of all businesses have a written plan for creating chatter. One hundred percent of businesses care about word of mouth, but less than one percent have a plan for achieving it. That’s why we wrote Talk Triggers.

There are many terrific books about word of mouth and its value. Commentary from the authors of many of them is included here, and we cite their research and conclusions throughout. But what we set out to do with Talk Triggers is to provide more structure and scaffolding to give you a clear, linear, understandable, and achievable system for harnessing the extraordinary power of word of mouth. We’ve tried to create a book that doesn’t just tell you why talk triggers are so vital, but how to actually make them work, starting the day you finish reading.

Based on our research and the findings of dozens of other authors and academics, mixed with our 45 years of combined experience as marketing consultants to hundreds of organizations, and dozens of Fortune 500 brands, we have developed the Talk Triggers framework for how to create word of mouth in any business.

We unveil this framework here, in four sections.

This first discusses the importance and economic impact of word of mouth, and examines why the overwhelming majority of organizations take a laissez faire approach to it.

The second section demonstrates the four criteria that must be present for an operational differentiator to function as a consistent conversation catalyst.

This is followed by the third section, which unveils the five different types of talk triggers that can be developed and optimized to turn customers into volunteer marketers.

The final section includes a comprehensive, six-step process for identifying, analyzing, testing, measuring, and operationalizing talk triggers in any organization.

We’ve also included a handy quick reference guide at the end of the book that summarizes key research, themes, and lessons. This reference guide was very popular with readers of our best-selling books Youtility, Hug Your Haters, and Manipurated. We hope you like it too, and find it to be a time-saver when you want to refer back to Talk Triggers after your first reading.

  Thanks for your support. You can get Talk Triggers risk-free here, in any format.

https://ift.tt/2PboLaI

[conniecogeie]

Why I Spent 18 Months Ignoring My Family and Writing This Book

Word of mouth is the original marketing. It was, for a LOOOOONG time, all we had.

Even today, 50-91% of all purchases are influenced by word of mouth. Yet, NOBODY has an actual strategy for it. You have a digital strategy, and a content strategy, and a social strategy, and a bunch more strategies. Yet we all just take word of mouth for granted.

That inequity, between the importance of word of mouth and the scant attention we pay to it, is why Daniel Lemin and I wrote Talk Triggers: The Complete Guide to Creating Customers With Word of Mouth.

I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever made, in any format. I know it will help people. After all, the best way to grow any business is for the customers to do the growing. Turning customers into volunteer marketers is possible—and necessary—and Talk Triggers provides the reliable system for doing just that.

I’ve spent the past 18 months working on this book, although I started writing about Talk Triggers here at Convince & Convert way back in 2011. Since we started on this project, I have had a total of two days off; two days where I didn’t open my laptop over the past 550 days.

Is it worth it? Is it worth it to sequester yourself to do research? To lock yourself away to write? To give up nights and weekends to promote the book? I guess it depends on who you ask. I certainly know that the sacrifices made for a project like this are predominantly made by my wife, my kids, and my team. Not by me.

And that’s not to say I’ve been ENTIRELY neglectful during the creation and promotion of Talk Triggers. But there’s no question that when I go into “book mode”… priorities shift.

I don’t love that. It’s not for everyone, and I’m not proud of it. But rightly or wrongly, I don’t know any other way.

As my Dad told me when I was just a tyke, “if you’re going to do something, you might as well do it all the way.” That’s how I feel about writing books, and especially about this one.

I’m driven by the need to teach, and I very much hope that this book teaches you – and many more people – how to systematically grow your business with word of mouth.

I’m blown away (as is Daniel) by the early reactions to the book. And now, with the official launch happening tomorrow (October 2) I’m excited to see what everyone else thinks.

A quick reminder that the book itself includes the greatest guarantee in the history of business books. If you buy Talk Triggers (please do) and you don’t like it, let us know and we’ll buy you any other book of your choosing. No risk, no reward.

Here’s the complete first chapter of Talk Triggers. I hope it will whet your appetite enough to go to TalkTriggers.com, see the amazing bonus materials we’ve made available to you, and order your own copy – or copies for your team, or book club.

To my family and my team at Convince & Convert, I can only say this, on the precipice of my sixth book launch: “Thank you. And I’m sorry.”

All my best,

~ jay

  Talk Triggers: Chapter One

Do you like chicken? Do you really, really, really like chicken? Do you like chicken as much as Jimmy Buffett likes the beach? If so, The Cheesecake Factory is your perfect restaurant.

Each of the chain’s 200 locations offers eighty-five different chicken dishes. Unsurprisingly, given how many chicken dishes alone it includes, the menu itself runs 5,940 words long. That is more than twelve percent of the book you are about to read.

You might think that’s too long, but for The Cheesecake Factory, it’s just right. Why? Because the vastness of the restaurant’s menu is so unusual that it compels conversation among its patrons. Menu breadth is their secret customer acquisition weapon—it hides in plain sight, in the hands of each and every diner.

The menu at The Cheesecake Factory is a talk trigger: a built-in differentiator that creates customer conversations.

Every day, consumers comment on the remarkable menu variety with a combination of bewilderment, awe, and frustration. Twitter alone produced this cross-section of commentaries (and dozens more) about The Cheesecake Factory menu in early November 2017, riding along the digital winds like a smartphone-enabled messenger pigeon, spreading the word about the brand’s core differentiator to thousands and thousands and thousands of potential new customers.

Like extravagant sunglasses at an Elton John concert, the menu is such an iconic part of The Cheesecake Factory experience that some customers refer to it that way.

The menu’s benefit to The Cheesecake Factory’s business is massive. Financial filings for the public company show that The Cheesecake Factory spends just 0.2% of total sales on advertising.

Darden Restaurants, a major competitor, operates Olive Garden, The Capital Grille, Yard House, and several other dining brands. Darden is roughly three times larger, but spends 1,799 percent more on advertising (as a percentage of sales). In real dollars, Darden spends $268 million per year more in advertising than does The Cheesecake Factory.

The Cheesecake Factory doesn’t have to buy awareness because its menu is remarkable enough to compel patrons to tell their friends, which in turn creates new customers. When you commit to a talk trigger like The Cheesecake Factory menu, that difference creates conversation that clones your customers, bringing you new revenue for free.

Researchers David Godes and Dina Mayzlin found that a single word of mouth conversation by a new customer leads to an almost $200 increase in restaurant sales. When that occurs over and over and over again, you end up with The Cheesecake Factory, a multi-billion dollar company that barely pays to promote itself despite operating in a category that typically requires heavy advertising.

Researchers David Godes and Dina Mayzlin found that a single word of mouth conversation by a new customer leads to an almost $200 increase in restaurant sales. #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet The Right Kind of Talk

You might be wondering, “how often do customers really notice talk triggers?” And more importantly, how much do those differentiators actually get discussed? After all, an operational strength that doesn’t encourage conversation may grow repeat business from the original customer, but it does not create new customers at little to no cost. This pass-along effect, where customers tell your story almost involuntarily, turning themselves into volunteer marketers, is what makes word of mouth so delightfully impactful for companies that possess a talk trigger.

To better understand the impact of The Cheesecake Factory’s talk triggers, we partnered with Audience Audit, a respected provider of consumer panels to identify hundreds of adults who had dined at a Cheesecake Factory location within the prior thirty days.

Respondents were asked, “Have you ever recommended The Cheesecake Factory to someone who was not specifically asking for recommendations, just because you were particularly pleased with your experience?” Among them, sixty-six percent had.

Perhaps even more impressive is our research finding that more than nine in ten customers discuss The Cheesecake Factory when directly asked for restaurant recommendations. Respondents were asked, “Have you ever suggested The Cheesecake Factory to someone who was specifically asking for a restaurant recommendation?” Nearly every patron of The Cheesecake Factory becomes an advocate when the opportunity arises.

It was immediately clear that diners at The Cheesecake Factory talk about the experience. But when these customers converse, do they discuss generalities (e.g. “The Cheesecake Factory has good food”), or do they discuss specifics?

The difference is important. Word of mouth impact is higher when the information exchanged is specific.

A consulting client of ours asked us an interesting question that you might also be wondering. She said, “What’s the difference between a talk trigger and a unique selling proposition (USP)?” A USP is well-worn marketing shorthand defined as “a factor that differentiates a product from its competitors, such as the lowest cost, the highest quality or the first-ever product of its kind.

Here’s how we answered the client: “A USP is a feature, articulated with a bullet point, that is discussed in a conference room. A talk trigger is a benefit, articulated with a story, that is discussed at a cocktail party.” A USP is important, but the problem is that almost every one of them has plenty of SP, and very little U. Sure, “quality food” or “good service” are selling propositions. But they aren’t unique, and that atrophies word of mouth.

In our survey of The Cheesecake Factory customers, we asked this question two ways. First, we asked, “What do you typically mention about The Cheesecake Factory when you recommend it to someone?”

Sixty percent of customers said “food quality” which we classify as general information—it’s a USP. It’s also not a particularly compelling or memorable story, since food quality is not—in and of itself—a differentiator in the category. Many restaurants offer food quality, so it doesn’t have a tremendous amount of story power.

But the second-most mentioned aspect of the brand is the breadth of the menu. Nearly four in ten customers said they’ve talked about this differentiator. It’s a talk trigger!

The effectiveness of the menu breadth is even more pronounced when customers are given a list of attributes about which to talk. Options included menu breadth, their favorite menu item, portion size, the number of cheesecake flavors, friendliness of staff, and other features and benefits.”

When presented with this list, more than half of all surveyed customers said they have mentioned the number of menu items to someone else, the second-most common attribute discussed.

Customers of The Cheesecake Factory notice the size of the menu, and discuss the size of the menu, propelling awareness and encouraging new patrons to visit the restaurant for the first time. They have successfully turned their customers into volunteer marketers. And you can do the same.

You Can’t Afford to Ignore Word of Mouth

Word of mouth is perhaps the most effective—and most cost-effective–way to grow any company. Yet, we often take it for granted, like free coffee refills or another U2 album.

One of the reasons we wrote this book is to solve this mystery: As consumers, we all know how impactful word of mouth recommendations are, and we have first-hand experiences with them consistently. But in our jobs, we give very little thought to making sure our products activate word of mouth recommendations. Why and how is this the case?

Perhaps businesspeople don’t actually believe in the power of word of mouth? That hardly seems possible, given the available evidence.

A very detailed examination of the impact of word of mouth by Engagement Labs in 2017 found that nineteen percent of all consumer purchases in the United States are directly caused by offline or online word of mouth activity. That’s approximately ten trillion dollars of economic impact. And a lot more than nineteen percent of purchases are influenced by word of mouth, even if consumers don’t fully realize or recognize it (the same way that people unwittingly hum Katy Perry songs in the shower).

19% of all consumer purchases in the United States are directly caused by offline or online word of mouth activity. #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet

Word of mouth isn’t only applicable to consumer spending, either. In fact, a study by Blanc & Otus and G2Crowd discovered that the impact of recommendations and referrals in business-to-business (B2B) scenarios is actually far greater, due to the considered nature of most purchases, the high average prices, and the limited number of total customers.

And right now, word of mouth is more effective and important than ever for these three reasons:

First, it is hyper-relevant. The recommender customizes the recommendation to fit the receiver’s perceived needs. No other form of marketing is as personalized, and consumers increasingly desire personalization.

Second, positive word of mouth saves the recipient time by giving them a referral and recommendation, eliminating some or all of the research needed to make a sound decision.

Third, when offered by consumers to one another, word of mouth is independent, as the talker has no financial interest in the sale of the service. This adds credibility and persuasiveness to the recommendation. This trust advantage is the key to why word of mouth is so crucial today. Fundamentally, we trust businesses and organizations less than ever, and we trust people more than ever.

According to the research firm Nielsen, eighty-three percent of Americans trust recommendations from friends and family, and sixty percent trust online reviews—an important form of asynchronous word of mouth. In comparison, just fifty-two percent of citizens trust businesses globally, and in 16 of the 28 countries surveyed, fewer than half of respondents say they trust companies.

83% of Americans trust recommendations from friends and family. #WordofMouth #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet

Regardless of the size, shape, category, and history of your business, the reality is that half of your customers do not believe you. The author and keynote speaker David Horsager says “trust is a company’s most important asset.” He’s right, but the best distribution vehicle for that trust is not the company itself, but rather its customers. We’re in an era where trust matters more than truth, and the truth is your customers simply don’t trust you as much as they trust each other.

Trust is a company’s most important asset. #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet

People have the power now in ways that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. This is why the time for talk triggers has never been better—or more necessary. Businesses’ ability to unilaterally dictate consumer attitudes and subsequent purchases and loyalties is fraying like the hem of a cheap dress.

The best organizations are running ahead of this shift, purposefully crafting differentiators that get customers to tell authentic, visceral, trusted stories about the business and its products or services; stories that create new customers through referrals and recommendations.

In his book The Referral Engine, John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing, researched 1,200 small and medium-sized businesses and discovered that sixty-three percent felt that more than half of their overall revenue comes from referrals. Yet, 80 percent of those respondents had no defined system for generating those referrals. As Jantsch told us in an interview, “today, most referrals happen by accident.”

Jantsch figures that one percent or fewer of all businesses have a written plan for creating chatter. One hundred percent of businesses care about word of mouth, but less than one percent have a plan for achieving it. That’s why we wrote Talk Triggers.

There are many terrific books about word of mouth and its value. Commentary from the authors of many of them is included here, and we cite their research and conclusions throughout. But what we set out to do with Talk Triggers is to provide more structure and scaffolding to give you a clear, linear, understandable, and achievable system for harnessing the extraordinary power of word of mouth. We’ve tried to create a book that doesn’t just tell you why talk triggers are so vital, but how to actually make them work, starting the day you finish reading.

Based on our research and the findings of dozens of other authors and academics, mixed with our 45 years of combined experience as marketing consultants to hundreds of organizations, and dozens of Fortune 500 brands, we have developed the Talk Triggers framework for how to create word of mouth in any business.

We unveil this framework here, in four sections.

This first discusses the importance and economic impact of word of mouth, and examines why the overwhelming majority of organizations take a laissez faire approach to it.

The second section demonstrates the four criteria that must be present for an operational differentiator to function as a consistent conversation catalyst.

This is followed by the third section, which unveils the five different types of talk triggers that can be developed and optimized to turn customers into volunteer marketers.

The final section includes a comprehensive, six-step process for identifying, analyzing, testing, measuring, and operationalizing talk triggers in any organization.

We’ve also included a handy quick reference guide at the end of the book that summarizes key research, themes, and lessons. This reference guide was very popular with readers of our best-selling books Youtility, Hug Your Haters, and Manipurated. We hope you like it too, and find it to be a time-saver when you want to refer back to Talk Triggers after your first reading.

  Thanks for your support. You can get Talk Triggers risk-free here, in any format.

https://ift.tt/2PboLaI

[maryhare96]

Why I Spent 18 Months Ignoring My Family and Writing This Book

Word of mouth is the original marketing. It was, for a LOOOOONG time, all we had.

Even today, 50-91% of all purchases are influenced by word of mouth. Yet, NOBODY has an actual strategy for it. You have a digital strategy, and a content strategy, and a social strategy, and a bunch more strategies. Yet we all just take word of mouth for granted.

That inequity, between the importance of word of mouth and the scant attention we pay to it, is why Daniel Lemin and I wrote Talk Triggers: The Complete Guide to Creating Customers With Word of Mouth.

I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever made, in any format. I know it will help people. After all, the best way to grow any business is for the customers to do the growing. Turning customers into volunteer marketers is possible—and necessary—and Talk Triggers provides the reliable system for doing just that.

I’ve spent the past 18 months working on this book, although I started writing about Talk Triggers here at Convince & Convert way back in 2011. Since we started on this project, I have had a total of two days off; two days where I didn’t open my laptop over the past 550 days.

Is it worth it? Is it worth it to sequester yourself to do research? To lock yourself away to write? To give up nights and weekends to promote the book? I guess it depends on who you ask. I certainly know that the sacrifices made for a project like this are predominantly made by my wife, my kids, and my team. Not by me.

And that’s not to say I’ve been ENTIRELY neglectful during the creation and promotion of Talk Triggers. But there’s no question that when I go into “book mode”… priorities shift.

I don’t love that. It’s not for everyone, and I’m not proud of it. But rightly or wrongly, I don’t know any other way.

As my Dad told me when I was just a tyke, “if you’re going to do something, you might as well do it all the way.” That’s how I feel about writing books, and especially about this one.

I’m driven by the need to teach, and I very much hope that this book teaches you – and many more people – how to systematically grow your business with word of mouth.

I’m blown away (as is Daniel) by the early reactions to the book. And now, with the official launch happening tomorrow (October 2) I’m excited to see what everyone else thinks.

A quick reminder that the book itself includes the greatest guarantee in the history of business books. If you buy Talk Triggers (please do) and you don’t like it, let us know and we’ll buy you any other book of your choosing. No risk, no reward.

Here’s the complete first chapter of Talk Triggers. I hope it will whet your appetite enough to go to TalkTriggers.com, see the amazing bonus materials we’ve made available to you, and order your own copy – or copies for your team, or book club.

To my family and my team at Convince & Convert, I can only say this, on the precipice of my sixth book launch: “Thank you. And I’m sorry.”

All my best,

~ jay

  Talk Triggers: Chapter One

Do you like chicken? Do you really, really, really like chicken? Do you like chicken as much as Jimmy Buffett likes the beach? If so, The Cheesecake Factory is your perfect restaurant.

Each of the chain’s 200 locations offers eighty-five different chicken dishes. Unsurprisingly, given how many chicken dishes alone it includes, the menu itself runs 5,940 words long. That is more than twelve percent of the book you are about to read.

You might think that’s too long, but for The Cheesecake Factory, it’s just right. Why? Because the vastness of the restaurant’s menu is so unusual that it compels conversation among its patrons. Menu breadth is their secret customer acquisition weapon—it hides in plain sight, in the hands of each and every diner.

The menu at The Cheesecake Factory is a talk trigger: a built-in differentiator that creates customer conversations.

Every day, consumers comment on the remarkable menu variety with a combination of bewilderment, awe, and frustration. Twitter alone produced this cross-section of commentaries (and dozens more) about The Cheesecake Factory menu in early November 2017, riding along the digital winds like a smartphone-enabled messenger pigeon, spreading the word about the brand’s core differentiator to thousands and thousands and thousands of potential new customers.

Like extravagant sunglasses at an Elton John concert, the menu is such an iconic part of The Cheesecake Factory experience that some customers refer to it that way.

The menu’s benefit to The Cheesecake Factory’s business is massive. Financial filings for the public company show that The Cheesecake Factory spends just 0.2% of total sales on advertising.

Darden Restaurants, a major competitor, operates Olive Garden, The Capital Grille, Yard House, and several other dining brands. Darden is roughly three times larger, but spends 1,799 percent more on advertising (as a percentage of sales). In real dollars, Darden spends $268 million per year more in advertising than does The Cheesecake Factory.

The Cheesecake Factory doesn’t have to buy awareness because its menu is remarkable enough to compel patrons to tell their friends, which in turn creates new customers. When you commit to a talk trigger like The Cheesecake Factory menu, that difference creates conversation that clones your customers, bringing you new revenue for free.

Researchers David Godes and Dina Mayzlin found that a single word of mouth conversation by a new customer leads to an almost $200 increase in restaurant sales. When that occurs over and over and over again, you end up with The Cheesecake Factory, a multi-billion dollar company that barely pays to promote itself despite operating in a category that typically requires heavy advertising.

Researchers David Godes and Dina Mayzlin found that a single word of mouth conversation by a new customer leads to an almost $200 increase in restaurant sales. #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet The Right Kind of Talk

You might be wondering, “how often do customers really notice talk triggers?” And more importantly, how much do those differentiators actually get discussed? After all, an operational strength that doesn’t encourage conversation may grow repeat business from the original customer, but it does not create new customers at little to no cost. This pass-along effect, where customers tell your story almost involuntarily, turning themselves into volunteer marketers, is what makes word of mouth so delightfully impactful for companies that possess a talk trigger.

To better understand the impact of The Cheesecake Factory’s talk triggers, we partnered with Audience Audit, a respected provider of consumer panels to identify hundreds of adults who had dined at a Cheesecake Factory location within the prior thirty days.

Respondents were asked, “Have you ever recommended The Cheesecake Factory to someone who was not specifically asking for recommendations, just because you were particularly pleased with your experience?” Among them, sixty-six percent had.

Perhaps even more impressive is our research finding that more than nine in ten customers discuss The Cheesecake Factory when directly asked for restaurant recommendations. Respondents were asked, “Have you ever suggested The Cheesecake Factory to someone who was specifically asking for a restaurant recommendation?” Nearly every patron of The Cheesecake Factory becomes an advocate when the opportunity arises.

It was immediately clear that diners at The Cheesecake Factory talk about the experience. But when these customers converse, do they discuss generalities (e.g. “The Cheesecake Factory has good food”), or do they discuss specifics?

The difference is important. Word of mouth impact is higher when the information exchanged is specific.

A consulting client of ours asked us an interesting question that you might also be wondering. She said, “What’s the difference between a talk trigger and a unique selling proposition (USP)?” A USP is well-worn marketing shorthand defined as “a factor that differentiates a product from its competitors, such as the lowest cost, the highest quality or the first-ever product of its kind.

Here’s how we answered the client: “A USP is a feature, articulated with a bullet point, that is discussed in a conference room. A talk trigger is a benefit, articulated with a story, that is discussed at a cocktail party.” A USP is important, but the problem is that almost every one of them has plenty of SP, and very little U. Sure, “quality food” or “good service” are selling propositions. But they aren’t unique, and that atrophies word of mouth.

In our survey of The Cheesecake Factory customers, we asked this question two ways. First, we asked, “What do you typically mention about The Cheesecake Factory when you recommend it to someone?”

Sixty percent of customers said “food quality” which we classify as general information—it’s a USP. It’s also not a particularly compelling or memorable story, since food quality is not—in and of itself—a differentiator in the category. Many restaurants offer food quality, so it doesn’t have a tremendous amount of story power.

But the second-most mentioned aspect of the brand is the breadth of the menu. Nearly four in ten customers said they’ve talked about this differentiator. It’s a talk trigger!

The effectiveness of the menu breadth is even more pronounced when customers are given a list of attributes about which to talk. Options included menu breadth, their favorite menu item, portion size, the number of cheesecake flavors, friendliness of staff, and other features and benefits.”

When presented with this list, more than half of all surveyed customers said they have mentioned the number of menu items to someone else, the second-most common attribute discussed.

Customers of The Cheesecake Factory notice the size of the menu, and discuss the size of the menu, propelling awareness and encouraging new patrons to visit the restaurant for the first time. They have successfully turned their customers into volunteer marketers. And you can do the same.

You Can’t Afford to Ignore Word of Mouth

Word of mouth is perhaps the most effective—and most cost-effective–way to grow any company. Yet, we often take it for granted, like free coffee refills or another U2 album.

One of the reasons we wrote this book is to solve this mystery: As consumers, we all know how impactful word of mouth recommendations are, and we have first-hand experiences with them consistently. But in our jobs, we give very little thought to making sure our products activate word of mouth recommendations. Why and how is this the case?

Perhaps businesspeople don’t actually believe in the power of word of mouth? That hardly seems possible, given the available evidence.

A very detailed examination of the impact of word of mouth by Engagement Labs in 2017 found that nineteen percent of all consumer purchases in the United States are directly caused by offline or online word of mouth activity. That’s approximately ten trillion dollars of economic impact. And a lot more than nineteen percent of purchases are influenced by word of mouth, even if consumers don’t fully realize or recognize it (the same way that people unwittingly hum Katy Perry songs in the shower).

19% of all consumer purchases in the United States are directly caused by offline or online word of mouth activity. #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet

Word of mouth isn’t only applicable to consumer spending, either. In fact, a study by Blanc & Otus and G2Crowd discovered that the impact of recommendations and referrals in business-to-business (B2B) scenarios is actually far greater, due to the considered nature of most purchases, the high average prices, and the limited number of total customers.

And right now, word of mouth is more effective and important than ever for these three reasons:

First, it is hyper-relevant. The recommender customizes the recommendation to fit the receiver’s perceived needs. No other form of marketing is as personalized, and consumers increasingly desire personalization.

Second, positive word of mouth saves the recipient time by giving them a referral and recommendation, eliminating some or all of the research needed to make a sound decision.

Third, when offered by consumers to one another, word of mouth is independent, as the talker has no financial interest in the sale of the service. This adds credibility and persuasiveness to the recommendation. This trust advantage is the key to why word of mouth is so crucial today. Fundamentally, we trust businesses and organizations less than ever, and we trust people more than ever.

According to the research firm Nielsen, eighty-three percent of Americans trust recommendations from friends and family, and sixty percent trust online reviews—an important form of asynchronous word of mouth. In comparison, just fifty-two percent of citizens trust businesses globally, and in 16 of the 28 countries surveyed, fewer than half of respondents say they trust companies.

83% of Americans trust recommendations from friends and family. #WordofMouth #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet

Regardless of the size, shape, category, and history of your business, the reality is that half of your customers do not believe you. The author and keynote speaker David Horsager says “trust is a company’s most important asset.” He’s right, but the best distribution vehicle for that trust is not the company itself, but rather its customers. We’re in an era where trust matters more than truth, and the truth is your customers simply don’t trust you as much as they trust each other.

Trust is a company’s most important asset. #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet

People have the power now in ways that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. This is why the time for talk triggers has never been better—or more necessary. Businesses’ ability to unilaterally dictate consumer attitudes and subsequent purchases and loyalties is fraying like the hem of a cheap dress.

The best organizations are running ahead of this shift, purposefully crafting differentiators that get customers to tell authentic, visceral, trusted stories about the business and its products or services; stories that create new customers through referrals and recommendations.

In his book The Referral Engine, John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing, researched 1,200 small and medium-sized businesses and discovered that sixty-three percent felt that more than half of their overall revenue comes from referrals. Yet, 80 percent of those respondents had no defined system for generating those referrals. As Jantsch told us in an interview, “today, most referrals happen by accident.”

Jantsch figures that one percent or fewer of all businesses have a written plan for creating chatter. One hundred percent of businesses care about word of mouth, but less than one percent have a plan for achieving it. That’s why we wrote Talk Triggers.

There are many terrific books about word of mouth and its value. Commentary from the authors of many of them is included here, and we cite their research and conclusions throughout. But what we set out to do with Talk Triggers is to provide more structure and scaffolding to give you a clear, linear, understandable, and achievable system for harnessing the extraordinary power of word of mouth. We’ve tried to create a book that doesn’t just tell you why talk triggers are so vital, but how to actually make them work, starting the day you finish reading.

Based on our research and the findings of dozens of other authors and academics, mixed with our 45 years of combined experience as marketing consultants to hundreds of organizations, and dozens of Fortune 500 brands, we have developed the Talk Triggers framework for how to create word of mouth in any business.

We unveil this framework here, in four sections.

This first discusses the importance and economic impact of word of mouth, and examines why the overwhelming majority of organizations take a laissez faire approach to it.

The second section demonstrates the four criteria that must be present for an operational differentiator to function as a consistent conversation catalyst.

This is followed by the third section, which unveils the five different types of talk triggers that can be developed and optimized to turn customers into volunteer marketers.

The final section includes a comprehensive, six-step process for identifying, analyzing, testing, measuring, and operationalizing talk triggers in any organization.

We’ve also included a handy quick reference guide at the end of the book that summarizes key research, themes, and lessons. This reference guide was very popular with readers of our best-selling books Youtility, Hug Your Haters, and Manipurated. We hope you like it too, and find it to be a time-saver when you want to refer back to Talk Triggers after your first reading.

  Thanks for your support. You can get Talk Triggers risk-free here, in any format.

https://ift.tt/2PboLaI

[christinesumpmg]

Why I Spent 18 Months Ignoring My Family and Writing This Book

Word of mouth is the original marketing. It was, for a LOOOOONG time, all we had.

Even today, 50-91% of all purchases are influenced by word of mouth. Yet, NOBODY has an actual strategy for it. You have a digital strategy, and a content strategy, and a social strategy, and a bunch more strategies. Yet we all just take word of mouth for granted.

That inequity, between the importance of word of mouth and the scant attention we pay to it, is why Daniel Lemin and I wrote Talk Triggers: The Complete Guide to Creating Customers With Word of Mouth.

I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever made, in any format. I know it will help people. After all, the best way to grow any business is for the customers to do the growing. Turning customers into volunteer marketers is possible—and necessary—and Talk Triggers provides the reliable system for doing just that.

I’ve spent the past 18 months working on this book, although I started writing about Talk Triggers here at Convince & Convert way back in 2011. Since we started on this project, I have had a total of two days off; two days where I didn’t open my laptop over the past 550 days.

Is it worth it? Is it worth it to sequester yourself to do research? To lock yourself away to write? To give up nights and weekends to promote the book? I guess it depends on who you ask. I certainly know that the sacrifices made for a project like this are predominantly made by my wife, my kids, and my team. Not by me.

And that’s not to say I’ve been ENTIRELY neglectful during the creation and promotion of Talk Triggers. But there’s no question that when I go into “book mode”… priorities shift.

I don’t love that. It’s not for everyone, and I’m not proud of it. But rightly or wrongly, I don’t know any other way.

As my Dad told me when I was just a tyke, “if you’re going to do something, you might as well do it all the way.” That’s how I feel about writing books, and especially about this one.

I’m driven by the need to teach, and I very much hope that this book teaches you – and many more people – how to systematically grow your business with word of mouth.

I’m blown away (as is Daniel) by the early reactions to the book. And now, with the official launch happening tomorrow (October 2) I’m excited to see what everyone else thinks.

A quick reminder that the book itself includes the greatest guarantee in the history of business books. If you buy Talk Triggers (please do) and you don’t like it, let us know and we’ll buy you any other book of your choosing. No risk, no reward.

Here’s the complete first chapter of Talk Triggers. I hope it will whet your appetite enough to go to TalkTriggers.com, see the amazing bonus materials we’ve made available to you, and order your own copy – or copies for your team, or book club.

To my family and my team at Convince & Convert, I can only say this, on the precipice of my sixth book launch: “Thank you. And I’m sorry.”

All my best,

~ jay

  Talk Triggers: Chapter One

Do you like chicken? Do you really, really, really like chicken? Do you like chicken as much as Jimmy Buffett likes the beach? If so, The Cheesecake Factory is your perfect restaurant.

Each of the chain’s 200 locations offers eighty-five different chicken dishes. Unsurprisingly, given how many chicken dishes alone it includes, the menu itself runs 5,940 words long. That is more than twelve percent of the book you are about to read.

You might think that’s too long, but for The Cheesecake Factory, it’s just right. Why? Because the vastness of the restaurant’s menu is so unusual that it compels conversation among its patrons. Menu breadth is their secret customer acquisition weapon—it hides in plain sight, in the hands of each and every diner.

The menu at The Cheesecake Factory is a talk trigger: a built-in differentiator that creates customer conversations.

Every day, consumers comment on the remarkable menu variety with a combination of bewilderment, awe, and frustration. Twitter alone produced this cross-section of commentaries (and dozens more) about The Cheesecake Factory menu in early November 2017, riding along the digital winds like a smartphone-enabled messenger pigeon, spreading the word about the brand’s core differentiator to thousands and thousands and thousands of potential new customers.

Like extravagant sunglasses at an Elton John concert, the menu is such an iconic part of The Cheesecake Factory experience that some customers refer to it that way.

The menu’s benefit to The Cheesecake Factory’s business is massive. Financial filings for the public company show that The Cheesecake Factory spends just 0.2% of total sales on advertising.

Darden Restaurants, a major competitor, operates Olive Garden, The Capital Grille, Yard House, and several other dining brands. Darden is roughly three times larger, but spends 1,799 percent more on advertising (as a percentage of sales). In real dollars, Darden spends $268 million per year more in advertising than does The Cheesecake Factory.

The Cheesecake Factory doesn’t have to buy awareness because its menu is remarkable enough to compel patrons to tell their friends, which in turn creates new customers. When you commit to a talk trigger like The Cheesecake Factory menu, that difference creates conversation that clones your customers, bringing you new revenue for free.

Researchers David Godes and Dina Mayzlin found that a single word of mouth conversation by a new customer leads to an almost $200 increase in restaurant sales. When that occurs over and over and over again, you end up with The Cheesecake Factory, a multi-billion dollar company that barely pays to promote itself despite operating in a category that typically requires heavy advertising.

Researchers David Godes and Dina Mayzlin found that a single word of mouth conversation by a new customer leads to an almost $200 increase in restaurant sales. #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet The Right Kind of Talk

You might be wondering, “how often do customers really notice talk triggers?” And more importantly, how much do those differentiators actually get discussed? After all, an operational strength that doesn’t encourage conversation may grow repeat business from the original customer, but it does not create new customers at little to no cost. This pass-along effect, where customers tell your story almost involuntarily, turning themselves into volunteer marketers, is what makes word of mouth so delightfully impactful for companies that possess a talk trigger.

To better understand the impact of The Cheesecake Factory’s talk triggers, we partnered with Audience Audit, a respected provider of consumer panels to identify hundreds of adults who had dined at a Cheesecake Factory location within the prior thirty days.

Respondents were asked, “Have you ever recommended The Cheesecake Factory to someone who was not specifically asking for recommendations, just because you were particularly pleased with your experience?” Among them, sixty-six percent had.

Perhaps even more impressive is our research finding that more than nine in ten customers discuss The Cheesecake Factory when directly asked for restaurant recommendations. Respondents were asked, “Have you ever suggested The Cheesecake Factory to someone who was specifically asking for a restaurant recommendation?” Nearly every patron of The Cheesecake Factory becomes an advocate when the opportunity arises.

It was immediately clear that diners at The Cheesecake Factory talk about the experience. But when these customers converse, do they discuss generalities (e.g. “The Cheesecake Factory has good food”), or do they discuss specifics?

The difference is important. Word of mouth impact is higher when the information exchanged is specific.

A consulting client of ours asked us an interesting question that you might also be wondering. She said, “What’s the difference between a talk trigger and a unique selling proposition (USP)?” A USP is well-worn marketing shorthand defined as “a factor that differentiates a product from its competitors, such as the lowest cost, the highest quality or the first-ever product of its kind.

Here’s how we answered the client: “A USP is a feature, articulated with a bullet point, that is discussed in a conference room. A talk trigger is a benefit, articulated with a story, that is discussed at a cocktail party.” A USP is important, but the problem is that almost every one of them has plenty of SP, and very little U. Sure, “quality food” or “good service” are selling propositions. But they aren’t unique, and that atrophies word of mouth.

In our survey of The Cheesecake Factory customers, we asked this question two ways. First, we asked, “What do you typically mention about The Cheesecake Factory when you recommend it to someone?”

Sixty percent of customers said “food quality” which we classify as general information—it’s a USP. It’s also not a particularly compelling or memorable story, since food quality is not—in and of itself—a differentiator in the category. Many restaurants offer food quality, so it doesn’t have a tremendous amount of story power.

But the second-most mentioned aspect of the brand is the breadth of the menu. Nearly four in ten customers said they’ve talked about this differentiator. It’s a talk trigger!

The effectiveness of the menu breadth is even more pronounced when customers are given a list of attributes about which to talk. Options included menu breadth, their favorite menu item, portion size, the number of cheesecake flavors, friendliness of staff, and other features and benefits.”

When presented with this list, more than half of all surveyed customers said they have mentioned the number of menu items to someone else, the second-most common attribute discussed.

Customers of The Cheesecake Factory notice the size of the menu, and discuss the size of the menu, propelling awareness and encouraging new patrons to visit the restaurant for the first time. They have successfully turned their customers into volunteer marketers. And you can do the same.

You Can’t Afford to Ignore Word of Mouth

Word of mouth is perhaps the most effective—and most cost-effective–way to grow any company. Yet, we often take it for granted, like free coffee refills or another U2 album.

One of the reasons we wrote this book is to solve this mystery: As consumers, we all know how impactful word of mouth recommendations are, and we have first-hand experiences with them consistently. But in our jobs, we give very little thought to making sure our products activate word of mouth recommendations. Why and how is this the case?

Perhaps businesspeople don’t actually believe in the power of word of mouth? That hardly seems possible, given the available evidence.

A very detailed examination of the impact of word of mouth by Engagement Labs in 2017 found that nineteen percent of all consumer purchases in the United States are directly caused by offline or online word of mouth activity. That’s approximately ten trillion dollars of economic impact. And a lot more than nineteen percent of purchases are influenced by word of mouth, even if consumers don’t fully realize or recognize it (the same way that people unwittingly hum Katy Perry songs in the shower).

19% of all consumer purchases in the United States are directly caused by offline or online word of mouth activity. #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet

Word of mouth isn’t only applicable to consumer spending, either. In fact, a study by Blanc & Otus and G2Crowd discovered that the impact of recommendations and referrals in business-to-business (B2B) scenarios is actually far greater, due to the considered nature of most purchases, the high average prices, and the limited number of total customers.

And right now, word of mouth is more effective and important than ever for these three reasons:

First, it is hyper-relevant. The recommender customizes the recommendation to fit the receiver’s perceived needs. No other form of marketing is as personalized, and consumers increasingly desire personalization.

Second, positive word of mouth saves the recipient time by giving them a referral and recommendation, eliminating some or all of the research needed to make a sound decision.

Third, when offered by consumers to one another, word of mouth is independent, as the talker has no financial interest in the sale of the service. This adds credibility and persuasiveness to the recommendation. This trust advantage is the key to why word of mouth is so crucial today. Fundamentally, we trust businesses and organizations less than ever, and we trust people more than ever.

According to the research firm Nielsen, eighty-three percent of Americans trust recommendations from friends and family, and sixty percent trust online reviews—an important form of asynchronous word of mouth. In comparison, just fifty-two percent of citizens trust businesses globally, and in 16 of the 28 countries surveyed, fewer than half of respondents say they trust companies.

83% of Americans trust recommendations from friends and family. #WordofMouth #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet

Regardless of the size, shape, category, and history of your business, the reality is that half of your customers do not believe you. The author and keynote speaker David Horsager says “trust is a company’s most important asset.” He’s right, but the best distribution vehicle for that trust is not the company itself, but rather its customers. We’re in an era where trust matters more than truth, and the truth is your customers simply don’t trust you as much as they trust each other.

Trust is a company’s most important asset. #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet

People have the power now in ways that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. This is why the time for talk triggers has never been better—or more necessary. Businesses’ ability to unilaterally dictate consumer attitudes and subsequent purchases and loyalties is fraying like the hem of a cheap dress.

The best organizations are running ahead of this shift, purposefully crafting differentiators that get customers to tell authentic, visceral, trusted stories about the business and its products or services; stories that create new customers through referrals and recommendations.

In his book The Referral Engine, John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing, researched 1,200 small and medium-sized businesses and discovered that sixty-three percent felt that more than half of their overall revenue comes from referrals. Yet, 80 percent of those respondents had no defined system for generating those referrals. As Jantsch told us in an interview, “today, most referrals happen by accident.”

Jantsch figures that one percent or fewer of all businesses have a written plan for creating chatter. One hundred percent of businesses care about word of mouth, but less than one percent have a plan for achieving it. That’s why we wrote Talk Triggers.

There are many terrific books about word of mouth and its value. Commentary from the authors of many of them is included here, and we cite their research and conclusions throughout. But what we set out to do with Talk Triggers is to provide more structure and scaffolding to give you a clear, linear, understandable, and achievable system for harnessing the extraordinary power of word of mouth. We’ve tried to create a book that doesn’t just tell you why talk triggers are so vital, but how to actually make them work, starting the day you finish reading.

Based on our research and the findings of dozens of other authors and academics, mixed with our 45 years of combined experience as marketing consultants to hundreds of organizations, and dozens of Fortune 500 brands, we have developed the Talk Triggers framework for how to create word of mouth in any business.

We unveil this framework here, in four sections.

This first discusses the importance and economic impact of word of mouth, and examines why the overwhelming majority of organizations take a laissez faire approach to it.

The second section demonstrates the four criteria that must be present for an operational differentiator to function as a consistent conversation catalyst.

This is followed by the third section, which unveils the five different types of talk triggers that can be developed and optimized to turn customers into volunteer marketers.

The final section includes a comprehensive, six-step process for identifying, analyzing, testing, measuring, and operationalizing talk triggers in any organization.

We’ve also included a handy quick reference guide at the end of the book that summarizes key research, themes, and lessons. This reference guide was very popular with readers of our best-selling books Youtility, Hug Your Haters, and Manipurated. We hope you like it too, and find it to be a time-saver when you want to refer back to Talk Triggers after your first reading.

  Thanks for your support. You can get Talk Triggers risk-free here, in any format.

https://ift.tt/2PboLaI

[rodneyevesuarywk]

Why I Spent 18 Months Ignoring My Family and Writing This Book

Word of mouth is the original marketing. It was, for a LOOOOONG time, all we had.

Even today, 50-91% of all purchases are influenced by word of mouth. Yet, NOBODY has an actual strategy for it. You have a digital strategy, and a content strategy, and a social strategy, and a bunch more strategies. Yet we all just take word of mouth for granted.

That inequity, between the importance of word of mouth and the scant attention we pay to it, is why Daniel Lemin and I wrote Talk Triggers: The Complete Guide to Creating Customers With Word of Mouth.

I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever made, in any format. I know it will help people. After all, the best way to grow any business is for the customers to do the growing. Turning customers into volunteer marketers is possible—and necessary—and Talk Triggers provides the reliable system for doing just that.

I’ve spent the past 18 months working on this book, although I started writing about Talk Triggers here at Convince & Convert way back in 2011. Since we started on this project, I have had a total of two days off; two days where I didn’t open my laptop over the past 550 days.

Is it worth it? Is it worth it to sequester yourself to do research? To lock yourself away to write? To give up nights and weekends to promote the book? I guess it depends on who you ask. I certainly know that the sacrifices made for a project like this are predominantly made by my wife, my kids, and my team. Not by me.

And that’s not to say I’ve been ENTIRELY neglectful during the creation and promotion of Talk Triggers. But there’s no question that when I go into “book mode”… priorities shift.

I don’t love that. It’s not for everyone, and I’m not proud of it. But rightly or wrongly, I don’t know any other way.

As my Dad told me when I was just a tyke, “if you’re going to do something, you might as well do it all the way.” That’s how I feel about writing books, and especially about this one.

I’m driven by the need to teach, and I very much hope that this book teaches you – and many more people – how to systematically grow your business with word of mouth.

I’m blown away (as is Daniel) by the early reactions to the book. And now, with the official launch happening tomorrow (October 2) I’m excited to see what everyone else thinks.

A quick reminder that the book itself includes the greatest guarantee in the history of business books. If you buy Talk Triggers (please do) and you don’t like it, let us know and we’ll buy you any other book of your choosing. No risk, no reward.

Here’s the complete first chapter of Talk Triggers. I hope it will whet your appetite enough to go to TalkTriggers.com, see the amazing bonus materials we’ve made available to you, and order your own copy – or copies for your team, or book club.

To my family and my team at Convince & Convert, I can only say this, on the precipice of my sixth book launch: “Thank you. And I’m sorry.”

All my best,

~ jay

  Talk Triggers: Chapter One

Do you like chicken? Do you really, really, really like chicken? Do you like chicken as much as Jimmy Buffett likes the beach? If so, The Cheesecake Factory is your perfect restaurant.

Each of the chain’s 200 locations offers eighty-five different chicken dishes. Unsurprisingly, given how many chicken dishes alone it includes, the menu itself runs 5,940 words long. That is more than twelve percent of the book you are about to read.

You might think that’s too long, but for The Cheesecake Factory, it’s just right. Why? Because the vastness of the restaurant’s menu is so unusual that it compels conversation among its patrons. Menu breadth is their secret customer acquisition weapon—it hides in plain sight, in the hands of each and every diner.

The menu at The Cheesecake Factory is a talk trigger: a built-in differentiator that creates customer conversations.

Every day, consumers comment on the remarkable menu variety with a combination of bewilderment, awe, and frustration. Twitter alone produced this cross-section of commentaries (and dozens more) about The Cheesecake Factory menu in early November 2017, riding along the digital winds like a smartphone-enabled messenger pigeon, spreading the word about the brand’s core differentiator to thousands and thousands and thousands of potential new customers.

Like extravagant sunglasses at an Elton John concert, the menu is such an iconic part of The Cheesecake Factory experience that some customers refer to it that way.

The menu’s benefit to The Cheesecake Factory’s business is massive. Financial filings for the public company show that The Cheesecake Factory spends just 0.2% of total sales on advertising.

Darden Restaurants, a major competitor, operates Olive Garden, The Capital Grille, Yard House, and several other dining brands. Darden is roughly three times larger, but spends 1,799 percent more on advertising (as a percentage of sales). In real dollars, Darden spends $268 million per year more in advertising than does The Cheesecake Factory.

The Cheesecake Factory doesn’t have to buy awareness because its menu is remarkable enough to compel patrons to tell their friends, which in turn creates new customers. When you commit to a talk trigger like The Cheesecake Factory menu, that difference creates conversation that clones your customers, bringing you new revenue for free.

Researchers David Godes and Dina Mayzlin found that a single word of mouth conversation by a new customer leads to an almost $200 increase in restaurant sales. When that occurs over and over and over again, you end up with The Cheesecake Factory, a multi-billion dollar company that barely pays to promote itself despite operating in a category that typically requires heavy advertising.

Researchers David Godes and Dina Mayzlin found that a single word of mouth conversation by a new customer leads to an almost $200 increase in restaurant sales. #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet The Right Kind of Talk

You might be wondering, “how often do customers really notice talk triggers?” And more importantly, how much do those differentiators actually get discussed? After all, an operational strength that doesn’t encourage conversation may grow repeat business from the original customer, but it does not create new customers at little to no cost. This pass-along effect, where customers tell your story almost involuntarily, turning themselves into volunteer marketers, is what makes word of mouth so delightfully impactful for companies that possess a talk trigger.

To better understand the impact of The Cheesecake Factory’s talk triggers, we partnered with Audience Audit, a respected provider of consumer panels to identify hundreds of adults who had dined at a Cheesecake Factory location within the prior thirty days.

Respondents were asked, “Have you ever recommended The Cheesecake Factory to someone who was not specifically asking for recommendations, just because you were particularly pleased with your experience?” Among them, sixty-six percent had.

Perhaps even more impressive is our research finding that more than nine in ten customers discuss The Cheesecake Factory when directly asked for restaurant recommendations. Respondents were asked, “Have you ever suggested The Cheesecake Factory to someone who was specifically asking for a restaurant recommendation?” Nearly every patron of The Cheesecake Factory becomes an advocate when the opportunity arises.

It was immediately clear that diners at The Cheesecake Factory talk about the experience. But when these customers converse, do they discuss generalities (e.g. “The Cheesecake Factory has good food”), or do they discuss specifics?

The difference is important. Word of mouth impact is higher when the information exchanged is specific.

A consulting client of ours asked us an interesting question that you might also be wondering. She said, “What’s the difference between a talk trigger and a unique selling proposition (USP)?” A USP is well-worn marketing shorthand defined as “a factor that differentiates a product from its competitors, such as the lowest cost, the highest quality or the first-ever product of its kind.

Here’s how we answered the client: “A USP is a feature, articulated with a bullet point, that is discussed in a conference room. A talk trigger is a benefit, articulated with a story, that is discussed at a cocktail party.” A USP is important, but the problem is that almost every one of them has plenty of SP, and very little U. Sure, “quality food” or “good service” are selling propositions. But they aren’t unique, and that atrophies word of mouth.

In our survey of The Cheesecake Factory customers, we asked this question two ways. First, we asked, “What do you typically mention about The Cheesecake Factory when you recommend it to someone?”

Sixty percent of customers said “food quality” which we classify as general information—it’s a USP. It’s also not a particularly compelling or memorable story, since food quality is not—in and of itself—a differentiator in the category. Many restaurants offer food quality, so it doesn’t have a tremendous amount of story power.

But the second-most mentioned aspect of the brand is the breadth of the menu. Nearly four in ten customers said they’ve talked about this differentiator. It’s a talk trigger!

The effectiveness of the menu breadth is even more pronounced when customers are given a list of attributes about which to talk. Options included menu breadth, their favorite menu item, portion size, the number of cheesecake flavors, friendliness of staff, and other features and benefits.”

When presented with this list, more than half of all surveyed customers said they have mentioned the number of menu items to someone else, the second-most common attribute discussed.

Customers of The Cheesecake Factory notice the size of the menu, and discuss the size of the menu, propelling awareness and encouraging new patrons to visit the restaurant for the first time. They have successfully turned their customers into volunteer marketers. And you can do the same.

You Can’t Afford to Ignore Word of Mouth

Word of mouth is perhaps the most effective—and most cost-effective–way to grow any company. Yet, we often take it for granted, like free coffee refills or another U2 album.

One of the reasons we wrote this book is to solve this mystery: As consumers, we all know how impactful word of mouth recommendations are, and we have first-hand experiences with them consistently. But in our jobs, we give very little thought to making sure our products activate word of mouth recommendations. Why and how is this the case?

Perhaps businesspeople don’t actually believe in the power of word of mouth? That hardly seems possible, given the available evidence.

A very detailed examination of the impact of word of mouth by Engagement Labs in 2017 found that nineteen percent of all consumer purchases in the United States are directly caused by offline or online word of mouth activity. That’s approximately ten trillion dollars of economic impact. And a lot more than nineteen percent of purchases are influenced by word of mouth, even if consumers don’t fully realize or recognize it (the same way that people unwittingly hum Katy Perry songs in the shower).

19% of all consumer purchases in the United States are directly caused by offline or online word of mouth activity. #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet

Word of mouth isn’t only applicable to consumer spending, either. In fact, a study by Blanc & Otus and G2Crowd discovered that the impact of recommendations and referrals in business-to-business (B2B) scenarios is actually far greater, due to the considered nature of most purchases, the high average prices, and the limited number of total customers.

And right now, word of mouth is more effective and important than ever for these three reasons:

First, it is hyper-relevant. The recommender customizes the recommendation to fit the receiver’s perceived needs. No other form of marketing is as personalized, and consumers increasingly desire personalization.

Second, positive word of mouth saves the recipient time by giving them a referral and recommendation, eliminating some or all of the research needed to make a sound decision.

Third, when offered by consumers to one another, word of mouth is independent, as the talker has no financial interest in the sale of the service. This adds credibility and persuasiveness to the recommendation. This trust advantage is the key to why word of mouth is so crucial today. Fundamentally, we trust businesses and organizations less than ever, and we trust people more than ever.

According to the research firm Nielsen, eighty-three percent of Americans trust recommendations from friends and family, and sixty percent trust online reviews—an important form of asynchronous word of mouth. In comparison, just fifty-two percent of citizens trust businesses globally, and in 16 of the 28 countries surveyed, fewer than half of respondents say they trust companies.

83% of Americans trust recommendations from friends and family. #WordofMouth #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet

Regardless of the size, shape, category, and history of your business, the reality is that half of your customers do not believe you. The author and keynote speaker David Horsager says “trust is a company’s most important asset.” He’s right, but the best distribution vehicle for that trust is not the company itself, but rather its customers. We’re in an era where trust matters more than truth, and the truth is your customers simply don’t trust you as much as they trust each other.

Trust is a company’s most important asset. #TalkTriggers Click To Tweet

People have the power now in ways that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. This is why the time for talk triggers has never been better—or more necessary. Businesses’ ability to unilaterally dictate consumer attitudes and subsequent purchases and loyalties is fraying like the hem of a cheap dress.

The best organizations are running ahead of this shift, purposefully crafting differentiators that get customers to tell authentic, visceral, trusted stories about the business and its products or services; stories that create new customers through referrals and recommendations.

In his book The Referral Engine, John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing, researched 1,200 small and medium-sized businesses and discovered that sixty-three percent felt that more than half of their overall revenue comes from referrals. Yet, 80 percent of those respondents had no defined system for generating those referrals. As Jantsch told us in an interview, “today, most referrals happen by accident.”

Jantsch figures that one percent or fewer of all businesses have a written plan for creating chatter. One hundred percent of businesses care about word of mouth, but less than one percent have a plan for achieving it. That’s why we wrote Talk Triggers.

There are many terrific books about word of mouth and its value. Commentary from the authors of many of them is included here, and we cite their research and conclusions throughout. But what we set out to do with Talk Triggers is to provide more structure and scaffolding to give you a clear, linear, understandable, and achievable system for harnessing the extraordinary power of word of mouth. We’ve tried to create a book that doesn’t just tell you why talk triggers are so vital, but how to actually make them work, starting the day you finish reading.

Based on our research and the findings of dozens of other authors and academics, mixed with our 45 years of combined experience as marketing consultants to hundreds of organizations, and dozens of Fortune 500 brands, we have developed the Talk Triggers framework for how to create word of mouth in any business.

We unveil this framework here, in four sections.

This first discusses the importance and economic impact of word of mouth, and examines why the overwhelming majority of organizations take a laissez faire approach to it.

The second section demonstrates the four criteria that must be present for an operational differentiator to function as a consistent conversation catalyst.

This is followed by the third section, which unveils the five different types of talk triggers that can be developed and optimized to turn customers into volunteer marketers.

The final section includes a comprehensive, six-step process for identifying, analyzing, testing, measuring, and operationalizing talk triggers in any organization.

We’ve also included a handy quick reference guide at the end of the book that summarizes key research, themes, and lessons. This reference guide was very popular with readers of our best-selling books Youtility, Hug Your Haters, and Manipurated. We hope you like it too, and find it to be a time-saver when you want to refer back to Talk Triggers after your first reading.

  Thanks for your support. You can get Talk Triggers risk-free here, in any format.

https://ift.tt/2PboLaI