#that time during 2020-2022 has such a place in my heart because of how lonely everything felt

[customizablefriend]

My true self still loves Tommyinnit I am still an inniter at heart I have not changed

[cffeelia]

divine, divine | k. namjoon

“you are my pain divine, divine.”

summary: your long time boyfriend is the leader of the biggest band in the world. you’d imagine he would have some more time for you now that the group was temporarily disbanded, but he’s still busy with an album, leaving you to feel unwanted and lonely. it’s only a matter of time before he leaves for the military and all you want is to see him do anything but fall asleep in his studio.

kind of angsty but pinky promise it ends on a good note 🙏🙏

2022

bts has become apart of your life as much as it’s apart of your boyfriend’s, seeing as he’s the leader of the group. for the past 4 years, youve grown closer to the boys, growing a special relationship with each of them. from sitting backstage on tour, to placing blankets over them as they slept in their studio. you’ve seen all of their highs and lows, seeing as their moods basically determined your boyfriends.

namjoon lives vicariously through his band mates, if they were upset, so was he. 2020 was a rough patch for everyone, but namjoon took it so harshly. that was the first time you’d ever seen him sob, hands running through his bleached hair as he fell to his knees in your shared apartment.

“what am i even good for if it’s not music? and i can’t even get anything out in this time where everyone needs me. ____, why am i even here?”

all you could do was tuck his head into your chest, your mouth lightly parted as tears fell silently while he cried into your shirt. he’s never crashed this hard before, you needed to say something, anything.

you managed to calm him down after about ten minutes, the night ended with him wrapped in your arms, eyes puffed from his sobs.

thankfully, that year never repeated. you learned a lot about namjoon, his moods, how to comfort him. he wasn’t always a touchy guy, opting for words of affirmation both to you and to receive, but this year taught him how much he loved to be held by you. he would never take that for granted.

things went back to normal after about two years, and bangtan was excited to perform again for their permission to dance tour, though it wasn’t to the scale of the one they originally planned. however, the tour was successful, and definitely memorable for not just you, but your boyfriend and his band mates as well. you can still recall the night they closed off the tour, ‘mikrokosmos’ always would hold a special place in your heart, this group really loved their fans, it’s so admirable to see an artist hold that much love for people simply because they enjoy their music.

nothing good lasted forever, though.

june 14, 2022, during 2022 festa, bangtan officially announced their hiatus. you knew this news was coming since january of that year, but this wasn’t the bad part. if anything, you were excited to spend more 1-on-1 time with the love of your life, and for his close friends to get a break from the spotlight, but it wasn’t what you thought it was.

immediately after this announcement, namjoon was working like crazy on more music. their repackaged album was already out, and the busan concert went well, so why was he still calling you from his studio to tell you he wouldn’t make it for dinner again? that’s how you ended up in your car, trying not to violate traffic laws as you angrily drove to the hybe building.

“mr namjoon, someones here for you.”

the studio door opened to reveal a staff member, namjoon got up groggily from his seat, a little pissed of that his flow was interrupted.

taking the elevator to the first floor, he imagined it was probably some producer offering their beats again. why wasn’t security listening when he said he knew what he was doing for this album?

he wasn’t expecting you, hair braided out of your bare face. you wore his white tshirt and loose fitting jeans, clearly you rushed out of the house.

“hey baby. what’s up?” he slowly made his way to you.

“don’t ‘hey baby’ me, are you seriously doing this again?” you took his hand, dragging him back to his studio.

“what do you mean?” he struggled to keep up as you paced into the elevator, jamming the floor seven button

“____, hey, what’s going on? are you ok?” he cupped your face, dark circles hung along your eyes, your eyelashes poking straight out instead of their usual curled position. were you crying?

“no namjoon, im not! i thought you were done working on music, i want you to come home!” dramatically flinging your hands around, you looked longingly up to your boyfriends eyes, his hand still caressing your cheek.

“i’m sorry, i didn’t tell you. i’m preparing another album before i have to go to the military this december.” he smiled softly to you, but you didn’t return it. your face lost all emotion, turning back to the buttons on the elevator.

“i’m going home then, goodnight.”

“what? hun, what’s wrong? i’ll come home this wholeeee week. i promise, i just got a late start today babe.”

he grabbed your hand to stop your from pressing the lobby button.

“baby, look at me.” turning your head towards his smiling face, you knew you were in for it now. you planned to tell him off, and get him to come home. now you felt bad for interrupting his music process, and couldn’t keep up your angry girlfriend act any longer.

“just let me wrap up, ok? you can come with, there’s still some takeout in my office. give me thirty minutes i promise.” your eyes fell to his pinky, sticking out for you to interlock yours with and seal his promise.

you pecked his lips, looking away embarassed that he sweet talked the anger out of you.

“i love you, you’re real cute.” he whispered as he lead you into his studio.

2023

so much for the stupid fucking pinky promise, once again you were left alone in your bed. namjoon was surprisingly here tonight, but he had barely said a word, his exhaustion took him over, and he almost fell asleep in the shower if it weren’t for you coming in to brush your teeth.

now he was sleeping at your side, head skimming your shoulder as you sat, propped up on your pillows, scrolling mindlessly on your phone. it was supposed to distract you, but your for you page wanted you to remember everything that you were missing out on. you know this is a hard time for bangtan, but what about you? namjoon was overworking himself as if he didn’t have ten whole months before he would have to enlist.

you wanted to feel bad for him, it’s so selfish to tell him to abandon his work to come spend time with you. but seriously, what the fuck? you didn’t even get to kiss him on new years, he spent it with jhope, in their stupid fucking studio.

your phone flashed all colors of purple and white, the tiktok video was from an army recounting their concert memories from 2019 during the lysy tour. you remember that night, hearing thousands of english speaking armys defy the boundaries of language to sing in korean for bts. it made you cry too, but this video inflicted both frustration and sadness in you now.

you turned your phone off, tossing it to the side and climbing into your sheets, head facing namjoons as he slept. you let a tear roll silently down your cheek, you wish he could care as much as he used to. he unconsciously grabbed your arm, barely awake as he interlocked arms with you, and shuffled higher on the pillows. he basically was inviting you into his arms. hesitantly, you scooted until you were in his chest, you arms naturally reaching up to his neck.

that one tear became two, then three, then you lost count. hopefully he wouldn’t notice how soaked his shirt was, you sniffled lightly, careful not to wake him. you had almost drifted to sleep, exhausted from your heavy breathing while you let your emotions fall from your heavy lids. namjoon pulled you into his chest tighter, feeling the wet stain of your tears startled him awake.

he gasped lightly and groggily sprung up from bed

“what? what’s wrong?” you asked, flipping a lamp on, your voice hoarse as you tried to wipe your tears discreetly.

“what, what, is this you?” he pointed to the dark circle staining his loose shirt.

this only earned a sniffle from you, everything fell out all at once, snapping joon out of his sleepy trance, he listened as close as he could, extremely sleep deprived and barely even awake.

“i miss you so much joonie, it’s- it’s- like, not the same anymore!” you sniffled “all i want is to just enjoy waking up with you and going out to cute cafes again without music being behind it! please,” your hands slapped into your eyes, “please joonie can you just, just come back to me once in a while? why am i competing with your music? shouldn’t you prioritize me? i feel so unimportant.” your voice died down, namjoon wasted no time in tucking you back into bed, he let you roll onto his chest.

“hun, you should’ve spoke up. i broke our promise, i know i did, i should’ve apologized princess.” he kissed your temple. “i’m so sorry, ____, i’ll spend more time with you baby. it’s been so hard huh?” he tilted his head back to see your relaxed face, still leaking tears onto his shirt.

“yes, i just wanted you to come home, i feel like i’m loosing it, i haven’t even showered for the past three days, i didn’t wash my face joonie everything’s just a fucking task right now.” you let out another sniffle before looking back into his eyes. “when will you just be how you used to again?”

he felt himself recharge as he looks into your beautiful eyes, though half lidded. he felt like he could sleep in your eyes, they were truly heaven. so much so he forgot to reply, “i know baby. it’s ok, you’re ok, i’ll find a way to stay home more often, that sound good?”

you nodded, puckering your lips lightly, he kissed you once, then again, and again, then your cheek, ear, neck, then back to your lips.

it pained him so much to see you hurt over him, especially when he knows you’ve been innocently waiting like the perfect girl you are for him to say something to you.

after a while, the two of you fell asleep, arms crossed around each other as he caught up on some much needed rest. neither of you woke up until 2pm, joon replaced himself with a pillow, letting you sleep some more while he walked to the living room. his guitar sat in the corner of the room, where it had been collecting dust for two years now.

he rushed back into the room to quietly grab his laptop, also stealing a soft kiss on your lips, before he sat down on your shared couch. he knew what he wanted this song to sound like, he just needed lyrics and now, he finally found them.

copying your words, he began to play quietly. it took a while, but he got the premise of the song eventually, deciding to put the guitar down to cook the two of you some breakfast. he turned the stove on, getting to work making pancakes.

the smell woke you up, even though the food had been made, your boyfriend knew it could be reheated. if you weren’t ready to wake up, he wouldn’t come get you. so, he settled back down with his guitar, playing his untitled song.

it was the sound that lulled you out of bed. despite what you’d said last night, you loved to hear namjoon singing. you stumbled into the living room, sitting down beside namjoon as he continued his song, eyes skimming over you. the smile in his voice was audible. you layed your head on his shoulder, letting the vibrations of his voice relax you.

this was exactly what you missed, just quality time with the light of your life. you had never felt better than at that exact moment, it was the peak of your relationship.

just like his lyrics, it was divine, divine.

i have ideas for a part two if anyone’s interested 😽😽 lmk!!

[techcrunchappcom]

New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/texas-tech-hires-former-star-kirsta-gerlich-as-coach/

Texas Tech hires former star Kirsta Gerlich as coach

Alexis Cubit, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Published 11:51 a.m. CT Aug. 18, 2020 | Updated 4:15 p.m. CT Aug. 18, 2020

CLOSE

SportsPulse: Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt spoke with reporters Friday to discuss the school’s next steps after firing women’s basketball coach Marlene Stollings.

USA TODAY

LUBBOCK, Texas — Krista Gerlich has returned.

After helping Texas Tech women’s basketball team to a national championship in 1993, the former guard was named the Lady Raiders’ coach Tuesday.

“I can’t put into words how excited I am to be entrusted with rebuilding the Lady Raider basketball program, which is near and dear to my heart,” Gerlich said in a Texas Tech news release. “I can’t wait to get to work on taking this program back to where it’s supposed to be, where it has been and where everyone in the Texas Tech community expects it to be. I’m looking forward to meeting the current Lady Raiders, embracing them and their journey, and helping them write a better ending to their careers at Texas Tech, because they deserve it.

“I believe that Texas Tech is a pot of gold for every sport, and that’s illustrated by how well each program succeeds on a national level year in and year out. There is no reason that Lady Raider basketball can’t do that too, because we’ve already seen it done. We know we have the support, and I am looking forward to bringing that positive excitement and authentic love for the program back to my alma mater.”

Gerlich will replace Marlene Stollings, who spent two seasons with the Lady Raiders before she was terminated on Aug. 6, a day after USA TODAY published an article detailing verbal abuse toward players.

In Stollings’ final season with the program, the Lady Raiders (18-11, 7-11) reached 18 total wins and seven Big 12 Conference victories for the first time in seven seasons while reaching conference action with an undefeated record for the first time in eight seasons.

Throughout a 14-year head coaching career, which consisted of seven seasons at West Texas A&M in Canyon, Gerlich has racked up two TABC Coach of the Year awards, three conference coach of the year honors, three conference titles, five NCAA Tournament wins and eight 20-win seasons. She has also overseen seven WBCA All-Americans, six conference players of the year, 10 All-Sun Belt selections and 17 Lone Star Conference All-Conference selections.

 (Photo: The Associated Press)

Gerlich spent the past seven seasons at UT-Arlington and is the program’s all-time winningest coach, racking up 121 of her 289 career wins as a collegiate head coach at the helm of the Lady Mavericks program.

“I am excited to announce Krista Gerlich as our next Lady Raider basketball coach,” Texas Tech athletic director Kriby Hocutt said in a news release. “Coach Gerlich has been outstanding as a head coach at both UT-Arlington and West Texas A&M, and her track record as a student-athlete at Texas Tech speaks for itself. I believe that she is the right person to lead our women’s basketball team and I am excited to see what she and the Lady Raiders accomplish in the seasons ahead.”

During the search process, Gerlich brought up her 2015 public intoxication charge in which she served a two-game suspension while coaching at UT-Arlington, according to KAMC Sports Director David Collier.

Hocutt said he felt satisfied Gerlich had learned her lesson and “has continued to grow as a coach, role model and mentor to her student athletes."

“I was forthright about the incident throughout the interview process,” Gerlich said of the incident. “I’ve shared it with my team as an example of a growing experience to acknowledge that we aren’t all perfect and that everyone makes mistakes.”

Gerlich will also be the second member of the family to be part of a Big 12 Conference school. Her daughter, Bryn, is a forward for the Oklahoma State women’s basketball team ― playing in 28 games as a sophomore last season.

Krista Gerlich is a born and raised West Texan, winning a state championship with Sudan in 1987 with her father, Jim Kirkland, as the coach. A year later, she led Spearman to a cross country state title. Months after helping the Lady Raiders to a national title in 1993, she began her coaching career at Lockney then joined her former coach Marsha Sharp’s coaching staff back at Tech 10 years later.

Gerlich made the move to head West Texas A&M’s women’s basketball program in 2006 and was there for seven seasons before taking the job at UT-Arlington in 2013 where she’s been ever since.

Former legendary Canyon girls basketball coach Joe Lombard, who retired in April, got to know Gerlich during her time at West Texas A&M and referred to her as a program builder.

“She’s a west Texas girl, so she knows what kind of players and programs we have in west Texas and in the meantime, she’s been recruiting the state of Texas, specifically the Dallas area, the metroplex area, so she’s got several tie-ins there,” Lombard said. “I think she’s a program builder just because she’s going to do things the right way and recruit the right kind of people and put a style of play out there that people will enjoy watching. I think Texas Tech did a great job.”

From her first season to second with the Lady Mavericks, Gerlich had the second-largest Division I turnaround, going from four wins (2013-14) to 17 victories (2014-15).

She was named the Sun Belt Conference coach of the year in 2019 after leading the Lady Mavs to their first conference regular season crown. The former Lady Raider ended her final season with UTA on a high note, finishing the pandemic-shortened year with a 21-11 record and 14-4 mark in the Sun Belt Conference standings to place third.

According to theshorthorn.com, Gerlich was the third-highest female employee at UTA, making $310,000 during the 2019-20 season. She had received a contract extension through the 2022-23 season, announced on July 2, 2019, and was scheduled to make a base of $335,000 for the 2020-21 season, per a document obtained by USA TODAY.

Shallowater girls basketball coach Chuck Darden is eager to see how Gerlich can re-energize the fan base and build new relationships. The longtime Fillies mentor has known the new Lady Raiders coach since high school coaching against Kirkland’s Spearman teams while Gerlich was playing. Darden was also on opposite ends of a sideline with Gerlich when she was coaching at Lockney.

“I think coaching’s in her blood, always has been,” Darden said. “She’s been around it her whole life, so I just think she’s a natural at it and I think she’ll be a great coach at Texas Tech. I’ll sure be pulling for her, I know that.”

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Sports editor Carlos Silva Jr. also contributed to this story.