#this. this is why i love automated menus. i can only do the voice for so long | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wordsturnintostories · 4 years

Text

show me your rosettes, baby (g)

summary: The world tour is over and the Bangtan Boys finally get their well-deserved break. When Namjoon suddenly can’t find Jimin anywhere, things take an unexpected and pretty unbelievable turn. “Kim Namjoon!” “Hyung. How common is it for people to turn into cats?” word count: 11.7k note: sorry for not updating this baby in sooo long. i struggled with this chapter for three months and would have never gotten to this final version without @justanemptydream’s help. you saved me. thank you, love. anyway, last time i thought the chapter was long but now we’ve got an 11.7k monstrosity. let me know if you enjoyed reading it. toodles ✨

masterlist | moodboard masterlist

The room is stunningly quiet apart from Jimin’s sleepy hiccups, the soft buzzing of the fish tank and the beeps that signal that the call is not yet connected. Unsure about what to expect, Sihyuk and Namjoon hold eye contact. Then, suddenly, a woman’s voice appears on the other side of the phone.

“Welcome, Bang Sihyuk, Kim Namjoon. I am your automated call agent today. We apologize for not being personally available to take your call at the moment. To continue, please choose an option from the menu. Press 1 to access all gathered data about Park Jimin, press 3 to-“

They both look at each other.

“What the hell.”

A bird caws outside the window. The fish in the tank swim in wobbly circles. Jimin sniffles and fails to lick his side. The silence - okay, it’s more of a shock-state, but the silence seems electric, like any word will change the current and any action will push them to a point of no return.

Namjoon starts a short body-mind check, feels his brain reboot. There are not many updates; he’s still sitting in the same chair in Bang Sihyuk’s office, Jimin is still wriggling around on his lap and they are still on the phone with the weird robot lady whose number they got from a magic business card. But his heart is pounding like it wasn’t before, and his eyes and mouth hang open wide. Actual shivers flow over his skin, matching the light reflexes from the tank, and Namjoon has a weird premonition that he will break something today. The silence is almost damp with shock, and probably only rings in his ears, like he’s a hero in an action movie who’s lost his sense of hearing after the explosion of the century.

Now, Namjoon knows a lot of things other people don’t know. He knows how to make music, great music according to ARMY and the charts, and he knows how to lead a group (although most of the time, he feels like he’s not actually doing anything, thanks to his hyungs). He knows how to survive a 40-event concert tour and he knows how to dislocate a shoulder without trying to. It’s the things Namjoon doesn’t know that scare him.

He doesn’t know how anyone could have possibly found out about Jimin’s condition - he’s been extra careful the past days, restraining himself from posting cat photos on their twitter and only letting Jimin out into their private backyard to avoid prying eyes. The only people he’s told about Jimin are Min Yoongi and Bang Sihyuk. Not even the other band members know about the leopard cub roaming their apartment and gnawing on their cushions. And yet, some company or organization has found out.

Namjoon doesn’t know what to think - on the one hand, it could be very good. It could mean that the other company has no intention of blackmailing them. It could mean that there is interest in the topic but no pressure. On the other hand, this could be bad, very bad. To know that someone else is out there, with unclear motivations (because seriously, they could still blackmail BigHit for this), with an unknown amount of information - it could mean anything. Namjoon knows as well as any other person working for BigHit how fragile success is - no matter the foundation of work underneath. BigHit and BTS have worked years - long years that cost them their all - to rise up as far as they have today and the whole business is based completely on popularity, on opinions. Opinions can change quickly, especially in the music industry. One wrong move and your career is over. Namjoon knows all this. What he doesn’t know is whether Jimin will shift back, become human again (the doubt still lingers despite what Jackson says), whether BTS will be able to go on normally, whether their next shows will happen, whether Jimin will be okay. Because if he isn’t, BTS isn’t, and if BTS isn’t, BigHit isn’t either. That’s how it works. Namjoon knows that. And that’s why he looks up to Sihyuk for help.

Namjoon is sure that Sihyuk knows all these things too, that he’s thinking about them right this moment while Namjoon has to remember to breathe properly and both ways, in and out, to stuff back his rising anxiety (just like his therapist told him, in and out, in and out). Sihyuk stays pretty quiet for a long moment, looking back at Namjoon but not really looking at him directly, more like… through him like he’s not focused at all. Then, he shakes his head and himself out of his trance and grabs his phone. Another thing Namjoon knows (by heart) is this new look on Sihyuk’s face as he looks for the contact and dials. It’s the I’m-concerned-for-my-kids look that he’s been sporting less and less nowadays but that had been a constant companion during their first couple of years.

The voice on the phone reels Namjoon back in from his observations, enough to catch the relieved “Good morning, Mrs. Kang”. It’s enough to let Namjoon know that the situation is very serious but hasn’t quite reached catastrophic levels yet. Mrs. Kang is their lawyer, not their emergency response unit. Mrs. Kang clears things up, does law research and manages their contract details. She’s not responsible for decisions concerning anything related to music or marketing or member conditions, so Namjoon manages to find some hope in the thought that all these things are not endangered. PDnim will take care of any new legal issues. We’ll be fine.

Before he reroutes his full attention back to the words filtering through his phone, Namjoon takes a second to feel himself in the room - he thinks back to his therapist talking to him about unsettling situations and anxiety. Just ground yourself in the sounds and in the feeling of your body in the room - against the chair, against the floor, wherever you are. Feel the air around you and breathe in and out. What is near you? Feel it. Focus on that rather than the anxiety inside. Namjoon breathes in and for a second, he wishes he had Jungkook’s sense of smell because the office scent in his own nose is rather weak. He does smell Sihyuk’s perfume and the lingering residue of his own cologne on the soft collar of his coat. He feels the chair’s armrests that enclose his hips and the way his shoes line up perfectly with the floor. And most importantly, he feels Jimin pawing at his ankles in an eager attempt to be scooped up and cuddled, probably. It forces a pleasant smile on Namjoon’s face that he welcomes - as if the little leopard cub has managed to shush his anxiety completely. Rightfully so, Namjoon thinks as he grabs Jimin’s tiny body, legs and arms flailing around cutely in the air, tail curling around Namjoon’s wrist. Jimin’s eyes are wide and blue and just like a little plushie’s - big enough to stand out from the rest of his body proportions and big enough to lower your defenses to attack you with cuteness. Namjoon sets his dongsaeng down on his lap before picking up the call again only to realize that he hadn’t even responded last time - so now, the robot voice is tirelessly repeating the same menu choices as before.

“-mation we have gathered about Park Jimin, press 3 to apply for a regular membership or a VIP membership, press 5 to request medical or legal support, press 7 to be connected to our Shifter and Hybrid Needs network or press 9 for other issues.”

When his mind registers the options presented to him, Namjoon doesn’t know what to think. In all honesty, those options sound nothing like his paranoia had suggested to him before - it sounds like normal customer service and that bothers Namjoon because this is a magical number that Jackson had given him… right? To be honest, Namjoon doesn’t know what a phone call with a magical number should sound like, if there’s any sample he could go by - is there any K-drama he could watch that is even halfway accurate with these magical things? Maybe he should text Jackson later.

“H-Hi,” he cringes at how shaky his own voice sounds, “w-who am I talking to?”

“Forgive my manners, Namjoon-ssi. I am your automated call agent today. Our office staff is currently not available to take your call-“

It’s so strange. Namjoon has never encountered any automated call agent that responds to his voice, or rather, his words. Normally, those things present the options menu, wait for the number he presses, and react accordingly. He’s slightly confused by how this call goes right now and Jimin whines when the big fingers in the fur on his back still. Namjoon goes back to gently stroking the cub’s fur and frowns. What if this is not a normal machine?

“Are-are you an AI? Or are you a new kind of technology somehow?”

“I am an AMI, Namjoon-ssi, designed specifically to accommodate our many clients’ needs individually.”

An AMI. He isn’t sure if that name was given on purpose, if that is part of the message that the other side wants to transmit - an AMI? Like, ARMY? Is it meant to… be a joke? A threat maybe? Does the female robot voice introduce itself (herself?) as AMI to everyone or just him? Namjoon’s brows are furrowed and he really doesn’t know what to think, only that wilder ideas arise the more he keeps thinking, so maybe he should stop. What if- what if this is not really a robot voice but an actual ARMY that uses some sort of voice contortion device? What if this is a Sasaeng? Alarm bells ring in Namjoon’s head. He isn’t sure whether that’s possible, whether this is a valid idea, but in the handful of years he’s been an idol, he’s learned that the world is crazy. Anything is possible, especially in BTS. He brushes his fingers through Jimin’s soft fur, letting the tail drag through his hands, relishes in the warmth under the fuzz and risks a look at Sihyuk, who is still talking to their lawyer.

“There’s no sense in waiting longer, you’re right. Is there anything you can do to activate the contract clause faster?” and then, “Yeah, same as last time.”

Namjoon sits up a little straighter. A contract clause? What does he mean by that? What kind of contract clause - he sucks in a breath. Does BangPdnim - did he plan this somehow? Was he prepared for this kind of thing to happen? Also, same as last time? Has he done this before? Is there… maybe someone else like Jimin? Another shifter in the group? Wouldn’t Jackson have mentioned that? His thoughts swirl and Namjoon feels like he’s falling through his chair, into the ground, like there’s an endless bottom opening up underneath him. Like his world changes and all his breathing exercises from before have been completely useless. Once again, the voice - AMI - pulls him back into reality. He breathes unevenly and finds Jimin’s eyes. Innocent. Unknowing. Trusting. Namjoon’s heart pounds. It aches from his yearning to take care of Jimin well. To protect him.

“May I ask you to choose from the options, Namjoon-ssi. Main menu. Press 1 to access-“

“AMI, how can I change Jimin back? Is there anything I can give him? Maybe medication, or something?”

It’s a rushed question, a question tasting like panic and helplessness. Namjoon doesn’t know what’s going on, it scares him, and he needs to find a solution. If there is even the tiniest possibility of Jimin’s contract being changed up now that he is like this, and Jimin being at a disadvantage because of it, Namjoon will make sure to make it right. He shivers because normally, he wouldn’t hesitate to ask for Sihyuk’s help, but now? It’s all messed up, he doesn’t know what’s happening and what he can do. He needs to come up with solutions, and fast.

“Shifting is a process induced by hormones, Namjoon-ssi. There is medication to trigger a shift either way but it will majorly affect hormone levels of the patient and is not recommended to be taken on a regular basis.”

“Is there any other way?”

“Would you classify this situation as an emergency?”

Namjoon thinks. He looks at Jimin, then at Sihyuk. Catches the mumbled “Can’t have that happen. No one can find out” from the CEO’s lips. Feels breathless, like endless shame is gnawing through his heart for even allowing the mere thought of Sihyuk doing anything that could harm the members. He wouldn’t. Right? Right? But right now, Namjoon can’t really judge the situation well. He doesn’t have all the information, doesn’t know what a contract clause could do in this case, what it would be for, he doesn’t know. He kind of wishes he had Hobi or Yoongi by his side right now, to help him make decisions but also to help him keep a clear head. It would certainly make things more bearable. It feels like he’s actually stepped into that alternative universe from their Heartbeat music video, where impossible things are the norm and magical creatures float around everywhere. He doesn’t understand.

“Yes, I would say so,” he breathes.

“Understood,” AMI replies promptly, “Emergency response team has been alerted. Estimated arrival in 5 minutes. Please prepare to assist the medical examination by-“

Namjoon rushes to yell into the phone, “What- NO! No, no, no! It’s not that kind of an emergency! Jimin is fine, please don’t, there’s no need-“

Sihyuk sends a worried look into his direction, but Namjoon ignores it.

“Emergency response team on standby. Please confirm your previous directive. Is this an emergency?”

“We don’t need medical attention. Jimin is fine.”

“Understood. Main menu. Please choose from the options. Press 1 to-“

His shoulders sag in relief but he feels annoyed that AMI has moved back to the main menu again without even leaving room for discussion. It beeps when Namjoon presses the 1, maybe because he actually wants to know what this AMI knows about Park Jimin, maybe because he really feels bad for making her read the main menu so often and maybe because he doesn’t know what to do and needs to kill time so Sihyuk can do this phone call together with him and maybe even because he doesn’t know if this is important or not. So, he waits for AMI’s voice with bated breath.

“1,” AMI enunciates, “general data regarding Park Jimin. Nationality: Korean. Date of birth: 1997, June 5th. Gender: female. Species: White -“

“Wait, no. That’s uh, you’ve got the wrong Park Jimin.”

AMI is talking about Park Jimin who Namjoon had first met on the set of the After School Club together with Eric Nam, and he releases a breath of relief - and loses Jimin, who takes the chance to start exploring. Like the little troublemaker his kitty alter ego is (not really a big surprise when you think about how human Jimin’s mind works), he jumps right up where he probably shouldn’t be - on the desk. The desk where documents lay, where electronic devices buzz and where little objects look interesting enough to trigger a little cat’s curiosity.

“I apologize, Namjoon-ssi,” AMI says, sounding a little confused with her robotic voice, “would you like to change Park Jimin’s profile?”

“No, no. It’s just the wrong one. There’s another Park Jimin.”

“I apologize, Namjoon-ssi,” AMI repeats and Namjoon figures it’s just how she’s programmed, “would you like to register a new profile?”

“I don’t want to register anything, I just want-“

“Main menu. Press 1 to access-“

He groans. And there she goes again. Namjoon shuffled on his seat nervously, ignoring the little growls from Jimin somewhere further away. He risks a side glance to Jimin and feels soft amusement riding up his face when the cub rolls around playing and nibbling on a small BT21 Cooky’s ears. But then he hears AMI talking, persistently repeating the main menu and Namjoon isn’t sure if he can go wrong by choosing any of the options so he just dares to ask questions. He hopes it won’t get him into trouble.

“You mentioned legal advice. Why would we need legal advice?”

“Currently, there is very little official legislation regarding the Shifter and Hybrid community in Korea. Our legal department’s services are free and extend toward every member of the Shifter and Hybrid community in Korea. We offer-“

“And what about medical support? What kind of medical support would Jimin need?”

“Our organization connects clients to a network of professional veterinarians from all over the nation. However, we have specific 24/7 on-call staff trained to assess and treat Shifters and Hybrids specifically. We also connect to therapists, nutritionists, and skin & fur care professionals if needed.”

Namjoon isn’t sure what that means, only that it actually sounds like robot lady is trying to sell them something now. Hadn’t she talked about a membership before? He feels his leg bounce impatiently. When will Sihyuk be done? Should I just wait for him? Maybe we should just discuss this before anything else-

“Namjoon-ssi, Park Jimin is currently ingesting Samsung printer ink, which can be very toxic for a leopard cub his age, please-“

As if hit by a sudden strike of lighting, Namjoon feels his body move on its own. His eyes shoot up, focusing immediately on his kitty dongsaeng playing with a dark little ink cartridge by the printer. His thumb smashes that end-call button before letting the phone collide with the table in an ugly crash. He lunges forward to grab Jimin from the desk.

“Jiminie! Don’t do that,” he scolds and feels terror spread at the sight of the little leopard wiggling in his grasp, ears drawn back in shock, cheeks and chest soaked in splashes of blue, magenta and yellow ink. “What are you thinking!”

The cub meows pitifully but doesn’t let his words match his actions with all the feisty squirming. Once again, he seeks out the help of his claws that definitely pierce Namjoon’s skin. With his concentration completely on Jimin - it’s honestly a relief that the call is over so that he can deal with one issue at the time - he jumps when Sihyuk suddenly yells a curse through the room.

“What is happening!? Namjoon-ah, what did you do?”

Namjoon whines. It’s not his fault Jimin is prone to get himself into situations like this - he’s too curious, too adventurous and too tiny for the world right now and apparently, he likes making a mess with colored liquids. The toothpaste had been harmless of course, so it wasn’t a big deal, but Namjoon can’t deny it doesn’t give him a half a heart attack looking at Jimin with those stains in his fur. He looks like a little rainbow-kitty somehow. If this wasn’t so serious, Namjoon would take photos. He knows Jimin would coo and laugh at this later and Taehyung would declare it authentic art.

“I’m sorry, hyung! I didn’t pay attention for a second and- do you have tissues?”

Sihyuk throws him a package of wet tissues from some shelf by the wall, but like Namjoon expects, it basically doesn’t do anything to get the ink out of the leopard’s fur. It doesn’t look like Jimin minds or like he even understands the fuss (he purrs when Namjoon rubs his body down), but the humans certainly do. Namjoon sinks back into his chair and sighs, one of his hands brushing through his own hair in an attempt to calm himself. It takes a second to just calm down from the pulsing shock, so he just lets Jimin play with his hands until the little leopard loses interest and starts nosing Namjoon’s belly, the pockets of Namjoon’s jeans, and puts his tiny paws on Namjoon’s thighs, looking up.

“How are you so tiny and still such a troublemaker, Jiminie?”

Jimin stays in his position for quite a bit as if he wants to say something but Namjoon doesn’t get the hint, doesn’t know what Jimin wants, and realizes AMI is still talking. By now, he considers just hanging up and calling Jackson. Or one of the hyungs. He could really use a hyung now, just a steady, calming presence next to him like in English interviews or Award Shows. Jimin, who still has his nose buried in Namjoon’s jeans (where his pockets are), whines.

“What is it, baby, huh? What do you need?”

The little leopard only snuffles wetly along Namjoon’s pockets (which are empty) and when the rapper tries to grab the cat, Jimin hisses. But then he slips because he’s a clumsy little thing with only a short, shivering tail that doesn’t know how to balance the body attached to it and his paws lose grip on Namjoon’s thigh so he glides off the side. Luckily, Namjoon’s reflexes are quick enough to shoot after his dongsaeng and grab his leg so that he can lift the kitty back up his lap before anything can happen. (He pictures the scene like one of those Dads grabbing their kid falling from the couch in those Dad-compilations. It’s epic.) He yelps when Jimin’s tiny fangs sink into his hand. He receives a vicious hiss on top and feels betrayed.

“Jimin! Don’t bite me like that! I saved you. No need to be so ungrateful.”

But the cub doesn’t seem to feel grateful or repentant and continues his search for whatever it is he hopes to find in Namjoon’s pockets. It’s a tad irritating to be ignored like this when normally, Jimin is so thoughtful and kind.

“If you feel bratty like this, you can gladly spend the rest of our time back in the box.”

At this, Jimin does look up and for a second, Namjoon feels something spark in his chest. Did he understand that? Did he understand me?

“The box? Do you want to go back into the box? Maybe that’s not such a bad idea, huh? You could nap a bit and you’ll feel much better.”

He gets up slowly, trying to grab Jimin on the way, but the little cub struggles too much so that Namjoon has to set him down to not have his hands torn up.

“C’mon, baby. We’ll put you back until you feel better, huh?”

All his hope is crushed when Jimin avoids the box like it’s hell even if he seemed to like it so much before. Any attempt to shoo him near the box fails and after a couple of minutes chasing the kitty around, Namjoon gives up. He goes back to his chair, plopping down and watching as Jimin tapers off to run circles in front of the fish tank and eventually trods over to Sihyuk’s feet. That, in turn, has Namjoon on edge, because Sihyuk is busy and concentrated on the phone call and Jimin is tiny and Namjoon knows from experience how easy the cub is to overlook and almost step on. But the CEO smiles at Namjoon and gives him a thumbs up. He straightens up and stands with his feet planted firmly on the ground, not bouncing on the balls of his feet like he usually does when on the phone. When Jimin starts to roll around, making it his mission to catch Sihyuk’s shoelaces, the man chuckles fondly. It’s a relief and Namjoon can’t believe he thought Sihyuk would somehow maybe make a bad choice just because Jimin turned into a baby animal.

“Yes, please let me know what options we have,” the CEO says. “Thank you.”

Namjoon uses the minute of peace and quiet to send a text to Jackson.

> Hey man, what exactly is the number on the card for? Why do they call themselves an AMI? Is it the same as ARMY?

He doesn’t get an answer immediately, so he stares at the little 1 in their Kakao chat for as long as he can and sighs when he turns his phone back off.

“Who are you trying to reach?” Sihyuk whispers, covering the microphone with his hand.

“Jackson.”

“GOT7 has their promotions in Europe now, don’t be disappointed if he doesn’t text back quickly.”

Jimin seems to get tired of playing with Sihyuk’s shoelaces and goes back to doing his own tour of the office. His little tail quivers in excitement as he sniffs every corner and rolls around on the carpet. Every now and then, there’s a little squeak that Namjoon finds adorable and that he wishes he could save in his heart for bad days. Namjoon focuses back on Sihyuk’s phone call. He can already see the many meetings with managers and staff this change could potentially cause; meetings to accommodate Jimin’s needs and to make sure everything stays under wraps for as long as possible. Or, depending on the outcome of the phone call, (Namjoon has assured himself by now that it will not end in a cancellation of Jimin’s contract because Sihyuk would never let go of Jimin, who is basically one of his fifteen children), a new round of contract negotiations. For the entire group, possibly, depending on the details Mrs. Kang will present to them. Namjoon hopes they can find a beneficial solution for everyone.

Suddenly, a strange sound moves into his focus, persistently interrupting his strategic thoughts. Scratch, scratch, scratch. It’s a weird scratching, not like a scratch on skin or wood or maybe clothes. It sounds different, like fabric snagging on something sharp and being released and Namjoon turns his head to look for the origin of the sound. There’s something in the corner of his eye that rouses suspicion. Jimin. Jimin is kneading the carpet. Alarm bells ring in Namjoon’s mind immediately. Kneading, scratching, peeing. It’s an established pattern that he’s observed during the past days. So far, his success rate of removing Jimin from a place like this (aka. a place that’s not his litter box) and carrying him some other place (aka. the backyard) stands at a proud 80%. However, the memories of the other 20% spur him on and Namjoon is out of his chair faster than he can even think about a plan.

Jimin startles at the sudden movement and jumps out of the way when the rapper tries to grab him. He’s much quicker than his tiny legs suggest and runs to hide behind the big pot that holds the pretty rosé-blossom tree by the wall that backs against the hallway. He probably thinks the big pot will hide him well until Namjoon shows up again, still aware of what’s at stake here (the carpet, Jimin’s new reputation, and both Namjoon’s and Sihyuk’s sanity). In a determined effort to keep Sihyuk’s office sanitary and welcoming, he sneaks up on the leopard. Hands grab air and Namjoon groans. When he turns around, he notices the little tail peeking out from below Sihyuk’s desk.

The CEO by the window himself doesn’t seem to notice what’s going on and Namjoon kind of feels like he could have used AMI’s emergency team after all. This is the second, no third emergency of the day and maybe, okay just maybe, Namjoon thinks he might have done something bad in his previous life so that the universe thought it would be fair to make him his dongsaeng’s babysitter. Suddenly, a VIP membership sounds tempting… do they offer babysitter services?

“Jimin-ah,” he whispers, “I swear, if you even think about peeing under hyung’s desk…”

Namjoon approaches slowly. If anything, he figures he should approach the leopard in a smart way. He’s aware that he probably doesn’t have much time left before the cat’s urge to relieve itself becomes insurmountable, so he tells himself to get it all over with quickly. What’s the best way to get Park Jimin to do almost anything you want? Sweet-talk. Namjoon approaches slowly and kneels. Before him, he sees the paper bin underneath the desk, a ton of (neatly bound) cables and the wooden legs of the table. Crouching, he grabs around the garbage can, meeting an amused meow that almost sounds like he’s laughing. Again, Jimin flees before Namjoon can get a hold of him.

“Ah, come on Jimin-ah, my cutest, prettiest, loveliest dongsaeng,” he coaxes, “You were doing so good yesterday, kitten…”

But Jimin doesn’t come back. He just sits on the carpet, tauntingly close, with a lively glint in his eyes. Jimin is watching Namjoon and the rapper doesn’t fail to note the excitement that lets the cat’s tail whip around wildly. So this is a game to you, huh?

When suddenly two legs appear right next to Namjoon’s face, he yelps. His hand gets tangled in some cable on the floor. He slips and slams his head against the metal paper bin, making it fall and spill everywhere. A nasty burn hits his temple and when he reaches up to touch the skin there, the cable around his hand pulls taut. Namjoon’s bad luck is endless, apparently, because something tumbles and crashes upon the table. Sihyuk lets out a yelp. Like a miscalculated movement in the shower, a quick burst of water hits Namjoon from above. He shrieks, feeling the wetness settle and hopes Sihyuk didn’t have any important documents out on the table. He doesn’t pay attention, but he can feel Jimin watching him from the carpet with amused eyes. When he looks, the little leopard rolls around, looking the most Jimin-like ever - like he’s laughing so hard that he just has to throw his body against something.

“Namjoon-ah!” Sihyuk yells, albeit more urgent than angry, “where are you? Kim Namjoon!”

“I’m here,” Namjoon groans, still rubbing his forehead. He’s sure the spot’s gonna be blue tomorrow. Yoongi’s gonna have a good laugh for sure.

“Where is here?”

The rapper crawls out from underneath the table. He sees movement from the corner of his eye but focuses on Sihyuk.

“No, I’m talking to Kim Namjoon,” he says into the phone and looks up only to have his eyes widen with a really panicked look in them. He jumps up, pointing into the room. “Don’t let him pee in there! That Sakura tree is from the President!”

When Namjoon whips his head around, making a cascade of water fly everywhere, he finds Jimin not on the carpet like he’d assumed, but in the big plant pot along with the Japanese tree. Jimin is walking around the stem of the little tree like he’s got a monopoly on the spot. From the body language, Namjoon can tell that the cat is calm and relaxed. Ideal for business. Oh no.

“Yes, hyung!”

Namjoon runs like he hasn’t in a long time (the couple days that he’s been on this pseudo-vacation) and finally snatches an unassuming Jimin right out of the tree pot, hands grabbing for the cat with so much determination that he even scoops up some earth. He hears mewling. It doesn’t matter, nothing matters in this emergency, and Namjoon looks around, nerves strung high, adrenaline rushing. He frowns when he realizes that there’s no litter box over here in the office. That leaves him with only one option: A dash for the bathroom.

Quickly, he runs to the door. There’s a moment of hesitation. He isn’t sure how he should hide Jimin from all the people in the building but considering that the bathrooms aren’t really far away, he hopes no one will cross his way. (Especially now that Jimin looks so violently colorful). A thought crosses his mind. What if Sejin is still outside? There’s a possibility that the manager has gone to his own office to get some work done while waiting but there’s also the possibility that he’s out there and springs up at the door opening and sees Jimin right away. It’s nothing I have control over, Namjoon reassures himself. He feels Jimin’s little cry in his heart and nods. Let’s go.

Stepping out into the hallway feels a bit like coming out of the shower - out of the cozy, safe warmth and into the frightening cold outside. When Jimin keeps wriggling, softly crowing his discomfort, Namjoon repositions him so that his hands won’t press on the leopard’s belly so much. He looks to the side and freezes. Sejin is on the sofa. Luckily, he’s got his eyes glued to his phone and doesn’t seem to have noticed Namjoon yet - and Namjoon is determined not to let it happen either. Before Jimin can make any loud sounds, Namjoon turns and runs. He does manage to run with Jimin in front of his torso so he isn’t visible from behind. Even if Sejin were to look after them, Jimin would be out of view. Namjoon keeps his eyes on the hallway door until a yell comes from behind.

“Kim Namjoon! Wait up!”

Don’t stop, keep running, Namjoon tells himself, glad that the 6km are a result on his step counter every day, not Sejin’s. Sure, Sejin jogs and stays in shape but Namjoon dances and runs around and is much younger too, so he doesn’t even pant as he takes the next turn to the left and runs towards the men’s bathrooms. The door doesn’t budge when Namjoon uses the handle. A flare of adrenaline-induced panic drips down Namjoon’s chest and he wants to curse. He finds a sign that says “Out of order”. Great. Now, where to?

It’s a good thing that Namjoon is so familiar with the building. Practically, this is the building’s office level that BTS members don’t necessarily have to visit very often. But Namjoon is a regular guest in all kinds of offices, so he is not at a great disadvantage. He knows the way, knows a couple of bathrooms strewn all over the levels. It takes a few risks to bring Jimin there as fast as possible - Namjoon dodges people but almost knocks the head of the PR department off his feet as he rounds a corner and gets drenched in coffee. He runs on, apologizing with a quick but deep bow that almost makes him stumble, takes the stairs and finally, finally reaches the end of the next hallway, the men’s bathroom, an empty stall, and holds a trembling Jimin over the toilet. The leopard fusses, not liking the feeling of being held like this, in the air over an abyss of water. He whimpers.

“C’mon Jiminie, look at me, I ran all the way over here for you,” he says, “give it some effort.”

It’s a moment of desperation but Namjoon feels warm inside (well, he’s sweating). He’s looking at Jimin and suddenly, he feels like he’s in a film, like he’s a Dad trying to potty-train his kid. Jimin shivers, ears flicking and turning constantly and even Namjoon’s gentle attempts to coax him into peeing don’t help. Those big blue eyes look like they’re gonna burst with tears at any moment. Can cats cry?

“You’re doing it wrong,” someone says behind him.

Namjoon jerks and swears he would have almost let Jimin drop. It’s Sejin and that means that Namjoon’s only got two options. Maybe Sejin knows what’s going on, maybe he doesn’t. In this moment, Namjoon doesn’t even let his fear of being discovered bubble up. He’s here to fix an issue, solve a problem, so he’s gotta get on with it. Sejin is on his side, so whatever happens, he’ll help. Namjoon is sure.

“Sorry,” Sejin says, breathing a little heavy as well, “just let him sit. Cats don’t like to be touched while peeing.”

Namjoon nods, suddenly feeling grateful that it’s Sejin who’s come after him. Sejin is the kind of hyung who just sees the need and helps, no matter what. There’s not a single occasion Namjoon can think of where Sejin has refused to help any member of the group. Of course, one could argue that it’s his job but Namjoon has seen people do their jobs and finds that Sejin is doing more than just a job - he’s taking care of Bangtan with passion and foresight, and sees their relationship as a way to install his substitute-Dad-wisdoms in them.

“He’s too small for the toilet though. He’ll fall in.”

“You need something like a litter box.”

Sejin moves around, drawing out a plastic container from below the sink. It’s a plastic container filled with wet tissues, deodorant the PR people keep in here for emergencies, and some excess paper towel rolls. Sejin fills it up with toilet paper and lets Namjoon place Jimin in it. Jimin circles the container, meows and finally seems satisfied. Namjoon looks away when the cub crouches. He doesn’t need to see that, cause it’s creepy, and rather turns his attention to Sejin.

“Not that I mind, but… why does your cat look like my three-year old’s drawings?”

Namjoon doesn’t know why but somehow, this question is so funny to him that he just starts to laugh - he laughs and laughs and when he’s done, he feels like somehow, a knot around his heart has loosened. He feels lighter than before and breathes. He’s tired but Sejin is here with him, and he knows it will be okay. Here on the cold tiles of the bathroom door, Namjoon finds a revelation coming to him. It approaches as he watches Sejin prepare the litter box for Jimin and unravels as Jimin joyfully runs a circle in it before crouching. It hits, however, in this moment of innocent glee, when Namjoon just enjoys the fact that their manager and friend is here with him. I’m not supposed to do this alone, Namjoon realizes, I was never meant to do it alone. He almost feels stupid that this feels like a revelation to him - he’s the leader of a seven-member group and still, his mind had automatically turned to selfie mode. But then again, he had felt so alone, this morning in the cold apartment, without any of the other members yelling around and sneaking Namjoon’s breakfast off his plate. His heart warms up as he watches Sejin smile at Jimin.

“Thanks for running after me and helping, hyung,” Namjoon says, grateful for the way the bathroom acoustics make it sound so much bigger, “I really appreciate it.”

Sejin smiles. “I’ll always help you, Namjoon-ah. Just let me know what I can do.”

There are some occurrences in life - sort of like déjà-vus - that make Namjoon hold his breath. Maybe it’s not that significant, but the way Sejin sounds like Seokjin almost makes Namjoon tear up right now. In his heart, he feels himself looking forward to the moment Seokjin’s banter echoes through their apartment again, the moment Namjoon steps through the door and looks into his hyung’s face. The moment Seokjin will hug him whether Namjoon wants to or not, and the moment he’ll feel his hyung breathe against his neck in a warm, friendly embrace. And the moment of relief, where Namjoon tells all the members what’s going on, where they talk over one another in an attempt to encourage Jimin and make him giggle in glee. It’s all gaining color and shape in Namjoon’s mind and with the image, hope and courage rise inside of him. Everything will be fine, and even with Jimin’s nagging self-doubt and perfectionism and whatnot, they will find a way. They will push the bad things away. Together.

“It’s great to have you on the team, hyung, seriously. I don’t know if I ever said this, but I’m really grateful for you.”

“Aw, cute. Why are you so sentimental all of a sudden?”

Namjoon shrugs, eyes turning back to Jimin so Sejin won’t see how mushy Namjoon feels inside, how much more he could say but won’t because he doesn’t want his hyung to suffocate under the avalanche of compliments and heartfelt emotions he’s still got in store. The right dosage is important, Namjoon-ah, he remembers Yoongi saying back in the dark, one shared night in their four-year-old studio chairs with takeout in their hands, don’t overwhelm people with your words. You’re too powerful with words sometimes, people don’t know what to do with it. It’s your superpower, so use it responsibly.

“I still don’t know why your cat looks like he’s just come back from a children’s birthday party.”

“PDnim tried to fix his own printer again. He left an ink cartridge on the desk and this little baby,” Namjoon pokes Jimin, who just meows, “was a bit too curious.”

“I don’t understand hyung. I told him he’s got an assistant for stuff like that.”

“He’s stubborn.”

“Yeah,” Sejin chuckles and they both watch how Jimin lifts one leg over the walls of the make-shift litter box, one after the other, very carefully. He catches on the rim with the last paw and lands on his snout with a soft thud. Following the momentum, he stumbles right into Namjoon’s shin and looks up wide-eyed like he can’t believe he just did that. Namjoon isn’t sure why he expects to see tears - probably because Tae is making him watch all those baby and toddler videos lately - but Jimin just whines, stands up and starts climbing Namjoon’s leg.

“Aish, always so clumsy, baby,” Namjoon mumbles, cooing at the tiny cat in his arms. “You scared me, baby. I thought you hurt yourself. Are you okay?” He kisses Jimin on the head but lets him sniff at Sejin’s hands when he tries to. He doesn’t give much of a reaction, which is not necessarily bad - it’s not a rejection. Sejin smiles and scratches Jimin behind the ears. The cub purrs against Namjoon’s hand, happily closing his eyes.

“What’s going on?”

“Didn’t hyung fill you in already?”

“When? In the five seconds when you ran from me?”

“Good point. So, er-“ Namjoon takes a deep breath. There’s something about sitting on bathroom floors, something cold that makes you share your warmth and your inner thoughts, Namjoon thinks as he looks at Sejin. It’s a BigHit bathroom, so it’s clean, nothing like a public bathroom, but still - the floor under his feet makes him feel a bit bare, a bit lonely even if he’s not, and makes him want to not keep secrets.

“So, I uh… Well, Jimin, and I know it sounds er-strange, turned into a cat two days ago and I basically don’t know what I’m doing.”

Sejin does look surprised, looking back and forth between Jimin and Namjoon a couple times, as if he’s trying to figure out whether he’s become a victim to a prank or something.

“Are you serious?”

“I am. It’s not exactly… a great time but I’m glad this didn’t happen during our tour last year.”

“Wow. How are you so calm about this?”

“Well, I’ve had two days to come to terms with this now. But still, it’s a mess, hyung. I think I did well taking care of him so far, but it’s all a mess.”

“Remember when we first met, you and I?”

“Oh God,” Namjoon groans, “I don’t think I will ever forget that.”

“You were a mess back then too. So it’s okay, I can deal with a mess. I’m used to it,” the manager nudges Namjoon in the side with his elbow and Namjoon nods. It’s nice hearing that, and fitting, if Namjoon honestly thinks about their relationship. Yeah, Sejin has seen and has fixed messes left and right. Namjoon’s heart feels a little lighter when he hears those words. Jimin nuzzles into his hand in his lap and Namjoon feels a pang of affection travel through his body.

“Life is life, huh?”

It’s what Jimin and he have always been saying, ever since their first trip to LA. Life isn’t always fair, not always good, actually a lot less than good a lot of the time, but together, it’s not as bad and even great sometimes. Jimin curls into Namjoon’s lap, letting his body drop as if he’s too tired to hold it up much longer. He wants to be carried like the little maknae line member he is, starving for affection and attention.

“Should we go back?”

“What do we do with the litter box?”

“Do you have one at home?”

“Er, no. Jimin went outside for the past couple of days.”

“In the backyard!? Where people walk? Yah, Kim Namjoon! Also, think about your dongsaeng. That can’t be hygienic! Don’t tell me you really let Jimin outside every time he-“

Namjoon has to grin because of the scolding but blushes. “I’m sorry, hyung.”

“Well, that’s not allowed anymore. Do you at least have cat food or anything?”

“Not really. I promise I’ll work harder to be well prepared, hyung!”

“I see. Let’s drop off Jiminie and go cat-shopping. If he is a baby like this, we need to take care of him well, right?”

“Drop him off where?”

Sejin just pulls out his phone and dials a number. Namjoon can’t see the caller ID, but he doesn’t feel the need to ask either. When someone picks up and Sejin starts to rant, he sounds almost like a fake-enraged Seokjin. It’s like the familiar feeling replaces a little cavity-like hole in Namjoon’s heart that’s started to build the moment the members left for their vacations. It forces him to smile.

“Yoongi-yah, I’ve told you a dozen times not to bring your sick children to work.”

“Jimin is here?”

Sejin falters when the enthusiasm that breaks the mumble that is Yoongi’s work voice sounds through the speaker. Jimin squeaks suddenly, asking to be let down, so Namjoon lifts him up and makes him look right into his eyes. For a moment, he ignores that Jimin doesn’t understand and just hopes that his plea will get through. Namjoon tells the cub firmly not to create any trouble right now. Then, Yoongi speaks to him.

“Namjoon-ah, how are you holding up? Everything okay?”

“Honestly, hyung? It’s a mess. I’m a mess. Jimin is fine, but I don’t think I am.”

His thoughts fly back to the office. Sihyuk’s phone call with their lawyer, all that secretive talk about contracts and even the phone call with AMI. He remembers his confusion, his doubts, his fears - fears for Jimin, who innocently tries to climb up Sejin’s shins. There’s a rustle on the other side of the line that makes Namjoon’s heart beat suspiciously fast with some sort of anticipation.

“Okay, stay where you are. Don’t worry, hyung is coming, hyung will take it from here.”

Sejin makes a face and Namjoon feels the exact same way. Baffled. What’s going on? What’s with the sudden rush of affection?

“No need to baby me-“

“Oi, hyung is on his way, yeah? Where are you guys?”

“The bathroom by the PR department.”

Namjoon feels oddly confirmed. As if Yoongi’s sudden overbearing and sweet response was a wink from the universe. You’re not meant to do this alone, Namjoon. His stomach does a little jump at how much comfort Yoongi offers to him just by referring to himself as hyung (which Yoongi rarely does for him). Namjoon’s mind tells him that Yoongi will only baby him now that Taehyung and Jungkook are gone but in secret, behind really thick doors, Namjoon feels a tiny voice wishing for it to be a regular treatment. Namjoon has got Yoongi’s full hyung focus, even if he hasn’t explicitly asked for it. He knows that all the hyungs are attuned to the younger members’ needs but sometimes he forgets that he’s one of them. The leader position can be both a blessing and a curse.

When Yoongi opens the bathroom door and steps in and Jimin pounces forward with a string of excited chirps, not letting himself get held down by anything or anyone, Namjoon’s eyes widen. Yoongi kneels, scooping up Jimin, totally enveloping the leopard baby against his chest.

“Did you miss me, baby? Ah, I bet you missed hyung so bad, huh? Aish, what did they do to you, hm? You’re all messy. Don’t worry, they’re all idiots who mean well. But hyung will take care of you now.”

Namjoon listens to Jimin’s sweet, chirpy responses that really sound like the kitty is trying to answer Yoongi. They look perfect together, Lil Meow Meow and the cub. Sejin seems to think the same because he’s sneakily taking pictures from the side. Namjoon makes the mistake of thinking that it’s all Yoongi is going to say. He doesn’t expect Yoongi to step forward and look right into his eyes even while Jimin keeps rubbing his cheeks against Yoongi’s heart.

“And how’s my other baby? Running around, destroying everything, coloring his dongsaeng? Tell hyung how to fix it, yeah?”

It’s the weirdest thing ever - Namjoon doesn’t know what exactly it is with Yoongi’s words (maybe it’s the way they float over to him like the steam over a cup of his favorite tea, like they aren’t meant to tease when you just allow yourself to feel them properly) but they make Namjoon’s composure crumble. His cheeks feel wet all of the sudden and he’s sniffing (not bawling, thank God) and leaning into Yoongi’s big hand cupping his cheek.

“It’s not your fault, hey,” Yoongi hushes him and he finds himself under the direct but tender attention of his hyung. “I wish you would have let me know that you needed me so I could come to help you out, you know. That’s what I’m here for.”

“You’re here to rap,” Namjoon sniffles, trying to swallow down his wild emotions.

“And yet I dance like a god.”

Namjoon snorts.

“It’s not like I can only do one thing at a time, Namjoon-ah. I thought you knew that.”

“I’ll keep it in mind, hyung. Thank you for your support.”

Jimin begins nosing around Yoongi’s chest and arms now. Namjoon nudges Yoongi.

“Hyung, he’s been doing that since a while, what-?”

“He’s hungry. Did you bring any food?”

Wow. That makes so much sense. Jimin is hungry. How did I not understand that? It makes so much sense now that Namjoon knows what it means.

“I-I brought shrimps.”

For some reason, Yoongi doesn’t look impressed or happy.

“It’ll do,” he mumbles and moves to walk out of the bathroom. “Let’s go.”

“Manager-hyung and I thought we could go shopping in a bit, we wanted to leave Jimin with you. We’ll buy everything Jimin needs.”

“We could definitely need some cat equipment. Bring one of those fluffy little stick-thingies that cats like to play with. Those are fun.”

“Uh, sure,” Namjoon nods, absolutely not sure if a) he knows what Yoongi means, b) stores will have a “fluffy little stick-thingy that cats like to play with” or if c) a store employee will be able to translate the term for Namjoon. He’ll give it a try anyway. “I just need to get my jacket.”

“Maybe buy some rubbing alcohol as well.”

“What do you want with rubbing alcohol, hyung?”

“Clean this little baby. As much as the color explosion is cute, I doubt it’ll be good for him if he licks it up. Isn’t that right, Jiminie?”

Jiminie doesn’t respond. He’s fallen asleep, probably overwhelmed by the chaos around him. Namjoon feels slightly guilty for putting him through so much stress. Yoongi is obviously so much better at this. I should have just asked him to watch over Jimin. Namjoon knows that’s his own shadow talking, his disappointment at his own clumsiness that still haunts him sometimes. But it still feels like a real feeling, even if it’s a lie, and Namjoon’s shoulders sag at the sight of the little leopard breathing softly into Yoongi’s neck.

Namjoon doesn’t say a word on their way back to the office and doesn’t even listen to Yoongi and Sejin discussing which cat toys and foods should be bought and how big their monthly budget should be for cat necessities. When the three of them enter Sihyuk’s office, it kind of looks a bit thrashed - Namjoon’s chair is on its side in the middle of the room (it must have toppled over when Namjoon had rushed to grab Jimin), there’s clearly a wet spot around Sihyuk’s desk, an even bigger mess underneath the table and a trail of earth leading from the Sakura plant to the door. Namjoon’s head threatens to hang even lower at the visible chaos (and the “oh wow, what happened here” that slips through Sejin’s lips) but Sihyuk’s voice cuts through his thoughts.

“Option 1. Let’s hear what you have.”

Namjoon’s brows furrow. How-? Is he on the phone with AMI? Then, curiosity rises. Will AMI tell Sihyuk the same as him?

“Option 1. Park Ji-” AMI pauses, almost as if she is thinking, “Good morning, Min Yoongi, Kim Sejin.”

Namjoon shivers. How does this supposedly automatic robot know who is in the room? How can they know? Maybe it’s this uncertainty that makes him feel so uneasy. Could it be that they are watching us? It sounds a little crazy in his mind, but he honestly doesn’t have a clue how else she would know. Maybe it’s magic. Namjoon sighs.

“Option 1. Park Jimin. Date of birth: 1997, June 5th. Gender: female; Nationality: Korean; Spe-“

“That’s not what I asked. Tell me what you have on my kid.”

Sihyuk sighs, visibly disgruntled with how this call is turning out. But the way he said my kid, it makes Namjoon grin fondly. Even if he’s not the person in question, he feels loved. Namjoon can’t help but smirk at how strictly Sihyuk deals with anything that has to do with the Bangtan Boys. Now that the CEO is on it, everything will be fine. AMI stays silent for a while, almost as if she is processing the request or gathering information or something.

“Option 1. Park Jimin. Date of birth: 1994, October, 13; Gender: male; Nationality: Korean; Species: Korean leopard; Genetic Expression: Dominant; Blood Type: A. Species warnings: strong predatory drive, exceptional senses and strength, possibly sensitive to aggressive behavior, solitary and nocturnal behavior; Species requirements: meat-based diet, extensive territory, regular physical exertion; Currently scheduled appointments: Physical Exam 1 by on-duty Shifter Staff of Seoul District.”

“Finally. Now, I would like to know how you have attained this load of information about Park Jimin and how you justify keeping it without our consent.”

“Sir, may I remind you that I am merely an AMI, and cannot substitute for your assigned customer client. I am however able to book an appointment for you with one of our staff…”

Yoongi makes a noise next to Namjoon. Even Sejin shuffles around on his feet. Namjoon feels slightly nauseous. He goes to sit down and Yoongi chooses to stand by his side, hand touching Namjoon’s neck, a soothing message of reassurance. Which is needed. This is a lot. A lot more than expected and somewhat scary, even in the face of 14 million wild Armys knowing more than is healthy about each member of BTS. As the information sinks in, Namjoon realizes that there are two options with this. Either, this is a terrible situation in which the robot lady and her organization are actually a threat, or they are a help and genuinely assist Jimin without any hidden agenda or contract. Heck, this would be so much easier as a commercial offer. Commercial offers are easy to deal with - you either accept, negotiate, or decline. BigHit gets hundreds of them every month, but this-? This is something else entirely.

“Who is your employer?”

“I apologize, Sihyuk-ssi. I am not authorized to communicate confidential information to clients.”

“I’m not your client.”

“Sir, please understand that the law requires for every shifter to be listed in our registry - which includes the scheduled check-ups and following classes-“

“Classes?”

“Sihyuk-ssi, we are required by law to ensure that every person in our registry knows their rights and understands their body. We are simply providing an educational tool to prevent diseases as well as help Shifters and Hybrids to live well. Our organization was founded with these goals in mind.”

“Let’s talk this through with our lawyer. I would like to make use of an appointment. For now, please do enter Park Jimin into your registry.”

“Very well. I will now propose a date for you with one of our customer service staff.”

“Sorry for making you wait,” Sihyuk says once he puts down his phone (he has to look for a good spot for a few seconds because there’s printer ink all over his desk). He looks into their faces. Namjoon can see how affected he is by this situation - a situation that turns tables and reshapes their group dynamics, possibly.

“Hey Yoongi,” he smiles. “Did you get the USB stick I sent you?”

“Yeah,” Yoongi nods, “I got it. What I’ve heard so far sounded great but I’ll look though it tomorrow. Thanks, PDnim.”

Sihyuk also greets Sejin but Namjoon doesn’t really listen anymore. He just wants to get the box and go home - no, right, he wanted to go shopping with Sejin. Namjoon is so tired. It’s like with a high-focus test where you hold up your concentration for so long but when it’s over, you feel your entire existence slack with exhaustion. He shifts in his chair.

Sihyuk’s eyes fall on Namjoon. “You okay?”

“No.”

“Namjoon, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but you’re probably overthinking.”

“Hyung, how are we supposed to have our comeback like this? I looked at the schedules, it’s soon. What if Jimin shifts in the middle of a concert? What if we can’t get him to shift back? Even this robot lady said there’s no medication. It’s impossible to be an artist like us when you turn into a cat like this. It’s impossible.”

“Okay, listen. This situation is not unfixable and not impossible to solve, Namjoon-ah. We can do anything.”

“We can’t do everything, hyung.”

“Did I or did I not set you up to meet Warren G before you were famous?”

Namjoon blushes. Right.

“You did.”

“I did. That was impossible, wasn’t it? You guys became global stars. That was impossible, wasn’t it? You guys are one of the greatest artists in history. That’s impossible too, isn’t it? Raise your standard. RM is impossible. This,” he points at Jimin, who slowly begins to stir against Yoongi’s throat, “it’s just a page in your story. We’ll get through it and it will be okay. Okay?”

Namjoon nods. His head bobs much heavier than usual, as if it suddenly weighs more. He hears Yoongi coo at Jimin and watches him boop the tired little cat’s nose. Then, as if he’s actually attuned to the cat’s thoughts, he reminds Namjoon to look for Jimin’s snacks. He pulls his jacket off the chair, grabs the little plastic bag (the little bag almost rips in his hands but Namjoon manages to just prevent the fourth emergency on the day - a pile of shrimp on his CEO’s office floor) and hands it over to Yoongi, who walks out with the sleepy leopard cub, leaving only Sihyuk, Sejin and Namjoon behind. To some, it might look like disrespect, especially in terms of Korean society rules, but in reality, it’s both an open display of trust towards Namjoon to fill him in on all the important details later, and a display of responsibility as a hyung who prioritizes taking care of his dongsaeng. Namjoon doesn’t care. His fingers smell gross. Like dried shrimp. There’s no sink. Focus, Namjoon. Focus just for a little bit. You’re an adult, behave like one. You can wash up and be tired later.

“Hyung, what does this phone call mean? Do we really have to register Jimin and all that?”

“Yes. We have to take them seriously. That organization does its work well.”

“But what is it that they do? I talked with AMI for at least ten minutes but I still don’t know who they are.”

“They are a government-funded agency who protects shifters and hybrids in different aspects. I only know that they dragged two entertainment companies to court because they had not registered a couple of their trainees. The court decided that it was mistreatment even if they were treated like everyone else.”

“Why?”

“Apparently, there are different laws for shifters and humans but I don’t know much about that yet. I’ll have to go through it with our lawyers.”

“But… if they are government-funded, how did I never hear of this? A court case with other entertainment companies, I’m sure that would have been on the news, right?”

“That was many years ago. I don’t know when this organization was founded, but they must have been working hard to protect every shifter since then.”

“I didn’t even know stuff like this existed…”

“Well, the community is rather small. People don’t talk about it and I’m sure many people don’t know that this stuff exists. As far as I know, most magical creatures are hiding the fact that they are magic. Even the organization runs secretly.”

“Hyung, isn’t that contradictory? How could they be part of the government if they run secretly?”

“I really don’t know much, but I think they aren’t part of the government… just consultants with a special status. And funded. I’m not sure how it works. But they execute laws, like registering shifters and hybrids.”

“Okay… so now Jimin is registered. What now?”

“I’ll take care of the contracts and you take care of Jimin.”

“Okay, I’ll ask Hobi what we can do about-“

“You can’t tell the members, Namjoon-ah.”

Namjoon isn’t sure he’s heard right. All the mushiness and good warmth from before vanishes in a second. His heart actually skips a beat. He feels awfully cold and like he’s been electrocuted at once. At least it wakes him up. What!?

“What?”

“Don’t tell the members.”

“Why? Jimin will need all the support he can get and I don’t want him to feel any less loved than before. I know that all of the members will feel the same.”

There are a hundred issues lining up right now, but Namjoon knows that their biggest problem of all will be Jimin himself. Because in the end, Jimin’s soul is not a bird that nests easily in a new environment. Of the last eight years that Namjoon has spent by Jimin’s side, he’s witnessed the boy go from believing horrid lies about himself to starving himself like even his worst enemy wouldn’t do to him. Sure, Jimin has overcome these things, has found firm footing in the muddy path called identity. He’s come to love himself, riding on the wave of fresh wind that his brothers’ love is for him. Nonetheless, Namjoon can’t stop worrying about every new wave that comes crashing on the shore. Namjoon knows Jimin is particular about his body. Knows the boy is strategic and sometimes painfully pessimistic in his thoughts without even trying to be and prone to driving himself into feeling lonely. Jimin is so precious and Namjoon just wants to see him be happy. The possibility of the truth coming out to the public and at the wrong time almost hits Namjoon harder than he thinks it could hit Jimin. It resonates in his bones with an evil ache. To think that Jimin will face yet another challenge, that the look of desperation and anger might appear again in his eyes. And that Namjoon can’t help, can’t make it better. And even if Namjoon knows that it won’t be bad forever, that Jimin will get through this and feel better about it all someday but Namjoon just doesn’t know the price. And that hurts. But the members - the members should know. Because they won’t judge him. They will carry it all with him.

“He won’t. Listen, I don’t want him to feel pressured by this. It’s a huge change for him and he will need some time to figure it all out. And especially now, with the comeback approaching, I want you all to be focused. I know you guys always work hard and you always do your best. But we all know how fragile such a preparation period before a comeback is and how quickly it can become oppressing if bad news hits.”

Namjoon’s mind wanders back to when he’d undergone surgery and the schedule had only allowed it at a time when their next comeback had been on the horizon already. Like a cloud flying overhead, Namjoon’s trip to the hospital and the slight (secret) complications had thrown a shadow over their preparations. Back then, it had definitely stressed the other members, even if their dance practices and recordings had all been on time and perfect.

“Hyung, we’ve always got stuff going on. After the comeback, we have shows lining up, then the next tour and a hundred different events in between, like the Summer package, like mv shoots. There’s no better time to deal with this than right now. I can’t keep this a secret from the members and then expect them to be happy about it when I tell them later. They deserve to know.”

“I’m sorry, Namjoon. As long as the contracts aren’t renewed…”

“Hyung, I can’t accept that. Jimin won’t do well with this secret. You know how he treats himself sometimes and how difficult changes are for him. Especially Hobi should know since they are roommates.”

“I trust Yoongi and you to be by Jimin’s side until everything is prepared.”

“What do you need to prepare?”

“Well, a change like this… needs to be reflected in his contract. If something happens, he needs to be secure. If there are any special needs he has, we will make sure to provide and help but it all needs to be written out in his contract first. We’ll have to check what laws are relevant for us and align ourselves with it. Until Jimin signs the new contract, I will make sure there will be as little pressure on him as possible. I want him to feel like nothing has changed, like he doesn’t have to feel bad or judged for what happens.”

“What if he shifts again and I’m not there, hyung? Or Suga-hyung? What if he’s left with the maknaes? They should know.”

Sihyuk swivels in his chair and stares at the window for a good minute before answering. Namjoon can hear the fish tank’s soft whirring. He wonders if one day, all this will be the next chapter in a film for Army. Or part of a song. Something to brag about. Because right now, it doesn’t feel that way - not glorious, not beautiful and definitely not comfortable. Sihyuk’s voice sounds quiet, as if he’s had to dig deep for his next words and hasn’t returned from the depths yet.

“You don’t know this because I never told you, Namjoon. But when our Park Jimin signed with us, his parents had one major condition. At first, I thought it would be about money, free time, or maybe dating. Actually, they asked me to sign a confidentiality agreement between me and them. I promised to never tell anyone including Jimin that he was a shifter, to treat him normally and to ensure that he would receive his medication - suppressants.”

“Hyung.”

Namjoon feels like someone has punched him in the gut. He can’t breathe somehow, but it’s like he doesn’t want to either. He never thought Sihyuk would do something like this. It’s so wrong, he doesn’t even know what to say. One look into Sihyuk’s eyes, however, makes Namjoon’s tumbling sea still. Sihyuk knows how wrong it is, to keep such a huge secret from Jimin, to restrict his personal… worldview like this. And he regrets it. Deeply.

“So you knew from the beginning. Did you never think that we deserved to know?”

“I wanted to tell you so bad, especially you, Namjoon. At least the leader should know, right? But that was the condition: I don’t talk. His parents said that there are traditions that needed to be followed and kept in their culture and I believed them and wanted to respect that. I wanted to keep my word.”

“But… Jimin’s parents didn’t tell him either, did they? He doesn’t know anything at all.”

“I believe so, yes.”

Namjoon sighs. That’s - crazy.

“We’ve always made sure Jimin received everything he needed to be in top condition as a normal human being. We constantly supervise his health as we do with all of you. Based on that, I kind of expected his body to build a resistance to the suppressants someday. It took a while until we had adjusted them well - do you remember when he lost so much weight?”

“That was because of the suppressants?”

“I almost canceled that stupid contract back then. Jimin shouldn’t have had to suffer through this - he should have known what was going on with his body, he had every right to.”

“Hyung, that’s horrible-“

“Yeah. He just blames it on that genetic disease his parents say runs in the family.”

“So there’s no genetic disease.”

"I mean, it’s one way to describe your genetic makeup. If you’re trying to suppress it, it probably feels like a disease.”

Namjoon nods. It’s understandable from a logical viewpoint. It’s inexcusable from an emotional one. Namjoon swears to himself that he will never call Jimin’s ability to shift a disease. Even if his parents had used that term to hide their shifter side, Namjoon will never allow anyone to call it that. He wants Jimin to feel like it’s a regular part of his identity, like he doesn’t have to feel bad about it.

“So… will that organization drag us to court? Because we didn’t register Jimin until now?”

“I hope not. I will definitely meet up with them and organize a meeting between all parties. Communication is key, so I’ll do my best to fix this. I apologize for causing such a mess but I still have to ask you to keep quiet about this until it’s all cleared up.”

Namjoon nods. He feels a little burnt out, a little defeated to be honest. How could this all be true?

“May I leave, PDnim?”

“Of course. Please do put all your expenses for Jimin on my card.”

“Thank you, hyungnim.”

When Namjoon walks out, he hears Sihyuk talking to Sejin.

“Please tell our head of staff to give the cleaning staff a raise.”

masterlist | moodboard masterlist

#park jimin #jimin #bts #shifter jimin #bts fanfic #supernatural bts #feb15 #smyrbg #chapter 7 #show me your rosettes baby (g)#yay #finally #enjoy #please give it love #it's my baby

12 notes · View notes

fatplain88-blog · 4 years

Text

CSGO Overwatch

What's CSGO overwatch? Within Counter-Strike there is a system to control the neighborhood named Overwatch. Overwatch enables qualified and knowledgeable players to examine reports of tumultuous reports, hacking, and even throwing. These overwatch players determine whether the reports are either legitimate or not by viewing the clips and when appropriate, use temporary bans. How can Overwatch work? So, the potential'researchers' are presented using a brand new overwatch button on their main menu that clicked, takes them into a lot of overwatch documented videos. The defendant's name is concealed and the title displayed is really'The Suspect'. This verdict could be quite strict dependent on the crime committed from the sport and a ban might be issued. The length of the ban completely depends upon the crime, the participant's previous offenses in case any. You could even make XP by submitted true verdicts in such instances. How are the researchers chosen? Researchers are chosen according to their CSGO action (i.e, amount of aggressive wins, positive mindset, hours performed, accounts age, ability group, and very low record counts). These factors are taken under account when deciding upon an Investigator. Community members that are optimistic and have a high amount of overwatch scores will probably get more Overwatch Investigations. So be certain that you use the Overwatch system more frequently in the event that you would like to punish hackers. What are the bits of evidence readily available to the Investigator? Researchers after clicking on the Overwatch button in the menu and downloading the signs, receive a random eight-round section from the game of the accused individual. The researchers are introduced together with The Suspect's footage as well as the titles of those other players have been omitted and this goes for voice and texts chats also. The endeavor of these investigators is to ascertain whether the accused is reported or not and when suitably reported, a proper collective verdict is to be supplied by the team of Investigators. What are the probable results after this investigation? Following the investigation is completed, the investigator will be given 4 fees with two verdicts each and can be requested to pick. First, let us see the fees, This is the fee given while the defendant is viewed using topical third-party software to better their goal to have an edge over the others. Fundamentally, hacking. This fee is given while the defendant is viewed using wallhacks that allow the participant know the specific positions of the competitions resulting in kills smokes for a simple win. Important Disruption: Additional External Assistance This fee is issued if the defendant uses other ways to obtain an edge Aside from the ones listed previously. Including automated scripting, rate hacking, upside-down perspectives, etc.. This fee is issued if the defendant throws the match for others. This may be detrimental that the teammates, AFKing on goal, intentionally giving out group info into the enemy, and also needing the team to shed, etc.. Now for your verdicts, there are two choices under each class. Insufficient Evidence: After the Investigator isn't 100% certain if the Suspect is interrupting the match, Insufficient Evidence is preferred. You do not wish to prohibit an extremely skilled player who is not hacking. If the defendant is intentionally hacking, then instantly ban him. If you believe you were not able to devote your entire attention into the Overwatch video and would love to thoroughly look into again, then hit on the Postpone Judgement alternative in the underside. For your 30 day length, you will not have the ability to play VAC-secured servers. You won't be able to exchange or advertise your CSGO items. Note: On another little Overwatch ban, your accounts might be permanently prohibited. What do I do when I got a significant Overwatch ban? This can be permanent and moving forward, you won't be in a position to play VAC-secured servers nor will the defendant be in a position to exchange or sell items in CSGO. Be aware that griefers and cheaters do not receive the exact same punishment, it is completely dependent on the behaviour. Weightage of those verdicts: A greater Overwatch score only means that the investigator is much more seasoned and much more dependable. How can I raise my Overwatch score? To raise your overwatch rating, you'll need to correctly judge your first and henceforth investigations. This may add up to a overwatch score and will provide you more sections to research. Once you get to a greater overwatch score, then your verdict is given a greater weightage to. How can I help if I am an investigator? These reports fill the pool up of instances that have reviewed by the researchers. To report a participant, simply visit the scoreboard and click on the report button, and saying the rationale properly will assist the investigator. Won't bad researchers give false verdicts? Yes, they may but it boils down to the capacity of the observer. Plus buy cheap csgo smurfs requires many researchers anyhow so if a single investigator makes a mistake, it may not affect much based upon the overwatch score. This is why we have Overwatch scores. Be aware there is not any gap between researchers who perform in large, moderate, and low ability groups. Imagine if I cheat to find retribution? If you're cheating to find retribution and revenge, it is still considered cheating no matter what and also a sensible verdict will be awarded depending on the crime. It is my hope that this gets rid of your doubts about Overwatch. Happy exploring!

#buy csgo smurfs: buy csgo accounts:

1 note · View note

onlytrueinparadise · 5 years

Text

Romance University

A Sanders Sides AU

Chapter 4 Voicemails Can Be Misleading Part 1

<< Previous | | First | | Next >>

Summary: What’s a romcom without a little miscommunication?

Pairing: Romantic Logince

Wordcount: 768

Tags: TA!Logan, collegestudent!sides, college tw, remus sanders, deceit sanders, miscommunication, angst, crying, cliff-hanger, body horror, violence, destructive thoughts, depression

When it comes to which blunt object splattered a vic's brains on the floor Remus can sniff it out in two shakes of a chimera tail, but when it comes to relationships, he can't get a clue. Sometime in the future he would have to awkwardly reject Dee's marriage proposal because he was unaware they had been dating for the past three years.

"Ro and the TA are pretty close huh?"

Virgil scoffed, "Why would you say that?"

"Well," Thoughts surged on, "They're always out late together, he's always called back to talk, and they have matching bracelets. It's pretty weird for a student and a TA to have matching bracelets, they even got them at the same time."

"Speaking of Ro, where is he?" Virgil turned to Patton.

"I think the kiddo is taking his boyfriend to lunch today, they both have the rest of the day off."

"AHA!" Remus yelped and the group visibly jumped.

"What?!"

"I'VE SOLVED IT!"

Virgil rubbed his ringing ears, "Solved what? Don't yell like that someone will think something's wrong."

"Lolo must be friends with Roman's boyfriend! That's why they're close! Don't you see? They want us to think they're dating to hide Roman's real boyfriend! But that's really silly because they are total opposites and would be a terrible couple."

Patton gently grabbed Remus's forearm, "That's ridiculous."

"It really is, I can't believe they tried to deceive us like this." Remus shook his head and Patton's true meaning flew right over it.

I’m going to investigate. He went to Professor Sleep’s office but the TA wasn’t there. Remus isn’t deterred and leaves a slightly threatening voicemail of interrogation on Logan’s machine. They can’t pull a fast one on me! I’m a criminology major! I solve crimes in my sleep! He strides out of the office and collides with the Dean of Student Affairs. “Mr. Picani!”

“Ah! Heyo Mr. Thoughts! Be a little more careful walking around eyy? How are your studies going?”

“Oh indeed definitely sir! My studies are going swimmingly! In fact,” Here Remus jokingly glanced around and leaned in, “I’m doing a bit of extra credit right now.”

“Oh?”

Remus explained Roman’s lack of confidence in his friends and his own theory that the TA was somehow involved. “So I’m here to get to the bottom of this.”

“Well,” the jovial man chuckled, “that’s quite the theory, good luck with your sleuthing! But don't be too hasty now and jump to conclusions, someone could get hurt."

Logan sits in the dark in his apartment. He got home an hour ago but he hasn’t taken his shoes off and hasn’t moved from his couch. The room is pitch black, except for the faint light emitting from his phone, and silent except for the automated voice echoing in the air, “Press 1 to listen to the message again, Press 2 to delete the message, Press 3 to archive the message, Press # to return to menu.” Silence and then the voice repeated again. Inside Logan’s head a different voice was bouncing back and forth:

Hello, it's Remus. I'll get to the point. This charade can't continue. I won't let Roman continue to deceive us like this. He's been real secretive about his love life. But I managed to find out he's dating one of your friends. I just don't know which one. Please help me identify who it is. I don't want to hurt you but I don't want to leave things as they are. Once I figured out what was happening, I couldn't stay quiet. Call me back soon, I need your help on this but if you refuse, I'll continue on my own. I will get to the bottom of this.

"Roman is cheating on me." Logan mumbled to the automated phone lady. His face glistened with tears. His lips moved making no humanly audible sound but surely releasing the screeches of a broken heart. He no longer registered the saltiness on his tongue nor the passage of time. "It was supposed to be our little universe.. just us.. or did I misunderstand?" After all, it was only words. Perhaps he got tired of sneaking around. He deserves better anyways. I saw the way he looked at Will. They would make a good couple. Logan's thoughts spiraled and the dark threatened to swallow him whole. I deserve to be alone.

A buzz rumbled against wood and a soft light illuminated Roman's dorm. A text notification from My Universe reads, "We need to take a break."

Another buzz.

"Please don't try to contact me, I need time to think."

#logan sanders #roman sanders #logince #sanders sides #college au

10 notes · View notes

ramblingandpie · 5 years

Link

Gen, 1348 words.

---

Emails from Addison were always about something either really good or really bad, and somehow, Addison never gave it away ahead of time.

But Ryder had to bring the crew to the Nexus anyway, and Addison would be nigh unavoidable. She just hoped it would be something good.

As she approached Addison's office, the women's expression was as serious as ever. "Ryder," she said. "I'm glad you were able to come quickly. I know the email said it wasn't urgent, but I like to get things done when they come to my attention."

Ryder still had no clue if something good or bad had happened.

"We have news from Prodromos that their agriculture program is going quite well. They are producing enough that they are ready to take the next step."

Oh! Good news, then.

"They are going to celebrate with a fair, and I would like you to bring the Tempest to deliver the guests of honor."

Ok. Bigwigs on the Tempest. Bad news.

"We brought several hundred viable chicken eggs aboard and have thawed a few dozen from cryo. They are in a special incubator that does everything until they hatch."

Baby chickens! Eggs that would require no maintenance, even! Good news.

"That's great news," Ryder said. "We'll make sure they get safe to Eos."

"And you'll also be guests of honor at the fair, of course. I understand they're going to have some carnival games. Try to have some fun." The tone in her voice belied a complete unfamiliarity with the concept.

By the time Ryder got back to the Tempest, the cargo hold had been loaded with the incubators, which were hooked into local power. Gil, Suvi, and Liam were admiring the bounty.

"We're going to have chickens again!" Suvi happily announced as Ryder came in.

Gil laughed. "She won't stop, Ryder."

"Can you blame her?" Liam asked. "Delicious little beasts."

"They're great for terraforming, too," Suvi said. "They eat just about everything. Their manure is great for the plants. I can see why they decided to have chickens as our first livestock."

"And," Liam chimed in, "super delicious."

Gil nodded.

"I, for one," Ryder said, "am interested to see these carnival games that Addison mentioned."

The group nodded in agreement.

PeeBee came in and pressed her nose to the glass. "So these are the chickens you all keep talking about?"

"Yep," Ryder replied.

"How long until we get to eat them?"

"About six months," Suvi replied. The translators they used automatically converted it to the time system PeeBee had grown up with.

"And the… eggs? You eat the eggs, right?"

"Also six months."

PeeBee sighed. "Why can't we just eat these ones? I mean. Not all of them. Just a few."

Gil laughed. Suvi patiently explained about eating only unfertilized eggs, and these were all definitely fertilized.

When Suvi finished, Liam announced, "So basically it looks like meat's back on the menu!"

Gil raised an eyebrow at him. Liam sighed. “Man, you all really need to watch the classics. Ryder, is it too late to turn back around and pick up some more films?”

That earned him a light punch to the shoulder from nearly everyone involved.

*** They were one day out from Eos when SAM rang the alert.

One of Addison’s assistants had warned them that they weren’t exactly sure how thawing from cryo might affect the incubation period. It turned out to be well-deserved.

“C’mon, Kallo,” Suvi said. “Put her on auto. You’re the one with the most experience on eggs.”

He sighed. “I hatched from one. That’s it.”

“But you remember it, right?”

“Yes.”

“So c’mon!”

She practically dragged him to the incubators.

Cracks were beginning to form on a few of the shells. Suvi began unpacking the temperature-controlled brood boxes.

“Okay,” she announced to Kallo and to the others who had begun to filter in. “We let them hatch on their own. Tempting as it is, no touching. They have to dry off first. Liam, Jaal, help me get this out of the crate.”

“Wait. How do you know so much about hatching chickens?” Ryder asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes. The alarm had clearly woken her up.

“Did anyone read the instructions? Honestly. Lexi, tell me you read the instructions,” Suvi pleaded as Lexi came in.

“And several books while we were in transit,” Lexi said, as she began to fiddle with the uncrated brood box. Suvi brought Liam and Jaal over to the next crate to begin opening it.

“Also, my parents did a ton of science experiments with us when we were kids. We did a few rounds of chickens and ducks.”

“So why did you need my help?” Kallo asked, arms outstretched in the universal gesture of uselessness.

“I didn’t know who else would come, and these things are awful heavy. Plus, this is the best part. Everyone quiet for a minute.”

A hush fell over the room except for the tiny peep peep noises coming from the incubator.

“They’re calling the other chicks.”

Lexi nodded. “Hearing the other chicks cues the ones still in eggs to begin hatching.”

Suvi’s cheeriness did perk the crew up, and soon enough everyone around was taking turns working on the brood boxes, and checking on the chicks from time to time.

“I wasn’t expecting them to be quite so goopy,” Liam said. Suvi assured him that the chicks would fluff up when they dried.

“Were you so awkward and goopy when you hatched, Kallo?” PeeBee asked as she opened a vacuum-packed bag of shredded paper, all recycled from Nexus use.

“Worse,” Kallo assured her. “My fins were tiny.”

“Fins?”

He shrugged. “We grow out of them. These look like they stay in place, though?”

“Wings, not fins,” Lexi corrected as she peered into the incubator to check the progress, and began to scan the eggs that hadn’t hatched yet.

Liam added that the wings were “also known as the most delicious part of the bird.”

This spawned an argument amongst the entire human crew about whether white meat or dark meat was better, and when eating wings, if the actual wing or the drumstick was best. Ryder and Liam came down firmly on the side of flat wings; Gil apparently loved drumsticks; Cora fondly remembered the baked chicken breast she used to eat as a child; and Suvi declared that they all had wonderful, delicious merits.

Jaal asked Lexi about the nutritional qualities, and she elaborated at length about the protein, fat, and vitamin contents of chicken meat. She offered to send him some of the studies she had found; he declined the 122-page biochemical nutritional guide. Still, though, by her analysis, chicken meat would be incredibly healthy for angara to eat, even if it might take some trial and error to figure out what combination of spices would make it palatable.

After several hours, Suvi and Lexi declared that the surviving chicks were ready for transfer to the brooding box. There, they would stay warm and have everything they needed. Several crewmembers had wandered off, but Ryder and Jaal helped gently scoop up the cheeping chicks and place them in their new home. Lexi did final scans on the last few eggs, and declared them destined for compost.

Ryder collapsed backwards onto a chair. “Phew! They are cute, but I am ready to hit the hay.”

Jaal got up and wearily walked towards the brood box. “Remind me, Suvi. Which part is the hay? And why does it need to be hit?” Shortly thereafter, “Why are you laughing?”

Ryder explained the translation error.

“Seriously, though,” Lexi said. “You are all chronically sleep deprived. The automated brooding system will take care of the chicks. Off to bed, all of you.”

She accepted no excuses.

Suvi whispered to Ryder as they walked out, “Next thing you know, she’ll make us all wear matching brightly-colored t-shirts to the fair so she can easily find us if we get lost.”

“I heard that!”

“If only all diplomats were small, fluffy, and peeping!” Ryder said to Suvi as they said their goodnights.

#mass effect #mass effect andromeda #fanfic #my fanfic #I read up quite a bit about baby chickens for this #the only warning I can think of is that they talk about how delicious chickens are #fluff #literal fluff

7 notes · View notes

fitnessclubappointment-blog · 5 years

Text

How to Generate More Traffic with Google’s New Features

You’re probably already familiar with Google My Business.

If you aren’t, as a quick recap, Google My Business is a simple way to claim your office address or storefront on Google.

That way, when someone searches for your business, you’ll show up on the right side of a Google search like the image above.

Or better yet, when someone searches for a product or service you’ll offer, you’ll show up in the local pack.

What’s interesting, though, is Google has been making changes to it, which means it just got easier to generate leads and sales for you.

Best of all, very few marketers are even leveraging these features.

Welcome Offers

What’s one of the easiest ways to generate more sales?

By offering discounts and coupons, right? Just think of it this way, if it didn’t work, Cyber Monday wouldn’t bring in $7.8 billion in sales.

Google knows that people are looking for ways to save money and find good deals. With this new feature, businesses can reward their customers by giving them welcome offers.

By following your business, they can get first-time deals and always keep in touch to see when new deals are posted.

Not only will this bring you new customers but also repeat customers because people will be notified every time you have new deals.

To set up a welcome offer, open your Google My Business app and tap on your profile. Under “Turn followers into customers,” click on ‘Create Welcome Offer’ and hit ‘Create.’

You can enter the following information in your offer:

Once finished, you can preview your message and publish. For notifications on new followers, and editing or deleting offers, you can read more on Google Support.

Generate leads in just a few clicks

Google is now adding a “Request a Quote” button in your business listing which was discovered by Joy Hawkins and can also be seen on mobile when searching branded terms.

This is happening with businesses that have the Google My Business messaging feature on.

To enable messaging, open the Google My Business app and go to your listing.

Navigate to Customers -> Messages and turn on!

People will now be able to ask for quotes on cars, insurance, and pretty much any service out there.

You can even review these quotes and reply to them within the Google My Business App and connect with your customers easily for a quick sale.

Make sure you claim your URL

Businesses can now claim a Short Name and URL for their listing.

If you haven’t claimed your URL, make sure you do so before it gets taken by someone else.

Don’t get too crazy though as you can only change your short name three times per year. You can enable this by navigating to your locations page, click “Info” on the left-hand side, and see “add short name”.

You may not think this is a big deal, but if you have used Google My Business before, then you know it’s not easy to share your profile on business cards, emails, and text messages without posting a huge URL.

With short names, your landing page will show as g.page/businessname and can be easily shared.

A business can choose a name between 5 and 32 characters and it can contain the business name, location, and more. People can still flag a name for impersonating another business or if the name is offensive, fake, spammy, or contains inappropriate terms.

So, remember not to violate any policies with your name.

I recommend doing this as it will make it easier for your customers to refer back to your profile where they can read updates, post, make reservations, read/write reviews, and more!

And eventually, people will be able to search short names in Google Maps to find the businesses they love.

Google Assistant

Google is now letting customers order food from restaurants and stores via Google Assistant, which is delivered through DoorDash, Postmates, Delivery.com, Slice, ChowNow, and Zuppler, with other partners possibly coming soon.

Users can click on Order Now on the listing and can choose pick-up or delivery and if they want to order ASAP or schedule for later. Payment happens through the default payment on Google Pay. If they do not have one, they will be able to add credit card information through this too.

Additionally, customers can order food by using Google Assistant by saying “Okay Google, order food from [restaurant].” If the user has ordered before, it will let them see past orders.

Updating your menu online, as well as delivery service carriers and their apps will help get you started on this.

You’ll want to make sure your menus are consistent through all your service carriers to get the best orders to your hungry customers.

And of course, I know there is a good chance you don’t have a restaurant or aren’t in the food delivery business, but expect to see more ways Google My Business gets integrated with Google Assistant.

It’s better to be early than late.

And speaking of food, Google has also added the popular dish tab on your menu which features images and menu items that people love the most.

This scans reviews and images on your Google My Business profile to find the most commonly mentioned dish and adds it to your popular dish tab. Of course, if anything is wrong, you can suggest edits to these.

This helps if there are dishes without names, wrong names, or typos can be fixed.

Auto-generated posts based on reviews

Look, you are busy, but you have no choice but to create content.

Google has given you easier ways to generate posts… in essence, they are now creating auto-generated posts for you.

These recommended posts are suggested through customer reviews on your Google My Business profile and are similar to their Small Thanks program, which tried to get you to highlight reviews given by previous customers on social media and even being able to print it out and display it on your business walls.

You are probably wondering why should you use it, right?

This helps keep people engaged in your profile if you haven’t posted on Google My Business in a while and gives you fast and easy publishing. It even gives you options to customize backgrounds with images and colors.

This will pop up on your Google My Business dashboard and all you have to do is hit “Create this post”.

There’s no real way to pick other reviews for Suggested Posts, but you are always welcome to create your own. This is just a simple feature created to help engage your audience more.

Boost your conversions by controlling your images

Businesses can now set a preferred profile cover photo in your image carousel and have a place for logos at the top-right of your profile next to the business name.

This is an additional feature to the regular NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) as well as business hours and will be prominently featured.

You can easily create offline material

Google is launching a website where businesses can order and get custom promotional items such as stickers and posters to advertise their business. This is in hopes that it will entice customers to follow places on your profile, add reviews, and create bookings.

You can even order signs like ‘follow us on Google’ and more for free (one shipment per location).

For posters, you can use the editor to create your own type of poster that can be downloaded and easily printed by yourself or a local printing company. If posters aren’t your cup of tea, you can even share these on social media.

This is currently free as it is a downloadable offer, but you may want to pay to have someone print this out in poster size or as stickers to put on your business windows.

Just think of it this way, people put Yelp signage everywhere because it works. Chances are, it will work on Google as well.

Place Topics

Google launched Place Topics which uses data based on reviews to help give information on what previous customers think about your business.

This can help users see themes of reviews at a glance for businesses and it’s all automated.

It’s kind of like a tag cloud.

This does mean that you cannot generate these yourselves or edit them. So, if you don’t have one, you may not have enough reviews.

Also, if you have a negative one, there’s potentially no way of removing this unless you get the review removed. So, make sure your happy customers are leaving reviews is very important.

Possibly entice them with a 10% discount the next time they come… assuming you aren’t breaking any policy guidelines.

Q&A Auto-Suggest Answers

This feature that Google updated uses previous answers to questions and Google My Business Reviews to answer new questions on the spot. As you start writing the question, different answers start to pop up to give you the best match.

So how can you make sure people get the most accurate answer?

Similar to place topics, encouraging your customers to leave detailed reviews of their experience really helps. The more detailed the review is, the better the question gets answered.

Of course, people who are searching for answers can potentially see negative reviews such as prices are too high, service takes long, very long waits on weekends, and more.

In other words, always encourage positive reviews from your loyal customers.

If you haven’t used Google My Business before, you should check it out. With their updates and new features, it is now easier to generate sales and collect leads.

In the future, you’ll see a much deeper integration between Google My Business and Google Assistant. This is going to be important as 50% of the searches will soon by voice searches according to ComScore.

Make sure you are leveraging all of these features and release Google is releasing because it doesn’t cost you money and if you get in early enough, you’ll have an advantage over your competition.

So are you using Google My Business to it’s fullest extent?

This content was originally published here.

1 note · View note

gena84465771120-blog · 5 years

Text

Convert WMA To MP3 On MacOS And OS X

QQripper is the autoloader software to automate the ripping of a stack of music discs (to convert audio tracks from music CD to digital information) to supported storage devices equivalent to hard disk, iPod or MP3 participant. Convert WAVE to MP3. • Enhance the video high quality in a number of methods automatically, superior optimization expertise for the video and audio codecs. To clarify the utilization of this foolproof Mac M4A to MP3 Converter, we'll specifically conduct a demo by taking the conversion from M4A file to MP3 format on Mac. Compressed audio codecs can be categorized as both "lossy" or "non-lossy". Examples of lossy codecs are MP3, Ogg, AAC. These formats truly sacrifice high quality in change for unbelievable compression, profiting from limited disk area. Lossy codecs have a bitrate associated with them (or a "high quality" setting), which lets you decide what stage of trade-off space vs high quality is suitable to you.

FFMGPEG is offered for Home windows, is able to help variable bit charge and works very well for audio in addition to video. Step 2: Click on the button next to the green Convert button on the interface, and on the followed drop-down menu, click on Change within the middle to enter the Profile panel the place you may set the default output format. Apple fans will admire the choice so as to add transformed information on to iTunes multimedia library. You too can select a selected playlist. man i am loving this program i am using media human audio converter and i am convertings 186 music information it has taken less than 5 minutes often the other programs i exploit if i was doing this it will take about an hour to an hour and a half this programs is the most effective. select M4R as the output format in the Customized menu when you convert m4a To mp3 converter Free download full version with crack to M4R. In case you own a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device, PC or even a phone you'll be able to serve FLAC information to any variety of DLNA for media streamers-what does it all mean? in your AV system including TVs , Roku bins, receivers and more. If the device connects to the internet, it's most certainly to additionally assist DLNA, and although FLAC is not officially part of the DLNA specification , it normally comes along for the journey anyway. Hi guys. OK firstly, why MP3. I belong to a male voice choir and certainly one of our learning aids is to create a file , of the music e are studying which has been created by our MD who sings and performs the piece. We then create a CD and use a CD copier to produce ninety CD's. Foe some purpose, m4a format has been giving us issues so I believed mp3 version can be higher. I've transformed the m4a format to mp3 by using itunes. We still have some minor issues. I tried to download soundtrax however I couldn't entry the web page from the above.

Convert MP3 recordsdata to change the standard and scale back the scale. Click on the "Add File" button so as to add the will be compressed audio whatever it's in MP3, FLAC, WAV, WMA, M4A, AIFF, MP2, OGG, AC3, RA, AU, PCM, M4B, MPC, QCP, AMR, AWB, TTA, CUE, APE and etc audio format. Simply drag in any files you need to convert, choose a format, destination and m4a to mp3 converter free download full version with crack high quality for conversion, and hit Convert. It's pretty quick, and does it's job nicely. Extra advanced users would possibly want extra configuration options than are available, however it is going to cover most people's needs. FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, which is leading compression approach that preserves original audio high quality while reducing file dimension. A digital audio recording compressed by FLAC could be decompressed into an equivalent copy of the original audio information. Audio sources encoded to FLAC reduces the unique file size by roughly 30-60% with no lack of quality, therefore FLAC is a lossless format. FLAC files are nice as a result of they're normally of very top quality, but they're annoying because iTunes cannot open a FLAC file by default. The solution is to transform the FLAC to MP3 format, after which iTunes can learn it as regular.

By default, computerized settings are selected , which ensure the best possible quality of audio by avoiding of ineffective resampling and remixing. Personalized fixed settings for Sample Fee, Channels, Bit Fee, Bit Rate Mode, VBR High quality, Bit Depth, Compression Degree and Codec also can be applied. WAV to MP3 Converter is software program which may convert audio. PowerISO will start converting the information to desired format. You may see the detailed progress info when changing. It is a versatile device that may convert audio and video recordsdata to gadget formats equivalent to Gear VR, Oculus Rift, Vive, iOS units, Android phones and plenty of extra. WAV and AIFF: Each WAV and AIFF are uncompressed formats, which suggests they're actual copies of the original source audio. The 2 formats are essentially the same high quality; they only store the information a bit in another way. AIFF is made by Apple, so you may see it a bit more usually in Apple products, but WAV is pretty much common. However, since they're uncompressed, they take up loads of unnecessary house. Except you're modifying the audio, you needn't store the audio in these formats. Unless area is concern, it's best to archive audio as uncompressed or lossless, as a result of once the audio constancy is lost it can't be regained. It's also higher to start a challenge with lossless recordsdata- you can also make a lossy file from a undertaking utilizing lossless audio, but you'll not regain audio high quality by rendering a undertaking with lossy information as a lossless format. Initially, please go to free obtain the latest version of Macsome iTunes Converter for Windows, follow the tips to install it. After the set up, launch the software.

PCM stands for Pulse-Code Modulation, a digital representation of uncooked analog audio signals. Analog sounds exist as waveforms, and so as to convert a waveform into digital bits, the sound have to be sampled and recorded at sure intervals (or pulses). AllMusicConverter also can convert any video files to MP4 (iPod format), WMV (Home windows computer format) or AVI (DVD participant format). Regardless of the causes may be, it is vitally easy and fast to convert from one format to a different or swapping bit rates for audio withVLC Media Player.

1 note · View note

kiwi-buns · 6 years

Text

Play Date (M)

Baekhyun’s Pet Masterlist

Summary: “A-Are you a sugar daddy?”

Genre (Rating): Fluff (M)

Length: 4.9k

(6:34 PM) from Baekhyun:

Are you ready? I'm almost there.

(6:35 PM) to Baekhyun:

Yes, I'll be here waiting. :)

(6:35 PM) from Baekhyun:

Good.

I bit my bottom lip, feeling my cheeks warm up at the simple text from a guy that I had met on my way to college a few weeks ago. We've been going on a couple of dates together ever since he had given me a ride home and asked me out. So far, he has always treats me to delicious meals, never bringing me to the same restaurants even once or twice. I figured he was rich, because he always had nice watches and rings decorating his dainty and perfectly sculpted fingers.

He seemed like an older guy, and he often carried a briefcase along with him to our dates in case he had to make small business calls after we had finished eating. I didn't mind, because I enjoyed his company at that. He was so charming, never breaking eye contact whenever we spoke to each other, and he always asked me what I liked to do. I even felt more than obliged to ask him what he does, but his answers were always the same: business.

I tapped my fingers on my thighs as I gazed around my small apartment with a tiny pout on my lips. I wish I could move out of here, but without the support of my parents to help me get my name under another apartment, I had no choice but to stay. It was already hard enough taking the bus to school every day, but Baekhyun has offered a lot of times. Sometimes, I'd tell him no so that I don't get used to the help, but he never seems to be bothered by it.

I felt my phone vibrating in my hand and immediately picked it up to answer the call. "Hello?" I inhaled a sharp breath so that I wasn't too loud to block out the melodic tone of his voice talking into the speaker.

"I'm here, sweetheart. Come on out so I can feast my eyes on what you've chosen to wear for me today." I heard him chuckle lightly after his words, and I felt heat rising to my cheeks.

"Okay, I'm coming!" I smiled into the phone and hung up the call, grabbing my small purse and making sure that my heels were tightly secured around my ankles. I half jogged over to the front door, unlocking and opening it. I yelped upon seeing a tall man standing right outside of it.

Baekhyun smirked at me, pulling his phone from his ear and tucking it into his front trouser's pocket. He bit his lip and ran his eyes over my body, watching as I straightened and closed my apartment door behind me. I looked up at him with a shy smile on my face.

"You look stunning," he said as he removed his other hand from his pocket and placed it on my waist, gripping my side gently. "Let's go." He snaked his arm around me and we both walked to his car. He lead me inside and got into the driver's seat, driving off to our destination.

We made it to the restaurant, and I looked up to see the fancy letters planted at the very top of it. I looked at Baekhyun with widened eyes. This was one of the big restaurants for high-rollers, rich people. If I had known where he was taking me, I would have worn something better—that's if I even had anything better to wear to fit the scenery. I felt cheap upon our entrance, already seeing fancy and glittery dresses tightly hugging very thin females' bodies with shoes to match. I swallowed and held my purse close to my body, following behind Baekhyun who spoke to the host to get us a table.

He handed the man his ID and was checked in. Without waiting, we were guided to our table and Baekhyun helped me have a seat, soon after, sitting across from me and moving neatly folded napkins out of the way.

I got comfortable in my seat and hung my purse on the back of my chair. I looked up to see Baekhyun watching me with his bottom lip held in between his teeth. He didn't look away when I saw him because he was looking at my exposed cleavage resting up high in my push-up bra, allowing my breasts to look huge.

A waiter came over to the table and handed the both of us menus, diverting Baekhyun's view from me and onto the interruption.

"Are you sir, and you, beautiful lady ready to order?" I pursed my lips to contain a smile. Baekhyun looked at me to confirm, and I shook my head yes. I was barely paying attention, because my true answer would have been no. One curve of Baekhyun's lips lifted as he side-eyed me with his face in the direction of the waiter.

"Give us a couple of minutes, will you? Thank you."

The waiter bowed and strolled off to accompany a waiting couple seated inside of a booth.

I grabbed a menu and scanned my eyes over the expensive dishes. I swallowed, unsure of what to pick when there were so many choices, and not a single one had a good amount for the bargain.

"You know," Baekhyun said as he lifted his elbow to rest informally on the top of the table, "I love when a woman's clothes hug every inch of her body, like this."

He nodded his head at me and pinched his bottom lip softly in between his thumb and index finger.

I pursed my lips and dipped my head behind my menu as I felt heat once again rising to my cheeks.

"But you know what I don't get?" He asked with furrowed brows, staring intently at me with his gaze shifting back and forth between my chest and eyes.

"What?" I asked, now looking up from hiding and into his eyes curiously.

"How you always seem to cover so much of yourself..." He scanned his eyes over the exposed skin he was able to see. "I love to see everything. From your neck, to your collarbones, chest. Everything." He put extra emphasis on his last word, and that made my insides twirl at the realization of the true meaning behind it. "I wonder how you'd look now without that sweater." He released his bottom lip and pointed to me, squinting his eyes.

I took a quick glance at myself and then looked back at him again. I grabbed the hem of my sweater and pulled it over my shoulders until it was completely off of me.

Baekhyun's elbow was no longer leaning on the table, and he leaned comfortably in his seat.

"Like this?" I asked, looking up at Baekhyun through my lashes to see a satisfied smirk on his lips.

"Perfect," he praised, still watching me. I bit my lip and looked over my menu, finding difficulty with something to choose. I glanced up again to see that Baekhyun had not at least once stopped staring.

"Aren't you going to order?" I asked, tilting my head in the direction of the waiter who had now returned to our booth with a notepad and pen in hand. Baekhyun snapped out of his ogling to order his food fairly quickly, only to stare at me again. The waiter asked me what I wanted, but I didn't know, so I simply said, "I'll have what he's having," and my eyes travelled over to see Baekhyun smiling at me with his finger running over his lips again.

The waiter nodded and bowed before leaving us alone at the table again.

I wanted to ask Baekhyun questions about his work, but he always seemed to have quick and automated answers for them. I figured that I should ask him something arbitrary to catch him off-guard.

"Baekhyun, how old are you?" I asked, sitting up in my seat and shivering a little at the cool air of the indoors.

Baekhyun's smile faultered a little and his hand dropped from his mouth to reveal a small pout on his lips. "Isn't it rude to ask a man how old he is?"

I shook my head, and that made him laugh. "Then, it's not rude for me to ask you the same, hmm?"

I paused and squinted my eyes at him. "Nineteen. I'm nineteen." Baekhyun seemed taken aback by my answer, but seconds after, his facial expression revealed just how much more intrigued he had become with it.

"I'm twenty-eight," he said with a stiffen in his posture. He continued to stare me directly in the eyes to somehow read or catch a slight change in my expression, but I revealed nothing of the sort. I was expecting him to be younger, since he looked like so, but I don't mind dating older guys. After all, he's only nine freaking years older than me. Should I be conflicted, or should I just kick my pride aside for this undeniably attractive man sitting across from me?

"Nice," I said.

"Nice? That's it?" He said with an amused huff. I simply nodded and smiled brightly at him. "Are you into that kind of thing? The large age difference?" He asked an odd question, but it was easy to answer.

"Yeah, I guess."

"You guess?"

"I mean, it's nice. I don't mind dating older guys. I like... The maturity."

"Maturity." Baekhyun hummed and looked down at the table to gather words to say. "Please elaborate."

"Older men seem to be more self-sufficient." Baekhyun quirked a brow at me, and I held back a small laugh at his reaction, "and experienced."

"Experienced in...?"

"Oh, please don't make me go any deeper into that subject."

"Why not? It's going to have to come up someday. Might as well get it over with if we're trying to speed things up a little bit." Baekhyun admitted boldly which caused my eyes to shoot back up to look into his unreadable gaze. This stare of his seemed to change a lot, and I wasn't sure of which way to apprehend the way he was looking at me. It looked dark and lustful.

We've been dating for a decent while now, but I've never taken any steps further into a committed relationship with him. I've only invited him into my apartment once, and we haven't had sex or anything yet. I'm sure he'd only said that because he was growing impatient.

"How do you like it? Gentle? Rough? A little bit in betwee—"

I shushed him quickly as the waiter approached with our dishes balancing perfectly on his forearm. He set the plates down, and Baekhyun chuckled softly as he watched my flustered state, my hands moving to push my utensils out of the way so that the man could set the food down.

"Thank you, sir." Baekhyun said to the male who had finally finished setting up our table. I looked up to see what was taking him so long to walk away, but it was because he had gotten distracted by something. I looked up into his eyes to see them aiming directly at my breasts. I felt more uncomfortable with the younger male eyeing me shamelessly instead of moving on to his next customers.

"Hey. Beat it." I heard Baekhyun snapping his fingers with a firm base in his voice. He pointed his thumb in any direction away from our table, and the waiter apologized and quickly sauntered away.

I bit my lip at Baekhyun's authoritative behavior, realizing it had some huge effect on my womanhood. I grabbed my utensils and began eating my food.

"Now, where were we? Oh, we were talking about how capable I am of meeting your preferences in bed."

I coughed a little, causing a noodle to slide out of my mouth. Baekhyun handed me a napkin quickly, and I glared at him before taking it from him to wipe my mouth.

"We'll finish this conversation later, when we get back to the car." Baekhyun said as he picked up his utensil and started eating with his eyes constantly glancing up at me with each swallow of a portion of his meal.

Once we finished, Baekhyun paid for the food and we both made our way out of the restaurant. We waited only a few couple of minutes on the sidewalk before the valet returned with Baekhyun's car. He helped me inside and we drove off.

The entire drive was in comfortable silence until Baekhyun's car slowed and turned into an unfamiliar road which actually seemed to be a narrow alleyway. I looked over to him with nervous eyes only to see that darkened look of his had returned. This is where it's going to end. I'm going to die, I thought.

Baekhyun quickly reversed his expression which had somewhat changed my mind about what his assumed motive was for stopping here. His next words were unexpected, and definitely caught me off-guard.

"Have you ever—" he started, his hand moving closer to push away my hair to expose my shoulder, "had a sugar daddy?" I almost chortled up at his question, but once I saw the serious gleam in his eyes, I realized that he wasn't joking at all. His fingers were now wrapping lightly around the back of my neck underneath my hair as he slowly massaged the flesh, causing me to whimper softly at the intimate contact. This wasn't the first time that Baekhyun had touched me, but this behavior somehow fueled a different fire inside of me.

"Hmm?" He squeezed my neck a little firmly to edge an answer out of me. I shook my head indolently. He exhaled a short breath, and I looked over at him to see that darkened stare illuminating his features once again.

"Do you know what a sugar daddy is?" He asked, continuing to rub his fingers into my neck to untense the muscles underneath.

"U-uh, you pay a girl to have sex w-with you?" I attempted an answer, but I only earned a frown in disappointment from Baekhyun. He released my neck and returned his hand into his lap.

"Wrong. You're more innocuous than I thought." He said in a scold-like manner as if he was a teacher. "A sugar daddy buys companionship, your time, your affection. In return for what you give to him, he pays for everything, anything that you could ever want or dream of having. Understand?"

I nodded attentively at his words with slightly widened eyes. He seemed very serious about having this discussion with me, and it made me feel extremely nervous, because I have never talked about this with anyone, not even a guy that I liked for that matter. Baekhyun was older, and he was different. More different than I expected or cared to admit.

"Paying a girl to have sex with me defeats the purpose of being a sugar daddy. If I wanted just sex, I would have hired a prositute. Though, there are needs of mine that I will have met but under respectful circumstances."

He spoke of himself as if that was something he was genuinely into.

"A-Are you a sugar daddy?" I asked, almost sure that I already knew the answer to my own question.

"Not necessarily. Not until I have a baby girl of my own. And I want you to be my baby girl." I felt heat quickly rising to my chest, cheeks, and ears at his words. I felt flattered at the thought of Baekhyun wanting to have me as his sugar baby.

"Do I have a choice in whether or not I want to be..."

"Yes, of course. It's entirely up to you. I can't make you be my baby girl if you don't want to be. You have to be sure of your decision though, because I will not ask again." He spoke without wavering on his words. It seemed to me that he had already planned this out and was sure that I would give some good results, which I could not disagree with, because it did sound like an interesting experience—as well as something experimental to spice up my sex life? If I even had one.

I nodded slowly, casting my eyes downward to think about this.

"Do you have any questions for me?" He asked, leaning his head down to maintain eye contact with me. I looked up and my eyes wandered away again, trying to think of a good question to ask—one that wouldn't make me sound like a complete imbecile in front of this man, prompting him to let go of the topic and just take me home.

"Would I have to call you Daddy?"

"Yes, always. I'll allow slip-ups from time to time, but I will almost never allow you to call me by my name. That'll earn you a punishment."

"Punishment?"

"We'll get to the details of that later," he said calmly before a small grin tugged at his lips. I swallowed and thought up another question.

"I—do—why do you want to be a sugar daddy rather than just my date, my boyfriend?"

I almost physically facepalmed myself at my completely unstructured sentence, but that only made Baekhyun chuckle and mumble, "so cute."

"Hmm, let's see." He looked out of the windshield as he thought of an answer. "I don't want your love. I want to prevent emotional attachment and instead, be pampered at all times. My life is very busy and stressful, and I need someone to be there to give me what I want without any feelings attached. I'm too busy to fully commit. You see, I want you to devote your body to me, and in return, I will give you everything that your heart desires. If I were your boyfriend, it wouldn't fit my preference, and you seem much like a better fit into my life as my baby girl rather than a girlfriend. I could find those anywhere. The simple answer to your question is that I want you. Understand?"

"I don't want your love," he said.

The start of that explanation had already made my heart sink into my chest just a little bit. Somehow though, it only made me more intrigued by his offer. I was curious.

I nodded and sucked my bottom lip into my mouth as I looked at him, his eyes never leaving mine from the moment we started going through in-depth details of this acquaintance to right now.

"Anymore questions?" He asks. I simply shook my head in response, but that made him frown. "Yes, or no? I like it when you speak to me, and use your words instead. I want to hear your voice.”

"No," I said, correcting myself.

He hummed in satisfaction and licked his lips before grabbing one of my hands softly in his and bringing it up to his lips. He planted a soft kiss on the plateau of my knuckles before speaking again. "Will you be my baby girl?"

"Yes." I didn't hesitate to answer him, because I had already made up my mind five minutes ago.

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, Daddy."

My lashes fluttered at my words, and I felt heat rushing down my body as Baekhyun's gaze darkened along with the plundering darkness of the dark sky surrounding us. He hummed that low, sexy hum again, and it made me even more squirmy on the inside.

Baekhyun kissed my hand again before bringing it down in between his legs, resting right up against his crotch. "All that is left is the contract..."

I watched his hand moving as he guided my fingers to envelop the outline of his already hardened length pushing into a large tent underneath his pants. I gasped at the contact and my mouth salivated at the sight of Baekhyun's pursed lips and hooded eyes. He threw his head back against his seat and leaned down a little, releasing my hand when I began to rub my own hand over his crotch without his guidance.

"The contract?" I asked, curiously and unconsciously massaging my hand over his hard member.

"Doll," he reached up to press his thumb into my glistening bottom lip, "have you ever given a blowjob?" He bit his lip and watched me. I froze at his words, though my hand continued to move, causing him to shift in his seat, unable to stay still with my palm sliding along his length, tracing and getting a feel of his dick through the layers of his pants.

I was too embarassed to admit that I had never sucked someone off before, but I'm sure Baekhyun understood as he nodded faintly and trailed his hand to cup my cheek and then wrap around my neck. He pulled me closer until my head was a few inches away from his crotch.

"This is the contract. Unbuckle my pants, now."

I did as he said and quickly released his belt from the loops. He lifted his hips to pull his pants down, and his arousal sprang free. I gasped as I eyed his beaming arousal twitching in front of my eyes. I looked up at Baekhyun and saw a pinch of red stretching his features as he stared down at me.

I grabbed his junior into my hand, earning a low groan from the male above me.

"Start by tightening your grip around my base, and then work your way up," he instructed, and I slid my hand down as I firmly squeezed his girth, "yes, just like that."

He mewled softly as I applied more and more pressure to his cock. I felt veins protruding from the underside of him, and I slid my pinky along them, finding the texture addicting as the rest of my hand continued to stroke him at a slow pace.

"Faster," he said through gritted teeth, and I looked up at him as I sped up my hand to see his reaction. He seemed to be very affected by my touch as his hips lifted up to meet my hand.

I felt a small droop of liquid glide onto my hand as I stroked him, and I could see a shiny, clear glimmer spilling from his tip. I ran my finger over his slit to feel more of his pre-cum slipping out with each hard stroke of my hand around his penis. "F-Fuck," he rasped out. A squelchy noise resounded within the confined areas of the car, and I realized that Baekhyun's cock was lubricated, and I sensed that it was ready for something.

My mouth watered at the sight of him desperately thrusting his cock upward to meet my hand more and more as the sounds of his moans increased in volume.

"You wanna be a good baby girl for me?" He asked, now running his fingers through my hair to push it behind my shoulders.

"Yes, Daddy." I nodded at him and licked my lips, staring back down as his cock.

"I want you to put those pretty lips around me." His tone of voice was deep and alluring, and it made my insides melt at the way he was staring down at me with his hand resting on my upper back. I shifted in my seat so that I was on my knees in the chair and leaning over the console more comfortably so that my mouth could reach his tip.

I teased a little, knowing I didn't have much experience other than the various porn videos I've watched in the past, and I glided my tongue along his tip, sliding it into his slit and savoring the minimally salty taste of his meat. Baekhyun groaned and tossed his head back against his seat, rubbing my back and sliding his hand up to cup the back of my neck. I knew he was fighting the urge to force my head down onto his cock. The only thing stopping him was the fact that I was inexperienced.

I slowly wrapped my lips around his tip, allowing a portion of his cock to adjust to the warmth of my mouth, and I felt his hand pushing gently at my neck to go lower. I complied and sunk down onto his length until I felt him poking at the back of my throat, signaling me to stop at that point. I decided to challenge myself instead and pushed down further until I felt the thickness of his tip stretching my airway, cutting off my breath.

That one daring move earned me a loud, guttural moan from Baekhyun, and I felt his cock twitching inside of my mouth. "Oh, fuck!"

I held myself there for a longer moment, swallowing Baekhyun's meat with the contractions of my throat around his tip, and I felt little spurts of cum spilling into my mouth. He groaned loudly, "fuck, you're doing so good for your first time, sweetheart, aaah."

I finally pulled my mouth upward until my lips were still around his tip. More of my saliva had coated his length, and Baekhyun hissed at the release of my mouth around him.

I sunk back down, causing Baekhyun to moan in the most sexiest way possible, and I started to bob my head up and down. I hummed against his shaft and that made his hips shake and thrust upward to match the rhythm of my mouth moving around him.

"Aaah, no teeth, baby," he rasped with a sharp hiss leaving his lips. I replied by humming against his meat once more, and that made him groan and grab my hair into his hands to push it out of the way.

"Fuck, that's so good." I felt his hips moving with each suction of my lips dipping lower onto his shaft. Baekhyun grabbed my other hand and guided it to his balls, motioning for me to massage them as I sucked him off.

"Ooh, yeah... Oh, yeah. Just like that, baby girl, I'm so close." His thrusts gained speed until he was practically fucking my mouth. The wet and sloppy sounds had increased in volume with each pump of his cock into my mouth. I gurgled up my saliva mixed in with his spilling liquids as he held my hair more firmly and thrusted into my suctioning cavern.

Baekhyun let out an inarticulate cry of pleasure as his climax closed in, and he was soon filling my throat with his weighty cum as my tight mouth milked every last drop out of him.

I was forced to swallow, because there was no way I was going to spit it back out of my throat.

I gulped one last time, pushing myself down until I felt his tip right at the tight entrance of my deep throat to squeeze out the rest of his cum. He whimpered silently, and I felt his member softening. He slipped out of my mouth. Finally, he heaved an ecstastic "sigh" before sinking back into his seat and exhaling heavy breaths as he regained his composure.

I wiped the corners of my mouth with the back of my hand and stared at Baekhyun, smiling in unison when we made eye contact.

"Fucking christ, that was amazing," he praised. I held back a chuckle, heat once again rising to my cheeks. I was glad that I was able to please him for my first time.

"Does that mean the contract is 'signed,' Daddy?" I asked with a promiscuous tone of voice.

Baekhyun's head shot over, and he stared darkly at me, seeming extremely triggered by the word 'daddy.' I could see the everlasting lust lingering within his eyes as he glared at me. I felt a little intimidated by it. He pulled himself back into his pants and buckled his belt before speaking.

"Yes," he said with a light chuckle. "You're my baby girl now, officially."

I smiled and bit my lip. Baekhyun pulled me into him to place a sloppy and wet kiss on my lips, tasting himself as he twirled his tongue inside of my wet cavern, commanding possession of the inside of my mouth with his. We pulled away from the kiss, and Baekhyun bit his lip hard as he stared at my parted and swollen lips.

"Those fucking lips of yours... You have no idea how bad I've been wanting to feel you, those lips, sucking me so hard." He groaned loudly at the remembrance that occured minutes ago, and that made me chuckle. "Sweetheart, I've never made a decision as great as this in my entire life."

Heat rose to my cheeks at his words, and his charming glare made me feel so special.

"You're coming home with me."

He twisted his keys into the ignition of the car and backed out of the alleyway onto the destination of his home.

Baekhyun was my sugar daddy, and I somehow felt more of the benefits of being around him more than the materialistic ones he promised upon devoting my body to him.

What a date.

#byun baekhyun #baekhyun #baekhyun smut #baekhyun fluff #baekhyun fanfiction #baekhyun scenarios #baekhyun scenario #baekhyun story #baekhyun daddykink #baekhyun series #baekhyun oneshot #baekhyun one shot #baekhyun twoshot #baekhyun stories #exo baekhyun #baekhyun's pet

389 notes · View notes

reputationiseverything · 5 years

Text

How to Generate More Traffic with Google’s New Features

email marketing a/b testing

You’re probably already familiar with Google My Business.

If you aren’t, as a quick recap, Google My Business is a simple way to claim your office address or storefront on Google.

That way, when someone searches for your business, you’ll show up on the right side of a Google search like the image above.

Or better yet, when someone searches for a product or service you’ll offer, you’ll show up in the local pack.

What’s interesting, though, is Google has been making changes to it, which means it just got easier to generate leads and sales for you.

Best of all, very few marketers are even leveraging these features.

Welcome Offers

What’s one of the easiest ways to generate more sales?

By offering discounts and coupons, right? Just think of it this way, if it didn’t work, Cyber Monday wouldn’t bring in $7.8 billion in sales.

Google knows that people are looking for ways to save money and find good deals. With this new feature, businesses can reward their customers by giving them welcome offers.

By following your business, they can get first-time deals and always keep in touch to see when new deals are posted.

Not only will this bring you new customers but also repeat customers because people will be notified every time you have new deals.

To set up a welcome offer, open your Google My Business app and tap on your profile. Under “Turn followers into customers,” click on ‘Create Welcome Offer’ and hit ‘Create.’

You can enter the following information in your offer:

Title (30% off oil changes)

Description

Coupon Code (Optional)

Terms and Conditions (Optional)

Website (Optional)

Once finished, you can preview your message and publish. For notifications on new followers, and editing or deleting offers, you can read more on Google Support.

Generate leads in just a few clicks

Google is now adding a “Request a Quote” button in your business listing which was discovered by Joy Hawkins and can also be seen on mobile when searching branded terms.

This is happening with businesses that have the Google My Business messaging feature on.

To enable messaging, open the Google My Business app and go to your listing.

Navigate to Customers -> Messages and turn on!

People will now be able to ask for quotes on cars, insurance, and pretty much any service out there.

You can even review these quotes and reply to them within the Google My Business App and connect with your customers easily for a quick sale.

Make sure you claim your URL

Businesses can now claim a Short Name and URL for their listing.

If you haven’t claimed your URL, make sure you do so before it gets taken by someone else.

With short names, your landing page will show as g.page/businessname and can be easily shared.

So, remember not to violate any policies with your name.

I recommend doing this as it will make it easier for your customers to refer back to your profile where they can read updates, post, make reservations, read/write reviews, and more!

And eventually, people will be able to search short names in Google Maps to find the businesses they love.

Google Assistant

Additionally, customers can order food by using Google Assistant by saying “Okay Google, order food from [restaurant].” If the user has ordered before, it will let them see past orders.

Updating your menu online, as well as delivery service carriers and their apps will help get you started on this.

You’ll want to make sure your menus are consistent through all your service carriers to get the best orders to your hungry customers.

It’s better to be early than late.

And speaking of food, Google has also added the popular dish tab on your menu which features images and menu items that people love the most.

This helps if there are dishes without names, wrong names, or typos can be fixed.

Auto-generated posts based on reviews

Look, you are busy, but you have no choice but to create content.

Google has given you easier ways to generate posts… in essence, they are now creating auto-generated posts for you.

You are probably wondering why should you use it, right?

This will pop up on your Google My Business dashboard and all you have to do is hit “Create this post”.

There’s no real way to pick other reviews for Suggested Posts, but you are always welcome to create your own. This is just a simple feature created to help engage your audience more.

Boost your conversions by controlling your images

Businesses can now set a preferred profile cover photo in your image carousel and have a place for logos at the top-right of your profile next to the business name.

This is an additional feature to the regular NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) as well as business hours and will be prominently featured.

You can easily create offline material

You can even order signs like ‘follow us on Google’ and more for free (one shipment per location).

This is currently free as it is a downloadable offer, but you may want to pay to have someone print this out in poster size or as stickers to put on your business windows.

Just think of it this way, people put Yelp signage everywhere because it works. Chances are, it will work on Google as well.

Place Topics

Google launched Place Topics which uses data based on reviews to help give information on what previous customers think about your business.

This can help users see themes of reviews at a glance for businesses and it’s all automated.

It’s kind of like a tag cloud.

This does mean that you cannot generate these yourselves or edit them. So, if you don’t have one, you may not have enough reviews.

Also, if you have a negative one, there’s potentially no way of removing this unless you get the review removed. So, make sure your happy customers are leaving reviews is very important.

Possibly entice them with a 10% discount the next time they come… assuming you aren’t breaking any policy guidelines.

Q&A Auto-Suggest Answers

So how can you make sure people get the most accurate answer?

Similar to place topics, encouraging your customers to leave detailed reviews of their experience really helps. The more detailed the review is, the better the question gets answered.

Of course, people who are searching for answers can potentially see negative reviews such as prices are too high, service takes long, very long waits on weekends, and more.

In other words, always encourage positive reviews from your loyal customers.

Conclusion

If you haven’t used Google My Business before, you should check it out. With their updates and new features, it is now easier to generate sales and collect leads.

Make sure you are leveraging all of these features and releases Google is launching because it doesn’t cost you money and if you get in early enough, you’ll have an advantage over your competition.

So are you using Google My Business to it’s fullest extent?

Google

0 notes

reviewandbonuss · 5 years

Text

How to Generate More Traffic with Google’s New Features

You’re probably already familiar with Google My Business.

If you aren’t, as a quick recap, Google My Business is a simple way to claim your office address or storefront on Google.

That way, when someone searches for your business, you’ll show up on the right side of a Google search like the image above.

Or better yet, when someone searches for a product or service you’ll offer, you’ll show up in the local pack.

What’s interesting, though, is Google has been making changes to it, which means it just got easier to generate leads and sales for you.

Best of all, very few marketers are even leveraging these features.

Welcome Offers

What’s one of the easiest ways to generate more sales?

By offering discounts and coupons, right? Just think of it this way, if it didn’t work, Cyber Monday wouldn’t bring in $7.8 billion in sales.

Google knows that people are looking for ways to save money and find good deals. With this new feature, businesses can reward their customers by giving them welcome offers.

By following your business, they can get first-time deals and always keep in touch to see when new deals are posted.

Not only will this bring you new customers but also repeat customers because people will be notified every time you have new deals.

To set up a welcome offer, open your Google My Business app and tap on your profile. Under “Turn followers into customers,” click on ‘Create Welcome Offer’ and hit ‘Create.’

You can enter the following information in your offer:

Title (30% off oil changes)

Description

Coupon Code (Optional)

Terms and Conditions (Optional)

Website (Optional)

Once finished, you can preview your message and publish. For notifications on new followers, and editing or deleting offers, you can read more on Google Support.

Generate leads in just a few clicks

Google is now adding a “Request a Quote” button in your business listing which was discovered by Joy Hawkins and can also be seen on mobile when searching branded terms.

This is happening with businesses that have the Google My Business messaging feature on.

To enable messaging, open the Google My Business app and go to your listing.

Navigate to Customers -> Messages and turn on!

People will now be able to ask for quotes on cars, insurance, and pretty much any service out there.

You can even review these quotes and reply to them within the Google My Business App and connect with your customers easily for a quick sale.

Make sure you claim your URL

Businesses can now claim a Short Name and URL for their listing.

If you haven’t claimed your URL, make sure you do so before it gets taken by someone else.

With short names, your landing page will show as g.page/businessname and can be easily shared.

So, remember not to violate any policies with your name.

I recommend doing this as it will make it easier for your customers to refer back to your profile where they can read updates, post, make reservations, read/write reviews, and more!

And eventually, people will be able to search short names in Google Maps to find the businesses they love.

Google Assistant

Additionally, customers can order food by using Google Assistant by saying “Okay Google, order food from [restaurant].” If the user has ordered before, it will let them see past orders.

Updating your menu online, as well as delivery service carriers and their apps will help get you started on this.

You’ll want to make sure your menus are consistent through all your service carriers to get the best orders to your hungry customers.

It’s better to be early than late.

And speaking of food, Google has also added the popular dish tab on your menu which features images and menu items that people love the most.

This helps if there are dishes without names, wrong names, or typos can be fixed.

Auto-generated posts based on reviews

Look, you are busy, but you have no choice but to create content.

Google has given you easier ways to generate posts… in essence, they are now creating auto-generated posts for you.

You are probably wondering why should you use it, right?

This will pop up on your Google My Business dashboard and all you have to do is hit “Create this post”.

There’s no real way to pick other reviews for Suggested Posts, but you are always welcome to create your own. This is just a simple feature created to help engage your audience more.

Boost your conversions by controlling your images

Businesses can now set a preferred profile cover photo in your image carousel and have a place for logos at the top-right of your profile next to the business name.

This is an additional feature to the regular NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) as well as business hours and will be prominently featured.

You can easily create offline material

You can even order signs like ‘follow us on Google’ and more for free (one shipment per location).

This is currently free as it is a downloadable offer, but you may want to pay to have someone print this out in poster size or as stickers to put on your business windows.

Just think of it this way, people put Yelp signage everywhere because it works. Chances are, it will work on Google as well.

Place Topics

Google launched Place Topics which uses data based on reviews to help give information on what previous customers think about your business.

This can help users see themes of reviews at a glance for businesses and it’s all automated.

It’s kind of like a tag cloud.

This does mean that you cannot generate these yourselves or edit them. So, if you don’t have one, you may not have enough reviews.

Also, if you have a negative one, there’s potentially no way of removing this unless you get the review removed. So, make sure your happy customers are leaving reviews is very important.

Possibly entice them with a 10% discount the next time they come… assuming you aren’t breaking any policy guidelines.

Q&A Auto-Suggest Answers

So how can you make sure people get the most accurate answer?

Similar to place topics, encouraging your customers to leave detailed reviews of their experience really helps. The more detailed the review is, the better the question gets answered.

Of course, people who are searching for answers can potentially see negative reviews such as prices are too high, service takes long, very long waits on weekends, and more.

In other words, always encourage positive reviews from your loyal customers.

Conclusion

If you haven’t used Google My Business before, you should check it out. With their updates and new features, it is now easier to generate sales and collect leads.

So are you using Google My Business to it’s fullest extent?

The post How to Generate More Traffic with Google’s New Features appeared first on Neil Patel.

0 notes

waqasblog2 · 5 years

Text

How to Use SEO to Grow Your Local Restaurant's Sales💲

Last Updated - 2019-03-11

Google's conservatively estimates 30% of its mobile traffic carries a local intent. And most of Google's searches come from mobile devices.

The majority of consumers search for restaurants, dining and take-out online. Your website must be optimized for organic search.

Most restaurants and small businesses do not have a well optimized website. This means they don't rank well in Google and are not good experiences for customers.

This means they are not receiving the amount of traffic they should and when they do get visitors they are not choosing to dine.

To take advantage of free traffic you should optimize your site to deliver a great user experience as well as tackling the behind the scenes work required.

Because so many restaurants have not invested properly in their web presence it means they can be beaten in the online marketing space.

What is Restaurant SEO?

The easiest way to attract new and repeat patrons is to reach them through the web with mobile web being the priority.

This means you need to take advantage of free traffic to your website offered by Google.

This means you need to optimize for organic, voice, local SEO and what we call position 0 or the space above the organic results.

That is a lot of search real estate your business needs to cover. And while it is free it takes deliberate work to earn those coveted spots.

That is a lot for a small business to master.

Don't worry, I am about to reveal where to start so you can make your site your best sales tool.

Before I get into content related tasks you need to make sure your website is technically sound.

Think about it, if your electric and gas lines were disconnected or your ovens broken you could not serve food.

If your website is broken not only will no one find it, if they do, they won't be impressed. This bad impression carries directly to your establishment.

You must earn their trust with the website. A bad web experience is like broadcasting toilets are dirty!

Focus on Mobile First

Over 60% of searches are mobile today. That is why Google has switched its search primary index to the mobile index. This means they evaluate your site using a 'mobile' device for organic rankings before they use your desktop experience.

Always load your site on your phone and anyone else's you can find. That way you can at least see what your site's experience is like for potential visitors.

Your website should be programmed to display all your content in a proper layout no matter what the screen dimensions are. Make all your site's content and functionality accessible and usable on any device.

The small screen, phone experience is the most important because this is what Google uses to score your site to rank in the results. Provide a bad mobile experience and you can kiss organic search traffic goodbye.

Be Secure

I think it goes without saying websites should be secure. Today over 80% of all websites use HTTPS, which encrypts all traffic to and from a web page.

HTTPS goes beyond encryption it enables advanced web features like Progressive Web Apps, Geo-Location, native Push Notifications and more.

These advanced features not only make your online presence feel more professional they can be used to drive more engagement, which is a fancy term for repeat business.

Browsers are also going out of their way to indicate when a website is not using HTTPS by displaying warnings in red in the address bar. When a diner sees a red, insecure warning they will most likely leave, immediately for a safer site.

Search engines also use HTTPS as a ranking signal. If you use HTTPS and all other ranking factors are equal to your competition that does not use HTTPS, then you will outrank them.

TLS certificates are free and easy to obtain. If your host does not make this an easy process or even on by default, then you should look for a new provider immediately.

Understand How Diners Search

Typing search phrases in the search bar is losing favor. Today more people are searching on mobile than their desktops. Instead of typing they are dictating.

This means you need to make sure your site's content focuses more on voice search.

But there is more to this strategy.

You need to consider how potential diners search for lunch and dinner. What phrases might they use?

Three Keys to Connect with Online Searches for Eatting Out

Don't limit your content to answer questions you might ask and the vernacular you might use. Listen to what your customers say while they are in your establishment. Ask them how they found you and use this information to adjust your site for search.

Don't limit your focus to just 'Mexican Restaurant' or 'Mexican in [your town]'. You need to sell your enchiladas and not just enchiladas, but why yours are the best in the area.

How might an average person look for enchiladas? I know of 47,000 keyword searches related to enchiladas, how many do you rank for?

Setup Your Google My Business

Just registering your site with Google My Business (GMB) can improve its Google search rankings. Let's face it Google loves Google. So take advantage of every channel they offer to promote your restaurant.

But here's the thing...

Search results are changing, especially for local.

Google and Bing are both returning more results than just the traditional top 10 pages. They are including the map pack, menu preview and even the ability to order directly from the search results.

Because they use the data you enter in your Google My Business profile you want this to be sharp.

Make sure to include lots of photos and make sure they are professional.

More and more we are seeing GMB content and sites in the search results. These are free searches that merely require you claiming your business and entering your NAP data as well as your business description.

Listing your restaurant on "Google My Business" should be one of the first things your restaurant does.

Google My Business for Restaurants

The first thing you will see on most local restaurant search results on Google will be the Google Maps with a restaurant location, as seen below.

Things customers can do from your GMB page:

Google My Business allows you to add direct URLs for specific actions. This can include your menu or reservations.

These quick links funnel your customers to the right actions fast. These links can also help you own more space in local search results.

Think about it, the more landing pages you have that provide the best answer to the user's intent the more chance you have of owning the available space in the search results. This means your competition wont be there!

The links make conversion actions easier, which means less friction. Anytime it is easier for a customer to give you there money your conversion rates increase. Customers being able to book and order directly from your listing is the definition of no friction!

Love2Dev has a GMB page and even though I service businesses everywhere I am surprised how many visitors stop by the Google My Business profile.

Just last month there were over 80 visitors and we did nothing to promote the page per se. You better believe that is changing!

Google Posts

Once you have a GMB profile you can post content on your business page.

Google Posts provide an opportunity to post up to 300 words with pictures and link to a call to action like "order", "buy", "reserve", and anything else you can think of.

These are just some of the ideas for Google My Business Posts to help promote your business.

These posts can be used to advertise specials, events or news about your restaurant. This is yet another channel for you to share your marketing messaging.

For Love2Dev we love these because they can be automated as part of your content work flow. When we create a restaurant site we can include GMB posts as part of the publishing process without our customers needing to manually create these posts.

This not only saves you time, but ensures your messaging is consistent.

Aim to Dominate Local Search

As I mentioned there are multiple position 0 opportunties for your establishment to display when a user searches. You want to be in all featured snippets, map pack, knowledge graph, search results, images and videos.

Wow, that is a lot of content you need to create.

But in the end it is more than worth the effort.

If you can score all the search opportuntities it means your reastaurnt is featured multiple times and your competition isn't.

Guess who searching diners are going to order from?

That's right, you 😋.

Encourage Reviews & Testimonials

Google uses reviews it can verify or trust to help rank local businesses. Encouraging customers to leave a review will beneift your SEO. It also provide a valuable feedback channel.

Use reviews to gauge how well your hospitality and systems are working. Take them as constructive criticism and opportunities to build and expand your business.

Google seems to value reviews left in Google+, but as we all know that will go dark next Spring. My observation is Google+ as far as businesses are concerned is moving to the Google My Business platform.

Diners can leave reviews on your GMB page using their Google account profile. The reason these are valued more is Google can verify the user as being real and the review as being more legitimate.

Just don't offer something in return for a review. This is against Google's policies. You may not get punished if you do, but I would not take the chance.

Find Your Keywords

Any business, local, national or global needs to clearly define their target audience. For any restaurant this means local, even if you are a national chain.

But your store probably caters to a specific type of food: burgers, Italian, healthy, sandwiches, dessert, upscale, Mexican...you get the point.

So you want to focus on things like 'Mexican restaurant near me', right?

Yes and No.

I have seen this over and over again, business owners focusing on a small set of search phrases based on exactly how they might search for their product.

Often this is not even close to what customers would use.

Why?

Business owners tend to think of their business in a closed box defined by their industry. They use insider terms and phrases, not considering what a customer my use.

Think about it, you sell pizza, which means you think 🍕pizza [your town] is it. But don't you sell Calzones and hoagies too?

Are you kid friendly?

Do you provide take out?

What is your price point?

Do you have Hawaiian Pizza? (This is important for me FWIW)

Are you targeting the pizza emojii 🍕? Seriously, millenials love emojiis 💘💖, use them. You can rank for emojiis, even Love2Dev ranks for some emojiis.

Have you considered ranking for searches for recipes and questions around your food niche?

This is where content marketing can set you apart, make your site and your business the local authority, even the best place to dine, at least in your communities mind.

You may think local SEO is limited to search terms with you town or city included. But often general search terms with local based sources are included in the results.

This gives you the opportunity to reach your customers even when they are not looking to eat out or order to go.

More importantly this will open up opportunities for you to earn more links to your site. These links build trust and equity in Google's eyes. That link equity can then build your site's overall search profile to bring more eyes to your site. That translates to more customers!

So how can you find these keywords?

You need to use keyword tools to harvest and find the best phrases to target. There are many paid tools, and we use Ahrefs for this. But I don't limit my effort to just this tool, I use several free tools you can use right now:

After you collect potential keywords its time to use the keywords and produce some content.

Create Content Strategy

Keywords are useless unless you have a plan to use them.

This means you need a strategy or plan to leverage them.

That and a time to produce content for your site to claim a position in search results. You should organize keywords into a content calendar.

This is where you target specific keywords with articles, videos, images and other media over time. A calendar gives you a plan and timeline to produce the content. Without a plan you may find yourself loosing focus and neglecting content.

I use a calendar to help keep me on task for this and other sites.

At a high level I organize keywords into three general buckets:

By doing this I can create a series of well thought out content and do so at a regular cadence. The trick is producing content to keep growing your search profile without consuming too much time or else you can't prepare meals!

Build a Brand

Before you say, Duh, you want to read this section.

Of course you want to brand your business, with your business name.

But what you really want to do is brand your experience and specialties.

Anyone can be a local pizza joint. But not everyone can be the place to get your awesome dish or experience.

How did Chucky Cheese brand itself? As a great place to have a kids party of course. The pizza left a lot to be desired.

So maybe you are the home of the Kitchen Sink,

Engage on Social Media

There are many social media channels and you need to be present on each one. They are a passive way for you to announce specials, events and of course new content.

While Google does not use social shares as a ranking metric they do establish authority and trust. This means Google considers your business more legitmate.

And because you engage with your customers they attract local attention, which can translate to local backlinks.

But if you don't use these channels you are missing an opportunity.

I recommend using a service like Buffer to help automate your social media. That way you don't need to be on your phone constantly monitoring activity and sharing.

Buffer allows you to quickly schedule posts across all social channels and tracks interactions, including how many click the link to view your website.

Localize Content

Again restaurant marketing is all about local marketing. You need to connect with your local community.

Make sure you include content on your site that relates to the activities and interests of your local community.

This could be engaging with local high school sports or events at the local college.

In the town I live they have an downtown with summertime activities. So I recommend businesses near me at least promote local events like these even if they are not present.

Local content not only helps you engage with the community it builds more trust with Google about your business' connection to the area. This translates to a better search profile.

Ensure Pages Use Technical & SEO Best Practices

Technical SEO is a very broad topic, so I wont dive deep into it here.

But you should use these as the primary guidelines:

We have a standard at Love2Dev, we measure page speed in milliseconds not with a calendar.

The average web page takes over 22 seconds to render today. This means you can beat your competition with a fast website.

The reason most sites are so slow is they are not optimized for mobile. So focus on mobile.

While words are great to rank, people tend to scan. Plus food needs to look great and that is best accomplished by using professional photos that make customer's mouths water. Plus pages with photos and videos are shown to rank better because they are more engaging.

Keyword presence is the key to telling Google what your site and pages are about. Leverage specific HTML elements to communicate with Google's robots what your pages are about.

Use Restaurant Schema Markup

Technical SEOs know about schema markup, but maybe you don't. This is special code you can add to your web pages search spiders will use to understand your page better.

The cool thing is the schema specification provides for different data structures for different types of content. Blogs use article schema, cooking sites use recipe schema and there is a special scheme for restaurants and your menus.

The scheme itself is a standardized version of JSON (JavaScript Object Notation). Don't worry any web developer will know JSON well. Schema markup's JSON flavor is technically called JSON-LD.

The schema code is embedded anywhere in your page and does not render to visitors. You can see it by viewing a pages source or inspecting it in a browser's developer tools.

As you can see the basic structure allows you to supply your NAP, hours, average rating and website URL.

Add Social Media Meta (Open Graph & Twitter Cards)

Do you wonder how Facebook just knows how to get the page's title, description and photo when you add a link to the post content? It is because the page has Open Graph tags.

Another hidden set of code you should add to every page on your site is Open Graph and Twitter Cards.

You would think the page's TITLE and Description tags would be used, but they are often more taylored for search engines or not included at all. Its more about conforming and supplying data to the Open Graph.

Don't worry about that part, just know it makes sharing content easier.

This is a protocol created by Facebook and used by many social media sites and services that share online resources. Like schema this is a way to add more description to your page content for other software to consume.

Both Open Graph and Twitter Cards are a collection of META tags placed in your page's HEAD element.

As you can see this is a lot of data, but a good template should have merge fields as part of its build or rendering process.

The main properties you need to include is the page title, publish date and time, and a link to an image. Now when social networks get a link from a member they check the page and get the image, title and description you want to share, not just what someone else chooses to share.

Get Your Citations Up to Date and Consistent

Yelp, FourSquare, OpenTable and other directories can be the life blood of a restaurant. You want great reviews on each one.

But you need to claim your listing and make sure the name, address and phone (NAP) data is correct and consistent. Once you claim your listing you can also monitor reivews and engage with those customers.

There are all sorts of directories and listings you need to claim, not just the big sites.

Seriously, hundreds of these suckers all over the Internet.

Start with the big players like Yelp and FourSquare. Restaurants also need to claim on delivery sites like GrubHub. Not only are these sites traffic channels they create a strong signal for your brand to Google.

As part of our local SEO services we claim and update local citations on hundreds of sites for our clients.

When claiming your citation you should plan on keeping them up to date with a regular check. I think setting a reminder to check these at least once a month to make sure your information is up to date.

You also need to keep an eye on reviews. These can make or break your reputation. Good or bad, make sure you have a system in place to respond to them quickly.

For negative reviews use them as an opportunity to fix problems with your service. After you correct the issue offer the reviewer to come back and re-evaluate your service.

If you are lucky they may update their review. 🤞😉

Optimize Website For Conversions

You might call this section be good at online business.

Whether you are fast food, fast casual or a formal dining establishment you need to make it easy and compelling for customers to order, make reservations,answer questions and pay online.

Here are some ideas specifically for a restaurant's online presence:

Progressive web applications are great for all these scenarios. Not only can you provide great experiences for each of these ideas a PWA is something a customer can quickly 'install' on their phone.

With a progressive web application you can also encourage push notifications to ping them when you have a great lunch special or promotion.

Customer loyalty programs are a natural way to encourage them to install the PWA and begin that long term customer relationship.

When you make it easy for patrons to engage and order a meal they wont hesitate to chose you over the other guys.

Get Your Menu in the Results

That's right, Google will list your menu right in the results...if you code your site correctly.

This may freak you out because now the potential customer is not visiting your site. You don't get a chance to express your brand's style from your site, but they get to see what food you offer.

And remember you want ot drive sales first, not just web traffic.

Use A PWA For Brand Loyalty

Make no doubt about it, I love Progressive Web Apps (PWA) becuase they are the best in breed websites. They work for any business and when done properly deliver the best user experience and help businesses earn a place on the customer's home screen.

PWAs are websites that leverage modern web standards to deliver a user experience on par and often better than native applications.

Plus, they are much cheaper to develop and deploy!

You can turn your website into a PWA fairly quickly, they need three core technical elements:

If you are a business owner and not technical don't worry. The first two are very simple steps and take about 5-15 minutes to implement for most sites.

Service workers are an amazing technology that make it easier for developers to control how a website is served. They can intercept all requests to the network and determine if a locally cached version of the response is returned or the network request made.

This feature allows your website to run offline!

But there is more.

You can also leverage native push notifications on Android and Windows too. For transactions, like purchases you can also leverage background synchronization functionality to allow the transaction to work, even when the user is not connected to the Internet.

While progressive web applications unlock a lot of great functionality developing good PWAs can be complicated. But you can start simple and gradually add functionality over time.

When done well you can deliver a great user experience and ask the customer to add your PWA to their homescreen. From there they run just like they downloaded an app from the app store, just without the friction and overhead associated with native apps.

PWAs are available on all platforms, including iPhones. Functionality and capabilities still vary by platform and browser, but most of the core features are supported by everyone today.

Use Website Analytics

I can't emphasize this enough, you need to track, measure and adjust constantly. To know what is and what is not working you need to have real-time usage analytics. There are numerous tools you need to leverage, some for traffic, others for conversions, etc.

For most that means using Google Analytics.

Google Analytics track traffic and site usage statistics over time. You can use this data to help you determine how visitors enter your site and what they do once they get there. You can also track how well they convert to paying customers.

I use analytics to help me know what pages are driving traffic and those pages that need some love. Plus I can identify pages that are just dead weight and need to be tossed in the bin out back.

Time to Check Out

Its your turn.

Are you ready to expand your restaurant's business through the free exposure offered by organic search engines?

What is the first place you think you need to start improving?

Do you offer a great mobile first experience? Do you know what phrases diners will use to find your establishment?

Now when they wonder what's for dinner they will see your logo and chose you over the competition!

This content was originally published here.

0 notes