ILL HEARTS

13

It took her a moment to answer, all this time playing with the plastic wrap until she finished the bar and washed it down with her coffee. I almost forgot about mine, too focused on Eunbi and Eunbi's comfortable bed. "I wanna be a tattoo artist."

My eyes widened a bit too fast. I'd never guess if she asked me. Art teacher would have been my first pick. Tattoos weren't the first thing I thought about, but she surely fit the role of a tattoo artist. "Really?"

"Really."

"And why is it so impossible?"

"I never... have time to do something about it." She shrugged, ironing the wrap between her palms, only to keep her eyes busy.

"Is the reason the same as the reason why you got sick a few days ago?"

"Maybe..."

"Well, then, now you know that you have all the power you need to make time for it," I said, making her smile grow. "Do you have any tattoos?"

"I do." She laughed at my gaping mouth joining my widened eyes. "Why are you so surprised?"

"I don't know. You didn't seem like the type to get any tattoos."

"Surprise." She smiled, and I wanted this view to be permanent.

"Show me."

"I have to take off my shirt to show you."

"Not a problem with me," I joked, sliding my palms under my head. That perfectly described the level of how comfortable I was around her.

"I have one on my back, and one on my chest."

"At least one has to be sea related." I grinned, and her silence made me laugh. "Do you have, like, sketches?"

"I have a whole tattoo related sketchbook." Eunbi smiled, and brought a thick notebook full of drawings. I flipped through the pages, each one getting better. From my perspective, she just had to learn how to put it on someone's skin, and she was good to go. They were professional-level. I was silent for too long, giving her time to overthink my reaction. "What do you think?"

"If someone asks me about my favorite artist, I am going to be saying your name now. If you hear it in an interview, don't be surprised, either," I said, playful but honest. Her style caught my attention even before I liked her. And the more insight into her art I got, the more aware of her insane talent I was.

Painting her cheeks pink, I pulled a giggle out of her. "Okay, if you don't say anything, I'll show you my tattoos."

"You don't have to if you don't feel comfortable," I said, looking at her, as I placed the notebook on the bed.

"I... I want to. I designed them, and no one has seen them before. But... I'm proud of them."

"Well, then, I promise I won't say anything that's not about tattoos." I gave her a reassuring smile.

She stayed on the bed, avoiding eye contact as she took off her shirt, staying in a pair of low jeans and a black bra. My eyes were quick on the tattoo of an upside down flower in the middle of her chest. "Woah," I breathed out, and sat, mesmerized not only with the black ink on her pearly skin, but also how beautiful she was. "You really designed it yourself?"

Eunbi nodded, fiddling with her shirt on her lap. "Also, this one." She turned around so that I could see a black and white whale on a floral background right in between her shoulder blades. "This is the ocean one." She chuckled, and I was too in awe to get a reaction out of myself. For a lot of reasons. Her talent was outstanding, capturing her uniqueness like no camera could. Her obsession with the ocean, and the sea, and everything related was becoming more and more addictive. And her glimmering skin making this moment so intimate between us that I could barely breath. I wanted to run my fingers along the tattoo, but it would get me lost without a way out, so I stayed back, forcing myself to act like I wasn't losing my mind for her.