✓ nip it in the bud | k.th

nip it in the bud

Looking back, you had no idea why you had trusted Yuju's dubious claims of working at the Claire's in the mall close to her house for three months. Later on, you found out that it had actually been Yuju's older sister who had had the nice mall gig. The incident had left you with piercings that kept getting infected until one of them finally closed up, and you were still rocking the asymmetrical ear-piercing look, almost a decade later with one dangly earring threaded with stars on your right ear while a cubic zirconium stud and gold bedazzled moon clipped your left ear. You never saw the point of getting them fixed and had avoided piercings and needles to the best of your abilities until now.

You thought you pulled off the mixed jewelry look pretty well, but your face instantly scrunched up with an unhappy frown when you remembered Donghyuk telling you to wear matching earrings when you went out on dates with him. You bit down on the flesh of your bottom lip harder as you recalled how Donghyuk had constantly berated you and put you down for the entire duration of your three-year long relationship. Your face twisted as though a bitter taste had flooded your mouth when you remembered that your mother had been expecting him to propose to you this year. Why had you begged him for another chance when he callously threw your arms off him as he stomped around the apartment gathering up his things, ignoring your pleas and requests for an explanation until he couldn't take it anymore? Then Donghyuk had turned around to you, glaring at you with the heat of his hard black-brown eyes, staring you down resentfully from his towering height of 6'2.

"I broke up with you because I'm tired of having such mind-numbingly vanilla sex with a woman who never comes. You're so boring and honestly, I'm just not attracted to you anymore, Y/N. I thought I could change the meek mousy weirdo. But after three years, it looks like I was wrong," he had said with a caustic bite to the venomous hate he spewed from his mouth.

Yes. You remembered exactly why you had booked that appointment in the fuzzy high you had gotten from too much wine and "Emily in Paris." You had been so livid. Of all people, Donghyuk thought you were boring? Unadventurous, and vanilla? You were the one who was always holding yourself back from being too enthusiastic during sex because he could only get off when he was doing you doggy style with his hand covering your mouth in what he thought was his attempt at BDSM in the bedroom.

Your eyes lit up with renewed heat and you found yourself marching forward to the door and swinging it towards you with a powerful pull as you made your way in. Your newfound confidence only lasted until you made your way to the receptionist. There, you found yourself fumbling once more.

"Hi, I'm Park Y/N," you stammered nervously, "I – uh, I made an appointment for... um nipple piercings," you whispered the last bit, embarrassedly as your neck straightened and you twisted your head around to make sure no one else had overheard you. "Two weeks ago? I made my piercing appointment a while back," you finished more confidently.

The receptionist stared at you expressionlessly. "What time is your appointment?" she asked, tucking back a vibrant purple lock of hair behind her ear.

"It's – it's the one o' clock," you mumbled, clearing your throat uneasily. You had never been in an establishment like this before and dressed in your oversized sage colored waffle knit sweater and a pair of charcoal gray Lululemon leggings you felt wildly out of place.

"Alright Y/N, here are the forms you need to fill out before you do this," she said easily, plucking out the thick stapled document out of a manila folder. "Just a reminder, this is a semi-permanent body modification and this will close up rather quickly if you go without wearing jewelry for too long. There are pages on your medical history and if you have any allergies on the front. Prices and payment information are on the pages following that. The documents explaining the procedure and aftercare are at the end. We'll send you home with a list of instructions on how to care for your new piercings after your appointment ends as well."