road trip.

[43] RED DRAGON TATTS

even though it's a short five minute walk, it's tiring for sleepy taehyung who just wants to sleep by a radiator and wrap his goosebump littered limbs up in warm fuzzy blanket.
august weather in gwangju should not be as cool as it right now, taehyung thinks bitterly as he stumbles his way after jungkook into the cold darkness.

thankfully, they stop soon at a shop.
pressed between a closed furniture shop and a 7/11, is a small square of a building, painted a gothic black save for the shop title which is painted in a flurry of flame red and bright orange. RED DRAGON TATTS is scribed onto the building's front in the aforementioned colours.

the shop's large windows which should be transparent and clear, are covered side to side, top to bottom, in tattoo designs. papered designs ranging from thick black tribal swirls to intricate flowers coloured in faded red and blue. taehyung stares in awe at the many designs pasted onto the crowded windows, stunned at the wide array.
he doesn't get too long to admire the artwork though, because jungkook pushes through the door, entering the parlour. taehyung follows him in quickly, eager to not lose sight of the younger.

taehyung gasps at the interior of the building when he steps foot inside the tattoo parlour. inside, you have your average booths, loaded wth tattooing equipment and chairs and sanitary items. but that's not what causes taehyung to gasp — it's the shop's decor. it's insanely beautiful in a grungy gothic way; more faded tattoo designs cover the painted black walls, showcasing more art, and there's pretty potted red roses dotting around the place, adding a burst of colour amongst the dark tones. from some corner of the room, a couple of incense stick are lit, burning a sweet scent into the room, a scent that taehyung decides he wholeheartedly loves.

he pads over to one of the walls littered with designs and studies them with wide eyes. taehyung'd always had a penchant for art: he'd revelled in renoir's pieces when he visited an art museum earlier on in the year, finding the artist's pieces majestic and beautifully done, but here, the artwork was different; they were beautiful in a crude, rough way. a way that taehyung comes to adore more than renoir's as he goes through the tattoo designs.

"wow." he breathes, running his mocha coloured eyes over the sketches.
"jung—", he looks over his shoulder, wanting to beckon jungkook over to look at the artwork but stops when he sees jungkook busy talking to the workers of the parlour. he bounds over to jungkook and the couple of guys he was now handing money to.

one of them, a young tattooed man — looking similar to taehyung's age, speaks, "alright, im gonna go transfer this on to thermal paper and be right back. my colleague here'll take you to a seat and get you as comfortable as possible," the man's smiles assuringly, defined cheekbones rising. he turns away whilst studying jungkook's unique design, "yo, this is really good." he says over his shoulder.

embarrassed once again, jungkook mumbles a thanks and follows after the colleague who leads them down an aisle separating two sides of the tattoo parlour. on both sides of the building, chairs you'd typically find in a dentist are placed one after the other. some customers occupy these seats, currently in the process of getting a body part tattooed, and some seats are empty. the colleague leads them to an empty seat, seating jungkook in the main seat and offering taehyung a plastic fold out chair which he takes gratefully.

"ryuu'll be here in a minute with your tattoo and he'll start the process." the colleague explains, "try not to touch any of the machines while you wait." the man says, "only tattooists touch the machine — okay?" jungkook grunts in response and taehyung nods quickly. satisfied with the answers he's received, the man walks away after telling them bye.