Y/N, you can do this.
You've got this in the bag.
It'll be like ripping off a Band-Aid: fast, and (hopefully) only slightly painful.
You hover outside the glass doors of the tattoo shop, peering into the gloomy depths beyond. The difference between the bright, sunlit street you're standing on now and the dark space inside is incredible. It's like a whole different world in there.
The walls are dark, covered up in sketches and ideas, sample art and pictures of past clients. The floor is black tile, and the lighting is dim and hazy. Smoke hangs in the air like a cloud. You can see a couple of guys milling around inside aimlessly, taking a break in the lull between customers.
There's one sitting behind the counter, lazily scrolling through his phone. A cigarette is clamped in between his lips, the dull orange light on the end reflecting off of the lip ring encompassing the slight fullness of his bottom lip. His face is young looking, which combines in a shocking manner with all of the ink on his body. Especially the tear-shaped tattoo on the crest of his cheek, right below the corner of his eyes.
He'll be crying for the rest of eternity.
The man glances up, not flinching even a bit when he sees you on the other side of the door. Slowly, one of his eyebrows rises up in a barely-caring, questioning arch.
You comin in or what?
Taking a deep breath, you place a trembling hand on the door and push inside. The interior of thee shop smells different than you expected it too. You anticipated a mixture of cigarettes and sweat, but there's a yummy undertone floating along in the background.
It smells musky and attractive.
It smells like men.
A bell over the door jingles, summoning another guy from the back of the shop. This one's a brunette in a choker, small black gages in his ears.
"Welcome to BB's," he says with a bright smile. "I'm Hoseok. How can I help you?"
You start to smile at him, but his shirt catches your eye and you blink. It's made completely of...mesh? You can see his entire chest clearly, including the big work of art across the right side of his torso that partially flows over his tight abs. The sight of the man's bare chest makes you blush and avert your eyes. Dang it, Y/N, be mature.
Hoseok's head cocks to the side as he observes you, curiously amused at your lack of answer. As you go to speak, you notice with even more shock that he's got an almost identical teardrop tattoo on the opposite eye as the man behind the counter.
"S-sorry," you manage to stutter, forcing your eyes from the tear. "Um, I'm here to get a tattoo." Maybe.
The guy behind the counter snorts dryly at your pathetic request and goes back to his phone, pausing for a moment to exhale a mouthful of smoke. His black hair is glimmering in the low lights of the shop.
"That's great!" Hoseok says cheerfully. "You're eighteen, right?"
"Nineteen, actually," you respond. "That's okay, right?"
"Perfect." Hoseok nudges the guy behind the counter, insistently. "Yoongi hyung, can you hand me that paperwork?"
Glancing up at you again, Yoongi puffs out some smoke and clasps his cancer stick between two fingers. "It's your first tatt, huh?" he says in a deep voice. "You're nervous." With one hand, he passes a stack of papers to Hoseok.
You blush at his slightly mocking look, trying to hold your chin up straight. "It's my first," you confirm shakily. "I...it's kind of a new start for me. A new me."
Hoseok gives you a couple of papers, grinning a smile that makes you blink. He's got the most beautiful smile you've ever seen. The combination of his smile and his large, sparkling eyes and the aristocratic lines of his face disorient you.
He's really gorgeous.
"Just fill these out for me, and your artist will be out to meet you in a second," Hoseok says. "And don't be nervous. A new start, right? Jungkookie will be gentle, and he'll help you get that new start." Pausing, the brunette glances around the shop. "Do you know what you want? Anything catching your eye?"
Joining him in scanning the parlor's walls, you linger over a hand-drawn design hanging on the far wall. It's a cluster of flowers, delicate and beautiful, connected by a vine and outlined in a silvery color. There's something about it that draws you in, and you unconsciously start to drift towards it.
Hoseok follows close behind.
When you get close up, the intricate details of the design only serve to fascinate you even more. Gently, you reach up and let your fingers brush against the smooth paper.
"This one..." you whisper, tracing part of the elegant vine. "Can I get this one?"
Glancing over your shoulder, you blink at the odd expression on Hoseok's face.
"Huh," he says. His long fingers reach out and unpin the sketch, holding it in front of him, and he smiles a secret smile. "That's interesting." The black ring hanging from his nose flicks out when he exhales and clasps the thick sheet of paper under his arm.
"Is that a bad one to pick?" you hesitantly question. Regret pounds through you at the thought that you've already screwed something up. What are you doing here? As ironic as it is with your heritage, you don't know how to function in this world; this world that's barely corporeal, made of wispy smoke and dark lines.
However, Hoseok's immediate denial makes you feel better. "No, this one's perfect," he says with a sweet squinting of his eyes. "Where do you want it? This is a pretty big piece, so you need some space."
Oh. You haven't really thought about that yet. At the obvious cluelessness in your eyes, Hoseok chuckles and waves his hand. "If you don't know, it's okay. You can talk to Jungkook. He'll help you decide."
After you've finished filling out the paperwork and confirming your payment, you follow Hoseok out of the lobby and into a long hallway studded with doorways on either side, small lights on the ceiling lighting the way.
"Jungkook's room is in the back," Hoseok says, making conversation as you go. "He likes to kind of be away from everyone when he's working; it helps him concentrate. His room actually used to be the storage room, but we cleaned everything out and moved it so he could work in here." At the end of his sentence , Hoseok gently pushes open the dark door at the very end of the hall, openeing up a large room with a reclining chair in the middle.
There's a guy sitting in the chair, bare-chested and eyes closed while a second man leans over him with a whirring needle in his hand. At your entrance, the first guy's eyes flicker open and he sits up a little, grinning. The two rings on the right side of his bottom lip shift with the action. The smile takes over his whole face in a rectangular shape, narrowing the unbelievably beautiful eyes that rest under the fringe of his silver-dyed hair. His chest and arms are littered with various patches of ink, and a tiny cross-shaped tattoo is on the crest of his right cheek.
Seems to be a popular spot for ink when you work in this shop.
"Hyung, I told you to stay still," commands the second guy. You can't see his face as his back is to you, but his hair is pitch-black and his shoulders look strong. You think you might spy a hint of ink on the nape of his neck, but then his head lifts and it disappears below his scruffy hair, covered by the high collar of his button-up shirt.
Which one of these is Jungkook?
Hosoek shakes his head and peers over the dark-headed man's shoulder, where he's drawing over the silver-headed man's ribcage. "What's he getting this time?"
Without even flinching, the focusing tattoo artist continues to carefully trace the needle over the guy's skin. "A freaking pair of angel wings on his ribs. Why?"
"Because I was a fallen angel in my past life, I swear," the silver-haired man defends cheerfully.
"Tae hyung," sighs the second guy. "There are no words..."
Hoseok huffs out a laugh and pats Taehyung's hip. "Anyways, Kook, finish up, okay? You've got a customer."
There's no hesitation in his strong, immediate answer. "Send them to Jimin. I've got sketches to work on."
Stomach dropping at his outright refusal, you look uncertainly at Hoseok's face. He seems unaffected by the younger man's command. It's curious how close all of them seem.
"Jimin's busy," Hoseok replies lightly. "And besides, she picked your tattoo. I thought you'd want to do it yourself."
That makes the dark-headed man pause, ignoring Tae's whine of abondonment when he straightens up.
Slowly, he turns around to face you.
And when you see his face, you stop breathing.
[A/N]
Unedited
I think writing this might do me physical harm. Also, I included those first pictures in Before You Read because that's what I want the boys to look like for the most part, other than the "you got no jams", "Jhorse", "Golden maknae" and "Bite me harder" tattoos of course, and anything like that. They don't take to writing their inside jokes across their bodies in my fanfic lol.