{New Ink}
As the soft rays of the winter sun brushed against Jungkook's back, the brunette stood just outside the B-ink tattoo parlour, lips pursed as he locked eyes with a familiar male inside. It was just before six o'clock in the morning, yet Jungkook could clearly see Yoongi perching himself against the front counter.
In between his fingers was a single cigarette, his eyes lidded with sleep. The male's facial expression practically read 'we open way to early' as he brought the cigarette up to his doll like lips, chest rising as he inhaled the substance. Bringing the cigarette away from his mouth, Yoongi leant himself back against the counter, eyes absentmindedly drifting to the ceiling as he slowly exhaled the plume of grey smoke through his lips, almost like a dragon letting out a breath.
Lowering his gaze, Yoongi's eyes momentarily grew wide as he locked his gaze with the brunette standing just outside the front of the shop. Jungkook simply placed a hand against his hip, rocking back on his heel as he waited for Yoongi's response.
Snubbing out his cigarette Yoongi let out a sigh, the smell of smoke looming in the stagnant air of the tattoo parlour. The blonde kept his eyes locked with Jungkook's, his eyebrow piercing raising as he gave the younger male a look of question. There was a moment of wordless conversation between both Yoongi and Jungkook before the younger finally took his cue to enter the tattoo parlour, the small chime of the bell above the glass door sounding as he entered inside.
Yoongi gave a simple nod, a wordless hello before shuffling away from the counter, heading into the back room for a brief moment. Jungkook waited patiently, one elbow leant against the wooden surface before Yoongi re-emerged, this time followed by a sleepy Jimin.
The tuffs of the male's orange hair stuck up in all different directions. Jimin lazily swept a hand through his hair, but failed to tame it as he strolled up to the front counter, letting out a sleepy yawn as his droopy eyes locked with Jungkook's.
"Oh, you actually came back for the cover up." he spoke groggily, leaning his entire body weight against the counter as he rubbed at his sleep filled eyes.
Jungkook couldn't care for Jimin's tired state, simply clicking his tongue inside his mouth at the male's comment, "Dude, I literally almost slashed the tattoo yesterday... didn't that say enough?"
Jimin gave a shrug, "I guess it did." he muttered, voice slightly more awake. With sluggish movements, Jimin moved past Yoongi and over to the computer, starting it up, "I can probably do the coverup in a few hours, I got a client coming in soon."
Jungkook couldn't help but feel discouraged by the male, "That's fine... can I get something else done in the meantime?"
"Like another tattoo?"
"Yeah."
"Taehyung's free right now, he could do something for you." Jimin replied flatly, face illuminated by the light from the computer screen.
Jungkook wasn't actually expecting someone else to be free to tattoo him at the moment, so he couldn't help but raise his brows in interest. It had been a while since he committed himself to another tattoo, maybe it was about time.
"Sure, I'm fine with that." Jungkook replied.
Standing beside Jimin, Yoongi was quick to feel his lip twitch up into the slightest of smirks, seemingly pleased with Jungkook's request. Turning on his heels, Yoongi was quick to snatch a design off the wall behind the counter, almost tearing the paper as he harshly pulled it from its position on display.
Yoongi spun back towards the counter, slapping the design flat against the wooden surface, "How about this." he coaxed, voice deep and bribing as his lip rose into a smirk, brows raised as he awaited Jungkook's reply.
From beside him Jimin's eyes grew comically wide, the orange haired male placing a firm hand against Yoongi's shoulder, "Yoongi what the fuck?!" he exclaimed, peering over the male's shoulder at the design, "He can't get that!"
Yoongi let out a breath of air, the lingering smell of cigarettes overwhelming Jimin's senses. "Face it Jimin, he can't leave our side anymore. Unless we kill him he's stuck with us for good." he began to explain, disregarding Jungkook who was now completely confused as to what Jimin was so worked up about. "Namjoon suggested it yesterday... what's a couple of days difference gonna do?"
There was a moment of hesitation from Jimin, a moment where the male gritted his teeth before letting out a breath he'd been holding for too long, "Fine" he scoffed, returning to his position by the computer, "But this is on you."
Jungkook furrowed his brows, "What's so special about the design?"
Yoongi pursed his lips, "It's our gang's identification symbol."
Jungkook parted his lips, letting out a silent 'ahhh I see' at Yoongi's short explanation. He found his gaze dropping down to the piece of paper, eyes trailing over each individual line of the dainty tattoo. The stems spiralled together, large white lily flowers blossoming on all sides, it looked to be quite large, about the length of his forearm.
"White lilies?"
Yoongi nod, hand still placed against the paper, "It symbolises innocence and purity. A little hint that our gang is good in the eyes of society, but bad in eyes of other gangs and the government." he explained, sliding it towards Jungkook before bringing a hand to the sleeve of his bomber jacket.
With curiosity, Jungkook watched as Yoongi slid up the sleeve of his jacket, revealing a crowded collection of tattoos trailing up his arm. The ink was so black against his skin so pale, each piece tied in by bold line-work. Jungkook's eyes wandered the male's arm before his gaze locked onto a familiar looking tattoo. Just like the design placed on the counter in front of him, Yoongi had a collection of flowers on his skin, the lines a little bolder then the sketch on paper, most likely complimenting Yoongi's choice of style.
"Mine's on my forearm." Yoongi pointed out, letting Jungkook's eyes wander until he slid the sleeve of his jacket back down.
Jungkook couldn't help but wonder how many other tattoos the male supported under his oversized black jacket.
Placing a hand against his own tattooed forearm, Jungkook frowned, "Can I get it done as a coverup?"
Overhearing the conversation, Jimin's eyes lifted from the computer, "It's a really complex design, so I'll cover it up with something else later." He stated, eyes trailing back down to the computer screen as he typed away, "Taehyung can tattoo the design on you in the meantime." he deadpanned, pointing a slack finger towards the small hall, "Second door on the left." he uttered, slapping the page of the design against Jungkook's chest before ushering him down the hall.
Holding the piece of paper to his chest, Jungkook was quick to head down the short hallway, easily finding the studio Jimin was referring to as he gave a small knock against the door. His knocking was followed by the sounds of clattering from inside, fumbling footsteps getting louder before the door in front of Jungkook's face was swung open, greeted by Kim Taehyung.
Jungkook found himself almost too close for comfort, faces practically inches away as Taehyung's eyes grew wide. Unlike Yoongi's musky smell of cigarettes, Taehyung's was like a breath of fresh air, a certain sweetness to his aroma. Jungkook gave a tight lipped smile, watching as Taehyung regained his composure, probably still a little unsettled by Jungkook's alignment with the Jeon family.
Ruffling his deeply coloured blue hair, Taehyung opened the door wider, taking a step back, "Oh hey."
"Jimin sent me..." Jungkook conversed, peeling the sheet of paper away from his chest as he held it towards Taehyung, "Yoongi wants you to tattoo the gang's symbol on me."
Jungkook watched as Taehyung's adams apple bobbed in his throat, "Are you sure?"
Jungkook gave a sorrowful chuckle, "I don't really have a choice do I?"
Jungkook was right about one thing... he would never be able to escape his associations with any gangs. He would always be a Jeon, and from now on he would always be under the watchful eye of Bangtan. Jungkook hated to admit it, but out of all the gangs he could've come across, he was glad it was one as positive as Bangtan. Yes he was still going to be involved in illegal activities, murder to be more specific, but at least it was morally better then most gangs who took advantage of the innocent.
Taehyung gave a simple shrug, "I guess not... take a seat." he muttered, gesturing for Jungkook to take a seat on the tattoo bed. Taehyung took the design from Jungkook's hands, eyeing over each detail carefully as to make sure it was absolutely perfect. "Sooo... I see your arm is kinda full... where might you want it?"
"The side of my torso... if that's okay." Jungkook pointed out. He wasn't the kinda guy to go for tattoos anywhere other then his arms, but after his recent sighting of a Jeon member in town, he wanted to keep his new ties on the low down, deciding to keep the symbol hidden.
Drawing up the stencil, Taehyung's eyes momentarily flickered up to meet with Jungkook's, "Sure thing." he spoke, pointing his pencil towards the brunette in question, "Greyscale I'm guessing?"
"You got it."
Taehyung smiled, "Sweet." he chirped, finishing up the stencil design before slapping his pen down against the table.
Jungkook watched Taehyung's figure move backwards and forth around the small studio, clumsily knocking over a couple of small bottles of ink as he readied his equipment. Unlike Jimin's pristine studio, Taehyung's was... how do I put it... more on the colourful side. His artistic side had flourished in the small paint splatters against his desk, pencils scattered and papers pinned all over the wall. Unlike the other tattooists who drew their ideas, Taehyung obviously had a knack for painting.
Turing back to the tattoo bed, Taehyung took a seat on his chair, holding the stencil with gloved hands. "As weird as this sounds," Taehyung bit down on his lower lip to suppress his laughter, "I'm gonna need you to take off your shirt."
Letting out a chuckle, Jungkook didn't hesitate to grab the hem of his black cotton t-shirt, pulling it up and throwing the fabric over his head, tossing it to the floor. Jungkook sure as hell wasn't body shy, he took pride in his form.
Taehyung couldn't help but gawk at the man's perfection. Jungkook was a living work of art, chiseled chest and skin glowing so healthily it made Taehyung envious. His abdominals were sculpted to perfection, sculpted six pack instantly giving off the impression that he came out of a Calvin Klein shoot.
Taehyung had to blink a couple of times to snap himself from his trance, getting back to his job as he hovered over Jungkook's now laying down form, carefully placing the stencil against the male's skin. Pursing his lips, Taehyung concentrated as he peeled off the paper, lips lifting into a proud grin as the purple outline perfectly sat against the side of Jungkook's torso.
"You ready?" Taehyung sounded, grabbing a hold of his tattoo gun, "It'll be slightly more painful then the arm seeing as I'm going over the rib cages."
As he lay on his back, Jungkook's eyes were cast to the roof, "I've got a high pain tolerance, I'll survive."
"Good, I hate it when clients are babies."
------
"Here you go." Yoongi spoke, handing back Jungkook's debit card over the countertop. Despite not officially being part of the gang, Yoongi had given Jungkook a 50% discount on the tattoo... but even with that Jungkook cursed at himself for getting one so expensive.
Yoongi placed his elbow against the wooden surface, resting his head tiredly in the palm of his hand, "Sorry Jimin couldn't do the cover up today, he's a customer favourite so he's busy a lot of the time." he apologised, the soft golden rays of the afternoon sun warming at his pale skin. The blonde haired male had removed his jacket a little earlier in the day revealing both arms decked out in an array of tattoos. The t-shirt hung loosely against Yoongi's form, slipping down to his collar bone where another tattoo poked out from just underneath it.
Yoongi sighed, "Maybe if you came back tomorrow?"
Jungkook slipped his wallet into his pocket, "It ain't a problem, I haven't covered it up for five years... another day won't do any harm." he shrugged, hiding his disappointment from the blonde. To be honest, Jungkook wasn't free to do a coverup until next week at the earliest. He had a job, he built himself a life.
Jungkook plastered a fake smile across his face, "See yah."
Yoongi returned the gesture with a weak salute as Jungkook left the store, the warming rays of the setting sun failing to wash away the bitterness of the winter air channeling itself through the city streets. Jungkook strolled down the sidewalk, eyes cast to the sky as the blue of day faded into peach, shadows of city buildings stretching out as night slowly approached.
He mentally sighed realising he still had to take a bus home.
Kicking a few stray pieces of rubbish at his feet, Jungkook couldn't help but let a strangely familiar feeling wash over him. One of uncertainty and danger... the feeling that he was being watched.
Of course he'd been feeling that way all week, taking note of every stranger he passed... but something about this felt different. Letting his feet drag to a stop, Jungkook was quick to snap his head in the direction of a dark shadowed alleyway, not failing to notice the man that quickly slipped away into the shadows... and not failing to notice the familiar serpent tattoo against the male's forearm.
Jungkook's mouth went dry as he gulped,
"They're after me."
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{Author Note}
In celebration of Yoongi and Halsey's incredible song together... it's a double update :))
(unedited)