↬ tattoo parlour.

@⁰³ jisung h. (sh) pale-faced and wide-eyed, miyeon shook a bit in fear as she saw the tattoo artist retrieve his tattoo needle, her dainty fingers tightly gripping jisung's forearm as if to anchor herself to him for protection. to say she was scared was an understatement: she was absolutely terrified, paralyzed with fear, to the point where her stomach was churning nauseously and the dim lights of the tattoo parlour were beginning to look akin to the gates of heaven, ready to welcome her when he finally stuck that dreaded needle in her. even as a child, the girl had always had an overwhelmingly irrational fear of needles, even on occasion fainting at the doctor's office when she had to get vaccinated.

cherry lips pursed in a quivering pout, she merely nodded in response to his reassuring words, trying to will herself to relax back into the comfortable chair. despite her terror-stricken exterior, this was an important event for her. ever since the death of her mother, miyeon had been wanting to get a small tattoo of a ladybug—"ladybug's are a symbol of good luck," her mother used to say, even as she lay dying in her hospital bed, "make a wish everytime you see one, okay?"—and today her wish was finally being realized. the tattoo was meant to be the tiniest and cutest of ladybugs, one that would adorn the milky skin of her heel. finally situated with all the proper tools, the tattoo artist scooted his chair closer, causing miyeon to look at jisung with her chocolate eyes which were nearly brimming with tears. "you'll stay with me, right, ji oppa? the whole time?" she pleaded, like a child begging not to be left at daycare, voice trembling slightly.

@⁰¹ miyeon c. "Come on, I promise you it won't hurt as bad as you’re expecting."

Jisung was bound to end up back here sooner or later, having just gotten his stomach pierced in this same spot a few weeks back, and was now here again for two reasons. One being to accompany his friend who was too afraid to get something done on her own, and of course the other to get started on yet another tattoo project of his own. Sitting in the chair beside Miyeon, he gently pat her shoulder and gave a smile to hopefully ease her nerves. It was always like this for people who were getting work done for the first time. It was expected; you didn't know what to anticipate. Much like everything else, stories of people getting their first tattoos varied from person to person. Thankfully, he was one of those people who's pain tolerance was rather high. Even if it wasn't, he'd like to think he'd still be able to handle the pain better than most.

"This guy works on me every time I come here. I told him I'd personally whoop his if it hurts more than necessary." His eyes strayed from his friend to eye the people that sat or stood near them for a second, before falling back onto the girl.