Chapter Text
“Lie down, we’ll get started.”
Hyejoo did as she was told, turning onto her right side to leave plenty of skin exposed. She glanced over at the artist, who washed and gloved her hands before finally picking up the machine. It was battery-operated, which gave her much better mobility without cords in her way. Hyejoo’s adrenaline skyrocketed when she heard the buzzing of the machine.
Everything was set up perfectly. “Okay, babe. I’m gonna start now. Try not to flinch, yeah?”
As soon as the needle touched her skin, Hyejoo tensed. She tried to remind herself that that would make things more difficult for both of them. It was a strange sensation, not one she could have predicted – she could feel the vibration of the needle through her entire ribcage. It was a slow and sharp feeling, like dragging a thin blade across the surface of her skin. She tried her hardest to stay still, only allowing herself deep breaths whenever Hyunjin wiped off the extra ink or turned around to get more.
The first two hours were fine. Hyejoo handled it far better than she’d expected. She was done with linework now, and took a break to use the restroom. When she came back, she laid back down and waited. Hyunjin did most of the talking since Hyejoo was trying to stay still, and she was really sweet. Hyejoo appreciated that the artist was trying to distract her from the pain. She had no clue what she was in for now with shading.
Hyunjin switched needles, moving from the single needle for linework to five needles in a neat row. Hyejoo bit her lip and tried to stay silent when she felt the new needle against her skin. This was a different kind of pain, it was hot and constant. It felt like getting a rug burn or having sandpaper rubbed against her skin, only worse. When the needle hit right on the edge of her lowest rib, she winced and squeaked in pain. She reminded herself to stay still, and breathed out as slowly as she could to move as little as possible.
“Good girl,” Hyunjin whispered. “Just like that, you’re doing great.” Hyejoo froze. Her whole body tensed and she suddenly could feel the pain more than ever, now hyper-aware of herself and her surroundings.
She needed to distract herself. She couldn’t play on her phone, it would mean too much movement. She’d already stared at the ceiling for far too long, so she let herself steal a look at the pretty artist in front of her. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, focused on the task at hand. She had both her septum and a nostril pierced, and stretched ears with bright yellow plugs and one industrial bar. Needless to say, she was hot. And she was gentle and sweet, reassuring Hyejoo throughout her tattoo and praising her for how she handled it.
Every time Hyunjin gave Hyejoo a little bit of praise, the girl got nervous. She liked the way Hyunjin talked to her, but she really didn’t know how to handle a pretty girl being nice to her.
“How are you doing, babygirl?” Hyunjin asked, once again wiping away ink.
Hyejoo sighed. “Vibrations are weird. Feels like somebody set off Coke and Mentos in my chest, you know? Definitely feeling it.”
The artist nodded. “I totally get what you mean. I have my ribs done, too,” she said, “Hurt like a bitch compared to all my other tattoos.” She took a moment to look at her work and added, “You’re almost done. Almost there.”
Half an hour later, Hyejoo was all wrapped up and sent home with care instructions. She couldn’t sleep on her left side, and raising her arm too high hurt as well, but she was glad she had done it. The big grey wolf on her ribs gave her a feeling of freedom, and she was thrilled. And the cherry on top of it all was that she had a sweet and gorgeous artist to help her through it.
I guess I’ll have to go back sometime.