Chapter Text
Kim Mingyu was clumsy. A tall mess of long limbs that knocked over every piece of furniture and dropped his pencils, his food and his phone. He was, however, nothing short of talented: he graduated Visual Arts College with honors, pursuing his tattoo artist career not long after, all this while being a great cook and quite a good singer.
People said he was a klutz, but if there was one thing Mingyu was very confident at holding and overall taking care of was a tattoo gun. His dream of becoming a tattoo artist started from a young age, and he never stopped chasing it. After finishing college, he went looking for a job at a tattoo parlour, and after a few failed tries, found his place at Shining Diamond Tattoo.
The shop was owned by Choi Seungcheol, an older friend of his, with whom he kind of lost contact during the college period. They were happy to see each other again, and Seungcheol took Mingyu under his wing. After a surprinsingly short period of time, Mingyu was no longer an apprentice, but an official employee.
The other guys that worked at Shining Diamond were nice and welcoming. Actually, there weren't that many people; Seungcheol told him most of the old crew left because of a disagreement, leaving only him and Soonyoung, a piercer, as official workers. There were also Hansol (Seungcheol's younger cousin) and Chan, both apprentices. Now they had Mingyu, but were still short in staff, lacking a piercer. Mingyu's mind immediately went to his best friend, a professional piercer looking for a steady place to work at.
He quickly dialed his best friend's number.
"Hey, Hao."
"Hi. Any excuses why you're calling me at the asscrack of dawn on a Saturday?"
"It's literally 1PM, and I have good news. Hao, I think I found you a job. Remember the tattoo shop I told you about? Yeah. Turns out they're really short-staffed and need an experienced piercer. So yeah, I called you. Do you want it?"
"Are you serious? I swear to god, Kim Mingyu, if you're fucking with me-"
"Of course I'm being serious, asshole, do you want the job or not? I'm at the place right now, tell me so we can schedule your interview."
"YES! Yes, I want the job. Tell them I'm free pretty much everyday except for Monday and Wednsday mornings and afternoons."
"Right. Your dance classes. I'll tell them and then I'll call you back, ok?"
"Yeah. Gyu, if I get this job, I'm taking you out for dinner."
"I'll hold that against you. Ok, then. Bye, talk to you later."
"Bye."
Grinning, Mingyu turned to Seungcheol and Soonyoung.
"He said he wants it. He's free for the interview any day, except Monday and Wednsday mornings and afternoons, he's a teacher at a dance studio and his classes are early. Well, kind of. It's like a 9 to 5. Sorry, I'm rambling."
Seungcheol patted his shoulder reassuringly. "It's ok, dude. Can he come like, right now? Does he live far? I don't have any appointments for the next two hours — a rare thing, on a Saturday. I was planning on grabbing something nice to eat with Hansol but I guess it can wait."
"I'm free too." said Soonyoung. "Well, not for that long, but still."
"He doesn't live far. I'm pretty sure he can make it, and you don't have to give up on eating out. We can go to a diner and do the interview there?"
"I like your way of thinking, kiddo."
Mingyu couldn't stop smiling. He dialed Minghao's number again.
"Hao, can you come here right now? I'll text you the address, it's not far. Even though I think we're doing the interview at a diner."
"Right now? Yeah, sure, I guess. Yeah, I can come."
"Awesome. Grab your portfolio, dress fashionable and please brush your teeth. See you."
"Asshole. See you."
30 minutes later, they were all at a nearby diner, the burger-and-fries, 70's vibe type. Everyone instantly liked Minghao, and the olders were very interested in his work as well. After a nice portion of fries and medium-sized milkshakes, the magical words left Seungcheol's and Soonyoung's mouths:
"You're hired."
-•-
Fast foward to two months and a half later. The Shining Diamond crew was having a well-deserved after-shift hangout at the same diner where Minghao's interview was held. They all became regulars after that, as well as friends with one particular waiter.
"Welcome to Jam Jam, how can I- oh, it's you guys. Lemme get a table. The usual?"
"Hello to you to, Seokmin."
"Sorry, bro. Busy day. You know how Fridays get."
"Hell yeah we do." Seungcheol laughed, but his expression was tired. "The week has been crazy for us, so we decided to close early today. If I get another walk-in asking for the infinity sign or their lover's name, I'm quitting. I'm fucking quitting."
"Easy there, Cheollie." Mingyu patted his shoulder. "You know those types will never cease to exist, and that they are part of this job."
Seokmin offered a sympathetic smile. "I'll be right back with your orders."
"You guys mind if I get a headstart on my homework while being here?" Chan spoke up. "I need to start doing it or else I'll just write whatever the night before it's due and I can't keep on doing this."
"Sure buddy, go ahead." Seungcheol said, then turned to Hansol, who was playing with drum pads on his phone. "You should follow his example, kiddo. This isn't high school anymore, you know."
"I know, I know." he rolled his eyes. "How wouldn't I? I'm a second year, I've been doing this for a while. And, may I add, the being-chill-about-everything method has been working so far, so I don't know why you're complaining."
"Hansol, you're like, the chillest person I know."
"Exactly! I'm good at this. If I start being all frenzy and workaholic, I might actually collapse and melt. Become a puddle of Hansol at my dorm."
"Sometimes I forget how much of a drama queen you are."
Seokmin arrived with their food a few minutes later, and after putting the plates on the table he pulled a chair for himself.
"So. Whats's up?" he asked, drumming his fingers on the table.
"The usual." Soonyou answered. "I bought new hair dye. Minghao is kicking ass, as always."
"Yep." Minghao nodded, proud of himself for no particular reason other than... well, kicking ass.
"Chan is improving and we couldn't be more proud of our child."
"Thanks, but I'm 19. As in, not a child."
"Nonsense. You're like, five. Anyway, where was I? Hansol is playing Overwatch instead of doing his assignments-"
"I AM NOT! And Overwatch is a really good game and way more challenging than writing stuff about old music dudes."
"Coups just finished designing a really cool tattoo today. The guy asked for a full-back tattoo, it's gonna take like, ages to get it done."
"Don't call him Coups, stop encouraging him."
"Last but not least, Mingyu thinks our place looks a little dull. I agree. We could use some decoration."
Seokmin, bless him, listened to all of the updates and seemed to have just the solution for the decoration problem.
"You guys know that there's a flower shop opening next door to your parlour, right?"
All heads turned to him.
"Wow, you really didn't know... I study with one of the employees at uni. His name is Seungkwan and he's really cool, he told me they're opening next Monday. I only said it because, well, flowers and plants are always a good option for decoration right?"
"Seokmin, you're a genious." Chan high-fived him.
"Thank you, I try."
"One of my friends is also opening a flower shop next week!" Soonyoung said, and then lowered his voice. "Do you guys think they're gonna be rivals?"
"It's probably the same flower shop. It would really be a coincidence if it wasn't."
"Yeah, I guess. Let's find out on Monday."