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Youngjae had always promised himself that when he turned 22 he would get a tattoo. He was scared of needles, to be completely honest, but he had once revealed his idea to his best friend Yugyeom, who had told Jinyoung, their not so new college friend, and they never forgot about it (Youngjae was not surprised because he was totally convinced Jinyoung was Satan in person). So there was Youngjae, in front of a tattoo shop, almost with a panic attack and with his two friends cheering for him and telling him there was nothing to be worried about because not too many people have died because of a tattoo (a fact that didn’t precisely calm Youngjae too much) and because they were there with him (another fact that didn’t precisely calm Youngjae too much). But he had an appointment with one of Jinyoung’s friend that was a professional and he couldn’t go back.
He had decided what he wanted to have written on his skin. In fact, he had it decided since the very first moment he decided he wanted a tattoo. Wanting a tattoo was kind of the consequence of this word’s existence. Trauma. It was a song. One of the thousands he wrote. But this one was special for him because he talked about how he went through his ex boyfriend’s death. Youngjae knew he would never forget the feeling, the loneliness. The pain. He also knew he was over it. Two years had passed, he had moved out of town a few times and he had changed colleges. But he knew he needed his tattoo to move on completely. It was the last step.
Hearing Jinyoung calling the man that was going to tattoo him by his ex’s name was a little bit hard, basically because he was there just because of him. It was another mourning day for Youngjae and he didn’t expect to hear Jaebum’s name. But it was okay. There were a lot of people called Jaebum in the world.
What he didn’t expect for sure was his Jaebum to come out and greet Jinyoung. Surely there were a lot of people called Jaebum in the world, but Youngjae doubted they all had the same face Im Jaebum had. And he could recognize that face anywhere.
Jaebum hadn’t changed too much. He still had the same face, he still was the most handsome boy Youngjae had ever seen. He looked worked up and hs body was covered of tattoos. Youngjae still looked the same as always. If he wasn’t busy panicking, he would probably have worried about him looking too thin and Jaebum looking like a whole meal.
But Youngjae was indeed panicking. His first thought was he was imagining things. That was until Jaebum saw him and he went pale.
“Y-Youngjae? Oh my god. Jinyoung? Your friend is Choi Youngjae?”
“Yes? Jaebum? What’s going on? Why do you two look like you saw a ghost?”
“What the fuck do you mean with ‘Jaebum’?”, Yugyeom was in the back and tried to break through.
When he did and he was standing in front, he saw Jaebum and he got paralyzed.
“Yugyeom.”
“Jaebum?”, Yugyeom asked, shaking.
Youngjae was trying to breathe behind Yugyeom, who was trying to hold his best friend but it was really difficult, considering he was shaking himself.
“Can someone explain what’s going on?”, asked Jinyoung.
“Do you remember I told you I’m here in this town to look for a friend and I was going to ask you for help because I don’t really know anyone here?”, Jaebum explained and Jinyoung nodded. “Well, Youngjae is that… friend.”
“You are… dead”, Youngjae sobbed out.
“I am not dead”, Jaebum softly said. “I had an accident but I am not dead. That’s what they told you. I have been years looking for you, Youngjae.”