Work Text:
Hongjoong only has one rule at his shop.
Okay. Technically that was a lie. Running a tattoo and piercing shop had a lot of safety precautions, while the nail salon portion had its own array of sanitary procedures. Even the fact that he sold his own clothes and other designs by the register meant a whole set of guidelines he needed to follow.
But there was one specific practice that Hongjoong made sure his small team at Aurora followed that was not from any small business laws or mandates. It was very simple, and even if Yunho would complain that it pretty much ruled out one third of their possible clientele, he was strict about this.
No permanent body modifications should be done to anyone who came in drunk — no matter if they had an appointment or were just a walk in. Hongjoong’s worked at many tattoo shops before finally opening his own, and seen way too many people walk in plastered with a brilliant tattoo idea, only to return two days later and regret it completely. Sure, Yunho had a point that he was losing out on a lot of potential customers (“Our shop is literally in the vicinity of three bars,” Yunho had complained. “Think of all the drunk mistakes just waiting to happen!”) but Hongjoong would rather not be spending his nights catering to the multitude of stupidity that came from drunk bar patrons (there were only so many “suck here” or “insert here” tattoos he could take).
This is why he hardly glances at the two boys entering his shop before announcing, “Sorry– we don’t serve drunk people here.”
“Me and Wooyoungie aren’t even drunk!” One of them cries out, as his friend ( Wooyoungie , Hongjoong supposes) stumbles forward — nearly knocking into his polish cabinet. Hongjoong merely stares at them both in response, an eyebrow raised.
“Okay — maybe we’re a little drunk,” Wooyoungie says, swaying slightly side to side. “But the tattoo isn’t for me! It’s for my friend!”
“I just said I don’t ink drunk people, and pinky over there is definitely not any more sober than you are–”
“Nonono it’s not for my precious Sannie!” Wooyoungie cuts in. Sannie blinks and mouths pinky? as if completely unaware of the bright fuschia on his head. “It’s for…” Wooyoungie pauses, blinking confusion around him.
“Oh my gosh, Sannie~ we lost Seonghwa!” He dramatically gasps, before he and Sannie stumble over to the door, throwing it open and calling out into the night, “Seonghwaaaaa!!! Where are youuuu???”
Hongjoong glances over at Yeosang, the two exchanging a silent look. “Wooyoungie'' and “Sannie'' weren't as dangerous as some of the others who came around his shop at 12am, but Hongjoong was starting to worry about the potential trouble they could bring. He hops off his stool and advances towards them, hoping to get them outside and away from all the fragile and dangerous equipment inside his shop before things escalate.
“Hey, I’m gonna need you two to leave–”
“I found him! I found Seonghwa– hold up– look–” Wooyoungie pulls someone into the shop, thrusting him towards Hongjoong. “He’s the one getting the tattoo, and he’s not drunk at alllll~”
The newcomer looks up. Hongjoong feels his breath catch and heart leap.
It’s not like he’s a stranger to pretty people when Yeosang looks like he literally walked off some Japanese grunge photoshoot, but the person in front of him is downright gorgeous. Hongjoong doesn’t know where to look, from his perfectly chiseled face with strong features, to his broad shoulders and sleeveless arms that show off his bare and tanned skin, to his legs that seem to go on for miles, in black skinny jeans that only accentuate how perfectly toned they are.
And oh gosh, Hongjoong both really hopes and completely dreads that Seonghwa actually came for a tattoo and is not drunk, because just the thought of being in close contact with him for an extended period of time was enough to make Hongjoong’s insides leap–
“Listen, the two of you,” –and then it drops. To Seonghwa’s credit, he’s not as wasted as his two friends are, but Hongjoong can hear a slight slur in his tone, enough to make the responsible side of him come out and dash the sliver of hope away completely. “Can you guys, ugh, can you guys stop running off without telling me where you’re going–”
“But we told you where we were going! We have to get you your tattoo, you lost the bet!” It seems as if Wooyoungie only exists to crush Hongjoong’s dreams, because it was a bet tattoo , the worst kind out there, and now there definitely was no chance Seonghwa actually wanted a tattoo and would come back another time completely sober and allow for Hongjoong to draw on his beautiful skin.
Seonghwa pouts ( pouts!! Hongjoong’s brain screams at him). “Wooyoung, I was joking about that please– no stop it San–”
San (not “Sannie”, as Hongjoong originally thought) ignores Seonghwa completely, grabbing his arm and pulling him in front of Hongjoong again. “Hi there pretty tattoo guy!” He can hear Yeosang snickering, and flips him off. “This is Seonghwa, he’s the one who’s getting the tattoo and he is completelyyyy sober!”
Seonghwa at least has the decency to look slightly apologetic. “Sorry about them, I just–”
“It’s no worries, not the worst we’ve seen around here.” As much as he would love to continue just staring at Seonghwa, he knows that any longer and he might actually break the literal one rule he’s made on his own for Aurora. “Let me get you guys some water and call a ride for you guys.”
“Nonono we can’t leave yet! Seonghwa needs to get a pretty tattoo on his pretty skin from the pretty tattoo guy!” This time it’s Wooyoung who’s pouting, nearly yanking Hongjoong’s arm off desperately. “Please please please Mr. pretty tattoo guy–”
“Oh my gosh Wooyoung please stop embarrassing me–” Seonghwa hisses. He pulls Wooyoung off and directs him towards San, who immediately clings to him, both wailing about getting their “pretty Seonghwa a pretty tattoo from the pretty tattoo guy–”
(Hongjoong swears if Seonghwa’s face wasn’t what would make him give in, it just might be how much his ego was growing at being called the “pretty tattoo guy” over and over.)
Seonghwa motions Hongjoong over to the side and lowers his voice. “Hey look, I’m really sorry about them, but do you think you could humor them for me?”
Hongjoong blinks. “I am not giving you a tattoo just to get them to shut up if that’s what you mean–”
No no no that’s not what I mean,” Seonghwa interrupts. “You don’t have to give me an actual tattoo just… I don’t know, draw a smiley face on my arm or something, they’ll think it’s the coolest thing ever. I just want them to sober up a little before we get an Uber.”
Hongjoong hesitates. It’s almost the perfect solution, letting him to actually sit with Seonghwa for a bit of time and draw on his beautiful skin, while not breaking his rule. But… he glances over at Wooyoung and San who were now singing praises to both Seonghwa and the “pretty tattoo guy”, and then at Yeosang who had his phone up and was probably snapping the whole thing. There was pretty much no way he could trust Yeosang with those two alone, and he would absolutely hate it if he managed more than two sentences with Seonghwa only for the other to completely hate him for allowing Yeosang to corrupt his two friends.
Seonghwa follows his gaze. “Oh sorry– I didn’t realize– we’re probably causing a huge bother right now let me just call an Uber and we’ll be out of your shop–”
“There is absolutely no need for that, you’re 100% right you all should sober up a little before leaving–” Yeosang cuts in almost immediately, his eyes darting between Seonghwa and Hongjoong. There’s a knowing smirk, and Hongjoong groans internally at all the team bonding practices he made the shop go on, and the fact that it seemed all his team members could read his mind now. “They’ll be completely fine, I’ll keep them out of trouble and entertain them for as long as Hongjoong here needs to give you an absolutely stunning tattoo.”
Seonghwa still didn’t look convinced. Yeosang sent what looked like a comforting smile but Hongjoong knew was actually his mischievous grin in Seonghwa’s direction. “I promise, I’ll make sure they’re in good hands– hey you two!” Wooyoung and San stopped mid song, just as Hongjoong saw Jongho return from his break. “Guess what, that guy over there can break apples in half with just his bare hands.”
“Can you guys please stop using me as your party trick to impress cute guys, I’m fucking tired of it honestly my hands are going to permanently smell like apples now–” Jongho freezes mid sentence, as his eyes zeroes in on their three visitors, settling on Seonghwa for a moment before he exchanges a glance with Yeosang, and oh . Hongjoong also hates ever having the idea of team bonding retreats because his workers have definitely bonded! over how much they can make Hongjoong’s life difficult, if the telepathy that Yeosang and Jongho have developed is any indication.
Which is why he’s already burying his head in his arms as soon as Jongho immediately adds, “–which is totally not a bad thing because apples smell nice yeah you guys want to see how many apples I can break in a minute I can also squeeze oranges with one hand and oh I think Hongjoong has a watermelon upstairs I’ll break that too–”
Yeosang starts ushering Hongjoong and Seonghwa into his back room where his tattoo machine was, all the while continuing to send reassuring comments to Seonghwa that they would take care of Wooyoung and make sure San drank enough water and you should really ask Hongjoong about giving you a full sleeve I think it would look so nice plus it’ll take a realllllly long time–
The last thing Hongjoong sees before Yeosang completely shuts the door is an enamoured San and Wooyoung practically in awe of Jongho (not that the talent wasn’t impressive, but he’s pretty sure either Yeosang or Jongho could do anything and the two would think it was the best thing in the world). And then they’re shut off from the outside, just Hongjoong and Seonghwa in his small tattoo room, the chatter from outside fading away.
“Well… that’s an interesting talent I guess?” Seonghwa says after a beat of silence. “Remind me never to get on that guy’s bad side.”
“He’s a sweet teddy bear, I swear,” Hongjoong motions Seonghwa to take a seat on his chair, before sitting down on the stool besides him. “I’m more worried about Yeosang – the other kid who sold out fruit guy – and what influence he might have on your friends outside.”
Seonghwa laughs and Hongjoong would be lying if he said it wasn’t the prettiest sound he’s ever heard. “Believe me, Wooyoung and San cannot be corrupted. If anything, I feel like I should have apologized in advance to your coworkers about the chaos they will bring– oh wait, I wasn’t joking about the smiley face please–” he holds his hands up as Hongjoong pulls out a parchment paper and his gel pens.
“Not that I haven’t considered getting a tattoo before–” Wow can this guy get any more ideal? “But I wasn’t really looking to get one right now so please if you have a marker I can just draw some scribbles or something, and then you can just leave me back here for a bit enough to convince them I actually got something done–”
“I don’t think my artistic self would allow me to do that,” Hongjoong’s not sure where the confidence came from, but now that he’s actually had the chance to take this a step further past just ogling Seonghwa, Hongjoong was hoping to get a few more words out before his introverted ass dragged him back into a stuttering mess. It was past 12 after all, and everyone was always braver in the dark. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to actually tattoo you, but I’d like to at least give you something better than a smiley face, if you don’t mind?”
Seonghwa still looked confused, but there was a small smile of agreement on his face.
“Is there anything in particular you’d like?” Seonghwa chuckles at that.
“Really? You’re asking me? My best idea was the smiley face.” Hongjoong laughs at that.
“I believe everyone has a creative side to them. Is there anything you can think of, maybe a design you like, or a symbol with meaning to you? I mean, I could totally just draw you your favorite animal even.”
Seonghwa hums, his face scrunching into thought. Hongjoong can barely contain his squeal, just as Seonghwa snaps in realization.
“You think you could draw Mars, you know, the planet?” This time, it was Hongjoong’s turn to look in confusion, as Seonghwa giggled bashfully. “It’s a nickname. And well… this might be a little dumb, but… if you could add headphones around it? I really like listening to ASMR, so I thought it would be cute if it looked like, I don’t know, the planet was listening to it too.” He pauses. “Sorry, that must sound really stupid–”
“Absolutely not, I love it!” Seonghwa blinks in surprise. Hongjoong grabs a gel pen and uncaps it, grabbing a stencil and drawing a circle on the parchment paper as if to deter Seonghwa from backing out. “It’s a really cute idea, I think it fits you.” He blushes. That was not what he had wanted to say, but Seonghwa was smiling wider, so Hongjoong allowed himself a mental pat on the back as he started looking at his different shades of red and mapping out how to make the planet look as realistic as possible.
“Oh, you’re not going to draw it straight on my skin?” Seonghwa peers closer to the drawing. Hongjoong flushes at the proximity.
“W-well, no. Using gel pens straight on skin could be dangerous, not to mention skin makes it hard to draw on with just these here. I’m gonna make you a temporary tattoo instead. Basically, I’ll draw it on the paper and then we’ll wet press it against your skin. It’s safer, comes out nicer, not to mention these gel pens are a bit water resistant so the tattoo can stay for a bit longer than usual.” Seonghwa hums in acknowledgement.
“O-oh, but,” Hongjoong finds his face turning red again, realizing he had gone too much into detail, possibly more than Seonghwa wanted. “I mean, I don’t mean to bore you sorry. Feel free to just rest up here if you’d like, there’s a fridge over there with some juice and water and you can lean this chair back a bit if you want–”
“Don’t apologize, you didn’t bore me,” Seonghwa smiles softly, staring at the parchment paper with fascination. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to watch you work. I’ve never been artistic, so this is pretty cool to see.” He looks up, taking in all of the paintings and tattoo photos hanging on the walls. “Your place is so nice, I wish I was creative enough to do stuff like this, instead of working with numbers all day.”
“T-thanks,” Hongjoong mumbles. “Yeah, I opened this place up just as a way for me and my friends to do everything we wanted. Most people are confused when they see all the stuff we do here, but I like to think of it as exploring all my artistic endeavors.”
Seonghwa looks impressed, and Hongjoong — in a momentary burst of confidence at his pretty cool comment — continues, “So what do you do?” and almost immediately loses it because really Hongjoong? He JUST said he works with numbers.
But Seonghwa laughs — not unkindly — at that. “I’m an accountant at this gaming company. Basically, the guy who stops game designers like the two out there–” he motions towards the door. “–from spending all the company's earnings on new gadgets or gizmos they see on late night television and the like.” he laughs again. “Nothing as exciting as creating art on people’s bodies.”
“Hey now, accounting might not be that exciting, but it’s definitely an important job. Yeosang’s our accountant out there, and while he’s complete shit at everything we actually do here, he’s also the one who stops me from ordering two dozen minion nail decals when the only one who wears it is me and Mingi.” Hongjoong pauses, before grabbing a light brown and starting to shade a crater in.
“He’s our main nail tech, and he wears them mostly in spite of me, cause I’m probably the only one who wears them unironically.” He sees Seonghwa glance over at his nails. “Well, I don’t wear them all the time, because the rest of the world don’t appreciate them like I do, and I can’t really run a hardcore tattoo parlor if people know about my minion obsession.” He’s not sure why he’s starting to overshare about himself, but Seonghwa isn’t running, and it is 12:42 anyways. Anything after 12 is a free game.
“I think minions are cute, I’d definitely come here again to get a minion decal.” Hongjoong’s mind blanks, only hearing come here again , that he nearly misses Seonghwa’s next question. “So, Yeosang’s your accountant, that other guy breaks fruits for a living, and Mingi’s your nail tech. Who does the piercings?”
“A guy named Yunho. Also, contrary to what Yeosang thinks, Jongho actually doesn’t break fruit for a living. The four of us, minus Yeosang because I wouldn’t trust him with anything that requires precision, we’re all trained in piercing and nail design. Me and Jongho also do tattooing, though I’m teaching Mingi nowadays to do small black and white tats, considering tattooing is our main service here.” He pauses. “Sorry, you were just asking about who does piercings, not the whole life stories of everyone here–”
“Please don’t apologize Hongjoong, I like hearing you talk.” Hongjoong feels his cheeks heating up again at the comment. “It’s cute too, how close you are to everyone else who works here.”
“Y-yeah, I’ve known Yunho the longest, and we’ve just been picking up all these strays ever since.” Seonghwa outright laughs at that as he glances towards the door, leading Hongjoong to smile. “Seems like it’s the same with you and your friends out there too?”
“Pretty much. San introduced me to his company, and then we kind of adopted Wooyoung when he joined a year later. Personally I don’t find working for a gaming company as cool as a lot of people make it out as, but those two are what makes it worthwhile. He glances down at the paper Hongjoong was drawing on, before looking Hongjoong in the eyes. “And I guess I’ll have to thank them, considering it’s all because of Wooyoung’s stupid bet that led me here, isn’t it?”
Okay, now Hongjoong’s heart was completely weakened, and he nearly fumbles his pen, catching himself at the last second. He averts his eyes completely, ignoring Seonghwa’s growing smirk and the newly mischievous look on his face, focusing on his drawing instead. The main design was already done, but a part of him didn’t want Seonghwa to leave just yet, so — against his better judgement — he grabbed his stencil and drew two smaller circles besides it, mentally thanking Mingi and that short period of time where he was obsessed with space and is the sole reason Hongjoong knew Mars had two moons. Next to him, he could practically see Seonghwa’s smile lighting up again, as if he caught on to the exact reason that Hongjoong was just adding more and more details to the parchment paper.
“S-speaking of your bet,” Hongjoong changes the subject, still not looking up. “What was it anyways? The one that got you here?”
Seonghwa goes quiet for a second, and Hongjoong blinks, realizing he may have overstepped. “S-sorry, you don’t have to share it it’s personal–”
“No no, it’s quite funny actually, I was just thinking about it,” He notices that instead of the contemplative look he was expecting to see on Seonghwa’s face, Hongjoong sees a smile instead. Seonghwa chuckles again, shaking his head in mock disbelief.
“I bet that Wooyoung wouldn’t dump his drink over my ex-boyfriend’s head at the bar, except he did it so…” Seonghwa shrugs nonchalantly.
All Hongjoong could focus on was the word boyfriend, his insides turning over and over at the word. He had a boyfriend he had a boyfriend he likes boys–
“Got us kicked out of the bar right after, but it was worth it to see that asshole completely drenched.” Seonghwa laughs again, his eyes dancing with delight at the memory.
“Well… that is a one of a kind bet. Won’t Wooyoung be angry at you then, since you aren’t actually getting a tattoo?”
“Nah, because he actually asked for a glass of water and dumped that instead, said he was too cheap to waste his beer on the jerk. On that technicality, I can argue that he didn’t actually win since it wasn’t his drink, so therefore, he can’t get angry at me. Besides, I’m pretty sure Wooyoung would have done it anyway, and even if he didn’t, I’d have dumped more than my drink on that cheating bastard instead.”
“He cheated on you? How the hell could anyone do such a thing to you?” Hongjoong blurts out. They both freeze. Hongjoong wonders if he could get Jongho to throw him off a cliff, or if being buried alive was a much more fitting way to die after that outburst.
But Seonghwa is smiling still, this time more shy with a hint of red across his cheeks, easily matching the blush forming on Hongjoong’s own face.
“And if I may ask,” and now he was obviously teasing Hongjoong, which just made his cheeks darken even more. “In the thirty minutes that I have known you, what makes me so certain that I am someone who could not be cheated on?”
“Well I mean, no one should be cheating on anyone in the first place,” Hongjoong could feel his brain to mouth filter failing him, words just spewing out. “But like — you’re gorgeous as fuck, and from the short time I’ve known you, you’re pretty nice and kind if the way you treat your friends is any indication, and really though you’re just really cute so the guy who cheated has to be like Ji Chang-wook to even have a sliver of decency for cheating–”
“I wish I was dating Ji Chang-wook, I’ve rewatched Healer so many times just to stare at his face.” Seonghwa is laughing, and Hongjoong feels his heart leap again. His temporary tattoo is done, and he carefully positions it on Seonghwa’s arm, looking up for confirmation that it was okay, before grabbing a spray bottle and spraying water over the paper. The paper sticks itself to Seonghwa’s skin, and Hongjoong grabs a towel and presses it against Seonghwa’s arm to have the temporary tattoo stick, his fingers brushing against Seonghwa’s in the process. His fingers are soft, and Hongjoong tries not to let his imagination run wild at the possibility of actually holding Seonghwa’s hand.
(His imagination fails him. Hongjoong tries not to think too much about it. Like, Seonghwa is a fan of Healer of all things, how can Hongjoong not fall in love?)
They sit in silence for a beat, as Hongjoong carefully wraps the towel over the parchment and ties it in place. “We’re going to keep this on for about a minute to let the gels settle and leave a mark,” he explains, carefully placing Seonghwa’s arm on the table.
“So basically, I’m only going to have a minute more with you?” Seonghwa pouts, a mischievous glint in his eyes. This time, Hongjoong’s mind practically explodes at the blatant flirtatious comment from Seonghwa, or the mysterious smile that accompanied it (Hongjoong wasn’t that oblivious to not notice how their exchanges had started to become more provocative as the night passed). “What a pity, maybe I should have gotten an actual tattoo instead, if it meant spending more time here.”
“I wouldn’t have given it to you, I don’t ink drunk people,” Hongjoong mumbles in response, though the knowing smirk on Seonghwa’s face clues Hongjoong into the fact that Seonghwa probably was aware of how weak Hongjoong’s resolve as been the whole night, how it really wouldn’t have taken much for Seonghwa to actually convince Hongjoong to break the one rule he had at his shop.
(It’s because it’s 1:00AM right now, He tries telling himself. That’s why I’m thinking so irrationally.
That’s a lie, like most of the protests that have come from Hongjoong’s thoughts.)
“So, Hongjoong,” Seonghwa is reaching into his pocket with his free hand. Hongjoong’s brain haywires at the gesture, both his heart and mind bouncing around chaotically. “I was wondering–”
A text tone fills the air, and both of them look over as Hongjoong’s phone lights up with a message.
“Oh sorry, you can get that–”
“No please ignore it, anyone texting me at 1AM can wake until normal hours for an answer.” Hongjoong quickly waves it off. He bites his lip, nervously looking over at Seonghwa again, his hand still frozen in his pocket as if about to pull something out. “Y-you… you were saying?”
It’s Seonghwa’s turn to blush, as he pulls out his phone ( His phone!! Hongjoong’s brain helpfully provides) and angles it towards Hongjoong. “I was… well I mean… I was wondering…”
Hongjoong’s phone lights up again, this time, a tiny fix on! sounding from it instead. Seonghwa pauses, and Hongjoong nearly throws his hands up in exasperation because why in the world was Mingi fucking texting him at 1AM in the morning–
Wait. “Shit– I have to– let me get that–” Hongjoong scrambles for his phone, swiping over and entering his password with fumbling hands. Hongjoong has a special text tone just for Mingi, because Mingi never texts anyone — one of the few people in the world who still prefers to call — and the last time Mingi texted Hongjoong, that night had somehow ended up with Mingi and Yeosang spending six hours in a jail cell, with Yunho having to break every traffic law in existence to rescue Jongho from getting kidnapped by some travelling cult.
That was the same moment that Hongjoong knew to never ignore Mingi’s texts ever again, so he swipes to his messages, clicking on his text thread with Mingi.
HONGJOONG I HEARD YOU HAVE A PRETTY BOY IN THE SHOP
ME AND MINGI ARE COMING OVER RI GH T NOW
DONT YOU D A R E LET HIM LEAVE
I CANT BELIEVE MY PRECIOUS HONGJOONG IS ACTUALLY TRYING TO FLIRT???
WAIT THEY SAY YOUVE BEEN IN THE BACK WITH HIM FOR A WHILE OMGGGG!!!
also really hongjoong i see your read receipts
you really ignored my texts i see this favoritism
only looking when you think mingi is texting huh
what if i was in trouble
“Is… everything alright?” Seonghwa hesitantly asks. Hongjoong merely sighs, nearly slamming his phone back onto the table.
“Yeah, it’s just some idiots being idiots at 1AM in the morning,” Hongjoong says. Seonghwa laughs again, and Hongjoong looks over expectantly, but Seonghwa is standing instead, his phone back into his pocket and the previous moment gone.
( I mean, I probably just got my hopes up, he probably was going to ask something else, Hongjoong tries telling himself. It fails, and he mentally curses Yunho and Mingi.)
“Ah, yeah, we can take it off now,” Hongjoong says instead, carefully pulling the parchment off of Seonghwa’s skin. The “tattoo” came out nicely, if Hongjoong could say so himself. It took a lot of effort to properly blend the red colors together, and making a detailed headset was a bit of a challenge, but if the way that Seonghwa gaped at the drawing with a mouth shaped in a perfect ‘O’ was an indication of how he felt, Hongjoong was satisfied with the final outcome.
“This… this is so nice I love it!” Seonghwa smiles at Hongjoong, his fingers delicately hovering over the drawing. “Oh my gosh though, you… you’re so talented I can’t believe–”
“T-thanks,” Hongjoong rubs his head awkwardly. He grabs a black gel pen, a brief wave of inspiration coming over him. “W-wait, if you don’t mind, can I add a bit of more details to it? It’s just some little details that I think might make it look nicer.”
“Y-yeah, of course,” Seonghwa holds his arm towards Hongjoong, his eyes shining expectantly. For a moment, Hongjoong wonders if he should take the leap and write his phone number on Seonghwa’s arm. He was so sure they had a moment back there, and maybe… just maybe…
But Hongjoong’s never been that bold in life, so he pushes away that momentary spur of confidence and draws some little stars nearby the planet, adding a few music notes as well to mimic a galaxy.
“Hope you don’t mind, I thought it would be cool if it looked like Mars was actually in space.” he mumbles. Out of the corner of his eye, Seonghwa’s eyes seem to dim, but he’s still smiling, looking tenderly at the drawing on his arm.
“It’s perfect,” Seonghwa finally says, a warm smile directed straight at Hongjoong. Hongjoong feels his heart bursting again.
He opens the door, motioning Seonghwa towards the main room. Almost immediately, the muffled sounds from the front of his shop become clear, and the two walk in to see Wooyoung and San screaming at the top of their lungs, as Jongho is exhaustedly holding a broken up watermelon. There are at least a dozen broken apples lining the counter, and Hongjoong is pretty sure Yeosang is on Instagram live at that moment, his camera pointed straight at Jongho.
Hongjoong lets the door close behind him, as four sets of eyes whip in their direction. Seonghwa shifts uncomfortably, before turning to Hongjoong again.
“So, how much should I pay–”
“Oh now I won’t charge for this–”
“We paid already!” Wooyoung and San bound over to Seonghwa and grab at his arm, their eyes wide and mouths open as they oooh at the “tattoo”. Hongjoong slides over to Yeosang, eyeing him disapprovingly.
“You charged? Really?” Yeosang shrugs, undeterred.
“Hey now, you guys were in there for a while, I figured he actually convinced you to give him a real one.” Yeosang smirks, the mischievous grin back on his face. “Don’t worry, I gave him the family discount, because I figured you probably did something stupid like propose to him–”
Hongjoong elbows Yeosang in the side. He glances between Yeosang and Jongho. “Also, which one of you guys called Yunho?”
“Oh, that was me,” Jongho puts the watermelon down next to his apples and slumps into their waiting bench. “Those two have more energy than a whole elementary school combined, there was no way I could keep up with them on my own,” he glares at Yeosang, who shrugs again and starts rapidly typing away in his phone. “I swear we went through every single fruit I could find in your fridge upstairs Hongjoong, and they were still so excited to see it all, I needed to call for backup.”
Hongjoong feels a wave of pity, because Jongho did look really tired, and he could see how wet with fruit juice Jongho’s hands were, and well maybe I should just let him off the hook for this mess and not make him clean it up–
“And well, Yeosang and I were hoping you’d get at least to first base with pretty boy, but realistically we knew you’d need more than just 30 minutes to get to that point, so I called Yunho here to lock the doors and trap the two of you in there until you actually did something besides stare at him awkwardly like you probably did–”
“You have five minutes to clean up this mess and wipe it all down, or else I’m docking your pay.” Jongho jumps up, racing for their supplies closet. Yeosang rolls his eyes.
“Jongho has a point. I mean, did you ever ask for his number? No, of course you didn’t.” Yeosang turned away before Hongjoong had a chance to retort, focusing his attention on the three, where Wooyoung and San were still tugging on a slightly exasperated Seonghwa’s arm in amazement.
“Hey, I called an Uber for you guys, it should be about two minutes.” Seonghwa looks up, as Yeosang walks over to the trio, his phone out. “Hopefully it’s okay to drop you off at Wooyoung’s place? It took a while to get an address from them– actually– if you could just confirm this is it and I’m not sending you guys to the middle of nowhere–”
Seonghwa leans over Yeosang’s phone, nodding with a small smile on his face. Even in the span of an hour and a half, with multiple moments where that same smile was directed at him, Hongjoong still finds himself swooning.
“I swear, if you didn’t ask for his number…” Jongho mumbles behind him, a mop in his hand. Hongjoong pinches at him.
“Start mopping, or else I’m putting you on ink cleanup this week,” Jongho’s mouth drops open in shock.
“It’s Mingi’s turn!”
A honk rings from outside, and they all turn to see a black car pull up in front of the shop. Yeosang glances at the license plate, and then his phone.
“Ah, here it is,” Grabbing Wooyoung’s hand with one, and placing San’s arm around his shoulder, he guides the two towards the car. “Don’t mind me, I’ll just help them into the car, you two say your goodbyes for as long as you need too–” He pushes the door open, nearly dragging the two towards the curb.
The two stand there, neither looking the other in the eye. “W-well, your ride is here I-I guess…” Hongjoong finally says, clumsily motioning towards the door. Seonghwa hums in response.
“It was… it was nice meeting you Hongjoong,” he says. “Thanks for this again, both the tattoo and for putting up with our drunk selves.” he points to the tattoo, flashing a grateful smile. Hongjoong’s heart speeds up rapidly, but he just nods his acknowledgement.
Seonghwa shuffles slightly towards the door, his eyes still on Hongjoong. He pauses.
“H-hey,” Hongjoong looks over expectantly. “Um, actually, you think you could add just one other detail to my tattoo?” He holds his arm up in Hongjoong’s direction. “I meant it when I said I love it, but I just thought of something that would make it 110% perfect.”
“Oh yeah, of course!” Hongjoong grabs a black gel pen from the counter, uncapping it quickly. “I mean, you did technically pay for me to give this to you so whatever you want me to add I can do it–”
“Could you add your number, right here?”
Hongjoong trips, gel pen falling out of his hand.
Seonghwa blushes but keeps his gaze trained on Hongjoong. “Of course, if I perhaps read the signs wrong, or maybe this was slightly too forward, maybe I could leave my number with you instead, so you can decide on your own terms whether to contact me or just toss it away–”
Hongjoong blinks before he swipes the pen off the floor and grabs Seonghwa’s arm, scribbling with shaky hands.
“T-this is it!” He blurts out. Seonghwa pulls his arm back, where a series of numbers was written next to the stars that Hongjoong had just drawn. “Ah– wait– I should have written it clearer sorry sometimes my 5’s look like 6’s so that number is a 5 not a 6–”
Seonghwa smiles and chuckles lightly, cutting Hongjoong off in a daze. “I think it looks perfect, but thank you for the clarification, I’ll definitely make a note of it.” He looks back up at Hongjoong, the same sparkling eyes from before even brighter. “Thank you again, Hongjoong.”
With one last wave, he finally makes for the door, turning just once more in Hongjoong’s direction before he climbs into the backseat with Wooyoung and San, the door closing and the car driving off. Hongjoong watches it go in a daze, as the chaos of the night finally transitions into a quiet state.
“Well…” Jongho finally breaks the silence, looking appraisingly in the direction the car had gone. “That has got to be the smoothest way to ask for a number that I’ve ever seen.”
“Good to know that at least one of you has the balls to make moves.” Yeosang adds. Hongjoong throws the gel pen in his direction, and Yeosang yelps when it hits him in the cheek.
A whirl of a motor scooter directs the three’s attention back to the front of the store, where Yunho and Mingi have just pulled up, screeching to a stop in front of the shop as the two stumble their way in, metaphoric tails waving behind in excitement.
“Where’s the pretty boy that Hongjoong’s in love with?” Yunho is nearly out of breath but still enthusiastically looking around the store, as if said “pretty boy” was hiding behind a counter waiting to surprise the two.
For a moment, no one says anything, all five of them just staring between each other. Finally, Jongho finally clears his throat. He points at himself and winks.
“It’s me.”
(Hongjoong feels absolutely nothing as three guys immediately pounce on Jongho, bringing him to the floor, the cries of help falling on his deaf ears.)
It’s nearly two hours later when Hongjoong finally has a moment to himself, after getting the four settled down in his studio for an impromptu sleepover (Yunho has an early piercing appointment, Mingi never goes anywhere without Yunho, Wooyoung apparently found Yeosang cute and gave his instagram handle that the three were currently stalking for pictures of Seonghwa, and Jongho decided now was the best time to start making watermelon juice and apple pies). It takes a while, but after getting them to lie down in his living room, finding a decent enough stuffed animal for Mingi, and promising Jongho he would watch the pies in the oven, the four had finally fallen asleep.
When it’s all quiet, he pulls out his phone. There’s a message from an unknown number. He opens it.
So… Yeosang told me I need to make a follow up appointment to check on my tattoo. Do you think we could schedule one sometime this week?
Hongjoong giggles to himself.
If you want to do a check up over coffee, I’d definitely be down.
It’s not even a second after his message that the next one comes in.
Coffee sounds great.
Hongjoong still has only one rule at his shop. But maybe… just maybe for someone like Seonghwa, he’d be willing to bend it just this once.