Chapter Text
Yunho watched her walk into the shop, her dyed red hair pinned up behind a blue bandana, her leather jacket covering her arms, but not her tattooed hands.
“How’s it going?” she smiled, removing her jacket and setting it on the counter.
Yunho’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. Underneath her jacket lay numerous tattoos, each of her arms had beautiful pictures etched into her skin that flowed effortlessly one into the next. The pictures connected to the drawings that danced across one of her collarbones, easily visible due to the V neck t-shirt she wore.
“Welcome to Deja Vu Tattoo Studio. What can I do for you, love?” he smiled, shaking his head out of his obvious fixation.
“I’m here to meet with Hongjoong,” she grinned leaning over the counter, her cleavage very prominent now, making it a little hard for him to breathe, “I’m Y/N.”
She extended her hand to him. He took it quickly, shaking it firmly.
So this is Y/N? He thought to himself.
He’d seen her entire book of work before she’d even arrived. Hongjoong had talked up this new artist he was bringing in, but had never really used pronouns. She had an impressive body of work, along with an impressive body, that Yunho would be a fool not to acknowledge, to match.
“I’m Yunho,” he smiled before hitting the intercom button, “Hongjoong, can you come to the front?”
Y/N looked around at the shop, it was small but it was nice. She loved the fact that it was so bright and opened compared to the other places she’d worked. The typical shop run by men were usually drenched in dark colors and heavy metal blasting through the speakers. Here it was full of light and open space. Everything was colorful as her skin and punk rock played quietly in the background while a blonde man worked on a sleeve in the corner station.
As she admired the shop, Yunho continued admiring her. Her tattoos were extremely well done, her left shoulder all the way down to her wrist was scattered with different colorful flowers, small lace designs woven in every so often that also crept onto her collar bone. Her other arm wasn’t as heavily tattooed but she still had a few small pieces, including the words “No Day But Today” scrawled across her forearm. The piercings she had seemed to suit her face well, a few extra on her ears, a small hoop adorned her nose along with an eyebrow piercing on the opposite side. She was his kind of girl, that was for sure.
“Y/N!” Hongjoong bellowed from the back, shaking them both from their gawking.
“Hi, Hongjoong!” she smiled, hugging the blue haired man, “how the hell are you?”
“I’m just great, kid.” He laughed, “you are not the little girl you used to be, that’s for damn sure!”
“Don’t be creepy dude,” she giggled, shoving his shoulder a little, “you know my brother would kick your ass.”
“Yeah I know,” he chuckled, “Eden says ‘hi’ by the way. He’ll probably be around later if you wanna catch up!”
“I’d love that!” she grinned before turning a little more serious, “but you know why I’m here.”
“I’ve looked through your work, along with the rest of the guys and I think you’d do great here.” He said, crossing his arms a little, “I just need to see you in action.”
“I can take some walk-ins today if you want,” she offered knowing her customer skills were bar none.
“I’ve got a better idea,” Hongjoong said, a hit of mischief in his eyes, “Jeong, get over here!”
“Fuck,” Yunho mumbled under his breath before walking towards the two, “what’s up?”
“This is Y/N, and she needs a quick canvas,” he explained with a smile, “would you be okay with her doing your chest piece? I know I was supposed to do it, but I think her style would look a ton better.”
Yunho looked at Y/N, her eyes lighting up at the praise. He was getting the piece done either way and clearly this girl was more than qualified to do it, so what the hell?
“Sure, sounds great to me!” he flashed her a smile, a small blush creeping up her cheeks.
“Do you have anything drawn up?” she asked, tossing her jacket on the receptionist chair and grabbing her tablet from her messenger bag.
“Not really, I just have an idea of what I want,” he said, his hand rubbing the back of his neck almost nervously.
“Okay, before you two get started, I’m gonna find you a temporary station,” Hongjoong said walking over to the blonde in the corner who nodded to the empty station across from him.
“Right here okay?” he called from across the room, nodding at the work space.
“Perfect,” she smiled before walking to her car to grab her gear.
“So, how long have you been doing this for?” Yunho asked as Y/N concentrated on her sketch book. He wanted something to flow into his already existing sleeve that was heavily music themed, so she drew up a piece that looked like his favorite sheet music cracking through his left pec that flowed into strings of music notes and into the existing piece that began on his shoulder.
“A few years now, but I’ve always loved drawing and art and what not,” she smiled as she finished up her sketch.
“Only a few years?” he asked, shocked, “I’ve seen your work and it screams someone who’s been in the game for decades.”
“Well, thanks!” she grinned, “that’s a high compliment coming from you, Hongjoong raves about you.”
“I learned everything I know from him, he’s been a big inspiration to me,” Yunho smiled.
As if on cue, Hongjoong appeared behind Y/N, grinning over her shoulder at her drawing.
“You’re gonna love this, man,” he said looking up at Yunho, “really, I couldn’t have come up with something better myself.”
“Awww, thanks,” Y/N gushed before setting her stylus and tablet down on the small table in front of Yunho, turning it so it faced him.
“Tell me any alteration you want made to it, after all it is permanent,” she chuckled to herself.
As soon as Yunho saw it, he knew that was always what he’d envisioned, maybe even better than that.
“It’s perfect,” he smiled in awe, running his hands over the screen.
“Okay, then!” she chirped, clapping her hands, “let me get this into a stencil and we’ll get started!”
Yunho hadn’t seen anyone that passionate or focused before in his life, including himself. He loved tattooing, he loved the artistry of it all. But this girl, this was her life and you could see it in her eyes. She truly loved what she did.
A few minutes later she came bouncing back with the stencil in two pieces.
“Alrighty, let’s do it!” she grinned, walking to her makeshift station.
Yunho followed her, quickly removing his shirt and sitting down in her chair.
“Okay, so I’m just gonna-“ she began before stopping abruptly at the sight of the half-naked man in her chair.
Not that she hadn’t seen a naked guy before but this was different. Yunho was fit, that was for damn sure, but there was just something more about him that made her a little weak in the knees.
This is no time for shakiness, Y/N! She reminded herself.
“-finish prepping then we’ll get started.” She said a little more steadily.
Yunho smirked a little, happy to know he was having the same effect on her as she did him. He watched as she carefully wrapped up her machine and sanitized her work space. He smiled a little bit to himself as he watched her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, something that she probably didn’t realize she was doing.
“Do you mind if I play music?” she asked him, flipping through her phone.
“Not at all,” he chuckled.
The opening riffs to a very familiar song played softly through her phone, a quiet distraction to the buzzing of the tattoo machine.
“So when did you get your first tattoo?” He asked as the sting of the needle began to pierce his skin.
“I had just turned eighteen when I got the one on my forearm,” she said, the unmistakable focus in her voice didn’t match the perfectly calm features on her face.
“The one that says ‘No Day But Today’?” he asked, wincing a little bit as she went over a particular sensitive spot.
“Yup, that’s the one!” she smiled this time, dipping her needle back into the black ink.
“What’s it mean?” he inquired, trying to keep his mind off of the constant sting of the needle.
“It’s from the musical Rent,” she explained as she continued with her work, “it means that there’s no day but today to live your life to its full extent.”
“That’s kinda nice,” Yunho smiled, watching her contently.
“What about you, tough guy?” she jabbed, eyes flickering to his face for a brief moment.
“I was sixteen and I got the words to a song too,” he laughed a little, but trying not to disturb her.
“Is it the one on your side with the roses?” she asked, “I noticed it before we started. That’s one of my favorite songs.”
It was a simple design but it had a big meaning to Yunho. American Style roses adorned the right side of his torso with the words “Love yourself so no one has to” etched above and below it.
“What, were you checking me out?” he asked with a cocky smirk.
“Maybe,” she grinned with a wink.
This girl would easily be the death of him.
After six hours and some of the best conversation of his life she was done with his chest piece. Yunho sat up as Y/N cleaned up her station watching as she moved her neck from side to side, her hand on the side of it trying to get rid of any unwanted tension. Yunho’s hands were aching to help her, to feel her skin under his fingers.
“How’d it go?” Hongjoong piped up, coming around to sit next to Y/N on a stool.
“You tell me,” she smiled nodding to Yunho.
He stood up to look in the mirror at her handy work. Needless to say, it was beyond amazing. The girl had a gift, there was no denying it. But her ability to make something so painful go by so fast and easy was her greatest asset.
“It’s amazing, Y/N,” Yunho smiled widely before turning to her and capturing her in a hug, “thank you so much, seriously this is phenomenal!”
He held on maybe a little longer than he should’ve but she didn’t mind at all. Feeling Yunho’s arms around her was a feeling that she could easily get used to. Something about this place screamed home to her, something about him screamed home to her.
“Well, I can easily say you’re hired, kid!” Hongjoong laughed from behind them. The two pull apart before heading back to the front of the shop.
“So, since you’re officially a part of the team, why don’t you let us take you out?” Yunho suggested as he pulled his shirt back on.
“Us?” Y/N asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, there’s Mingi the guy you’re gonna be across from, our piercers Wooyoung and Jongho, Yeosang is our portrait guy, Seonghwa is Hongjoongs right hand and manager, Sannie is our receptionist and of course me.” He beamed as she threw her bag over her shoulder.
“Well, I mean if you’re there I’m sure to have a good time,” she smirked as she scribbled on a piece of paper, “here’s my number and address, pick me up around eight?”
“You’ve got it, doll.” Yunho winked.