Work Text:
“There’s something I wanted to ask you”
Felix presses the towel to the back of his neck as he turns around to face the source of the voice; Hyunjin is rummaging through his duffel bag, not directly looking at him, but since Minho has already left there’s no doubt he’s talking to him.
“Shoot”
“Are you free this Friday?”
Felix hums before answering.
“I have the morning shift at the bakery and then I’m free. Why?”
Hyunjin finally stops looking through his things when he gets his hands on a bottle of deodorant which had ended up buried somewhere under a small pile of sweaty clothes. He is so messy with all his stuff sometimes it honestly impresses Felix, despite how many years they have shared their hobby for dancing and their locker room.
“I have an appointment at a tattoo parlor’s that afternoon. Wanna come with me? For emotional support?”
“Tattoo parlor?” Felix encourages, his interest peaking.
“Well, piercer in my case. I’m getting a navel piercing”
“Yeah, it’d suit you,” Felix comments after a beat “didn’t know you wanted to get a piercing though”
“Ah,” Hyunjin smiles, a little bashful “it was an impulsive decision. I thought, maybe, it would be a nice surprise for Jeongin”
A second passes as the pair exchange a glance and Felix breaks into a knowing grin. Of course Hyunjin would do that for his boyfriend.
“So will you come with me? Please?” Hyunjin presses, quickly looking away in embarrassment. That makes Felix laugh.
“Sure, it’ll be fun” he agrees at last, swinging his own bag over his shoulder “I’ll see you on Friday then”
Hyunjin waves goodbye and, as he leaves the room, Felix can see him resuming some frantic search through his stuff.
***
Fucking rose tattoos.
Artists pour their souls in each of their works, leave a piece of it in them - that’s what people say. But Changbin lost count of the amount of roses he had to draw in the course of his career.
The design he's working on is minimalistic and quite pretty, but so incredibly boring he would rather be doing anything else. It doesn't help that he can feel Seungmin hovering and lightly making fun of his frustration from over his shoulder.
Changbin huffs as he hastily grabs the eraser.
"From now on if somebody comes in asking for a rose tattoo, can you please kick them out?"
Seungmin chuckles in response.
"Sure, if you want to be closing before the end of the month"
Changbin rolls his eyes, but an easy smile is already playing on his lips.
“Yeah, I bet you know exactly how much we make with rose tattoos per year, don’t you?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Changbin shakes his head and for a short while they settle in a comfortable silence, filled only by the music Seungmin had been quietly playing from his desk, before he speaks up once again.
“By the way, you have an appointment for a navel piercing in fifteen”
“Alright, I’ll finish this later”
Changbin doesn’t bother to try and remember about his appointments, and he has to admit to himself at least that he would be lost without Seungmin. He takes his job as the parlor’s secretary and accountant more seriously than it’s probably necessary, and Changbin can’t help but think he is so grateful to have him with him. Seungmin, who could probably be running the country if only he wanted to, but chose to work with him, in the name of their friendship.
He shakes the thought off as he abandons his sketch for later and starts preparing his work station instead. Setting down all he needs doesn’t take much time, and after he’s done that he just focuses. The bell on the front door goes off.
“Hwang Hyunjin for a belly button piercing?”
Seungmin greets the client while Changbin’s in the parlor’s small bathroom washing his hands.
“Changbin will be here in a second,” he hears him add while he grabs the towel.
He gets out and he’s met with the sight of two guys: one is tall, long black hair brushing his shoulders, and the other is the prettiest man he’s ever seen.
“Hi,” Changbin says, a little out of breath, and he clears his throat in embarrassment.
Seungmin lets out a quiet chuckle which Changbin pointedly ignores.
“Hyunjin?” he asks, more stable now, glancing between the two.
“That’s me,” chirps the taller, giving him a big toothy smile.
“I’m Felix,” says the other “I’m his friend”
His smile is shier than his friend’s, but breathtaking nonetheless.
And his voice. Changbin is taken aback by the depth of it, and the beauty of his timbre.
“It’s okay is he stays for emotional support?”
“Yeah of course,” Changbin immediately replies “it’s cool”
Like hell he’s gonna tell that beauty to get out.
Changbin doesn’t miss Seungmin’s knowing glance, nor the one he shoots Hyunjin, probably in search of some mutual understanding. Who does miss it is Hyunjin, who looks as excited as a puppy at the prospect of getting pierced.
Oh right, the piercing.
“Please follow me”
He leads them to the room on the right where he had already set down some paper towels and the sterile needle, and he gestures for Hyunjin to lie down. It’s hard to look away from Felix, whose eyes he felt on him the whole time - thirty seconds being said time.
He steadies his hand: he can’t do a poor job on poor Hyunjin just because there’s a cute boy around. He can almost feel Seungmin judging him from the other room.
“Nervous?” Changbin asks while he wears a pair of latex gloves and starts to get the needle out.
“A bit,” he hears Hyunjin reply “will it hurt a lot?”
Changbin chuckles - he’s used to this - and gives the standard answer while thinking of a way to hear Felix’s gorgeous voice again.
“Well, pain is subjective, but navel usually isn’t too bad”
Hyunjin seems at least a little more at ease.
“Jeongin will surely like it” Felix says, putting Changbin out of his misery.
“Boyfriend?”
Hyunjin nods. Of course.
“My ex-boyfriend liked them a lot too - piercings and tats I mean”
He tries to subtly let Felix know he’s available and again, he can feel Seungmin judging from the other room.
“I really hope so” Hyunjin says right before Changbin gets to work.
It’s done in a couple of seconds really, while the three of them stay in perfect silence.
“All done” he announces then.
“Did it hurt?” Felix asks, curious and perhaps a bit anxious.
No piercings for him then.
“Not too much”
“I’m glad”
Changbin smiles before starting the usual speech about aftercare.
Although it’s Seungmin who handles payments, Changbin follows them to the front desk, wordless. While Hyunjin and Seungmin chat, Changbin turns to Felix, who he finds looking at him. Changbin sends him a - awkward - smile, and Felix looks away, also smiling.
Seungmin side-eyes them, while Hyunjin still seems oblivious to the dynamic playing out. When it’s time for the two to go, Changbin and Felix exchange some muttered goodbyes, and then they’re out.
Seungmin loudly sighs.
Changbin still ignores him.
***
Days later, Felix is still thinking about the piercer.
Changbin.
He has been stalking his instagram since that night, without much luck. Not a single photo of him, just miles of black ink on skin and gorgeous boards exploding with colors. Felix has to admit, he loves his style, but it’s not what he’s looking for. He hoped he’d find some pictures of him, his handsome face or his big, tattooed arms.
Felix’s head spins just thinking about it, and he has to watch out for how much sugar he’s putting into the dough. He has to see him again.
“Ex boyfriend,” Changbin had said. So he likes men. And he must be single.
He really has to see him again.
His whole shift is spent thinking of a way of casually running into Changbin, but genius strikes him in the evening, while he’s heading to practice.
“So how’s the piercing healing?” he asks Hyunjin in the changing rooms.
“Very well, thanks. It doesn’t hurt at all at this point”
“Did Jeongin like it?” Minho pipes in, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.
Hyunjin blushes.
“He did,” he answers in a small voice.
Couldn’t be better news to Felix.
“Come on,” Minho says then, hurrying to the practice room, and the conversation is over.
It doesn’t matter though, because while music courses through his body and sweat drips down his back, Felix’s brain is running fast, and his plan is coming to life.
When the session is over Minho changes quickly and leaves, as usual, and Felix is left alone with Hyunjin once again.
“You know,” he starts, casual, “you know what Jeongin would love? Nipple piercings”
Hyunjin looks taken aback, but intrigued all the while.
“Nipple piercings? Really?” Hyunjin looks at him with his big eyes and Felix knows he’ll get what he wants.
“Yeah,” he says as he changes into a clean shirt “I remember he liked those a lot, he used to talk about it back in highschool”
“You think I should get them?”
Bingo.
Oh, his dumb, simp of a friend.
“Well I don’t know” Felix says then, not to be too obvious but mostly just for revenge psychology. “It could be a nice surprise, but you just got the belly button one…”
Hyunjin thinks about it for a split second.
“I’ll get them,” he says surely.
“Will you come with me?”
Felix smiles.
“Of course”
***
Seungmin recognises Hyunjin and Felix immediately when they come in.
“Back so soon?” he greets them, and he receives two sheepish smiles in return.
Changbin emerges from a room seconds later, and stops in his tracks like struck by lightning.
“Hi again,” he says with a small smile, looking straight at Felix. God, what a simp.
“Hi,” comes Felix's shy reply, followed by Hyunjin’s cheerful greeting.
“So, nipple piercings?” Changbin finally speaks after a couple seconds of awkward silence, which Seungmin spent trying to get Hyunjin’s mutual understanding once again, without much luck.
“Yeah,” Hyunjin says, excited like a puppy but not adding anything else.
Changbin smiles at him, taking his eyes off Felix at last, and his expression soon turns amused.
“So I’m guessing your boyfriend liked the navel?”
“He liked it a lot,” Hyunjin blushes as he says the words, looking down at his shoes.
“Follow me,” Changbin says then, leading them to the room on the right once again, all ready to get the work done, and Seungmin has to subtly slide closer to the wall to keep listening in to the conversation.
“I must warn you,” Changbin is saying, “nipple piercings are usually pretty painful. Erogenous zones are sensitive areas”
“I understand,” Hyunjin says, sounding nervous.
“Don’t worry, I’ll do it quickly. In the meanwhile, try to distract yourself, Tell me about your boyfriend”
Hyunjin then starts babbling about some guy named Jeongin, who is apparently the cutest boy on the face of Earth. Seungmin has to suppress a chuckle.
He hears a little pained gasp interrupting the babbling and he correctly guesses the first one is done.
“Here,” Changbin speaks gently, “how was it?”
“Painful,” Hyunjin confirms, earning a hint of laughter from Changbin.
“First’s done, are you ready for the second one?”
Hyunjin must have nodded, because for a while Seungmin hears just silence, then another gasp.
“How are you feeling?” a deep voice asks then. Felix.
“It hurts”
“It won’t last too long,” Changbin reassures him, “think of Jeongin, how surprised he’ll be when you come home all pierced up so soon”
“Now,” Changbin then starts with his aftercare speech, which Seungmin knows all too well and doesn’t register as he shifts back to his desk, sensing they’ll come back there soon enough.
The three of them promptly emerge in the room and Seungmin immediately calls Hyunjin's attention to handle the payment, leaving Changbin and Felix standing facing each other.
“Card?”
Hyunjin nods to the question and Seungmin steals a glance behind his back to see nothing at all happening.
Unbelievable. Seungmin is baffled. Changbin rarely ever shuts his mouth, but in front of Felix’s big brown eyes and soft look he stands in perfect silence like a complete idiot. Not that Felix is much better.
Seungmin has to wish Hyunjin hurries up, just to put the two of them out of their misery.
Hyunjin finally puts his wallet back into his jeans’ pocket and turns around, and Felix’s eyes fly to his friend.
“We’re good to go,” he announces, and Felix has the audacity to look regretful.
“Okay then, bye,” Felix sends a quick wave Seungmin’s way before smiling at Changbin once again.
“See you soon,” he replies, looking starstruck.
Hyunjin and Felix make their way out, and once the door closes behind them, Changbin loudly sighs.
“That’s my line,” Seungmin says, and he gets a puzzled look in response.
It really is his turn to sigh.
***
While he’s busy beating himself up over Changbin, Felix receives a message from Jeoning inviting him to come over.
It can’t hurt, he says to himself, to see a friend to distract himself from the thought of that handsome tattoo artist.
Honestly though, Felix can’t believe it. He mastered up his plan just to see Changbin again, and then he froze. It’s unusual for him to go silent like that, even in front of a crush. He must really like him, he tells himself.
He definitely felt himself falling the previous day, seeing how well he handled Hyunjin by making him focus on Jeongin instead of the pain. He was thoughtful, just like Felix hoped a boyfriend would be.
Oh, he’s down bad.
Getting to Jeongin’s place doesn’t take long, and soon Felix is ringing the doorbell.
“You,” Jeonging says in lieu of a greeting.
“Me?”
“Yes, you,” he says as he’s letting him in, “you convinced my boyfriend to get nipple piercings”
“What, you don’t like those anymore?”
Jeongin huffs, his arms crossed.
“That’s not the point. He just got his belly button pierced like a week ago. Where are we supposed to get the money to pay the bills?”
“So you do like them,” Felix smiles. He knows his friend’s not really mad.
“That’s not the point!”
Felix laughs.
“Oh, I just know you went crazy over them”
“I did like them,” Jeongin admits, just to shut him up, blushing a little. On that, he’s just like Hyunjin. “But seriously, what possessed you to tell him that I would like it?”
“Simply knowing that you would,” he replies, doing his best to look innocent.
Jeongin isn’t fooled. He narrows his eyes at him, studying him for a while.
“C’mon Innie,” Felix chuckles, “why else would I have done it?”
“I’m trying to figure it out” Jeongin keeps looking at him like he’s trying to read his mind, and after a while he has to give in under the pressure.
“Okay, I’ll tell you! Promise you won’t make fun of me”
“I will do no such thing”
Felix gives him a dirty look, but he sighs as he sits down on the sofa, Jeongin soon taking place next to him.
“His piercer, Changbin. He’s really cute”
Jeongin stays silent for a couple of seconds, like he’s waiting for Felix to add something.
“That’s it? You got a crush on the piercer and got my boyfriend to get new holes in his body for this?”
Jeongin looks partly baffled, partly - mostly - amused. Felix feels his ears burning.
“Yes, okay, I wanted a chance to see him again and-”
“So you asked him out?”
“... No”
“What do you mean no? So it was all for nothing?”
“Hey, not for nothing. We have established you like those piercings”
Jeongin shakes his head, then a thought seems to strike him.
“Don’t try asking Hyunjin to get another piercing. We really need to pay our bills, you know?”
“I wasn't going to!” Felix screams, outraged.
Jeongin gives him a look.
“Okay, maybe I considered it. But I won't, promise”
“You better”
As soon as he stops speaking the door opens and Hyunjin comes in.
“Oh, hi Lix,” he greets as he goes to give his boyfriend a peck on the lips.
“Hey. Do the piercings still hurt? We were just talking about how much Jeongin liked them”
Jeongin punches his shoulder as Felix laughs, while Hyunjin seems to completely ignore his last sentence.
“Yeah, it's insane”
“Ah, I'm sorry about that. Well, I'll leave you guys” Felix says as he gets up and goes to put his shoes back on.
“So soon?” Hyunjin asks, and Felix nods.
“Yeah, I got to get to work early tomorrow”
“Right, better start working on plan B already” Jeongin says, a smirk plastered on his face.
Felix sends a dirty look his way before saying his goodbyes and heading out.
Hyunjin turns to his boyfriend, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“Plan B? What does that mean?”
Jeongin smiles softly at him. Of course he would have no idea.
“Nothing, baby”
He takes his face in his hands and drags him into a kiss.
***
When Changbin gets home he finds his roommate messing about in the kitchen. Jisung seems sufficiently busy cooking some instant noodles, so much so he barely acknowledges Changbin, giving him a nod from his place at the stove.
Hoping his friend thought of making some for him too, Changbin unceremoniously throws himself on the couch and closes his eyes.
“Long day?”
“You have no idea” Jisung chuckles, then brings two fuming cups of noodles to rest on the coffee table in front of the couch.
“Did you have to do another rose tattoo?”
“Worse,” Changbin groans, “I met a guy”
Jisung doesn’t look at him while he grabs his cup and chopsticks.
“I lost you there”
Changbin huffs, also reaching for his noodles and stuffing a bite in his mouth.
“He’s really cute, but I couldn’t talk to him”
“That’s impossible, you never shut the fuck up”
Changbin hits him on his leg, but he does have to admit that he’s right, and that’s where the problem lies.
“I don’t know why, I just can’t really say a word to him, I don’t know what’s wrong with me”
“Wow,” Jisung says, “you’ve met this guy once-”
“Twice”
“- twice and already you’re like this. He must be really cute”
“It’s not just that he’s cute,” Changbin begins to say, but he’s already at a loss for words, “he’s - I don’t know, I just feel like he’s special. He seems sweet, and kind, and he has this voice, God-”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Jisung interrupts with a disgusted face, “but how do you know all this about him if you haven’t talked to him?”
Changbin has to think about it for a minute. He doesn’t know really, but he’d kill to find out. He just has to hope he’ll see him again soon.
Perhaps that friend of his might want another piercing. Lip would be a good fit for him, in Changbin’s humble opinion.
“I don’t know, okay? But there’s something in the way he holds himself that makes me feel like he’s all that and more”
Did he sound dreamy while he talked? Judging from Jisung’s face, he probably did.
“Alright,” Jisung mumbles, getting up to throw away the empty cups and grab something from the counter, “maybe this will clear you mind”
He throws a small plastic bag on the coffee table, along with some rolling paper, and he promptly starts to roll up a joint.
“Make the filter, will you? You have no idea the effort I put in getting this”
Changbin huffs, but he does get an old bus ticket and folds it to make a filter.
“You mean sitting on your ass all day while I worked to get the money you used to buy it?”
Jisung rolls his eyes, but he has the decency not to bite back.
Soon enough the joint is ready, and Changbin rightfully earned himself the first puff. The smoke swiftly clouds the room as Changbin hands it to his roommate after a couple other drags, which Jisung immediately doubles.
“Do you even know the guy’s name?”
“Felix,” Changbin answers, his eyes closed and Felix’s soft features appearing behind his eyelids like a watercolor painting.
“Oh, good, so you must have said at least two words to each other”
Changbin softly laughs and doesn’t hit Jisung, a clear sign the smoke is making him relax at last.
“Do you know his last name? We can look him up on instagram”
“No, I don’t,” Changbin grumbles. It’s not like he didn’t think about it before.
“Well, did he get something done at the studio? He might have posted it and tagged you”
“No, he was there to support his friend,” Changbin says miserably, but then it hits him, “and he did tag me”
Changbin immediately grabs his phone to get Hyunjin’s profile, and Jisung looks at the picture from over his shoulder.
“Damn, his friend’s hot,” he exclaims, taking another puff.
“Calm down, tiger, he already has a boyfriend”
Jisung pouts at him, then snatches the phone from his hand to look for a Felix among his followers. Immediately, a profile pops up, and Jisung is met with a smiley guy with long brown hair and a beautiful face covered in freckles.
“This him?”
Changbin nods.
“Well, at least you got taste,” he comments, taking back the joint which had ended up in Changbin’s hands.
Changbin gets hold of his phone instead and starts scrolling through his pictures. Apparently he’s a baker - which is perfect, Changbin loves sweet things - he dances, and he has a large friend group with whom he loves to hang out. He looks just like Changbin thought he would: friendly, cheerful and just perfect for him.
“Damn, man, get a grip,” Jisung sneers, and oh, so Changbin had been saying all that out loud.
He curses and closes instagram before he accidentally likes a post, places his phone on the table and gets ready for a night of Jisung making fun of him.
***
With Hyunjin out of his scheme, Felix has to think of a new way of getting back to Changbin’s parlor.
He has half a mind to ask Chan if he’s interested in getting a piercing, but it’s a bit too random and he can’t hope for him to be as clueless as Hyunjin, so he has to momentarily discard that idea. He’ll come back to it when he gets to a point of real desperation. Which he’s pretty close to, by the way.
Then, a miracle happens.
They’re once again in the changing room, getting cleaned up after a round of practice, when Minho approaches him.
“You know,” he begins, “I was thinking of getting a tattoo”
Felix’s interest immediately peaks.
“Oh?”
“Yeah,” he continues, “and Hyunjin talked so well of his piercer - Changbin, right? - that I’m considering to pick him. I checked his profile and I really like his designs”
“Oh, Changbin is great,” Hyunjin pipes in, lifting his head from his mess of a bag, “you won’t regret it”
“I’m sure,” Minho smiles.
“Well, I could come with you if you’d like,” Felix immediately jumps at the opportunity, trying and failing not to look too eager.
Minho looks at him with his usual smile, cryptic, like he knows something he doesn’t, and Felix feels like a kid caught with his hands in a jam jar.
“Oh, I don’t know…” he trails off, “of course I wouldn’t mind, but you know, it’s going to be hours of work…”
“That’s okay,” Felix says with no hesitation, “I mean, I wouldn’t want you to get lonely”
Minho stays silent for a couple seconds, Felix supposes just to torture him, then he agrees.
“Very well then, I’ll contact him and I’ll let you know when the appointment is. But really, since it’s gonna take a while, you better come prepared”
Minho winks at him, then he’s out. Felix throws a glance at Hyunjin, but he’s busy rummaging through his stuff and doesn’t seem to have brought much attention to what just happened.
Come prepared. Oh, he will.
Sure enough, Minho texts him date and time a couple days later, and Felix just has to think about getting himself ready for the appointment.
He ends up making a batch of his famous brownies to take to the parlor for Changbin and Seungmin. Minho is quite happy about it, too.
Walking into the studio once again, Felix takes a deep breath. This time will be different, he’s sure of it. It’s a great help Minho’s with him this time around, since he seems to somehow have figured out the situation on his own - or perhaps Jeongin told him? - and will quietly support him. Or at least he hopes he will.
Seungmin blinks when he meets Felix’s eyes, then he smiles. Polite, but with a hint of mischievousness that reminds him so much of Minho.
“Oh, hi. Third time’s the charm, right?” then he turns to the other, “Lee Minho?”
“Yes, that’s me” he readily replies as he shakes Seungmin’s hand.
Changbin then comes into the room, black latex gloves already on his hands and a tight black t-shirt hugging his arms just right, and Felix thinks he’s going to faint.
“Hi,” Changbin breathes, and Seungmin has to suppress an impending eye roll in front of his friend’s ecstatic look. He ends up meeting Minho’s eyes instead, who, to Seungmin’s surprise, holds his gaze with a sly smile painted on his face. He’s pleased, to say the least.
“Hi,” Felix says back, and before he can let silence fall between them again, he stretches out his hands holding the tray, “I made brownies for everyone, since it’s going to be a long session”
“Oh, thank you so much, that’s very thoughtful”
Felix smiles as he lays the tray on Seungmin’s desk, waiting for everyone to take a brownie.
“Wow, these are good,” comments Seungmin.
Changbin takes off one of his gloves to also grab a brownie and as he bites into it he hums, pleased.
“They’re amazing, the best I’ve ever had,” he compliments, “do you do this for a living?”
“I do, actually, I’m a baker,” Felix beams.
He knew his brownies would win him over.
Once everyone has finished their piece, Changbin goes to wash his hands after telling Minho to get comfortable, and Felix follows suit into the next room.
Felix finally gets a chance to look at the design Changbin had prepared for Minho and he’s left speechless once again: it’s a beautiful swirl of lines, black with red highlights, oriental style. And of course, it’s a cat. It’s Minho, after all.
“Okay, we’re ready to start. I’ll have you know, though, that the shin is a sensitive spot and it can get pretty painful, especially on the shading”
“That’s okay, I can take pain quite well,” Minho replies, not worried at all, so different from Hyunjin.
“Is this your first tattoo?” Changbin asks as he gets the tattoo pen.
“It is, yeah”
“Excited?”
“Very”
Minho throws a look in Felix’s way, like he’s encouraging to speak in his place, and God bless him for that.
He takes a deep breath and addresses Changbin.
“You know, that design is wonderful, I can’t stop looking at it”
“Oh,” Changbin says, surprised, then he smiles at him, “thank you, I’m quite happy with it myself”
“You should be, I’ve never seen anything like it”
“Well, would you like something similar? I’d be happy to tattoo you”
“I’m scared of needles, but if I had to get a tattoo it’d definitely be something like that”
Once the tension is over, they actually end up hitting it off pretty well. Minho sometimes gets involved in the conversation, but for the most part it’s Changbin and Felix who talk about anything and everything.
Felix gets to hear Changbin laugh a couple of times, and it’s like nothing he’s ever heard before: it’s loud, and so endearing, and he feels like he’s addicted to it. He even ends up telling some bad jokes to get another chance to listen to it.
He also appreciates how despite being busy talking to Felix he never loses his focus on his work on Minho’s leg, carefully carving line after line into his skin with a precision he’s never seen before. On top of that, his focused face is extremely attractive.
Time flies as Changbin works and talks to him about his annoying roommate, Jisung, and how he and Seungmin have the time of their lives driving him crazy and after three hours that felt like minutes the tattoo is done and imprinted on Minho’s flushed skin.
“Okay, finished. How does it look?”
“I love it, thank you” Minho comments after taking a good look at himself in the mirror.
“It’s beautiful,” Felix echoes, marveling at Changbin’s satisfied smile.
“I’m glad you like it”
After completing the payment for the tattoo and the aftercare cream Minho buys, it’s time to leave, and Felix feels he really doesn’t want to. He wants to hang out and talk to Changbin some more, ask him a thousand questions about himself and his work and spend equal time telling him about his life and his friends and just everything.
“So, it was nice getting to finally know you,” Changbin says, a soft smile playing on his lips.
“Yeah, for me too” Silence falls once again between them, neither of them daring asking the other on a date.
Seungmin and Minho exchange an exasperated look. Things have to change.
***
Seungmin is determined to put a stop to this madness, and he’s not the only one.
He has Minho’s number from the register, and he decides to use it.
The two of them end up meeting for a coffee to lay out a plan. Except it’s not so easy.
“Changbin is a complete idiot,” Seungmin says, affectionately.
“Yeah, well, you shouldn’t expect Felix to make the first move,” Minho shakes his head.
“So, what do we do?”
Minho thinks about it for a minute.
“We could arrange for them to meet outside the parlor. You bring Changbin, I bring Felix, they won’t know they’re seeing each other, then we leave”
“Changbin would kill me, I think, but I’m down”
“We also could use another hand. Let me call Jeongin”
“Jeongin? Is that Hyunjin’s boyfriend?”
“Yeah, but don’t worry, he’s not quite as clueless as Hyunjin”
Minho takes out his phone to make the call, and Jeongin swiftly answers.
“Hello?”
“Help us get Felix and Changbin together”
“Who’s us?” Jeongin raises his eyebrow at the phone, not that Minho’s antics really surprise him anymore. That someone else would go along with them, now that’s harder to believe.
“Me and Seungmin, Changbin’s secretary”
“You got Changbin’s secretary involved?”
“Oh, I was involved sooner than everyone else,” Seungmin mutters.
“Okay, what is your plan anyway? Lock them in a room alone and wait?”
“Something like that, yes”
“That’s insane. Felix needs to do this at his own pace”
“His pace is way too slow,” Minho says, and Seungmin nods in agreement.
“It doesn’t matter,” Jeongin replies, “it’s his life, he gets to be as slow as he pleases, let me talk to him. And don’t lock him in any room”
And with that, he closes the call.
“Unbelievable. The youth of today”
“Yeah, tell me about it”
***
Before Minho and his new friend do anything crazy, Jeongin decides to text Felix.
hey lix, saw minho’s new tattoo. did you go with him?
yeah, actually, changbin and i talked a lot
great. so you got a date?
no…
what do you mean no?
i couldn’t ask him
i just couldn’t
why?
i don’t know!!!!
i hoped he would
maybe he’s just not interested
i’d exclude that
why what do you know about it
nothing
but seriously lix you gotta ask him
maybe chan really wants a piercing…
leave chan out of this
you don’t have to use someone to go there you know
get a piercing yourself
you know what i will
wait really?
omg get a prince albert
hang on i gotta google something
EWWWWW
***
It’s almost evening when Felix shows up at the parlor. The sun is already starting to set and a cold wind blows outside.
“Hello Felix,” Seungmin greets, “what brings you?”
Saying Felix is nervous would be an understatement.
“I wanted to know if you do walk ins”
Seungmin seems more than surprised.
“Well, it depends on what you want to get, but Changbin is free right now”
As if summoned, Changbin appears into the room and promptly stop in his tracks.
“Felix, hi”
“Hi”
“Felix was just asking about walk ins”
“Yeah, I- I wanted to get a nostril”
“I thought you were afraid of needles,” Changbin has his brows furrowed in confusion.
“Yeah, well. It’s time I get over it”
“Okay,” Changbin says after a beat, “come on then”
“I’ll go get a coffee,” Seungmin announces then and, after a nod of acknowledgement from Changbin, he heads to the door.
“Follow me”
Felix is silent while Changbin gets the needle, and he misses the slight shake in his hands as he does so.
“Why a nostril?” Changbin asks while he’s wearing his black gloves.
“I don’t know, I just think it might look good”
“I’m sure it will”
Changbin is finally ready and he comes to stand in front of Felix, who sits on the armchair, making them the same exact height and allowing them to look directly in each other’s eyes. Their faces are merely inches apart, and Felix exhales a shaky breath.
“Okay, here I go,” Changbin murmurs, raising his hand.
The needle is just about to go in when Felix talks.
“I like you”
Changbin hesitates.
“What?”
“I like you,” Felix repeats, moving the needle away from his face “that’s why I’m here. I don’t want a piercing, just for you to go on a date with me”
Changbin takes more than a couple of seconds to register the words, but when he does he still can’t believe it. He sets down the needle, then delicately cradles Felix’s face in his hands, giving him plenty of space to pull away if he wants to.
Felix doesn’t move.
Then their lips meet.
***
Changbin and Felix arrive hand in hand.
Seungmin, Minho, Hyunjin and Jeongin are already there, and greet them cheerfully.
“I’m so excited to have a triple date!” Hyunjin exclaims, gaining a look from Minho.
“We aren’t dating”
“Yeah, whatever you say,” Jeongin sneers.
“Anyway, Changbin, I was thinking of adding a little detail to my tattoo”
“Sure, what were you thinking?”
Minho and Seungmin exchange a smile.
“How about a rose?”