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A shrill bell chimes as he pushes open the glass-front door to the shop. A playlist he recognizes as the one they made a few months back during a late night session flows out of the bluetooth speaker resting on the front desk. He starts humming along, making his way past Siyeon - sitting by the check-in computer - after giving her a quick nod. He comes here often enough that she’s surprised to see he even made an appointment. Usually he just drops in whenever he knows there might be some free time. He must have something special planned today.
The boy grins as a small, grey cat makes her way toward him, wrapping herself around his legs a few times before reaching up - begging him to pick her up and hold her. He gives in very quickly to the small creature’s affections. Lifting her up and scratching behind her ear, he notices a little notch in the top of her left ear. Poor baby, did you get in a fight with that alley cat again? You know he’s bigger than you.
He’s interrupted from his one sided feline conversation when someone clears their throat in front of him. He looks up and his breath is taken away. And, yeah, maybe it’s taken away every time. Maybe that’s the reason he keeps coming to this shop. But, damn, if he doesn’t lose all thoughts going through his head for a solid few minutes just from seeing Wonwoo’s face.
And his neck. And his arms. And his hands. God, those fucking hands.
He wants to count all of the tattoos that cover the boy’s hands. Beautiful and intricate artwork that travel up his arms and supposedly continue across his chest (logically, he knows they’re there - the taller boy had told him about them before - but having only ever seen him in the loose tank tops he wears to the shop… he figures pretending they don’t exist is probably better for his sanity). Sometimes, he tries to count them but he’s never spent enough time with the other boy up close to actually do it. And you can bet your last dollar that he isn’t going to sound like a dumbass and just ask to see them like a normal person. He isn’t that desperate. (…Yet.)
“Hey, Soon. New piercing already?” God, hearing Wonwoo say his name was like pure crack cocaine. Granted - Soonyoung has never done coke in his life. The most illegal thing he’s ever done being smoking weed with Vernon before watching some French Nouveau shit films for hours. Oh, and that one time he did acid with Seokmin. But they don’t talk about that and there are absolutely zero plans for that to happen ever again. What was he thinking about again?
Oh, yeah. Wonwoo.
“Uh, yeah. New Helix. Got bored.” Great fucking job, Soonyoung. Do you know more than five words?
His face goes a little red but he smiles at the other before quickly turning around and setting the cat onto her pink bed by the window, giving her a few little head pats. She’s Wonwoo’s cat so he hopes that keeping an ‘in’ with her will keep him in Wonwoo’s good graces as well.
-
“Just a helix? I thought you wanted to start the new sleeve soon,” Wonwoo voice is slow and deep again. Which normally Soonyoung can push through, but the fucker is basically whispering into his ear as he starts cleaning the edge of his lobe for the piercing. He shivers a little as Wonwoo’s breath flits against the area where the alcohol wipe had sanitized his skin. Why is he so close? OH MY GOD.
“Uh, yeah. I, uh, have a competition next weekend and the choreo - well, basically, I have to roll on the floor and I really don’t want to do that with a new tattoo. Maybe when the off-season starts in a couple of months.”
“Summer’s soon. You don’t want to swim?” He watches as Wonwoo preps his needles, ripping open the single-use packets and changing his gloves again before picking up the little stainless steel hoop Soonyoung had handed him at the beginning of the appointment. It’s like the one the silver haired boy already has in his right ear. Guess he wants a matching set.
“One summer without swimming in exchange for something I’ve been looking forward to for basically years? Fair trade, you know?” In reality, Soonyoung wholeheartedly wanted to start his tattoo today but he’s still not sure he has his ~crush~ under control enough not to squirm the whole appointment. A piercing, at least, is in and out. That’s what he keeps repeating to himself anyway.
“That’s a bummer though. I’m planning a trip to the beach for that first week of June. Thought you might want to tag along.”
Had Soonyoung heard him right? What the fuck?
“I, uh—“
“Ok. OneTwoThree.” Wonwoo sticks the needle through Soonyoung’s cartilage before the older boy can even finish going over the pseudo-invitation in his head. He feels the needle slide out as Wonwoo slips the ring in its place.
When all is said and done, the piercing takes about thirty seconds total. Soonyoung’s handed a mirror and smiles at the new little silver loop adorning the edge of his ear as if he doesn’t already have over a dozen in that ear and six more in the right.
“It looks good. How much do I owe you today, Wonwoo?” He isn’t sure if he can keep his calm around the other any longer. Damn, he really is head over heels over this boy. Men are so stupid.
“Just one question first,” the tattooed boy turns the chair Soonyoung is sitting in, putting a hand on each side of his knees - effectively trapping the newly pierced boy.
Soonyoung gulps. Audibly. He’s nervous okay!
“Uh - go ahead.”
“So is there a reason you booked,” Wonwoo looks at his watch, “three hours of my time today for a single piercing?”
Maybe he gulps again.
Soonyoung grins sheepishly. But, as he’s about to make up some half-assed excuse about mixing up times when calling Siyeon up front, he’s preemptively interrupted by the boy in front of him.
“Because, if you still have the time, I think you can just pay for the piercing with lunch. Fair trade, you know?”
Soonyoung’s ears start to burn with heat. This time he can’t blame it on the piercing, though.
And if Wonwoo kisses him in the chair, he won’t tell anyone about the dozen health codes they’re breaking.