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“Hey, babe” your business partner and best friend, Hyerin greets while walking into the shop, “I have exciting news!” The lanky girl sheds her heavy trench coat off before reaching into her book bag to pull her iPad out. “You know how we’ve been looking for a really unique artist to do guest work?” She asks with a pretty smile on her red lips, her blunt bob swayed in the air as she makes her way to where you sat at the reception desk. “I found the perfect artist. Kim Taehyung, this guy is perfect at blackwork and fine line, I really think our clients will love him” she explains, plopping on the desk in front of you. She hands you the iPad and she didn’t lie... he was perfect at what he did. His Instagram was very pleasing to the eye, it showcased beautiful and dark blackwork tattoos with a occasional fine line tat. You come across a picture of a man with glossy black hair and tattoos swirling up his lean arms with a bright, toothy smile on his tanned face. A shorter blonde haired man stood beside him with a smile just as bright. You couldn’t lie, they were very good looking men. ‘it’s always fun to tattoo my best friend @pjm_95’ the caption read. “Hyerin, this is him?” You ask, pointing at the black haired man. She nods with an amused smile while swinging her legs. “Did I mention, he’s very handsome? Admit it! I did a good job finding him! He’ll be so good for the business” she excitedly claps, “ I’ve already had a meeting with him, we’re just waiting on your OK” You pull at the coiled hair at the nape of your neck, pretending to weigh your options when you both already know your answer. “Cmon, ____!! It’ll be nice to see a handsome face rather than that sleaze ball, Chris” The mention of your resident neo-traditional artist makes you gag. Majority of your artists were women save for Dave, a realism artist and sadly, Chris, while he was magnificent at neo-traditional, he also had a slick mouth but he knew not to overstep his boundaries because you weren’t scared of rendering him jobless, at all. “Ew, you’re right.” You mumble which caused her to let out a cute laugh, “let’s bring Taehyung on the team” Your business partner excitedly hops off the desk and takes her iPad with her, mumbling about the time difference and if now would be good to call him before disappearing into the back of shop. —- “I really don’t understand why we need a guest artist right now” Chris states randomly while scratching at the bear tattoo that was etched into half of his arm. Hyerin lets out an exasperated sigh before reaching up to slap him in the back of his head, “could you stop being negative! We need him because he’s bringing something great to the shop” she explains calmly. Of course Chris would make his opinion known every two seconds. You look up to his crystal cyan eyes, “don’t you have a client literally over there” you point over to a boy, who doesn’t look a day over eighteen, laying in the tattoo chair with a nervous look on his face, “please go do your job, Chris” you sigh, rubbing your temple. Yosemite by Travis Scott quietly flows out the speakers that are placed throughout the shop, and your resident artists hard at work, either consulting their newer clients or etching ink into the skin of reoccurring customers. With a heavy sigh, you plop onto one of the leather waiting chairs. You attempted to finish prints you’ve been working on to add to your design book but thought of Chris’ fat head left you unfocused. “You shouldn’t let him get under your skin, you know” Hyerin giggles as her frilly dress flutters around her, exposing a tattooed sleeve and the snake tattoo that started at her belly button and ended right at her neck. “But look, last week I posted that Taehyung would be in the shop and he’s already booked for his first week!” She thrusts her laptop into your lap and points at the schedule on the screen, “Tomorrow is his first day and he’s already up to seven appointments” “Holy shit, where did you you find this dude, Hyerin?” you gasp, clicking through his appointments to see that he was almost fully booked until the middle of the month. “We both did our apprenticeships in the same shop in Korea, the idiot was caught sleeping with the boss’ daughter and lets just say, I helped him not lose his apprenticeship.” She throws her arm around your shoulder with a satisfied smirk, “I honestly forgot I followed him until I saw that dumb smile on my timeline so I looked through his profile and figured he was a perfect match! It’s practically fate!” “Ugh, you’re so damn good at your job, Hyerin” you sigh with a content smile,”have I told you I love you?” You asking annoyingly, smacking a wet kiss to her smooth cheek. Hyerin playfully shoves you off with a disgusted look, “Yeah, I know. I’m the best! If you really loved me you would treat to me to Let’s Meat” she suggests, wiggling her eyebrows. You roll your eyes at the mention of her favorite korean barbecue restaurant that she frequents at least twice a week , “fine but only because i owe you for taking care of me when i had the flu last month” you reason. “This is why we’re best friends” Hyerin dramatically sighs which causes you to laugh, “We can go tomorrow night, so Taehyung can come as well!” The rest of the day was fast paced as usual. You got to finish your prints before your five o’clock appointment came in and you even did a couple of walk-ins before locking the doors to the shop at 8. “Ah! ____, I’m so excited for tomorrow!” Hyerin squeals beside you, her heeled boots clicking against the sidewalk as she jumps up and down, “Taehyung is basically considered a tattoo god in Korea and the fact that I was able to get him to do guest work at our shop? I really believe I outdid myself” she gloats with a smug but playful smile. You hug your friend and pull away with your hands still on her shoulders “I knew opening a tattoo shop with you was a genius idea” you give her a warm smile and she wipes nonexistent tears from under her eyes. “You get some rest, babe! We have a big day a head of us tomorrow!” She practically yells while squeezing the life out of you, “get home safe” She waves before going in the opposite direction, towards her quaint apartment. —- Snuggled into bed, you stalked Taehyungs Instagram. His work was so striking and you couldn’t help but scroll back to the only three pictures he had of himself on the page, he was breathtaking just like his work. You wondered what he was like, judging by his instagram and the way he responded to comments, he seemed like a sweet and cool guy. Someone you could be friends with for sure. You scroll through his tagged posts until your eyes start to burn from sleepiness. You put the phone on your nightstand before turning over into a deep sleep. You were woken up hours later by the chiming of your phone right in your ear. You stretch and notice the sounds of the busy street below, you turn to look at the floor length mirror that leaned against the wall beside your bed and nearly jumped out of your skin. Judging by the coily and tangled mess of hair on the top of your head and the dried drool on your cheek, you slept too good. Another chime cut through the cold morning air, forcing you to keep your eyes open. Hyerin: hey, just checked my sched. I don’t have any appointments until 3 so i won’t come in til 2Hyerin: Taehyung should be there to open w you, he has an app at 1130Hyerin : have fun and tell me what he’s like . Last time i saw him he didn’t have tattoos and looked 13. now he’s tatted and looks like a daddy Smiling at Hyerins antics, you collapse back into your pillows in close your eyes for before you actually had to get up for work. —- You had managed to actually make it out of your apartment at a reasonable time. You get to the shop at a good 9:30, giving you enough time to do opening tasks. A tall figure leaned against the building, the man was staring at his phone and the way his parted black hair dangled in his face made it hard to identify him. “You here for a early morning walk-in?” You ask with a hint of playfulness in your voice. The man snaps his head up at the sound of your voice, meeting your curious eyes and you nearly drop your keys at the beautiful sight in front of you. You were expecting Taehyung but you weren’t expecting him to be so goddamn fine. His presence literally made you intimidated and speechless. The man stands to his full height and smirks down at you. You weren’t expecting him to be this big either, he could clearly see over your head. You watch as he lazily drags his dark eyes over the tight fitting light wash jeans to the slim black T-shirt that displayed the curve of your waist and the fine floral line work that wrapped around your arms. Never had you’d been so calm when a man was blatantly checking you out but under his gaze, you felt submissive and small. His eyes settle on yours with a dark smirk, “Good Morning, Boss. I’m Taehyung Kim”