“So, I was planning on getting a new piercing today” Sera announced at the lunch table.

“Oh, can I come mwith? I wanna sheeeeee!!” Rin choked through a mouthful of rice, spitting some on Sera’s face.

“Yuk… Yeah, sure, I was thinking about getting a conch piercing. What do you think?”

“I’m sure I’ll love it!” They both cleaned off the table and left for their next class chatting away about what sort of piercings Sera should get.

You see, Sera and Rin were both really fascinated with body piercings, except while Sera had a lot of piercings herself, Rin had none. She liked seeing them on other people, but wasn’t really into the idea of getting some herself.

~

Their last class had just finished and the girls were on their way to the Dragon Wing, a tattoo and piercing shop where Sera often went. The bell announced their arrival and Sera made a beeline towards the glass cabinet holding the ear piercings in the corner. Rin looked around slowly admiring the different kinds of piercings. A zooming sound could be heard from the back room where someone was probably getting a tattoo. Against the right wall stood a couch for people waiting for their turn to get pierced or tattooed or for people who wanted to look through the tattoo books. Right now, there wasn’t anyone waiting so they sat down and looked through the books while waiting for someone to assist Sera.

A few minutes later a cute guy wearing a purple fedora appeared behind the counter. The guy had a few ear piercings and an eyebrow piercing and you could see the top of a tattoo slightly protruding from a black v-neck. He gave a smile and asked how he could help. Sera went to explain what she wanted and soon she was led into the backroom by another worker.

While waiting for Sera, Rin went towards the glass cabinet again and wondered what kind of earrings would suit her.

“Which piercing do you want to get?” She turned around to find the fedora guy standing a few meters behind her.

“I‘m not really sure if I want one” she turned back towards the cabinet. Rin heard the worker shuffling closer until he stood beside her.

“Why? Are you scared it’ll hurt?” he grinned at her.

“Not really, well, among other things.”

“Like what?” He persisted.

“I’m kind of scared of being committed to something.” She blurted out. “And, what if it gets infected? Or if it leaves a scar?” her face had turned red from embarrassment. She closed her eyes waiting for him to laugh, but when she heard nothing she turned around to look at him.

He gave her a sweet smile and opened the glass cabinet reaching for the lowest shelf to reveal a beautiful small golden earring with a purple gem.

“You can always just try one of these.” He gave the earring to Rin for closer inspection. “You’ll only pierce one ear and it’s the least painful place and it doesn’t get infected that easily either.”

Rin admired the small earring and held it to her ear in front of the mirror next to the cabinet.

“It doesn’t really scar either, well it might leave some kind of scar, but nobody would really notice.” He continued while looking at her in the mirror.

Rin really liked the earring, but she still felt rather scared and insecure about the whole deal so she gave back the earring and told him she’d think about it.

“Okay, well, you know where to find me and uhh I’m pretty sure it would suit you” he gave a shy smile and returned to the counter.

Rin went back to the couch and found herself glancing at the worker behind the counter and she could swear he looked back a few times too. A bit later Sera finally came out of the backroom with a stunning golden conch piercing.

They left the store, Rin looking back at the cute guy one last time to see him looking at her with a huge smile. “Hope to see you soon” He gave a small wave.

Once outside Sera struck a pose “So, do you like?”

“I love it! I wish I had the guts to get one too” Rin pouted. “The cute guy at the store tried to convince me of getting an earring.”

“The cute guy, huh?” Sera smirked “What happened while I was gone?” The girls started heading for the subway station.

“Don’t think anything y!” Rin laughed, because she was quite the ert herself. “Seriously though, I think he kind of convinced me of getting one.”

“Wait, what?” Sera  stopped dramatically. “I”ve been trying to convince you for years. Who is this guy and what has he done to my Rin?!”

Rin just shrugged her shoulders not really knowing how he did it. They resumed their walking.

“Is it because he’s cute?” Sera glanced sideways with wide eyes and a scary smirk.

“Don’t do that!! You look like a psycho” Rin slapped her friend’s shoulder. “And yeah he might be cute” she admitted.

“I knew it!” Sera jumped with a fist in the air. “We’re so going back.”

~

After being pestered by Sera for about two weeks, Rin decided to go back. After their last class, Rin and Sera gathered their stuff and left for the subway station. Sera had told Rin to go by herself, so she could have some alone time with cute fedora guy, but Rin was too nervous to go alone.

“Just cute, my .” Sera clicked her tongue. “You’re a grown woman. Why are you so nervous?”

“Well, he might be more than just cute. Besides, I’ll need you to hold my hand because it’s gonna hurt.” Rin pouted at her friend.

“You do know I’m not allowed to go into the back room with you because of hygiene reasons and stuff, right?”

Rin’s mouth fell open. “No no no no no, you have got to be kidding me.”

“Don’t worry, you probably won’t be alone back there… if you know what I mean.” Sera wiggled her eyebrows.

“Stop that, you psycho. Now, I’m even more nervous.” She sighed.

“Don’t worry, everything will be just fine.”

~

Sera entered the shop with Rin, hiding behind her, in tow. Sera laughed and pulled Rin from behind her.

“Ouch, don’t do that.” She glared.

“I knew you’d come back.” She turned towards the register and saw the worker standing there with a red fedora this time.

“Wow, you really like fedoras” Sera said with no tact at all. The employee blushed violently and this caused Rin to slap her friend’s shoulder.

“A-anyways, I wanted to get that piercing you showed me last time.” Rin changed the subject.

“Y-yeah? Good choice!” then he turned around and said to his colleague near him “I’ll do this one.”

Sera snorted and got hit once again.

Rin followed him into the back room and now that she paid more attention to him she noticed he was actually rather short, but it made him even cuter in her eyes.

“So, I’m gonna use this pen to show you where the piercing will be and if you want it lower or higher, just tell me.” He made a little dot on her left earlobe and gave her a mirror to check if it was okay.

“I think this is okay… right?” she said uncertain.

“Yes, that’s good. So, if you’re sure, you may lie down now.” He patted the medical table. “Then, lay your head to the right.”

Rin did as she was told and started shaking slightly.

“Hey, calm down. It doesn’t really hurt that much. It’ll be just like a pinch, then a warm feeling and it’s over.” He tried to soothe her. “Ready?”

She nodded her head slightly and closed her eyes. She felt a slight pinch in her ear, just like he had said.

“Okay, done.” He announced not even 10 seconds later.

“Wait? What? Really? I was frightened over something so small? It didn’t even really hurt.” She sat upright and looked confused.

“You were pretty much worried over nothing” he smirked and gave her the mirror. “You look lovely.”

Rin looked shocked and then started blushing. “U-uh, thanks.” In response the employee started blushing too.

While Rin was admiring her new earring the guy tensed up. “I was kind of wondering if maybe you’d like to go out with me.” She looked up to see him looking at the floor instead of her and shyly smiled and responded with a quiet “I’d love to.”

He snapped his head up with a bright smile. “Wait, really? Awesome!! I mean, that’s nice. I’m Taeil by the way. What’s your name?”

“Rin” they smiled at each other goofily.

~

“Dude, why are you wearing such a ridiculous smile?” Sera asked when they had left the store.

Rin’s smile became even bigger. “Well, he might have kind of asked me out.” Both girls squealed and jumped with joined hands.

“I told you he wanted you.”

“Yeah, I guess he did.” Rin answered dreamily.

“Oh dear, am I going to have to deal with this everyday from now on?” Sera actually looked worried. Rin just gave her friend the usual shoulder slap.

“So, when are you going on that date?”

“We’re going to see a movie tomorrow.”

“You guys are wasting no time!” Sera happily skipped away.

~

Taeil was already standing outside the cinema where they decided to meet up when Rin came running towards him looking completely red and out of breath.

“Sorry”-she took a deep breath- “I’m late, I aways seem to lose track of time and then when I was around the corner I realized that I had forgotten my wallet and this just happens all the time.” She ranted.

Taeil laughed. “That’s okay, I wasn’t here that long yet either.”

“Thank god” She arranged her clothes trying to look decent again after all the running.

“You look cute by the way.”

“Oh thanks” she blushed.

“So, what movie did you want to see? I’ve been wanting to see Frozen for a while now.” Taeil shyly admitted.

“Oh! Me too, let’s see that one.”

They bought some popcorn and drinks and headed towards the theatre hall. Before the movie started, they talked about their lives and what they were doing, like Rin is studying Japanese right now and Taeil studied art before working at the Dragon Wing. Besides working at the shop, he was also the singer of a rock band. Rin actually used to be the drummer and guitarist of a band herself, until she and her band members didn’t have time to practice anymore.

During the movie they were both silent and watching intently. Halfway through the movie Taeil shyly grabbed Rin’s hand and held it for the rest of the movie.

Rin actually appreciated that he didn’t talk that much, because she wanted to concentrate on the movie and she doesn’t really like distractions during movies. When she told him that, he told her he felt the same way.

After the movie, Taeil, like the gentleman he was brought Rin home and gave her a sweet goodbye kiss on the cheek and left.

~

“I’m telling you, I’ve never met a guy like him before. He was so sweet and a real gentleman. All the other guys just immediately started groping me and tried to get into my pants.” Rin lay on her bed talking to Sera on the phone.

“There are still guys out there like him?” Sera responded.

“Well, I thought there weren’t, but I guess we were wrong.” Rin laughed. “Anyways, I’m seeing him again next week.”

“Great, now I’m starting to feel jealous.” Sera whined through the phone.

“Aww, don’t be like that. Maybe you should ask out the other guy from the shop. You know, the one with the dreadlocks.”

“Dude, what? No. Just no. He kept looking at my s last time.” Sera fake gagged.

Rin just laughed it off. “Well, you never know.”

~

“So, what’s the thing with the hats anyways?”  Rin and Taeil were at a Korean restaurant near the club disctrict where they were gonna go clubbing later.

“What do you mean? Don’t you like them?” Taeil pouted with a piece of meat sticking out of his mouth.

“Oh no, I love them! It’s just that I feel like I haven’t seen you without any yet.”Today he was wearing another fedora this time with an argyle black and white pattern.

“Okay. I’m gonna tell you one of my biggest secrets right now.” He leaned in and beckoned her closer. “I actually have height issues and these hats make me feel taller and more confident.”

Rin stared at him.

“Go ahead. You can laugh.” He motioned with his hand.

Like on command she burst out laughing until tears came out of her eyes. It took a while for her to regain her breath.

“I didn’t think you’d actually laugh. You’re supposed to tell me that I’m not that short and that you don’t mind.” Taeil pouted.

“I don’t mind! You’re cute the way you are. It was just so funny.” She started giggling again but kept it in when she saw his puppy eyes.

“I’m sorry, baby, I didn’t mean it.” Rin held his hand and blinked her eyes like an angel.

Taeil couldn’t keep up his sad façade any longer and he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. They kept staring at each other lovingly until Taeil almost burnt his sleeve on the barbecue.

~

Rin and Taeil were standing in line for one of the biggest clubs in the district, Join the Groove. They were already rather tipsy from the 3 bottles of soju they had drunk in the restaurant. Although the fresh air had sobered them up  quite a bit already. Rin was wondering if this club would reveal some sides of Taeil she hadn’t seen before, some not so gentlemanly sides maybe.

Once inside they both grabbed a cocktail and sat around a table assessing the club for a while. There wasn’t a lot of talking, because the music was very loud, but their eyes said everything. They finished their cocktails and headed towards a corner to have some privacy and so they wouldn’t get bumped into constantly while dancing.

The dance started off rather innocent and slow. Rin had her arms around Taeil’s neck while he had his hands on her waist. Taeil might have been short, but for Rin he was the perfect height. They could look into each other’s eyes easily and the distance was perfect to lean in for a kiss, which Taeil did. First, he pecked her lips slowly and in between pecks they laughed at each other shyly. With the beats of the music getting louder and the taste of their lips getting more and more addicting, the time in between kisses became shorter and shorter. Soon they were locked in a passionate kiss with Taeil swiping his tongue along her lips asking for entrance and Rin biting and claiming Taeil’s lips. Then their hands also joined the dance. Rin’s hands that were holding onto Taeil’s hair and neck started travelling lower and she them along his back until they finally reached their destination and she pulled him closer by squeezing his cheeks. Taeil gasped into Rin’s mouth and pulled his lover closer by the hips. The club become hotter and hotter and soon it was unbearable  to stay there any longer.

Rin reluctantly let go of Taeil and pulled him through the grinding bodies towards the exit. As in some unspoken agreement they headed towards Taeil’s apartment a few subway stations further. They had to keep themselves in check to not touch each other on the subway. They held hands at first, but even that was too tempting so they settled for no touching and both looking the other way.

When they finally arrived at Taeil’s place, they first kicked of their shoes. Rin had just pulled of her last shoe when Taeil pushed her against the door and started grinding into her. Had he been this hard on the whole train ride? Rin responded eagerly by pushing back and finally resuming their kissing.

Taeil guided Rin towards his bedroom, but not without creating a few bruises along the way by bumping into the furniture. In the bedroom, Rin pushed Taeil onto the bed and they both rapidly pulled each other clothes off. The waiting was over, the whole train ride had been hell and they just couldn’t wait anymore.

Rin ripped open a when Taeil showed the first sign of hesitation.

“What’s wrong?” she lay the aside.

“I just want to be sure you want this… You mean a lot to me, Rin. And I’ve never felt this way before. I don’t really want to screw this up.” He bit his lips.

“Hey” A peck. “I feel the same way and we’re in this together, okay?” she assured him. He nodded and they continued their kissing.

~

“Mrmrmm, what is it?” Sera groggily answered the phone.  “You know I sleep till midday, it’s freakin’ 10 in the morning, woman.”

“I did the thing!” Rin sing-songed, not caring wether her friend wants to sleep or not.

“Uuuuuugh, you don’t have to brag about it.” Sera finished the call with a retching noise.

So tell me what you think please~