“Ouch!”

“Hold still. You don’t want me to mess this up; do you?”

Jungkook wiggled to prop himself up on his elbows, trying to get a better look at what the other man was doing.

“I said ‘hold still.’ Jeez, kid - I’m starting to think you really do want this to turn out like .”

Jungkook froze, though he couldn’t keep his smiling mouth from trembling slightly with excitement. He may not have been able to see what the artist was doing as the older man hovered over his right leg, but he could certainly feel it.

“Do tattoos always hurt this much?” the boy wondered, earning him a smirk from the vibrantly red-headed man at his ankle.

“Only if the person getting them can’t stop squirming,” the tattooist teased. He took a break from scribbling on Jungkook’s leg to stretch his fingers and get more ink. “Now sit back, and stop movin’ around so much.”

The young man relaxed, and looked up at the sign hanging in the middle of the shop, where swooping scarlet letters sat strikingly against the white wall to match the owner’s eccentric dyed hair.

MONSTER TATTOO PARLOR

WE INK YOUR WORST NIGHTMARES

Ominous - although Jungkook didn’t mind, as the artist himself was actually quite nice despite his snappy demeanor. Besides, tattoo places were supposed to be a little weird and edgy, and the younger man chose to think of it as all part of the experience.

❧

“So what’s the occasion?” prodded the man. “Why’re you getting this tattoo?”

Jungkook hummed slightly before giving his response. It was late, and the shop was empty except for him, as night was the only time of day Jungkook was free. Luckily enough for the young, impulsive man, however, a lone artist - the owner, apparently - had been hanging around after closing, and had agreed to give Jungkook a tattoo for only double the normal price. It was expensive, but Jungkook badly wanted to get the tattoo before he had time to chicken out or change his mind - and he supposed it was only fair to pay the man extra for breaking the rules for him.

“It’s my birthday,” Jungkook answered. “And I’ve always wanted a tattoo, so I figured: why not reward myself for surviving another year?”

“That is an impressive accomplishment,” agreed the tattooist, only half-covering the sarcasm in his voice.

The owner of the small parlor didn’t seem at all like Jungkook had imagined that someone who inked tattoos for a living would look like. Aside from the other man’s unconventional hair color, he looked like any other person you would pass on the crowded streets of Seoul. His face was round and pleasant, and his height was really the only other thing even slightly remarkable about the artist. Jungkook noticed that the older man did have one tattoo: a single line of plain, black script on his inner arm, which looked as though it might have been inked with a shaky hand under the glow of an oil lamp for all the ways it wobbled and warped.

Regardless of this, the other man’s profile had looked impressive enough when Jungkook skimmed through it earlier, and the young man was far too eager to care that his new art might come with some defects. He was now also too busy with concentrating on the stinging pain that radiated up from his mid-calf to think about that right now, so he squeezed his eyes as he waited for it to be over.

❧

Bzzzzzzzzzz - click!

The tattoo gun shut off and the shop was filled with silence. Jungkook felt the other man brush off his leg with the ink-stained cloth the latter kept draped over his shoulder, and then there was nothing as the young man held his breath.

“Okay; you’re all set,” announced the red-haired man, and Jungkook had to hold back a squeal by biting his tongue. “Sit up and tell me what you think, kid.”

“Oh my gosh - awesome!”

A green-scaled dragon slid ferociously up Jungkook’s leg, undulating slightly as its long, slender body curled around itself.

“I love it,” breathed Jungkook.

The dragon’s face was snarling, but it was gorgeous. Its pointy teeth seemed to shimmer on Jungkook’s leg, and he was captivated by its black eyes and iridescent scales.

“Thank you so much!”

“And thank you for paying for it,” replied the artist as he flipped through the stack of bills Jungkook had handed over before sitting down to get the tattoo. “You wouldn’t believe how many people try to heckle and bargain for their tattoos.”

After getting an extensive set of aftercare instructions - which Jungkook only half listened to in his nervous over-excitement - the young man left the shop and went on his way, smiling from ear to ear as he thought of his new tattoo.

He happened to be wearing shorts, and every once in a while, Jungkook would glance down to gaze at his sharp-toothed, 2-D little companion and grin to himself. The bus was almost deserted, so the young man was free to obsess over the monster placed squarely on the side of his lower leg in solitude, and before he knew it, Jungkook had arrived home.

❧

“Surprise!” came a lazy greeting from the couch.

Jungkook stepped through the door and closed it behind him, smiling giddily at the man lounging on his sofa.

“Happy Birthday, Kookie,” continued Yoongi, stifling a yawn as he stood up to slap the younger man on the back. “I hope you bought yourself a cake, because I did not leave the apartment at all today.”

Jungkook laughed at his roommate, and stepped into his room for a moment to drop off the backpack he was carrying.

“We have flour and stuff in the kitchen,” teased the younger man. “You could have actually made a cake if you’d really wanted to, Yoongi.”

“Please; if I’d tried to make a cake today, you wouldn’t have an apartment to come home to.”

“You’ve made them before,” protested Jungkook.

“Yeah - and have you seen how those ones turned out?” replied Yoongi. “Or what the kitchen looked like when I was finished? Come here, though; I’ve got something for you.”

The older man led Jungkook into their cramped kitchen, where there was a perfectly pristine little cake sitting on the counter next to the stove.

“Tada!” smirked Yoongi. “I lied. Happy Birthday, ya little punk.”

Jungkook shook his head, amazed at the lengths his friend was willing to go to to pretend to be lazy and uncaring. It was a small ceremony, but Jungkook didn’t particularly mind, as he had already given himself the one gift he really wanted.

“Notice anything different about me, Yoongi?” he hinted, twisting the point of his toe slightly to showcase his shrouded tattoo.

“Uh, you have plastic wrap on your leg?” guessed Yoongi. “Is that what the kids are doing these days? Trying to preserve the freshness of their leg meat?”

“No; look closer,” Jungkook urged, lifting his leg up onto the counter beside the cake. “I got a tattoo!”

Yoongi made no response, but Jungkook thought he saw the older man’s eyes widen just a bit. The latter scratched his chin before speaking.

“Jungkook, why in the world would you get a dragon tattooed on your leg?”

“Because it’s my birthday!” replied the younger man as if the reason were obvious. “I’m an adult now, and I’ve always wanted a tattoo, so I thought I’d finally get one to celebrate.”

“You may be a year older, but you’re still thinking like a stupid kid if you really thought getting that was a good idea,” chastised Yoongi. “Where did you go? Was the equipment clean? Was the artist professional or was he just some creep you found sitting in the gutter near-?”

“Yoongi, please,” Jungkook cut the older man off. “It’s fine, okay? The shop was not in some dark alleyway, and the guy who did the tattoo was very nice. And sanitary.”

“Fine,” sighed Yoongi, obviously too tired to put up a real fight. Besides, Jungkook was technically an adult, so there was nothing his roommate could do about it anyway. “But don’t come crying to me when that dragon gets all gross and infected. I am not rubbing ointment on you.”

❧

Jungkook glanced lovingly at his tattoo one last time before shutting off the lights. It was so late it was almost the morning of the next day, as he and Yoongi had spent hours enjoying cake and reminiscing about childhood.

“You’re growing up too fast,” Yoongi had scolded at one point, crossing his arms.

Jungkook thought the older man was probably more than a little bitter about his own advancing age, but he hadn’t said anything as he took another bite of cake. The former was too preoccupied with stealing glances at the mythical beast that he still couldn’t fully believe was etched into his leg - permanently - at last.

Now, though, it was finally time for bed. And so Jungkook found himself still smiling as he drifted off to sleep, calm and at peace after a very happy birthday.

He awoke with a start as something tickled at his leg. Confused, Jungkook pulled back the blankets before remembering the tattoo from last night, and he reasoned as he stared at the little green dragon that it must be time for him to put on some of the ointment that the tattooist had given him. Jungkook peeled back the plastic to get a better look at the monster, which seemed to shine even more brilliantly than it had last night.

The skin around the new ink had started to peel a bit, though Jungkook thought he remembered the artist telling him that this was to be expected. The young man decided to peel off the transparent bandage and apply the lotion anyways, as he was pretty sure that that was what he was supposed to do the morning after.

Once that was finished, Jungkook decided to get up and prepare himself a late breakfast. It was several hours later, when the hour of the day was getting closer to dinner than it was lunch, when Yoongi finally emerged from his room and stumbled toward the kitchen.

“If you keep this up you’re gonna turn into a vampire,” joked Jungkook. “When’s the last time you saw sunlight, dude?”

“Yesterday. When I left to buy you this cake,” shot back Yoongi as he grabbed a leftover chunk out of the fridge and started eating it. “Which has now become my very belated breakfast of champions.”

Jungkook giggled as he took a seat at the kitchen table - not hungry himself, but interested in watching Yoongi bumble around the kitchen as he struggled to pour himself a glass of water while he was still half-asleep.

“How’s the tattoo?” questioned Yoongi. “Infected yet?”

“Nope,” said Jungkook proudly. “I’ve been washing it and putting lotion on, just like the guy told me to do.”

“Let me see,” commanded Yoongi, kneeling down to take a look at the younger man’s leg. “That’s weird.”

“What?!” panicked Jungkook.

He was sure he had followed the instructions from the tattooist - or at least the pieces he remembered - exactly. The young man couldn’t imagine what might be wrong, as his leg felt fine; it wasn’t even itchy like it had been when he woke up earlier.

“Nothing,” Yoongi dismissed the other man’s worry. “I just could have sworn that there were three loops in the tail, and now somehow there’s only two.”

He pointed to the dragon’s twisting body, and Jungkook saw that there were indeed two circles where the creature’s green body wrapped around itself. Had there been one more to begin with, though? There couldn’t have been, because tattoos didn’t change that drastically overnight. Jungkook felt himself sweating slightly as he tried to remember.

“Am I wrong? Was there always just those two?” Yoongi pressured.

“I-I… don’t know,” admitted Jungkook.

“What do you mean you don’t know?!” grumbled Yoongi. “Shouldn’t you be the one to remember what you got inked on your own goddamn leg?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know; I was excited and scared and I just thought the placement looked good - I didn’t focus on the number of twists in its tail and-”

“Okay, okay. Calm down,” Yoongi grunted. “I didn’t mean to give you a panic attack. It’s probably me. I didn’t get a really good look at the thing either, and I was tired.” He yawned loudly, and rubbed at his eyes. “Hell, I’m still tired. What’s for dinner? I wanna go to bed.”

❧

His roommate’s odd sleeping habits aside, Jungkook felt uncomfortable as he lay awake in bed that night. He was unable to fall asleep, probably because of the thoughts that were swirling in his head, making him wonder if Yoongi was right or if they were both just going insane.

Did it have three loops in its tail?

Jungkook squinted to see the tattoo in his totally dark room. There were definitely only two twists, wrapping around where the dragon’s body crossed itself as it crept up the side of Jungkook’s leg. If there used to be three, then one of the kinks had certainly smoothed out, as the creature’s stubby legs sat uninterrupted near the smooth, waving end of its tail.

I’m just getting jittery because Yoongi wasn’t happy that I got the tattoo. But he’s fine now - I’m fine. And I should just forget about it.

Successfully having comforted himself, Jungkook drifted off beneath the warmth of his blankets, content to forget about the intricacies of his tattoo in favor of simply enjoying it. He still loved the sheen of the dragon’s vibrant green scales, and its eyes almost looked alive they were so piercing. Jungkook was happy to accept that he and his roommate were simply forgetful - until he woke up in the middle of the night.

“What the heck?”

The young man’s voice was groggy and deep, and he was still in a disoriented state as something pulled him out of his slumber. A tight slithering sensation had disturbed Jungkook’s rest, and he realized sleepily that it was right over the area of his leg that had been tattooed.

He yanked the blankets off, determined to catch whatever bug or rat there was writhing around on his leg in the act - but there was nothing. Only the smooth skin from where the tattoo artist had shaved his leg in order to get a clean canvas on which to work, and of course the tattoo itself-

Was gone.

Jungkook bent to examine his leg. He knew it was his right leg that the tattoo had been on: starting just above his ankle and stretching to the middle of his calf. But the lime-colored dragon was nowhere to be seen.

The young man lied back down on his mattress, staring up at his ceiling in bewilderment. Had he imagined the entire thing? He certainly remembered the jabbing pain of getting the tattoo. Had Yoongi been privy to some sort of shared hallucination of a tattoo that was never there? The older man didn’t seem like someone who would be prone to that type of hysteria, and Jungkook didn’t think he would take a joke that far just to tease the former. And if it had all been a dream, then why was his leg shaved in an even, square patch just where he remembered getting tattooed?

What the hell is going on?

❧

Again, Jungkook felt a tugging sensation on his leg - but this time it was coming from the left one. He pushed his pajama pants aside, and saw with disbelief that the tattoo was sitting on his other leg, exactly in the position he could have sworn it had been in on his right, two loops in its tail.

Jungkook reclined backwards again, trying to keep his breathing even. He thought he had seen the tip of the dragon’s tail flick just a fraction of an inch while he’d been looking at it - but that was impossible. Tattoos didn’t move, and they certainly didn’t come to life and shift locations. Jungkook stayed awake until he exhausted himself, and fell asleep fitfully despite his racing thoughts.

In the morning, Jungkook sat at the kitchen table, a glass of juice rippling in his shaking hand as he failed to steady his nerves.

“What’s up?” asked Yoongi sleepily as he dug through the refrigerator. He poked his head out to stare quizzically at Jungkook when the younger man didn’t answer, and there was a hint of concern in his voice. “You okay, dude? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Jungkook shook his head, and dumped the leftover juice in the sink.

“Yah! Why are you wasting orange juice?!” complained Yoongi. “That stuff costs money, you know, and-”

The older man stopped abruptly when he noticed how badly Jungkook was shivering.

“Are you okay, Kookie?”

“Fine,” replied the younger man. “Just feeling a little… weird.”

Yoongi jumped up, immediately marching toward Jungkook as he stooped down to inspect the boy’s leg. Jungkook slapped a hand down on the right leg of his pajama pants, preventing Yoongi from lifting it before the elder could discover that the tattoo was no longer there.

“Don’t look at it, please. It’s really gross,” lied Jungkook. “It’s peeling and stuff.”

Yoongi looked unimpressed. He moved as if to push aside the fabric despite Jungkook’s protests, but the younger man leapt back before his friend could touch him.

“It’s not the tattoo,” Jungkook insisted. “I just have a little cold or something. It’s nothing.”

“If this is because of that stupid sketchy tattoo place using bad needles-”

“I told you it was clean,” interrupted Jungkook. “It’s not infected. Peeling is normal. I’m just gonna go lie down for a bit. I have a headache”

Yoongi was skeptical as he followed the other man into the latter’s bedroom, trailing just behind Jungkook with an air of worry and almost paternal protectiveness.

“I was gonna go to the studio,” began Yoongi. “Will you be okay here by yourself, or should I stay?”

“I’ll be fine. Go ahead,” encouraged Jungkook. “I’ll take a nap and be good as new.”

The words sounded reasonable enough, but Jungkook himself was having a hard time believing them as he pulled the covers up to his chin, truly feeling feverish as the panic overtook him. There were only two explanations for what was going on. One: Jungkook and possibly Yoongi were both going completely insane, and had imagined an entirely fabricated situation where the younger man got a dragon tattooed on his leg. Or two - well, Jungkook didn’t really know how to phrase the other option, but he was certain that it wasn’t good.

❧

Yoongi did leave the apartment, but not before sticking his head back in to check on Jungkook. The younger man appreciated his friend looking out for him, but he pretended to be asleep when Yoongi glanced over him, too tired and afraid to dodge another round of interrogating questions.

After he heard his roommate close the front door, Jungkook convinced himself that maybe a nap really would be helpful, and he dozed off after checking that the dragon was at least still stuck on his left leg, even though he was positive that that wasn’t where he remembered getting it.

Not too long after Jungkook had fallen asleep, however, he was rudely awakened by a pull on his leg. Sharp pain radiated up his left calf, and he dragged himself up to see a perfectly triangular little pattern of tooth marks, right where the dragon’s two dimensional head had been.

The creature wasn’t there any longer, however, and Jungkook’s racing thoughts were stopped in their tracks by a sting on his right ankle. He looked just in time to see the tattoo move as it wriggled away, leaving behind another of the odd bitemarks.

“Ow!”

Jungkook slapped his own leg, trying to stop the tattoo as it moved up his thigh, slithering past his hip and onto his chest. The green dragon’s dark eyes shone wildly, and Jungkook thought that they looked more alive than ever before. Its snake-like body wrapped around his neck, and Jungkook clawed at his throat, powerless to stop the thing from tightening and constricting.

Yoongi was nowhere - evidently not back yet from his trip to the recording studio - and Jungkook felt tears at the corners of his eyes as his vision started caving in. The sound of the apartment door swinging open gave him a ray of hope, but the young man was shocked to see that it was the tattoo artist rather than his roommate who stepped through his bedroom door not a moment later.

“There’s one thing I forgot to tell you,” snarked the man as he smiled at Jungkook. “I used a very special ink when I did your tattoo.”

Jungkook tried to respond, but he only managed to let out short gasps of strangled air as his eyes continued to fail him. He could barely make out the wispy red beacon of the other man’s hair through his blurry vision as he lay on the floor, feeling a terrible tightening as the tattoo squeezed his neck.

“Guess you won’t get to celebrate surviving another year,” teased the shop owner.

Jungkook felt the air leave him as the world went black.

Oh, Kookie, my Kookie. Why must I always kill you? I was debating whether to leave this more open ended, and let people decide for themselves if the tattoo artist (guess who, haha) was truly evil or if he was just as unaware of the whole situation as Jungkook seemed to be. But then I decided it would be more fun to bring him back, and have him send off poor Jungkook as he got strangled by his own tattoo. In a dramatic, somewhat ridiculous fashion, of course ; )