23: Kai's parents split when he was eight, so he gets a tattoo every year as proof to himself that he and Soo can make it. Pairing!Kaisoo, Tattoo!AU, Domestic!AU

"No can do, man." The tattoo artist's voice was gravelly, but liltingly insincere as he apologized. "I don't know you and I don't take on unknowns. Sorry."

Kyungsoo was exasperated. He'd been waiting for nearly an hour already, and now that he'd finally gotten in to see the tattooed man sitting before him, the artist was saying no.

"If you don't work on people you don't know then how do you get new customers?" Kyungsoo took a telling look around the ornately decorated room filled with obviously expensive and top-of-the-line equipment. "How do you stay in business?"

The tattoo artist shrugged and if he weren't at least a half foot taller than Kyungsoo, the shorter man would have wanted to hit him. "Referrals, man."

"Screw your referrals. Screw you!" Kyungsoo was angry now, but the artist just sort of looked at him blankly and with a hint of a smile, obviously trying not to laugh in case it made Kyungsoo madder. "My boyfriend comes in here every year and he talks about you all the time. It's always, "Chanyeol's designed this," and "You should see what Chanyeol put on Chen last week." And now I come in here for one small tattoo and you don't want to do it? Like I said, screw you."

Kyungsoo left in a huff, annoyed that he'd expended so much energy by getting angry and yelling at Chanyeol without getting anything in return. The lanky tattoo artist had never answered, never done anything other than obviously hide his smile when he very easily could have gotten mad in return and gotten rid of the rude customer in his shop. That lack of reaction--of anything, really--grated on Kyungsoo's nerves as he took the bus home, so when he made it back to his and Kai's apartment, Kyungsoo decided to take a short nap in the hopes that he could sleep off his irritation and still have dinner ready by the time Kai returned from work.

Except the next time Kyungsoo opened his eyes, the world was much darker than it should have been for 5:30 in the evening at the height of summer, and as he rolled over to check the clock, Kyungsoo knew without looking that he'd slept way too long.

Before he could reopen his eyes and actually start the process of waking up and getting out of bed--always a hard one, even if it wasn't morning--a light touch caressed the top of his head as a familiar hand reached down over his forehead to brush Kyungsoo's bangs out of his eyes. Kai was home.

"Soo?" he whispered gently, careful not to be too loud in case Kyungsoo's movement had been a fluke and not an indication of wakefulness. "You up?" An answering groan. "You hungry?" Another groan and the shake of Kyungsoo's head in a "Yes" against Kai's still brushing fingers. "When you didn't answer your phone, I just stopped by the Ahjumma's downstairs to grab us dinner. You were asleep still when I got home, and I had extra work to do, so I've eaten already; but there's leftover kimchi jigae in the fridge and I've just started a new pot of rice in the cooker. If you want."

Kyungsoo's eyes fluttered open at the information that his favorite soup was ready and waiting for him to eat with no extra effort on his part except for putting the bowl in the microwave and pressing "Start." He smiled at the warm and fuzzy feeling he still got whenever Kai's maternal insticts kicked in and he took care of Kyungsoo instead of the other way around; they'd been together for a little over ten years now, but that wasn't something Kyungsoo would ever get used to or take for granted. As he stretched and yawned a little, Kyungsoo watched Kai stand up and stretch too, making his shirt rise up a little on his abdomen and giving Kyungsoo a tiny glimpse of the newest addition to his collection.

"I really like the treble clef," Kyungsoo complimented his boyfriend's tattoo as Kai linked their fingers and they walked hand-in-hand into the kitchen.

"I'd hoped you might," Kai admitted. Once he would have been shy about so obviously expressing his feelings about something, but he and Kyungsoo had been together long enough that shyness wasn't necessary anymore. "You are a singer, after all." He didn't add that he'd gotten the clef on his hip instead of somewhere else because that was Kyungsoo's favorite place for leaving love bites and Kai's skin literally sang whenever he did; that detail wasn't a secret, necessarily, Kai was just waiting for the perfect moment--like when Kyungsoo's tongue was caressing the treble clef's curves and his mouth was leaving imprints, below the ink, in Kai's skin.

Kai lounged against the counter by the rice cooker, watching with fascination as Kyungsoo moved around the kitchen, grabbing a bowl and utensils for his soup, putting the soup in the microwave, and setting a single place at their barstool table. Of course, Kai knew his way around their kitchen too, so it was Kai's boyfriend who was fascinating, and not the kitchen or the cooking at all. The feel of Kai's eyes on him pressed in on Kyungsoo from all sides, though not in anyway that could be considered claustrophobic or overwhelming, and Kyungsoo smiled as he completed the last of his preparations and moved to join Kai against the counter to wait for the rice. He waited with his foot tapping and his eyebrow raised until Kai laughed at Kyungsoo's pout and opened his arms for his boyfriend to snuggle up against his chest and rest there comfortably. Arms around each other, both men were content, and Kyungsoo, though increasingly hungry now that it was nearing 9:15, didn't mind the wait since he had Kai there, too, waiting with him.

While they stood waiting, Kyungsoo's eyes traveled lazily over Kai's dancer's body, appreciating that his boyfriend hadn't lost his physique even after retiring from ballet in order to teach it. The shorter's gaze stopped briefly at the peek of entwined forget-me-nots under Kai's collarbone, just at the neck of his tank; traveled across to rest on the triangle of teleportation on Kai's left shoulder--a reminder that it's most important to be present, and not to want to run away; ran down Kai's arm to his wrist and the date tattooed there as a sharp contrast from the one in the same place, over his pulse, on the other side. Kyungsoo couldn't see the rest in that moment, but his mind drifted briefly to the anchor directly behind Kai's right ear, the small cross between the fourth and fifth fingers on his left hand--below where a wedding ring would be if the world were a fairer place, the 수 in the same place on his other hand, and finally the infinity symbol over his heart. There were ten, in all, each representing one of Kai and Kyungsoo's years together, but Kyungsoo's favorites were the one's on either hand because one was the last character of his name and the other, well, he'd have wanted God in their marriage too.

The microwave beeped, startling Kyungsoo from checking out his boyfriend, and making Kai laugh when Kyungsoo literally jumped out of his arms in surprise. Kai bent his neck to kiss Kyungsoo's lips tenderly, whispering against them, "I'm glad you like the tattoos, Soo, but we both know what you're like when you're food gets cold." A click sounded behind them and Kai added softly, "And look, now the rice is done, too."

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, but got on his tiptoes to peck his boyfriend once in return before moving away to remove his hot soup and grab a serving spoon from a drawer to get some rice as well.

"By the way, babe," Kai wondered aloud, "I got the weirdest visitor to the studio today. You know Chanyeol, right? The tall guy who always does my pieces?"

Kyungsoo nodded and tried not to look guilty because he could see where this was going and it embarrassed him.

"Yeah," Kai confirmed. "Right. So, anyway, he came by to ask me if I knew anyone who was short with black hair, cute lips, and a face that would probably photograph angry. I happen to think you're very photogenic," he defended when Kyungsoo shot an offended glare from over his soup bowl, "but I still immediately thought of you."

Taking another slurp of his soup and then stuffing his mouth with rice right after, Kyungsoo tried to show his boyfriend that he really didn't want to talk about this. Kai was patient, though, and waited diligently until Kyungsoo's mouth was empty and able to answer.

"Um, yeah." Kyungsoo's cheeks were flushed as he spoke, though he knew Kai would probably love his idea and there really was no need to be so flustered over this. "I stopped by his shop this afternoon, before my accidentally long sleep."

"Why?" Kai prompted, curious about his boyfriend's blush.

"I want a tattoo," Kyungsoo mumbled as quickly as he could before he stuffed his face with food again.

Kai didn't understand. "You want me to get another tattoo?"

"No!" Kyungsoo swallowed hard and almost choked on his food as he tried to correct Kai's confusion. "I want me to get a tattoo." Kai, though, still didn't think he totally understood what was going on, so he just sort of looked at Kyungsoo with an eyebrow raised until his boyfriend took the hint and elaborated. "I wanted a bold double bar line with two dots for a repeat."

"But why?" Kai repeated the question, liking the idea of the black ink against Kyungsoo's skin, but not quite comprehending the significance of it. "Mine are for me; so I remember that being in a relationship takes a lot of work, but every year we make it is another reminder that the effort is worth it. You know what happened with my mom and dad," he said this sadly and Kyungsoo's hand reached out across the table to take Kai's comfortingly, "so I get my tattoos as proof that we don't have to end up that way." Kai looked at Kyungsoo as he said this, and the latter squeezed his boyfriend's hand as both smiled lovingly. "But you," Kai continued, "why would you?"

"Your treble clef inspired me," Kyungsoo admitted with his lips pulled between his teeth. "I'm a singer, so I know music the way that you know dancing, and I wanted something indelibly marked in my skin to show that even when we reach the end, our love isn't over because we can just start again. We can repeat it all, again, together."

Kai was awed, reminded once more of the many reasons he loved Kyungsoo and how lucky he was to have him. "I love you," Kai told his boyfriend as he got out of his seat to walk around the table and pull Kyungsoo to his feet so the shorter man could rest in Kai's embrace. "And if you're sure, let's go tomorrow, alright? I'm happy to be your referral."

Kyungsoo didn't tell his boyfriend that after the way he'd acted that afternoon, Chanyeol had every right not to let him into his shop ever again. Instead, he twisted so that he and Kai were facing each other, and lifted his arms slowly to entwine them around his boyfriend's neck before pressing his mouth to Kai's and entangling their tongues lazily. "I love you too," Kyungsoo breathed against Kai's lips. "Tattooed reminders or not, you're mine and you're worth it."