Yuri sent a text in the afternoon a few days later.

I finally found out who it is.

Taeyeon put her cleaning cloth down immediately and sat up straight as she typed.

Who?

It’s not Seolmin. It’s Seolmin’s new gf.

Wtf?! Seriously?!

Just then, an audio file was sent through the app.

Listen to this first.

Taeyeon tapped on it right away, and a conversation played.

“Hey, Seolmin recommended you to me. She said you do pretty good abstract tatts?”

“Yeah, that’s my speciality.”

“Can I see some designs?”

“Sure.”

Yuri’s friend hummed for a bit.

“Here.”

“Thanks.”

“These are some of the latest ones I designed. They’re popular.”

“Oh nice. I wanna get another tatt but I heard it’s illegal to get tatts here, that’s why I got mine in Thailand. But Seolmin said it’s okay? It’s safe?”

“Yeah, it’s totally safe.”

“Police won’t arrest us or anything?”

“I keep a low profile so I’m safe. It’s places like Taettoo that you gotta avoid. I heard the police just raided that shop a while ago.”

“Oh . . . I should avoid that shop. Where is it?”

“Hongdae. It’s safer to avoid that one.”

“Is it very good and popular? Is that why the police raided it?”

“That shop isn’t very good. It’s the location. Hongdae is where everyone goes to get tatts.”

“I see.”

Taeyeon was seething after the listen.

That er.

Are you going to report her shop?

No.

Then what do you want to do?

I’ll talk to her.

If you’re going to confront her I can go with you

😊 tmr.

Ok

T

The next day, Taeyeon drove to Yuri’s apartment to pick her up. Both were a little tensed at first, but Yuri broke the tension when she asked, “Why are we so scared when we aren’t doing any wrong?”

Taeyeon looked at her and barked a laugh. “I know, right? It’s as if we’re gonna rob a bank or something.”

“We don’t have to be scared. The one who should be scared is Chaejin.”

“I have to thank your friend too. How did she even act so natural?”

“Yeah, my friend is really good, right? She told me Seolmin looked a little scared when she asked about police raids so she thought Seolmin was guilty at first. But Seolmin saw her tattoo and asked where she got it done so my friend lied and said she got it in Thailand. Then Seolmin said if she wanted to get another one, she could try Chaejin’s shop. So my friend went to Chaejin’s shop. That makes it less suspicious? But after hearing Chaejin say all those things, she was pretty sure it was Chaejin. That girl is practically out to destroy your reputation. And Seolmin probably knows what her girlfriend did, that’s why she looked scared.”

“Sounds like it.”

“What’s your plan for later?”

“I’m gonna make sure she won’t do it ever again.”

“Ooh . . . sounds promising. I’ll back you up.”

T

The shop was non-descript like most tattoo shops. Taeyeon didn’t bother to knock before entering. Chaejin was inside, busy with her phone. There were no customers. Perfect.

“So, you’re Chaejin?” Taeyeon began, with her hands on the table between them.

Chaejin looked up and her eyes widened, obviously recognising Taeyeon. “Y-Yes.”

With both palms pressed on the table, Taeyeon leaned forward, eyes locked on Chaejin’s nervous ones. “I know what you did.”

“W-what did I do?”

Taeyeon slammed the table with her hands. “Don’t lie. I have friends who know things. Everything you did is on record.”

“I-I didn’t.”

“Don’t you know you have to sign off on your identity when you lodge a report? Did you really think that nobody would know you did it?”

“I . . .”

“Now listen up. No thanks to you, I have to pay the fine. But that’s not a problem. I can afford it. But if you want to play this dirty game, be prepared to be raided by the police every day. All the tattooists are behind us. We just have to spread the word and everyone will bring you down. Do you understand me?”

“Y-Yes.”

“I don’t care about your reasons. I don’t care if you’re angry or jealous about something. I have nothing to do with you and you have nothing to do with me. But if you ever do something like that again, I’ll make your life a living hell. The law is already out to get us. If we fight among ourselves then we’re idiots helping them to do their job. You understand?”

Chaejin nodded, muted by Taeyeon’s fury.

Satisfied by Chaejin’s response, Taeyeon stood up straight again, brushed imaginary dust off her flannel shirt, and walked out of the shop. Much to her surprise, Seolmin was standing just outside, eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“I-I’m sorry, Tae,” she muttered. “I didn’t know she did it until it was too late. I’m so sorry. She only did it because—”

Yuri took a step forward, about to say something biting, but Taeyeon stopped her with an arm.

“Whatever the reason is, isn’t important to me. What’s important is tattooists stop doing stupid things to one another. She needs to understand this.”

“I know. I’ve already talked to her.”

“You should have talked to her before she reported me. That would have saved me two million won.”

Seolmin gasped. “They caught you red-handed?”

Taeyeon shook her head. “They didn’t. I admitted to it.”

With eyes wide in shock, Seolmin asked, “But why?”

“Because I want to send a message. I know it’s illegal but I disagree with the law. I’m not gonna lie and say I’m not a tattooist. If we’re all passive then nothing will change. Ever.”

“Tae . . . I am truly sorry. I’ll make sure she never reports anyone again.”

“That’s for the best.”

T

Later that night, Taeyeon was drinking with Yuri when Tiffany finally arrived from work.

“So sorry I’m late. The meeting dragged on for so long, I—”

“My B-U-T, com’ere. Sit beside me,” Taeyeon interrupted, patting the chair next to her.

Tiffany blushed as she greeted Yuri and smacked Taeyeon’s arm. “Tae, Quit it. We’re in public.”

Taeyeon merely grinned and planted her head on Tiffany’s shoulder. “But you’re so pretty . . .”

Yuri leaned to Tiffany and whispered, “She’s trash when she drinks.”

“I heard that!” Taeyeon grunted.

Yuri laughed. “Whatcha gonna do about it?”

“Nothing!”

“Dead right, you are. You still owe me for finding the snitch.”

Tiffany leaned forward, ignoring Taeyeon’s rolling head. “You found the person who reported Tae?”

Taeyeon raised her hand, pointing at Yuri. “She’s Yuri. She’s good at everything.”

“We confronted the person today.” Yuri nodded at Taeyeon. “You can ask her to tell you about it when she’s sober again.”

“I’m sleepy,” Taeyeon whined, pawing at Tiffany’s arm.

“Geez,” said Tiffany, looking around at the empty glasses on the table. “You drank just two glasses of beer and this is the state you’re in now?”

“Bring me home, babe.”

Yuri laughed hard. “You’d better bring her home before she falls asleep right here. She’s the sleeping beauty drunk type.”

“. Would you please help me bring Tae to my car?”

Yuri grinned. “Sure.”

“I’m sorry we didn’t get to talk more because of this smol useless drunk.”

“No worries, we’ll meet again.”

T