Taeyeon didn’t take her eyes off the bright coloured lights that promised a lot of fun in the dead of the night.

Dead of the night really wasn’t a proper term to use as, apparently, the city never sleeps, or so Yuri proudly told her one night. Taeyeon scoffed at her at first, arguing that the city wasn’t alive in the first place and thus didn’t know the concept of sleep. Yuri had laughed at her and patted her head, an action that Taeyeon had linked to foolishness. Something she resented whenever the werewolf or the witch did to her as they laughed her inputs away and dropped the matter with “When you see it, you’ll know what I mean.”

As she kept staring at the sign, hearing the laughter, the arguments, the groans, and the moans, she knew this was what they meant. It was not the city, but the people that kept the streets alive. Or semi-alive, judging by the lost looks and far off stares she’s seen other people wore.

It was far from the simplicity of her café. It was darker and yet livelier. The cold temperature of the night chased away by the heat produced by the bodies brushing and pushing against each other in the dimly lit spaces that barely had enough oxygen to go around.  Nothing was organized, yet everyone found their way around just fine, sober or dancing along to their out of tune, happy slurring. The atmosphere buzzed with excitement, happiness, nervousness, and even lust. Even with her senses toned down to an average human she could still feel it all in the air, and somehow it stirred something in her. It was making her a bit dizzy and she felt a strange excitement like never before. It had felt like there was a hand in her gut, squeezing and pulling, egging her on to live the life of the night out of her norm.

When she blinked, when she finally blinked, she could still see the outline of the sign flashing back at her in the dark. It had ingrained in her sights and Taeyeon thought it was cool and wondered if it will stay with her as part of a memory of that night.

She already had something to drink by then, from an aluminium can that housed a stale kind of drink that she sometimes sniffed from Yuri’s direction. Looking around her she found it was a normal thing to consume, and despite the rank aftertaste that was left in she downed it anyway, letting it flow into and down . Another can was shoved into her hand as soon as she put the one she had just emptied down, and again, she questioned the reason behind it before taking another swing. She chose not to finish it in one go the second time and simply held onto the can.

It was a while later that she felt it begin to burn in her stomach, and it wasn’t the same as her internal flame keeping her warm. It was different. It was something she couldn’t control. It disturbed her, but the following light buzz in her head had her calmed enough to chalk it up as something as mighty as her can tolerate.

And so, down went the second of her beer.

She was offered a third can but someone got to it faster than she could, and rightfully so. The warmth had spread to her neck and up her face and she couldn’t be sure if her body was gearing up to spit out her fire or there was a hot burp stuck in .

When she felt a hand grasp her wrist and she flinched and instinctively bared her teeth, momentarily forgetting she was surrounded by mortals and she wasn’t in her full, fire breathing glory. Her eyes meet crescent shaped ones glinting mischievously under the colourful lights playing in the background and her snarl fell away to a lax jawed gaping. She saw the pretty, red lips move to formulate words. The loud beat of the music drowned out the words she said. It doesn’t help that the pounding in her ear was doing a pretty swell job muting even the music. She her dry lips, scrunching her face at how dry had gone. Her eyes begin to wander about, searching for any source of water she could drink from.

As if someone heard her thoughts, or maybe she voiced it out, she feels a cold sensation pressed up against her lips. She looks up to the fairy smiling at her, pressing the ice a little past her lips. Taeyeon opens , accepting the ice, her lips twitching when she feels Tiffany’s fingers graze her lips when she pulls them back.

It was the drink. She knew everything that made her seem unlike her normal was all the drinks’ fault. It was inhibiting her thoughts, making her do things she normally didn’t do. And she knew Tiffany knew that, hence why the pretty fairy pulled her out from the dizzying place and back to the cold outside world. She continued to on the block of ice while watching Tiffany recover from her sudden laughing fit.

Taeyeon looks over her body, wondering what was so funny to have the fairy laugh so heartily, so uncontrollably. She looked really nice when she laughed and smiled, looked better compared to her restrained smiles throughout the months she’s known her. Taeyeon wanted to know why, so that she could maybe use it on her the next time they are in the café.

She tells her something after she manages to recover from her laughter. Taeyeon doesn’t really comprehend what she had just asked, but she had heard “different”, and “memorable” in the same sentence and she was sold. That night was all about being different and memorable, and she was with Tiffany so really, what possible harm would befall them?

So there she stood, staring at the neon signs of their next conquest. Tiffany was already inside the well-lit establishment, browsing through a folder for as long as Taeyeon was staring at the lights. Finally having enough of the sign Taeyeon half stumbled into the place. She looked up in awe at the various artworks on display that greeted her upon stepping into the place. There were multiple works of art showcasing a wide spectrum of style with arts ranging from pretty flowers, inscriptions that made no sense to Taeyeon, various other flamboyant drawings, and even skulls and wolves.

Taeyeon found her eyes lingering at the large dragon that, aside from the snout, looked nothing like Taeyeon. She scoffed at the art, shaking her head at the bat-like wings and incredibly large horns that looked even bigger than the head. It was plain silly to see a dragon looking like that, there was no way they could have lifted their heads with that large a horn.

“Taeyeonnie~ come here.” Tiffany beckoned.

With one last scoff, Taeyeon drags her feet all the way to Tiffany, pressing against the woman’s side the second she could.

She heard the light hearted giggling followed by a quick pinch on her checks. She made a whining noise, taking a wide sidestep before lowering her chin against the cool surface. Tiffany shakes her head before folding the clear folder in half and sliding to Taeyeon’s line of sight, pointing at one of the pictures on file. “Isn’t this cute?”

Taeyeon took a quick inspection of the picture Tiffany pointed at. “Hm.. it is small.”

“No, I meant the design. Doesn’t it look cute?”

“Hm…” Taeyeon hummed, not really understanding what Tiffany was asking of her.

“Yeah, you’re right.. It’s too… I probably wouldn’t like that in the long haul.” Tiffany muttered pulling the folder back and flipping to the next page. “Oh! This one. I want something like this. Oh, definitely. And the font is so simple. I like it! But the flashiness and the word.. No, something else..”

Losing interest, Taeyeon continues her lazy scan of the place. A guy was seated on a stool on the other side of the counter, staring at a device with his headphones set askew over the mess of dark hair. The expanse of both his arms was covered in a chaotic mass of colourful drawings, and even sported a few letterings on his knuckles. His face and neck seemed like the only spot on his body that was cleared of any inking that if he were wearing long sleeves Taeyeon wouldn’t have guessed he was covered in tattoos at all.

She tilted her head to the side, her warm cheeks pressing on the cool surface, and she tried to make sense of the various art that littered his left arm.

“That’s a sweet looking cat.”

The guy looked up from the device to Taeyeon, looked down to his forearm where an inked lifelike kitten had poked its head from above a landing, then grinned. He lifted his arm, showing it at a proper angle for Taeyeon to see.

“Thanks. It’s my cat back when she was still a little kitten.”

“You have a very cute cat.” Taeyeon nodded her head, a lazy grin on her face.

“Uh-huh,” he looked to his tattoo proudly a second longer before standing up to properly address the two girls. “and are you looking to get a tattoo?”

“Oh, I am.” Tiffany lifted her hand, placing it over Taeyeon’s shoulder. Taeyeon turned her head to stare at Tiffany a little hazily, lips slightly puckered. Tiffany ran the back of her knuckles against the side of Taeyeon’s face fondly before continuing. “I don’t think my friend is interested in this kind of thing.”

“You’re getting a tattoo?” Taeyeon asked, her voice getting a little pitchy as she stared at Tiffany in surprise.

Tiffany giggled, gently running her hand through Taeyeon’s hair. “That’s why we’re here, silly. I told you earlier.”

“Oh… Well, what are you getting?”

“I think… yeah, I’d like one in this font but without the extras. I want the word Believe just across my ring finger before the first joint.”

“I can do that.” The guy nodded, pulling out a piece of paper riddled with various doodles or sketches from underneath his bench before quickly scrawling on a clean space.

“You’re getting a tattoo?” Taeyeon asked again, this time seeming like she was talking to herself rather than Tiffany. “Why?”

“Well, I thought about it... I’ve seen people with different tattoos, and yes, some regretted it but a lot of them are proudly showing them off.. It’s just another way to show self-expression and for a long time I’ve always wanted to get one but I couldn’t because my father wouldn’t let me. I mean, yeah, once I get it, it’s there for a long time. And I just thought, I want to have something that will remind me of the things I value greatly… Believe. Continue believing in yourself and what you can achieve.” Her eyes twinkled as she moved to bring her lips to Taeyeon’s ear. “And continue believing in the magik around us even when everyone else has forgotten.”

“I can’t believe you got a tattoo!” Yuri squealed, bending Taeyeon’s fingers to get a proper look at the fresh ink over the red, sensitive surface. Taeyeon pressed the heel of her palm against her throbbing head, gritting her teeth at the loud noises her flatmate was making.

Fortunately, she had managed to squeeze in a few hours of sleep before Yuri’s return from work and the succeeding questionings thrown at her after finding Taeyeon squeezing herself in between the couch and Tiffany’s sprawled out body. She doesn’t even remember how they ended up in the couch when her room was just a few meters away. She tries to recall how they even ended up in her flat, but the pounding in her head was too bothersome that she immediately gave up and awkwardly began crawling up and over the couch, landing ungracefully on her bottom.

Yuri ended up carrying Tiffany to Taeyeon’s vacant bed where they left her to peacefully slumber on. Satisfied by the task Yuri rounded back on the muttering Taeyeon who would have crawled right on back to the couch and sleep off the rest of her headache had she not received Yuri’s less than gentle collar pulling and demands of recounting her night out as she forced her to sit on their dining chair.

“Did it hurt?” Yuri asked, carefully holding Taeyeon’s inked finger up to the light and get a better look.

Taeyeon sighed. “I think I remember there being crying, but I can’t be sure if it was me or Tiffany.”

“Why would she be crying?”

“Cause this was her idea in the first place. I remember that perfectly.”

“Woah- nah, I actually expected that of her.. but you… did you get matching tattoos? Oh.. wait till Jessica gets a look at this!”

“It’s just a tattoo. If you’re so excited why don’t you get one yourself?”

“Nah, I don’t like needles on my skin.”

“Don’t you prod other people with needles?”

“It’s different being the one behind the prodding. And you’ve got to see the look on the patient’s faces. You’d think I was holding a knife by how they lose the blood on their face. Priceless!” Yuri cackled as she sadistically began recounting her night.

Taeyeon placed her head over her folded arm, slowly tuning out the werewolf’s voice and falling to a daze. Her eyes lingered on the sensitive patch of skin of her middle finger. A smile pulled at her lips at the choice Tiffany made for her after their mini argument. Inscribed in a thin, pencilled like font was the letter F. It was actually pretty cool and mysterious.

And she would have probably smacked her forehead had she really gone with fire breather as she had originally wanted.