Red looks good on you.

Seongjoong leaned over the bathroom counter to get a closer look at the mirror to inspect his ear, a deep red jewel decorating his right lobe, careful not to touch it. He tested different angles with different expressions until he concluded that yes, he did like the way it turned out. Taking the bobby pins out of the right side of his hair, he messed with the stiffened strands until they looked natural again, then focused again on his ear. The gem wasn’t horribly unsubtle, but it peeked through his hair enough for someone paying attention to notice. He was satisfied enough with that, finally moving on from his reflection to clean up the mess of discarded plastic packaging scattered in the sink. He looked up again, staring at his reflection through his fringe, tilting his head so that the gem flashed as it caught the light. The process of piercing his ear was much simpler and much less painful than he thought it would be, but he looked at the abandoned of the pair of disposable piercers and couldn’t bring himself to do the other lobe. Besides, if he pierced both his ears, wouldn’t it have been obvious that the decision was influenced by Hongjoong’s words?

You should wear it more often.

His earring wasn’t permanent. He could easily take it out just as easily as he could easily swap it out for any other piece of jewelry that was any other color besides red. This didn’t have to mean anything at all, but when he saw the piercing guns with red gemmed studs for sale, he immediately thought back to Hongjoong’s words and decided that he had to get them. It was an impulse purchase, and it was an impulse decision when the first thing he did when he got home was race to the bathroom to try his hand at it, not even bothering to look up any real directions or even properly wash his hands before he began. Maybe he should have thought about it more before following through, but he only snapped out of his mania after he registered the small pinch in his ear. It was too late, the deed had been done. To be fair, he had thought about getting his ears pierced before.

Only when he had the time to mull over his decision did his actions really sink in. He could take out the stud right now, but there would still be an indent even when the hole would close up, proof that he tried something there. Truthfully speaking, there were no real consequences of his actions. He wasn’t in high school and he wouldn’t be stopped by some teacher in the halls who would reprimand him for his “improper” appearance. The only drawback was the humiliation of if it was ever discovered that the reason behind Seonghwa’s decision was simply that he caved into a compliment that Hongjoong casually threw his way. One that Hongjoong probably didn’t even remember giving.

Seonghwa was just too easily influenced for his own good.

~~

Hongjoong’s lap was the world’s most comfortable pillow, but Seonghwa would never admit it. Instead, he silently savored his privilege as Hongjoong pampered Seonghwa’s cravings for physical contact. With Hongjoong’s fingers being woven into Seonghwa’s hair, Seonghwa found himself sighing in satisfaction. His eyes were closed and the sensation of every touch was magnified by that much more. He almost purred when Hongjoong used his nails to massage his scalp, but the movement stopped when Hongjoong reached his ear. Seonghwa was about to protest, but Hongjoong managed to say something, first.

“Hmm? You got a piercing?”

Hongjoong rubbed Seonghwa’s outer ear between his index and thumb, running his fingers down the shell of his ear, careful to avoid the lobe. Seonghwa squeezed Hongjoong’s leg in approval.

“Yesterday. Does it look weird”

Seonghwa turned his head to watch Hongjoong, who was eyeing the piercing with intensity. Was it bad obvious that it was unprofessionally done? Hongjoong had a number of piercings, each one of them was prized. Seonghwa could only imagine how much time Hongjoong would weigh his options on where his next one would be and how well it would pair with his existing ones. Hongjoong practiced great care in everything he did, and his piercings were no exception. Seonghwa only wished he had the same mindset.

“It looks good on you. Red is really your color.”

As if hearing the compliment for the first time, as if he hadn’t heard it from Hongjoong before, Seonghwa felt a blush creep up his neck. He turned to hide it, but there was no hiding from Hongjoong. He could pretend and Hongjoong could go along with him, but they were both aware of how red Seonghwa would turn when he was flustered.

“You think so?”

Hongjoong brushed back the stray hair around Seonghwa’s ear like he couldn’t look at it closely enough.

“It’s pretty. It makes me want to get another lobe piercing. A red one.”

Seonghwa sat up, and as impulsively as everything else had been, he blurted out, “I still have one left. A piercing gun. It came in a set.”

“You did it yourself?”

Seonghwa almost thought Hongjoong would look concerned, since Seonghwa had no training of any sort to be qualified to pierce anyone’s ear, even his own, but when he looked Hongjoong in the eyes, he was met with an expression of awe. Seonghwa wanted to shrink back, but Hongjoong had a way of pulling him out of his shell.

“Yeah, I found these piercing guns on sale and wanted to try them out, but…”

“And you’ll let me have the other?”

There was no hesitation in Hongjoong’s inquiry. Seonghwa blinked in surprise.

“You don’t have to take it. I forgot you usually go to that one piercer.”

“Will you let me have it?”

He almost had to compose himself to reply to Hongjoong’s tone. Hongjoong was serious about this. Seonghwa got up to rummage his desk drawer for the plastic piercer still in a small ziplock bag, offering it to Hongjoong when he found it.

“I’m not planning on using it. I’ll give it to you if you want it.”

“I want it,” Hongjoong shot back immediately with a challenging gaze, “but only if you pierce it for me.”

Seonghwa stilled, clearly not prepared for there to be a condition. He drew his arm back slightly. “What if I say no?”

Hongjoong chuckled, running his hands through his hair. “I’ll still take it, but I really want you to be the one to do it for me.”

Seonghwa brought the plastic bag to eye level, checking to see if the piercing gun still looked usable. It had been a day since he bought the thing, so there was no reason for it to suddenly stop functioning, but Seonghwa had his doubts. Things could always go wrong.

“I’ve only done this once before. What if I mess up?”

Hongjoong raised an eyebrow.

“You have a good ratio of attempts to success, I would say. I have faith in you.”

Doubts, doubts, and more doubts ran across Seonghwa’s mind. This was something neither of them would normally ever do, but Seonghwa had been running an impulsive streak. The brakes were nowhere to be found.

“Are you sure about this?” Seonghwa asked to make absolutely certain that he was. Just in case.

“Are you afraid?” Hongjoong tested.

Was he afraid of pain? Yes. Was he afraid of inflicting pain onto others? Even more so, yes. Was he afraid of Hongjoong?

“No.”

There was a glint in Hongjoong’s eyes as he smiled in confirmation, catching Seonghwa’s gaze as directly as he possibly could.

“Then I’m sure.”

~~

“Ready?” Seonghwa asked with a breathy voice.

Hongjoong had his eyes closed and chin forward, and if was any other day, Seonghwa would take advantage of it and kiss him senseless, paying no mind that they were in the cramped space of his bathroom, but today, Seonghwa was holding up a shaking hand, loaded with an ear-piercing gun, to Hongjoong’s right ear, just a small distance away from his second lobe piercing. Hongjoong had taken his earrings out so they wouldn’t be in the way, but Seonghwa felt his doubts rise again, wondering if it was okay for him to pierce so high up the lobe. This all seemed like much less of a great idea when he considered that he could be hitting cartilage if he wasn’t careful. He used a second hand to steady the first, but all it did was crowd his working space.

Seonghwa tried to swallow down his fear, but all he managed to swallow was his spit.

“Are you okay?” Hongjoong asked softly, eyes opening slowly, his hand finding a home on Seonghwa’s waist, “I can do it myself if it’s too hard for you.”

He reached for the piercing gun, but Seonghwa swiped it away, adamantly declaring. “No, I want to do it.”

His voice showcased more determination than what he truly thought he had, but after the words left his mouth, he was filled with a greed that overtook his fear. He felt fueled by the desire to mark Hongjoong in a way that was more permanent than just a kiss mark. It was something more solid and something more vibrant.

Seonghwa steadied himself as Hongjoong closed his eyes again. Hongjoong’s piercings were gorgeous. Each one complimented his ear like they were meant to be there, and Seonghwa wouldn’t change any of them for the world. He hoped that Hongjoong would have the same sentiment for his new piercing, even though it was just a piece of jewelry that came with a piercing gun from some store Seonghwa happened to stumble upon. If no value came from the material, he would hope there would at least be value in that it was Seonghwa marking him.

“Ready?” Seonghwa asked, again.

Hongjoong’s lips curled upward. “I think I should be the one asking you that.”

Seonghwa couldn’t help the nervous laughter that came out. “Right, okay. I’m going to do this, okay? I’m going to count to three. One, two…”

He didn’t mean to squeeze the piercing gun early, but it happened, and before Seonghwa could force out a ‘three’ fast enough for him to play it off as something purposeful, he was frozen, teeth sinking hard into his bottom lip. 

“Ouch,” Hongjoong hissed, face scrunched in pain.

The piercing gun clattered as it hit the floor, but Seonghwa’s attention was focused fully on Hongjoong, his hands grasping either side of his head and angling Hongjoong’s ear toward him. He pushed back Hongjoong’s hair to check for tears or anything wrong because this was only the second time he ever tried this, so the chances of his screwing up were extremely high. He tried to quickly determine if it would be better to pull out the earring or to leave it in. He started tasting blood in his mouth.

“I’m so sorry, did it hurt? Are you okay? What did I do wrong? Should I take out the earring?”

There was a pause. Seonghwa thought he would shrivel up and die, and his heart was trying to keep up with his mind by beating faster. His mind was already losing function and his body had to deal with the dead weight. He wasn’t scared, no. He was terrified that he seriously did something to hurt Hongjoong. He was an idiot for trusting himself.

Hongjoong suddenly started laughing as he wrapped his arms around Seonghwa’s waist, pulling him closer, temporarily stunning him. All the tension left Seonghwa’s body when he realized that he didn’t hurt Hongjoong and that Hongjoong was just being mean.

“I’m kidding. I barely even felt it.”

When all his anxieties were flushed out of his system, Seonghwa crossed his arms as a pout settled on his face. He was actually worried for Hongjoong, and when the relief washed away, he was left with an upsetting feeling in his stomach. These were all signs that Seonghwa cared for Hongjoong too much, but he was walking a one-way street without a way to turn back. Hongjoong made it too easy to love him. “You’re a bully, you know that?”

Hongjoong buried his head into Seonghwa’s belly, and Seonghwa let him, giving in to the affection and returning his embrace.

“And yet, you adore me.”

He did. He absolutely cherished every part of Hongjoong without question.

“As if you don’t feel the same for me.”

Seonghwa held Hongjoong tightly, squeezing with every ounce of his strength if it could portray just how much Hongjoong meant to Seonghwa, holding still with the only movement being their breathing. If time would pass, Seonghwa couldn’t tell, because all he knew was that Hongjoong was there in his arms, holding him just as tightly, and all the words wouldn’t be enough to describe what it meant to Seonghwa. Maybe their matching red earrings would convey as much as a promise. That much, Seonghwa could hope.