Cho Kyuhyun was a man of habit.

He always woke up at the same hour, ate the same thing repeatedly, and wrote everything he had down in his journal, met and eaten in a very particular fashion. 

And as a man of habits, he always visited his closest friends on the same day, too.

The third Sunday of the month was reserved for the "Lady" of the underground, the glamorous snake, as beautiful as he is dangerous. The leader of the brothels, the ones who took lost women and men and gave them a job fitting for them.

"Not all of them are fit to be working as people of lust; it's their choices in the end," he said one day and then smirked. "The more you force people, the less they obey; people who mistreat their subjects are the firsts one to fall; remember that."

It's a lesson he remembered first; the Lady also took him under his wings. Sometimes Kyuhyun considered him like his adopted mother, but he was sure Heechul would scoff at him for that.

Missing a meeting would result in a sulking Hyung, and he would have none of that.

"Are you sure you want to trust this man?"

Kyuhyun looked surprised for a few seconds; he looked up from his papers, the usual deals of the underground and new secrets the workers gave back to their mistress.

Kyuhyun didn't need to ask who Heechul was talking about; there was only one possibility.

"Donghee Hyung did a great backup check on him; he doesn't seem to hold hatred towards me. He worked once as a bodyguard for this disgusting man who tried to take over a part of your business, but seeing how he didn't do anything to protect him, I guess he didn't care." He said, "Plus, seeing how he didn't try to kill me when the needle was against my jugular, I guess he should be okay. " then he smirked, "And Jongwoon Hyung seems to like me very much~."

Heechul rolled his eyes at that.

"You brat, you should know better than let your lust consume you. I taught you better. No matter how pretty your small tattoo artist is, he might be dangerous." Kyuhyun smirked and softened, as it always did when he saw some of his Hyungs worrying about him. 

"Don't worry, I... I think lust might not be the only thing going on," he started with; Heechul opened his eyes wide.

"God, it's even worse." He sighed, "Love is even more dangerous."

Kyuhyun rolled his eyes. "It can be my greatest strength as well, right?" He started with, "Hyung is the best one to know love doesn't always end up in blood in our field of work." Heechul blushed a bit, cursed, and then coughed a little bit.

"You became too daring, you brat," he mumbled.

"Yes, yes, say hello to Teukie Hyung for him, will you? It's been a while."

"..He's still in hiding. I can't contact him easily those days; I hope this will end soon."

"Don't worry, Hyung; I'm almost done; Teukie Hyung will return soon."

Heechul looked at him straight into his eyes, but with a softness, you couldn't often see in the man's eyes.

"You truly are our genius child."

Kyuhyun just smiled and returned to his business; he had a lot of work to do.

"Concerning this man," Heechul started again, "I'll trust you. I know you can take care of yourself. But please, be careful we almost lost you not too long ago, remember?"

"Yes, Hyung, I'll be careful."

He then gave Heechul his most innocent smile, and Heechul just scoffed. 

Truthfully, Kyuhyun needed to be more careful concerning his little tattoo artist. 

A careful man would not ask someone he knew to tattoo so much of them in dangerous places as he did.

"The wrist now...? Do you have a pain kink or something?"

Jongwoon looked at him in disbelief, which started to become a common thing between them; each time Kyuhyun came, he asked him to tattoo small little pieces all over his body, but always at sensitive parts, where one wrong move could be deadly.

Kyuhyun knew Jongwoon wasn't stupid, so he knew all of that was a trust test, but Jongwoon might think it was too much. And Kyuhyun would agree it was too much.

And yet, Kyuhyun loved a bit too much how Jongwoon could end his life just like that. 

Kyuhyun might have some issues in his head, but nobody ever doubted that.

"I just think your works are more beautiful in those places," He said, with his usual teasing yet innocent smile. Jongwoon blushed a bit more than usual, and Kyuhyun liked that.

Recently the man looked increasingly receptive to his flirting; no matter how weird it was, Kyuhyun couldn't be happier. 

Patience was the key, he always said.

Today's design was a water lily.

How strange, he thought.

A water lily is a sign of purity and young love. The design may be too innocent for him, but judging by how Jongwoon kept blushing AND cursing while drawing on his skin, it might be more personal than he thought.

Would today be the day?

His little tattoo artist was so cute.

He kept cursing while giving him all those signs. He was receptive to his words while still looking hesitant, but it was okay; Kyuhyun was a man of patience first.

When the water lily ended up on his skin, Kyuhyun, as always, inspected it. And, as always, it was lovely. 

As always, he complimented Jongwoon on his work, but this time, Jongwoon talked first.

"In Greek mythology, water lilies are associated with nymphs," he said, "Beautiful but Dangerous."

He then looked up at Kyuhyun straight into his eyes; Kyuhyun couldn't help the shiver going through his body; his little tattoo artist looked very determined.

"Kyuhyun-ah, you're a charming man, did you know?" 

Wow, very bold. He didn't expect Jongwoon to be this straightforward, but in retrospect, he should have been; Jongwoon had only been direct from the start.

"You're really like the water lilies from the old myths, people should only look at you from afar because being too close to you is too dangerous, and the prize of your beauty might not be worth the cost." He whispered 

Kyuhyun was ready to stand up and reassure him once again, but Jongwoon cut him.

"I know, you said it before; the ones you trust and cherish will be protected. I understand; this is not why I'm telling you this." He then hesitated.

"I..." he bit his lips, "I'm willing to try, what you want, with me." His beautiful, sharpened eyes look a bit more docile now. "So if you're still willing, I will try, hm, relationship, you, with."

The words needed to be in the correct order, but he got the gist of it.

Kyuhyun was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Jongwoon to be the one saying this; he expected a lot more time, trying to coax him into thinking it wasn't a terrible idea to try having a bit more intimacy with him.

But his tattoo artist was full of surprises.

He finally stood up and got closer to Jongwoon, who just looked at him patiently and firmed, he had made his decision.

Kyuhyun grabbed his chin softly, making them look into each other eyes.

"Are you sure?" He whispered, "So that you know, I'll not ask you to do things you're unwilling to do." 

Jongwoon just nodded, into his hands, his cheek softly rubbing against his hand.

Okay, that was it; he had all the confirmation he needed.

Kyuhyun kissed him.