Final

She had been staring at herself in the mirror for the past 30 minutes. Killing time as she thought, but the longer she looks at herself made her think deeper. "My life's a mess" she whispered. "I look like a mess." She raised her left leg and laid her boots on the small table in front of her. The weather is hot and little drops of sweat fell from her forehead. There were no customers around since afternoon and no appointments are set for her today.

"Yeah, you look like a mess" her friend, Chaerin answered. "Just... just get a life, Minzy. Just quit if you want and start anew."

"Whoa, d'you want me to leave you and the shop?" she asked in amazement. She turned around to face Chaerin. "Yes, look at yourself. Can you just for one time just wear light-colored clothes or dye your hair a decent color?" Minzy chuckled. Well, it's true, though. Her rebellious look makes her look like a gangster, where even some of their male customers are intimidated by her. Her black fitted pants, black tank top, leather pants and boots, and her hair- her raven blue hair, the color her friend cannot tolerate.

"I know it's been a hard year for you. After what happened to-- I'm sorry Minzy, but after what happened you spent all your time working and not even taking a time off. Look at you, don't you think you need a new environment?"

"I have my own way of doing things okay, and thank you for your concern but I'm not quitting." Minzy answers sternly. She got up from the chair and grabbed her jacket. "Now if you'll excuse me, my time's up. Gotta go." Chaerin hugged her. "See you tomorrow."

Minzy got out of her work and walked to the bus station. She and Chaerin currently own a tattoo studio located in the busy district of Seoul. Both are tattoo artists and have worked with some of Korea's celebrities. Art is Minzy's skill and it was her idea to enter the inking industry. When she was a kid, she had won different art contests and took up arts at a prestigious Korean university. She dropped out of college because she believed you can learn more outside the four walls of the classroom. Her parents despised her decision causing her to run away. There in Seoul, she met Chaerin, also an art student. Together they looked for jobs and earned money until Chaerin graduated and eventually opened up their business.

She smiled as he saw an old man at the bus station. "Good afternoon, Mr. Oh."

The old man smiled back. "You look prettier if you don't wear black that much. I like you more than you tattooed friend." Minzy laughed. True, that she's a tattoo artist, works at a tattoo shop. But not a single tattoo was inked on her body, unlike Chaerin, where both her arms are covered with colored tattoos.

"Going out there again?" Mr. Oh asked.

"Yes."

"Well, you might want to bring flowers this time."

Minzy smiled and turned her gaze away. "It's alright ahjussi. I can pick up some when I arrive."

"Hmm. Well, flowers are not important as long as you're there. Tell your lover hello and that I want to meet her soon."

The bus arrived after a few minutes. Minzy bade goodbye to Mr. Oh. She quickly went to her favorite spot, the back seat. She'll be on a 30-minute journey but she doesn't care. All she wanted right now is to get to her destination.

It was already late afternoon when she got out of the bus. The fresh air and bright sunshine lifted up her mood as she walked toward a white-fenced property.

"Hello, Ma'am" greeted the man at the gate. She nodded and smiled as she passed by him. Minzy turned left as she entered the main door of the building. There she began to count her steps-89 to be exact.

When she reached 89th, she turned right and smiled. "Hi, baby. How are you?" She touched the letters engraved on the marble wall, the letters of her lover's name- Park Bom.

Minzy opened the vault and put a small photo beside the white jar. "I got this from the shop earlier," she said. "I was cleaning my drawer and found it. Do you still remember where this picture was taken?"

Of course, Minzy clearly remembered the picture. It was the first time they met. She was one of their first customers early that morning. She remembered it was her first time getting a tattoo and she was a bit scared, but Chaerind told her she could get a big discount.

"Chaerin told me today I should take some time off. You know I don't want to quit, I love my work. I don't want to leave the shop. But do you really think I need to get some rest?"

Bom became a regular visitor to their shop after that. She and Chaerin became friends immediately but not with Minzy. With her intimidating demeanor they had many awkward moments but soon blossomed into friendship, then love- a love they thought would be forever, but ended in tragedy. She looked at the small photo.

"You looked beautiful in here, baby. I miss you every day..."

She then remembered that fateful She was busy inking a customer at that time and forgot to bring her phone with her. Later on, she learned that there was a shooting incident near their area, and learned her girlfriend was one of the innocent casualties. It was the darkest day of her life- it was their first anniversary together and they were supposed to meet up that night. When she realized she forgot her phone in her drawer, she immediately checked on it, only to read Bom's last communication with her along with a few missed calls.

Baby, are you still busy? I'm here at the restaurant now. Will wait for you.

I know your work's not done yet, so I will just pick you up at the shop. Please wait for me in there, I love you...

Minzy's eyes began to tear up.

"I'm so sorry baby. I'm sorry that I didn't get your call that day. I should have told you not to pick me up, I'm so sorry..."

Cold wind suddenly caressed her cheeks. She stopped and looked around, there's no window near her. Realizing what it meant, she wiped her tears and smiled. "I'm sorry if I make you worry a lot. Promise I won't cry again the next time I visit you." She chuckled when she remembered what the old man at the bus station earlier. "Mr. Oh said he wanted to meet you by the way."

When she came out of the building, the sun was still up shining brightly. It felt strange for her but she's confident everything's going to be alright. Another day has passed and she was ready to take on the next one, up until the time she will be with her again.

A/N: First time to write a sad fic, hope you enjoyed it.