Drown all the fears that we had
These are the things that we’ll never understand
This time, fight fire with fire
Cause, baby, tonight the world belongs to you and I
The Presets – This Boy’s In Love

Taeil enters the electronic code and pushes open the door to the dorm, wincing as the skin stretches under his new ink, red and raw. Before he can even breathe, though, Jihoon is there in front of him, bouncing up and down like a puppy, his eyes fresh and excited despite it being 1 am.

“Hyung! Taeil hyung! You’re home! Are you okay? Did it hurt? What does it look like?” Jihoon blurts, still hopping from foot to foot.

Taeil hides a smirk. The way the maknae looks up to him is almost embarrassing sometimes… but this time he is hurting and it’s nice for someone to care. “Thanks, Jihoonie. I’m okay. Yeah, it hurt, that is the general idea when you get a tattoo.”

“Can I see?” Jihoon asks.

Taeil shakes his head. “No, it’s all wrapped up in plastic. I’m just going to go to bed.”

Jihoon tilts his head to the side, cementing the ‘puppy’ image in Taeil’s mind, and nods before heading to his room. “Night, hyung!” He calls as the door shuts.

In his room, Taeil pulls off his shirt and stands in front of his mirror, admiring his new chest piece. Of course, it’s only the linework – he needs to let this heal before he goes back for the colour and, even then, that might take two sessions. He loves his new design, though. It compliments his diamond perfectly.

He shrugs out of his jeans and collapses into bed carefully, falls into a deep sleep with no dreams.

//

“Can I see it now? Please?” Jihoon whines through the door.

Taeil is in the bathroom – the bathroom of all places! – and Jihoon is begging to be let in. He keeps asking to see Taeil’s new chest piece and, if Taeil is being honest with himself, it’s not so much that he wants to keep it to himself but rather than he is self-conscious about his body. He always has been; in an industry that requires its idols to have perfect rippling abs and clean skin, he has always stood out, possessing neither.

Sighing, he swings open the door, completely shirtless, and waits for Jihoon to drink it in.

“Hyung! It’s beautiful.” Jihoon breathes, his eyes fixed on Taeil’s chest.

He fights the urge to cover up as Jihoon steps closer, his hand reaching out to trace the lines of the owl, his fingers flitting up to follow the wings and back down, past Taeil’s s, his palm coming to rest on the eye on his bone, his heart thrumming underneath the younger man’s hand. He can’t breathe, the air in the bathroom has been out, and there is only Jihoon looking down at him, and the way his touch burns.

Without a word, Jihoon turns and is gone, and Taeil is left tingling in every spot he touched, shivering in the cold air.

//

“What colour are you going to get?”

Taeil is lying on his bed trying to write lyrics, but with Jihoon sitting at his desk chair and spinning around, questioning him, he slams his computer shut. He was never going to finish, not with Jihoon here like this.

“Why? You’ve never been interested in tattoos before.” Taeil shoots at the maknae, who looks sheepish and shrugs.

“I don’t know. They’re just so pretty. It’s like you have art on your skin.”

“Then go annoy Jiho.” Taeil grumbles, half-heartedly.

Jihoon shakes his head, his eyes dark pools. “No, I like yours more.”

In one fluid movement (how is he so graceful?), he slips off the chair and flops down on the bed next to Taeil, grabbing Taeil’s wrist.

“What is the grenade flower for?” He asks, tracing them.

Taeil ignores the way Jihoon’s touch sends tingles throughout his whole body and rolls his eyes. “Are you going to question me on every single damn tattoo?”

Without hesitating, Jihoon leans down and brushes his lips to the centre of the grenade and, rather appropriately, Taeil in his breath and thinks he is going to explode.

He looks up from Taeil’s arm, grinning wide, and Taeil bites his lip, hard, to stop himself from reaching out and touching Jihoon’s face.

//

“Jiho?” Taeil calls as the other man walks past his open bedroom door.

Jiho sticks his head in. “Yeah? What’s up, hyung?”

Taeil looks up from the book in his hands, worrying his lip between his teeth. “Hey, has Jihoon talked to you lately about… about tattoos?”

Jiho’s eyes widen. “No. Why? Does he want one?”

Taeil frowns. “Something like that, I guess. Anyway. Thanks.”

//

He pops his head around Jaehyo’s door and finds the ulzzang playing League of Legends, speaking rapidly into a headset.

“Jaehyo.” He calls, not expecting a reply, but to his surprise Jaehyo slams his fist on the keyboard and turns.

“Yeah, hyung? Make it quick, I just died.”

“Has… Has Jihoonie talked to you about your tattoo by any chance?” He asks.

Jaehyo’s look says it all, his hand unconsciously going to rub the little KR on his wrist. Taeil knows he hates it – a constant reminder of his ex girlfriend – but doesn’t have the heart to remove it.

“Oh, come on. If he was going to talk to anyone about tattoos, it would be you or Jiho, not me and my ty little thing.”

“Thanks, Jaehyo.”

//

“And what about this one?” Jihoon is tracing the dice now. “What’s an MVP?”

“Most valuable player.” Taeil replies, absentmindedly.

They’re on his bed again, and Jihoon has taken up where he left off, asking Taeil about the meaning behind every single tattoo. It’s hard to answer, because mostly there isn’t any meaning, he just liked the art and wanted it permanently. Jihoon doesn’t seem happy with those answers, though.

“Why most valuable player?”

“Because when I’m surrounded by you six, I have to remind myself that I am actually a valuable member of this group sometimes.” He replies, rolling towards Jihoon and pulling his arm back in the process. “Now, make of that what you will. But what’s with all the questions, Jihoon? You aren’t asking Jiho or Jaehyo about theirs.”

Jihoon scoots closer so that the tips of their noses are nearly touching. Taeil can feel the younger man’s minty breath wash over his face as he speaks. “I… I just think they’re beautiful.” He pauses, clearly warring with himself. “And… I think you’re beautiful.”

Jihoon’s eyes are clear as he moves closer, slowly, and Taeil’s heart is beating out of his chest, as Jihoon is closer, closer, and their lips meet and it’s perfect, he can feel every tattoo on his skin burning in memory of Jihoon’s touch as his hand reaches up to flutter along his cheekbone and come to rest in his hair.

They sit up as one, the kiss getting deeper now – who has Jihoon been kissing that he got this good, and how did Taeil not know? – as Jihoon reaches for Taeil’s shirt and tugs it up, impatiently, not even bothering to take it off, just splaying his hands underneath, tracing the lines of the owl, running his fingers over Taeil’s s and collarbone.

“Off.” Jihoon murmurs, rolling the shirt over Taeil’s head and waiting for Taeil to do the same.

The realisation hits him all at once – here he is, making out with Jihoon, who is frantically pawing at him now, shirtless. The expanse of skin on skin is too much and when he looks down, sees Jihoon kiss his owl, the eye, dip his head towards Taeil’s belt his breath hitches. The way their bodies fit together so perfectly, both pale, one clean and clear and the other wild and painted, is so perfect that he closes his eyes as Jihoon comes up to kiss him once more.

“I am going to kiss every inch of your damn tattoos. Your whole body.” Jihoon growls and that’s it, Taeil pushes him backwards onto the bed and crawls on top, his hand reaching for Jihoon’s belt.

“Most valuable player indeed.” Jihoon whispers into his neck.

He gives himself up.