Lost Boys - Until our dying breath ( Jikook )

Chapter 2

It's been eight long years and Jimin still feels like he's lost at sea, surrounded only by the vast sky, the endless horizon, the dark depths of the water. He's no longer drowning. But the fear and the pain… they remain. They linger like a festering wound. And somewhere along the way, as if kissed by insanity, he learned to enjoy it.

“I'm gonna draw alpha dicks all over your face if you keep dozing off in the middle of our appointments!”

Jimin's eyes snap open. There is no ocean. No blue sky. Only yellow walls and the busy bee buzz of whirling tattoo needles.
Jung Hoseok sits in front of him, the usually cheerful glow wiped from his friendly face, replaced with cranky annoyance. He bends over the table between them. His pen taps and flies across paper, creating abstract lines and pretty curls.
“What about this?”

Jimin leans closer.
It's a beautiful drawing. Adorable animals surrounded by colorful flowers. It certainly fits Hoseok's sunny vibe. To Jimin, however, it's a concept much too foreign.
“I don't like it,” he sighs, his cheek squished on the ball of his hand. “It's too pretty.”
“Well, that's the point.”
Hoseok pokes Jimin's button nose with his pen, grinning when it leaves a very visible black dot on the tip of it.
“You're too gloomy. A bright and colorful tattoo would soften your edges and make you more approachable. Aren't omegas supposed to be sweet and lovable?”

“Omegas are supposed to be many things. One of which is pure and untainted. Meaning, no tattoos. But you never complain about that.”

A grimace twists Hoseok’s features. He leans back in his chair, his neck rolling and cracking as his pen taps a fast beat on the table.
“Why do you have to be such a difficult customer today?”

Jimin snorts. They've known each other long enough to enjoy the snarky banter without taking any of it to heart. At the end of the day, Jimin knows Hoseok is more than happy to have him at his small tattoo studio. After all, the best way to lure people into the shop is an omega’s presence.

Hoseok continues to scribble while Jimin's gaze wanders. Several pictures are pinned to the egg yolk walls. Old projects, unfinished ideas, the most popular designs. Only one of them catches his eye. A beautifully detailed spider lily with blood dripping like tears from its drooping petals.
“What's that? It's not your style at all.”
Hoseok turns in his chair, his hazel eyes searching.
“Oh. That one?” He takes the picture down. “Good eye. It's not mine. My student drew it.”
“Your student? I didn't know you had one.”
“Well, that's because I only started training him in the last few weeks.”

Glancing over his friend's shoulder, Jimin takes a closer look. The lines are clean without even the slightest wobble. Red surrounds the delicate flower, like fresh splashes of watercolor bleeding across pearl paper. It's dark but beautiful. Exactly what he's been looking for.
“I want him.”

Hoseok's eyes widen so fast, it looks like his eyes might just roll out of his skull.
“Are you serious…? He never tattooed a real person before. It could turn out terrible.”
Jimin crosses his arms and shrugs. “So what? He has to start practicing at some point, right? Might as well use me as a willing guinea pig.”

Hoseok plummets back into his chair. He's thinking hard, it's easy to tell from the worried creasing between his thick brows. Though, his thought process is soon interrupted by the sweet bell chime of the studio's front door.
A group of men strolls inside. No. Not just men. It's hard to catch but a barely there cloud of weak alpha pheromones wafts above their heads.

“Can I help you?” Hoseok asks, as if he doesn't know.  As if it isn't obvious why they are here simply from the way they stare holes into Jimin's disinterested face.
“Oh… um…” the tallest one in the front stammers. He looks as young and innocent as a child freshly popped out of the womb. No tattoos. No piercings. Even his clothes are plain. A gray hoodie and blue jeans.
“I'm here for… you know…”
He looks around as if he doesn't even know what kind of shop he just wandered into. The men behind him share glances and whisper to each other. They seem just as confused and awkward.