My College Lover ~ Colby Brock

Chapter 16

When I was 18 years old, I had drawn my first tattoo design. I've been holding on that piece of paper for years now. I think now is the perfect time to get this tattoo done after so long. It will be going on my left forearm. The tattoo design is this:

I first drew this tattoo design in May of 2022. I've been holding on to it ever since. The words wrapping around the stem of the tattoo reads: 너와 나의 Promise, which are lyrics from the ATEEZ song Promise. It means: "A promise between you and I." These lyrics hold a lot of meaning to me, so that's why I'm getting it permanently tattooed onto my arm. I chose a rose as the flower because roses typically represent; love, romance, beauty, and courage. A rose represents my personality very well. Colby will be going with me to get my first tattoo as well as my lip ring piercing.

We roll up to the tattoo parlor where Colby usually gets his tattoos done. The tattoo parlor is called The California Dream in Los Angeles, California. The tattoo artist who will be doing my tattoo is named Romeo Lacoste. He is a famous Californian tattoo artist, who has even done tattoos for realty TV stars. Although caught up in scandals and crimes against minors by sending inappropriate DMs on Twitter, Romeo's name has since been clear and he walks a free man. Despite this, my first impression of Romeo, he's a pretty cool guy. I showed Romeo the tattoo I want done on my left forearm. The tattoo is slightly larger than a lighter.

I lay down in the tattoo chair and Romeo briefs me on how the process of tattooing is going to go.
"It may hurt a little at first, but it gets easier as we go along." Romeo said.
"Okay. I've wanted this tattoo ever since I was 18, and I'll be turning 22 this November. I've been wanting to get this tattoo for 4 years now." I said.
"Well, I'm glad I get to do your tattoo today. It's gonna look real nice." Romeo said.
Romeo preps my skin by putting a moisturizing oil, making sure my skin is clean before beginning the tattoo process. Once my skin is prepped, Romeo begins tattooing. He starts with the petals of the rose. Once he finishes that, he tattoos the stem, thorns, and leaves. When that part is done, he finishes the tattoo with the phrase wrapping around the stem; 너와 나의 ~Promise~.
"And your tattoo is finished. Let me wipe off the excess ink, then wrap it up. It may get a little red later." Romeo said.
"Okay, thanks so much Romeo. I love it." I said.
"You're so welcome." Romeo said.
"Tell him about the other thing." Colby said, nudging me.
"Oh! I wanna get a lip piercing done." I said.
"Okay, where on your lip?" Romeo asked.
"On the left corner." I said.
"Alright. This should be easy as well. I'll grab my alcohol swabs to clean the area for your piercing. Then, I'll get that done for you. Alright? I'll be right back." Romeo said, disappearing into the back room to grab alcohol swabs.

Romeo comes back. He takes a couple alcohol swabs out and wipes the corner of my lip where I want my lip piercing done. Once the area is clean, Romeo takes out a huge piercing instrument. It's a long, hallow steak that is used to pierce the skin. Romeo runs the instrument into the corner of my lip, then attaches the lip piercing.
"Oh, I forgot to mention; I want it to be a lip ring." I said.
"Oh, no problem. Let me just remove this piercing then replace it with a lip ring." Romeo said. He removes the original piercing, then comes back with a few lip ring options. I choose the black lip ring. I'll be looking like Luke Hemmings from 5SOS, back in 2014, when he had this exact lip ring. Anyways, once the lip ring is in, I move it around with my tongue. This is gonna take some getting used to.
"What do you think of my new look, babe?" I asked.
"I think you look great, babe." Colby said.
"I finally match your vibe." I said.
"You always matched me." Colby said.
The tattoo is 3.5 inches, so it only costs $150. Then, my lip piercing costs $73, plus California tax which is 7.25%. With tax, my lip piercing costs $78.29. For my tattoo, with tax included, it costs $160.88. The grand total ended up being $239.17. That's a good chunk of change. Good thing I have a well-paying job that allowed me to pay for my tattoo and piercing without it being an issue. After paying for my tattoo and piercing, Colby and I leave the tattoo parlor.

We then head to Colby's LA apartment. I'm surprised that Colby pays rent for this great Los Angeles apartment, which is $2,815.00 a month, as well as the monthly payments on the house in Kauai, Hawaii. Colby explains that he splits the house payments amongst the roommates. Colby pays for utilities. Sam pays for the property taxes. Corey pays for the principal and interest on the mortgage and Jake pays for home insurance. In total, their home in Kauai, Hawaii costs $899,000 a month. The home contains 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The backyard is complete with a private swimming pool and Jacuzzi. It's a very nice home. Breaking down the costs among the roommates makes paying for monthly rent much easier. I think that now that Colby and I are married with our little son, Jaspar, we should get our own place in Hawaii. I suggested that we move to Honolulu, Hawaii, which would give us access to more necessities as it's a bigger city in Hawaii. Colby liked this idea, so he'll pay the last month's rent on his LA apartment, then we'll be moving to Honolulu, Hawaii.