IFHY .. nct

FOURTEEN

tilly stood, ignoring the slight pain in her legs, with her brows knit tightly in concentration as she finished tattooing the banana in her hands. she'd been practicing with ten nearly every day while lina was at daycare, and even got to show jaehyun a few tips she'd picked up along the way.

now, johnny was observing her closely with his chin clasped delicately in his hand. if he thought she was ready, she would go on to completely the final test: tattoo a real person.

jaehyun already volunteered to be her test subject, as he had quite a number of tattoos in hidden places, and wasn't afraid to get a new one.

tilly finally exhaled when she finished tattooing the banana, taking a step back so that johnny and the others could critique her work.

after what felt like forever, ten turned around and subtly held his thumb up from behind johnny, and tilly had to bite her lips together to stop from smiling too big. she must have done better than she thought, because soon johnny was showing a smile as well.

"it's not perfect, but i think you're ready to tattoo a person. jaehyun?" jaehyun hopped onto the chair that had been lowered into a table and let his feet dangle over the side as he dropped his elbow onto one of the armrests.

he pointed to a bare spot of flesh on the opposite side of his elbow. nervously, tilly glanced between the spot and his face. "are you sure you don't want some place more hidden? what if i botch this?"

jaehyun shrugged. "then i get to tattoo you next."

"fair enough," she sighed with a grin. remembering what ten taught her, tilly moved towards the prep supplies for some alcohol wipes to clean the area she'd be tattooing. for a first, they didn't want her to use a printed on sketch and simply freehand the art. thought it would be a challenge, it would be useful for the future.

twenty minutes passed before tilly finally connected needle to flesh, and she was the one to flinch when it did. she mentally sagged as she thought she would be much more confident in her abilities.

it wasn't perfect. her lines were a bit wonky from her shaking, and the ink appeared light from not applying enough pressure. she felt defeated when she finally turned the gun off, but jaehyun had a large, dimpled smile.

"wow. do you mind if i take a picture for my nieces?"

tilly stared at him for a moment before nodding. she didn't think it was the best, but jaehyun was looking at it like it was silliest, cutest tattoo he'd ever seen. it was supposed to be a hamster, but it looked more like a smiling cotton ball.

"okay," johnny's voice cut in, causing tilly to flinch slightly at the sudden sound. without anything else, he carefully placed his arm on the table and eyed her. "tattoo me."

tilly's voice caught in her throat. "i'll talk you through it," he continued, and the girl sucked in a slightly shaky breath before smiling and delicately touching the skin of his arm. "here?" she asked, and he nodded.