Jin the Superhero | k.seokjin

6: the chosen one

Two days earlier

"Hello?" she called out knocking on the door," Are you kidding me? I'm a regular customer!"

She called out again, gaining attention of no one, not that there was anyone to even talk to. Haera continued to stare inside the dark store, her eyes turning into slits as she glared at her pack of tattoo inks propped on the shelf. This was her favourite tattoo supply store, the best in town yet today out of all days they decided to close just when she was low on ink. 

No ink meant no customers which meant no money. Being a school nurse didn't exactly pay fantastically and income was even worse due to school holidays. On top of that, no matter how much she loved her job as a tattoo artist, the pay roll wasn't regular since customers didn't come all the time. Haera was barely managing to pay her bills, surviving on the cheapest instant noodles. 

But no matter what, she was never going to ask her parents for money. Sure they had enough to buy her a mansion but her pride was way bigger than any mansion in the world to want to stoop so low to her disapproving parents for help. She had so proudly left home, kissing her medical school and parental wealth goodbye to venture into the world of tattooing. She hoped to keep it that way and prove to her parents that you can lead a happy life doing what you love the most.

But staring into the closed shop, Haera began to doubt if that was truly the case. Coming to the realisation that the door wasn't going to magically open, she turned around to walk back to the bus stop. 

After reaching the bus, she got out her phone and began searching for any other tattoo supply stores nearby. Lo and behold there was one just two minutes away from her current location. That was slightly weird as her normal store took about fifteen minutes to reach yet there was a shop closer which she had never known the existence of. It probably wasn't a good shop but it didn't hurt to visit due to how close it was, so she began her quick journey to there. 

The shop was nothing she thought. Haera was expecting to come across an old run-down store with broken windows and lights and dust collecting on the products. But instead it looked brand new. The windows were so clean it almost looked like it wasn't really there and the interior was brightly lit. She stepped inside, the bell over the door chiming as she opened it. The smell of the shop was sweet, if you closed your eyes you would definitely have mistook it to be a candle store. 

Noticing her usual tattoo inks up on the shelf, she cheered as she grabbed a few packets.

"Ahh welcome! How may I help?" said a softly spoken voice that came out almost as a whisper. 

Haera looked around trying to locate the voice, the cash register desk was in the corner. Behind it stood a smiling old woman whose back was slightly crooked. Her warm smile emphasised the lines around the corners of her lips. Haera greeted her back.

As Haera got closer, she noticed how the rim of her ears were decorated with many golden hoops with a larger one hanging on her lobes. As Haera placed her purchases on the desk, the elderly woman extended out her arms to grab them. She noticed the blurry tattoos which painted her thin arms, Haera smiled wondering how awesome the woman must have looked in her youthful days. 

"I've never even known about your shop even though its closer to me than the one I go to regularly."

The old woman gently laughed as she bagged the items in a black plastic bag. 

"That's a shame because I'm closing the shop soon."

"Oh no! I wish I knew of you sooner."