Stronger || NCT mafia au

Chapter 45 | "sounds perfect"

"Alright newbies it's tattoo time!" Jihyun says, walking into the main room with Jaemin following behind her and then going to stand next to the other three boys. "Think of where you want them, you're getting two: the NCT logo and your own personal symbol." She instructs to the four boys.

"Where do you guys usually get them?" Jeno asks, looking around at the other members in the room.

"Well, they can't be somewhere too obvious. A tattoo could easily be an identifier to expose you, so somewhere that can be hidden by clothes." Taeyong speaks up, pulling down his shirt to reveal a tattoo on each of his collar bones.

"Mine's on my right hip and just above my ribs." Mark replies.

"I've got both of mine on my left shoulder blade." Sungchan adds.

Jaehyun responds by just lifting up his shirt, revealing his washboard abs as well as a tattoo on his right peck and above rib cage on the left. Yuta smacks him on the back of the head, Jaehyun pulling down his shirt with a smirk on his face.

Jihyun didn't realize she was staring, mentally cursing herself for checking out one of her members and turning back to the new members with a small blush on her face.

"So think about where you want them while we head to the parlor. Taeyong, Ten, Yuta, and I will be doing them for you." She says as the three members come and stand next to her.

"Well let's go then, y'all are so slow." Ten exclaims, linking arms with Jihyun and dragging her to their tattoo parlor with the other boys trailing behind.

- - -

"So," Taeyong says, standing in front of the boys in the parlor, "have you guys chosen your symbols yet?"

"Jaemin already knows his" Jihyun comments absentmindedly from behind him, starting the machines. Taeyong looks at her with a cocked eyebrow but turns back to the boys when she ignores him, too focused on her task to notice.

"Ok then, what about the rest of you?"

Jihyun walks into the next room as they continue to talk, turning on the machines. She finishes setting up and takes a seat, getting her needle ready. She looks up when she hears footsteps walking into her room.

"Jeno. I guess I'll be doing your tattoos today, come and sit." She motions to the chair in front of her. He takes a seat with a small smile. "Nervous?"

"Maybe."

"Don't be, I'll be quick." She says with a laugh, "so what were you thinking for a symbol and where do you want them?"

"I was thinking for the NCT logo, maybe on my back? Between my shoulder blades. And for my symbol, above my rib cage right beneath my right peck." He says with a smile.

"Sounds perfect, I'll get started on the logo first, okay?" He nods his head, turning to face the other direction, his back facing her.

"Do uh, do you need me to take off my shirt?" He asks shyly, feeling his cheeks heat up. Jihyun's eyes widen in realization, her cheeks flashing red.

"Oh uh, yeah, thanks." He quickly pulls his shirt over his head, now just in a pair of black sweatpants with his back facing her. She stares at him for a moment, watching the way his back muscles flex with each movement.

Rolling her eyes at her own ridiculousness, she grabs a pillow from the table next to her, handing it to Jeno.

"Hold onto this if it hurts." He nods, grabbing the pillow nervously.

He sharply sucks in air when the needle first makes contact with his skin, gripping onto the pillow tightly.

His entire back tightens up, his muscles rippling down from his shoulders as he tenses. She lets out a small breath, staring at his muscles one again before continuing with his tattoo.

"All done." She says, guiding him over to some mirrors so he can take a look. "What do you think?" He stares at the tattoo on his back, the dark black lines still red and puffy around the outside, the letters 'NCT' imprinted on his back.

"It's perfect, thank you." He turns to her with a smile, she forces herself to hold his gaze, returning his smile and refusing to let her eyes drift lower for the time being.

"Go ahead and sit back down while I change the needle" she replies, turning back to the machine as he sits down in the chair again.

She walks back over to him, taking her seat and finally looking at his body. He's incredibly toned, she already knew that though, with washboard abs and tight pecs. His arm muscles flexing as he situated himself in his seat.

"Like what you see?" He smirks at her, catching her staring.

"Shut up, I'm just thinking about where you want the tattoo, under your right peck, right?" She replies quickly, a blush on her cheeks.

"Mmhmm" Jeno smirks at her, noticing the redness on her face. She resets the machine, waiting for it to refill with ink before she can start.

"Hey, Ji, I never asked you, where are your tattoos?" She turned to him, putting down the needle in her hand and standing up.

She pulled her hair to one side, pulling back her right ear to reveal the same NCT logo that Jeno had just gotten on his back. She then lifts up her left leg, slightly pulling up the hem of her pants to show a small rose right next to her ankle bone.

"Ive never been a big fan of tattoos, plus as the only girl in NCT, some of my mission outfits can be a bit....revealing, so I had to get creative with where I had my tattoos. My hair hides the NCT logo and either my pants or my shoes hide my symbol." She says, returning to her seat.

"I was wondering about that, actually, why are you the only girl in NCT? I mean itzy and twice are also part of the mafia..." Jeno asks, trailing off as he looked at her.

"Well it's an interesting story," she says with a small sigh, "I wasn't the only girl. Itzy and twice were already selected as teams before NCT was finalized, leaving me and another girl, Seyoung, to join NCT. She trained alongside many of us and I had chosen her to be a member of my council." She smiled softly at the memory.

"What happened with her?"

"She and Jaehyun fell in love. And I mean like madly in love. They never left each other's sides, even during missions they were partners. I'd never seen two people so head over heels for each other." She continued, a sad smile on her face.

"One day, our biggest rivals attacked us. They killed all of the older members, including all of our parents and seniors, which is why I started to lead at 18 years old. They wiped out all of what they knew as NCT, leaving us alive, since we were just children in their minds. But Seyoung...." she takes a deep breath, a single tear slipping down her face.

"Somehow she must've been caught in the crossfire. We don't know what happened to her, if she got killed or if they took her. We couldn't find her body but she was gone once they left. We never saw her again and Jaehyun was crushed. He didn't speak to anyone for weeks, didn't go on missions, didn't do much of anything really." She wiped the tear off of her face.

"It's why he's so cold sometimes, his heart was completely broken. The two of us had lost everything, since both of our families ran the mafia together and they got destroyed. We spent every day together until we were able to finally start smiling again, that's how we got so close, and here we are now." She says, turning back to face Jeno. The machine next to her beeps, signaling that it's ready.

"Right so what symbol did you pick?"

"I was thinking of a dog." He says with a bright smile, "but not like a cute fluffy one, more of a scary one, like a uh, like a wolf! Does anyone have a wolf?" He excitedly spewed out with hopeful eyes.

"Surprisingly no. We have just about every scary animal except a wolf, so you're in luck. How do you want it?"

"Howling up at the sky, and I want the J in its neck." He says, gesturing to her where he wants it.

"Sounds perfect, let me know if you need a break, this one's gonna take a big longer."

———
Do you guys want to see her end up with Jaemin, Jeno, or Jaehyun?
Pls lmk!!