Blood Sweat and Tears

@ Bam.Bam



"Sit still," Haneul grumbled, trying to hide her irritation at the young girl who fidgeted in her chair. For the last hour, she'd been trying to get clean line work onto her skin, but she just wouldn't sit still. It wasn't a complex design, just a typical mandala on the side of the thigh, but it was beginning to feel nearly impossible. In retrospect, she didn't necessarily need the money, so throwing the girl out wouldn't have too much of an impact, but a part of her kept her reputation into consideration. This shop was an escape from the harshness of her actual reality.

"I don't know how you managed to get all of those tattoos, this is so painful," the girl griped, and Haneul had to hold onto every minute amount of sanity to keep her from rolling her eyes to the back of her head. Did people really walk into this expecting it to feel like tender kisses on a warm summers day? Ridiculous.

"Listen," she couldn't help the gruffness of her voice, but the typical boring customer and boring tattoo meant a heightened moodiness she couldn't control. She let her machine come to a stop as she removed her foot from the footswitch, and began to fiddle with the rubber band that held the needle onto her machine, "If you don't stop moving, this piece is going to come out super dodgy, and I just don't create shit work." It was true, Haneul put so much of her cold heart into her artwork, she wasn't willing to have all of her hard work turning out like a burning dumpster fire. "If you can't handle this, maybe we should stop..."

"No," the girl squealed, "This is the start of a new me. I need this tattoo." This time, Haneul really did roll her eyes. If Haneul realized how difficult this girl would have been, she'd have been turned away from the beginning. Fuck you, Yoongi, she internally cursed the man who had talked her into taking this customer in the first place. He had been so convincing that he had important work with the boss at the very moment this girl asked him to do her piece. Yet, five minutes into the tattoo, he had strutted back into the shop with a bag of Taco Bell and a fat smirk on his face. He'd always been an excellent judge of character, so of course Haneul should have been more suspicious when he basically handed this girl off to him.

"Well, the start of the new you is going to be super asymmetrical. Just breathe through it and look through Twerper or whatever," putting more pressure down on the footswitch, the machine roared back to life, and she adjusted the fuse settings to hopefully alleviate some of the pain the girl was feeling. She would have to quicken her pace; no matter how much pain the girl in her chair felt, Haneul could guarantee she was putting up with the most amount of pain.




Yoongi could hardly eat through his smirk as he watched Haneul try and navigate the squirming girl under her needle from his perch at the front desk of Magic Shop Tattoos. Yoongi would have refused the girl either way, but enjoyed watching his co-worker suffer. They were good friends, of course, but that only made her suffering much more amusing to him. As he enjoyed the show, his phone buzzed on the glass counter. Instantly, he looked down to see a message from Joon.

The club. Now.

Ah, it was almost like instant karma. Any time the boss wanted to speak to him ASAP, it was hardly ever good. Wrapping up his food, he discarded it and shuffled into Haneuls tiny studio as she was entranced in her work. "Okay, I have to go to the club, for real this time." The only acknowledgement he received was a soft grunt, so he didn't hesitate any longer before turning on his heel and heading to the House of Cards. It would still be closed, right about now, allowing Yoongi and Joon to talk freely about whatever business they had. They had a lot of good deals going on right now, but Yoongi knew there was also a lot of risky propositions as well, with a lot of room for things to go south.

When he got there, Joon sat at one of the tables in the center of the party room, nursing a glass of hard liquor. Knowing him, probably bourbon. As Yoongi walked up, Joon didn't look at him, but at the fully naked girls that danced on stage, despite the fact that it was still to early to open the doors. Yoongi followed the direction of his gaze, aimlessly staring at the girls who were working the pole. Since he was young, he never had much of a sexual desire, so he didn't feel anything as his eyes lingered on the women. In fact, he didn't even recognize them, and there were only a few that worked here.

"Our territory is being threatened," Joon spoke, interrupting the tense silence, "Those fuckers we took that weapons deal from, they're trying to retaliate." He picked a brown bag up from near his feet, and dropped it onto the table; an invitation for Yoongi to look. He stepped forward, looking into the bag, barely able to see inside due to the dark hue of the large room. However, the dim lights were enough for him to see the contents, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.

"Is this Gaeji?" He looked down at the severed head, eyes staring back up at him. His question was rhetorical, he absolutely recognized their rooky gang member, who had just been inducted into Bangtan.

"They're not going to get away with this."

@ jungshook



Hyerin tapped her foot to the beat of the song that currently playing in the dance studio while watching the dancers practice the choreography that she had designed for tonight, making sure that they performed each move gracefully and on beat. Hyerin has a performance tonight for her second job at House of Cards, and she wanted to make sure her dancers and herself performed the choreography perfect since tonight would determine if she would get the promotion that she was offered.

Kim Namjoon, the owner of House of Cards, had called Hyerin in earlier in the day to tell her that girl who was supposed to be the main act for tonight's performance had quit. Namjoon ended up giving her the spot, after telling her that she has been heavily requested by clients although she had been only working at the nightclub for only a couple months. He also offered her more main event stage time in the future if tonight's performance goes well. So this is why Hyerin was keeping a close eye on her back up dancers who were also exotic dancers like her that worked for House of Cards.

Hyerin smiled when the dancers were able to complete the choreography without any mistakes. She clapped her hands as she removed herself from the wall. "Good job you guys. Go take a twenty minute break and then we'll wrap up by doing one last run through the dance." She told them as she watched the dancers leave the room.

---

Jungkook bopped his head to the music getting to the groove of the music before he broke out into b-boy dance with his friends, Hoseok, Taehyung and Jimin. The four boys were in a hip-hop and b-boy dance group. They compete every weekend for cash, but they also want to become the best group in their area and hopefully in all of South Korea. Usually when they create a new choreograph, they dance to popular hip-hop songs, but sometimes they'll create their own beats for their dances.

Feeling the groove to the song that was playing through the speakers in their little practice room, Jungkook slid across the floor before lifting his lower body up into the air using his hands as he spun around and kicked his legs back in forth to the rhythm. His friends hyped him up as the three boys circled around Jungkook as he froze while in a hand stand position before turning to do a couple back flips and then ending the dance with a super cool martial art spin kick as he landed on his feet gracefully.

"Whoaaa! That was sick, Kook." Hoseok praised his younger friend while the other two agreed. Jungkook chuckled softly and rubbed the back of his nec, but nodded in appreciation.

"Yah! This should be your finishing move when we compete this weekend against NCT." Jimin suggested with a laugh, knowing how the other dance crew usually tried to show off how good they were, when in reality the four boys always end up destroying them every time.

Jungkook laughed at his friend's suggestion. "Maybe that will make them realize that they can't beat us."

"It looks so good," the young girl gawked as she examined her newly decorated thigh in the mirror. In truth, all Hanuel could focus on was the unevenness in the rigid line-work, courtesy of the customer flapping around in her seat like a dying fish. Whatever, she thought. This would be the last time she'd step foot in this shop, either way, as there was not a chance in hell she'd ever get anything done here ever again. After she paid for the work, Haneul let the girl know she had to close up the shop with faux reluctance, hoping she'd catch the hint and leave.

"Go have fun with the new you," Haneul beckoned, holding the front door open to hasten the process a little more. Honestly, she could care less about this girl's life changing experience; she had more important shit to attend to, like whatever Joon was talking to Yoongi about. Checking her phone for the first time in hours, she saw a text from her boss, likely the same urgent one Yoongi had gotten.

The club. Now.

She wasn't worried about not showing up; the three of them had all grown up together, dominating the metaphorical underworld together. The only reason Joon was in charge was because he had the ability to talk to people, to get shit done using only his words. Yoongi and Haneul, however, offered the physical fear factor. Basically henchmen, they'd be the ones going to bash in skulls if need be.

They'd be the ones sending the message.

Even then, she would never ignore her friend's call to arms, especially with everything he and their gang had done for her. This gang was not Haneul's first taste of the dark side, but rather a family legacy. A legacy that orphaned her at the ripe age of thirteen when both of her parents were murdered in cold blood. A bad deal, a simple slight of words. That's why Joon was the leader for them. With his guidance, they'd be fine. At one point, she even thought he'd be the one to melt her cold heart.

After locking up, she headed to the House of Cards.




"Why exactly do you want to work here?" Joon asked as he maintained his perch at the center table, still nursing his bourbon. Yoongi had his face deep in his palm, not believing the sight in front of him as he cradled the bag with Gaeji's severed head between his feet. All of workers at the club were interviewed directly by Namjoon, considering the delicate nature of the atmosphere here. He couldn't let just anybody start working here, and Yoongi hoped to God that Namjoon would turn this girl away.

"This is the start of a new me," the girl gulped, clearly not as confident as she was back in the tattoo shop, "I need this job." Something about this seemed fishy...first she was at Magic Shop...now here? It couldn't be a coincidence. If only Haneul were here to see this, she'd be dragging this girl out by the hair.

"How is your tattoo feeling?" Yoongi asked all of the sudden. He didn't usually speak much to the workers, but when something felt off, he had to say something. Her round eyes grew even larger once they landed on him, before a wide grin wove itself onto her face.

"You work there, don't you! Ah, I remember!" She chimed enthusiastically, causing Yoongi to roll his eyes. He didn't have much care for such a theatrical attitude, and felt a sudden sense of remorse for dumping her on poor Haneul earlier.

"Why do you want to work here?" Yoongi repeated Joon's question, suspicion tainting his words.

"I-I..." she stuttered, just to be cut off by Joon. He must have caught on to Yoongi's uneasiness.

"If you can pass the induction, we'll give you a trial period here," Joon offered, and Yoongi looked at him with wide eyes. The induction had always been a little too much, even for him. Maybe that's because he didn't care too much for women. "If one of my guys will sleep with you, and you please him, you're in." Eyes round once again, she looked at Yoongi, who let out a frustrated chuckle.

"I'd rather fuck this," he grabbed the bag from between his legs and held it up, "No thanks. Goodbye," he stood up and walked away quickly, so he could dispose of the head.

Hyerin ended practice and was now shutting down the lights, stereo, and other electronics that was in the dance practice room, before heading out of the studio, locking the door. Although she had a couple hours free to herself before her performance, Hyerin had to go see Namjoon, something about training a possible new hire. There has been many girls that applied to House of Cards lately. Most of them were pretty, but a majority of them girls who came from rich family but were now cut off from their mommy and daddy's money, and since they have no skills but looks, they think that is enough to work at an establishment like House of Cards. That might slide at some cheap club in the bad side of town, but not here. Hyerin hated seeing girls like that think they can get anything handed to them because of their looks. Hyerin had the looks too, but she proved herself worthy of her job and the promotion she was getting with her skills that she honed over the years. Unlike these pathetic girls, Hyerin came from nothing. Abandoned by her parents at the age of 4 and in and out of foster care, she taught herself how to survive, by self teaching herself any skills that she needed to provide for herself.

Hyerin rolled her eyes at the thought but let out a humorless laugh, "stupid bitches. " she mumbles to herself before turning around to head towards Namjoon's office. However, she didnt get far because she ended up meeting the floor after bumping into someone. "Fuck me." She groaned in annoyance and in slight pain. Hyerin got up shortly after before seeing who knocked her down. The man in front of her was wearing black jeans that were ripped around the knees, a black zipped up hoodie over a white t-shirt, and he had some bling around his neck and wrist. His hair was blonde, but she could tell that it was dyed since his eyebrows were a little darker. As soon her eyes saw his and saw the smug look on his lips, she instantly knew that the man was Namjoon's righthand man. His name was something weird like Suga or something like that. She has seen him a few times when she danced on one of the many side stages with a stripper pole, but that was about it. She assumed that he wasnt interested in the girls that worked for the club due to either him having a girlfriend at home or he wasnt interested in them since they threw themselves at him.

Clearing her throat, a devious smirk pulled at her lips. "You should watch where you're going, next time. I could have broken a nail." She teased while she lightly pushed herself past the man to head in the direction of Namjoon's office. A small giggle escaped Hyerin's lips when she heard the man grumbled a nasty comment about her, as she continued walking away.

---

Jungkook and Jimin walking in the direction to their apartment that they shared together. The two of them had been bestfriend since he can remember. Although Jimin was two years older than him, that never bothered the two of them nor made a difference in their friendship. The two of them had gone through a lot together that only made their bond only stronger. The two of them were approaching the Magic Shop tattoo parlour that the two of then always past when making their way home. The shop was fairly new and had been running four about a couple years. The two boys have been wanting to get a tattoo from the place, but always ended up chickening out or something comes up.

"We should man up and actually get the tattoo that we have been wanting to get since we were teenagers." Jungkook said, stopping by the window. Jimin looked at the shop but shrugged. "Why not." He agreed before walking inside the shop.

When they got in, it was empty at least from what the two saw from the front. They waited for about five minutes before ringing the bell that was at the front desk. Still nothing. They repeatedly rang the bell a couple more times. "Yo is anyone in here?" Jungkook said, getting impatient.

"Hold your fuckin' panties. I'm coming." An annoyed female voice called out before approaching to the front.

Jungkook eyed the woman that finally showed up. She had long dark hair, and she was wearing a tank that exposed the multiple of tattoos that littered around her body. The most noticeable tattoo was the one right under her eye. It was a crescent moon with 3 water drops underneath it. He wasn't sure if the drops were supposed to look like the moon was raining or or if the moon was crying. Either way, Jungkook thought the tattoo was beautiful.

Soon he was snapped out of his thoughts when he realized the women's lips were moving and because Jimin elbowed him. "Sorry" the younger boy shook his head slightly. "Can you repeat that for me?"

@ jungshook

Once she got to her car, Haneul realized she hadn't checked to make sure the safe in the back of the tattoo shop hadn't been secured, which had housed some evidence of Bangtan's more...illegitimate activities. With a heavy sigh, she reopened the shop, not realizing that she had also forgotten to turn off the neon 'OPEN' sign that hung in their front window. She'd been so hasty in wanting to leave, that properly closing down the shop had completely abandoned her mind. After wandering to the far back, she opened the unlocked safe to take visual account for everything in there, and properly locking it up. When she finally was ready to leave, was when she heard the bell up front ring, signalling that there were potential customers waiting at the front.

Fucking great.

Annoyed, as if she weren't irritated most of the time, she took her time walking to the front, wondering if there was any way to change their minds on getting any work today. When she emerged into the larger waiting, the first thing she noticed was the two doe eyed boys standing awkwardly on the other side of the glass counter. Putting her hands on top of the cool surface, and sliding them apart so she could lean forward, she began sizing them up, immediately noticing frantic hesitance on both of their faces. She could work with that, they'd be walking out with second thoughts in no time, and she could make her way to House of Cards.

"Looking for some ink?" She asked sardonically, cocking her head to the side as the taller, brown haired boy stared at her. How out of place these two were, she thought. Pure innocence, there wasn't anything edgy about these guys. It had probably taken years of courage for them to even walk into the shop, there was no way they'd actually end up going through with it today. "I'm the only one in the shop for now, here's my book." Reaching over, she slapped her hand on top of her neatly arranged portfolio, holding works of her best tattoos, and slid it in front of them as her eyes never moved.

"Um," the shorter one swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing nearly in exaggeration. He nudged the taller one, who still hadn't stopped staring at her with wide eyes.

"Does this one blink?" Haneul asked, a simper now appearing on her face before the shorter man nudged his friend again until he finally came back to reality.

"Sorry, can you repeat that?" Haneul rolled her eyes, beginning to grow impatient.

"What are you here for?" Haneul beckoned with agitation.




Yoongi was happy to escape the discussion between Namjoon and a potential additional whore for the club. Why they had to open up a strip club, which had basically become a brothel, was beyond him. There was a lot of things in this city that put the members of Bangtan at risk, but somehow STDs had become substantially more likely than getting shot at. In his own mind, he didn't see the woman walking in before running into her, unphased as she was knocked down to the ground. He tightly gripped onto the bag which held there posthumous gang member, inwardly cringing and immediately wanting to take a hot shower.

Great. Now I probably have scabies.

Undeniably beautiful as some of these woman may be, knowing the work they did behind closed doors was unsettling to Yoongi. Hands remaining by his side, he didn't offer help to the girl as she collected herself from the floor, obviously irritated with him. Realizing he actually recognized this one, mainly because of all of her tattoos, his face still didn't change. The head of the whores, or something like that, he thought to himself. That didn't make her special in his eyes, just more reluctant to be around her.

"Be careful," she smirked at him, "I could have broken a nail." He wanted to scoff at her 'warning', but he was well known within their underground organization as not having emotion. He prided himself in the empty eyes he examined things with, knowing it made him far more unapproachable. He liked that people were too scared to talk to him. Once she pushed past him, causing them to touch again, he cringed outwardly. A shower couldn't fix this, he'd need a whole new set of skin.

"Why don't these fucking sluts have any manners?" He grumbled before continuing out the door, no longer wanting to be in the establishment. This was one of the biggest reasons he and Haneul had pushed so hard for the tattoo shop, because neither of them liked being in the club. Even though he hated being there, he couldn't let his reputation falter, his pride wouldn't allow it. The next time he had a run in with that bitch, he would need to put her in her place, and show her what respect means in Bangtan.

Until then, he would go home and stand under a stream of scalding hot shower and scrub himself raw with bleach.

@ Bam.Bam