Hello lovely lady :) I’m here to pretty please request a JK drabble because I miss him terribly and if you have the time because I very much am in love with your writing 🥹🥹 Tattoo artist JK who gets a crazy stupid adult crush on a customer who comes to him to do a very meaningful tattoo for her and they spend all night eating and talking afterwards and it’s all giggly and cute because he will find any reason to touch her 😭😭 and now I’m going to jump off a cliff bc I miss him so much LOL
sorry for the wait, sweet bean!
cw: mention of needles, general reference to trauma (not described); description of a bad tattoo i've seen in real life; reader gets one of my actual tattoos because fuck it, we ball.
Jeon Jungkook considered himself an artist. This wasn't based on his literal job title, but on the immeasurable time and effort he spent studying, practicing, and working as an apprentice. On the sheer number of oranges that went off to rot in dumpsters with shakily tattooed skin.
For years, he placed permanent art on the bodies of strangers for tips only — if clients bothered with the courtesy, that is. Little designs off the flash sheet, last-minute friendship tattoos for university students who'd fall out of touch upon graduating. It was grueling work, but it was worth it.
When he finished his apprenticeship and was promoted to resident artist, Jungkook figured that he'd spend his days seriously — on serious shit that took hours to design and even longer to translate onto a living, breathing, squirming canvas. That was the hope, anyway.
In reality, Jungkook had spent the entirety of his day doing unspeakably stupid shit. He'd just finished tattooing "Seoul" in hiragana for a tourist who didn't seem to know which side of the Strait he was on — and then you walked in.
You shouldn't have been the only person he'd seen all day that already had tattoos, but you were. You clearly knew how this was supposed to go; and Jungkook almost started floating when the crushing weight of his exasperation finally fell off his shoulders.
Finally.
He didn't mean to audibly sigh with relief when you stepped up to the counter. He did, though, and he was well past the point of giving a shit if that should have embarrassed him.
"Rough day?" You tilted your head to the side when you asked and you looked genuinely concerned, even with that tiny, sideways smile.
Jungkook was torn. Yours was a face worth staring at, but the gallery spreading over both of your exposed arms was one he wanted to get lost in. He knew more than anyone how fucking it weird it was when strangers gave themselves permission to run their hands over his skin — but he might finally understand the urge.
Swallowing down that intrusive desire, Jungkook gripped his Red Bull can even tighter in his left hand — twenty ounces, reserved exclusively for the most severe instances of brain rot — and balled his right hand into a fist. He rapped his knuckles against the countertop and shot you a grin, "Nah, it's golden."
Jungkook had been right about two things. The first was that you weren't a fainter, a flincher, or a cry-baby.
If he hadn't stolen so many glances at you throughout the session; and if your quiet laughter wasn't the pacemaker preventing his swooning heart from stopping; he might've thought that you were meditating. Sleeping, even, or hit with a freeze ray. You were still, entirely unfazed like you weren't being stabbed thousands of times per second with a bouquet of needles.
Jungkook was also dead-on that this day, despite its frustrating start, was golden. Better yet, it didn't end when your session did. When he'd blurted out an invitation to dinner, you said yes.
Sitting down across the table from him with your forearm dutifully covered in cling-wrap, you shot him an adorably sheepish smile. "Could you, um —?" You gestured to the perilla leaves on your plate with the chopsticks in your non-dominant hand. "I'm not as dexterous as I was two hours ago."
"I'm on it, boss."
He didn't have time to cringe over that statement or the wink that accompanied it because your knuckles brushed his when you slid your plate to him and — Are you a child? Why are you blushing? For fuck's sake, get a grip, Jeon.
You sipped your beer as you watched him; and it had Jungkook fumbling as if he was using chopsticks for the first time in his life and not the thousandth. Thankfully, instead of laughing at him, you asked, "So, what's the dumbest tattoo you've had to do for someone?"
"Cartoon corn-on-the-cob," Jungkook responded without hesitation. The memory was burned into his brain, a tattoo in its own right. "But that alone isn't the worst part, and neither is the fact that its face looked like it was moaning with a pat of butter sliding down its front."
You groaned, but you were grinning, "Jesus. Do I even want to know the worst part?"
"Butter me up, daddy."
Automatically, you raised your freshly-tattooed arm and slapped your hand over your mouth to keep your drink inside it. You winced at the sting on your skin and, no doubt, the burn in your chest as you coughed, "Come again?"
Jungkook slid your plate back over to you with pursed lips. Then, he took a deep breath. "That was the script they wanted to go with it," He sighed, "I spent a decade of my life on my craft and that is what I do with it."
"I'm sure the linework on the horny corn was beautiful, though." Your eyes sparkled when your tone softened. The sight of you stopped him from laughing at the words you chose.
He gestured down to the vintage floor lamp he'd etched in fine black ink on your forearm. "Looks better when the person I'm tattooing sits still," He smiled, "And you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you put thought into that, rather than thirst. Otherwise, I will have follow-up questions about whatever kink that might be."
Ugh, that giggle.
"Have you heard of ghost lights before?" You asked between bites of your kimchi.
When Jungkook shook his head, you cleared your throat to explain. "When you close up a theater after a show, you have to put a lamp on the stage. It's primarily a safety thing — keeps people from falling over set pieces or into the orchestra pit — but it helps out with ghosts, too."
Jungkook shifted in his chair and leaned in a little closer to more clearly hear what came next. He was riveted, and there was no hiding it.
"There are a couple of different superstitions about why it's done, but the one I grew up with was that it keeps ghosts from messing with your props and technical equipment while you're gone."
You quieted before you tacked on the amendment, corner of your mouth momentarily twitching up into a sad smile, "Figured this tattoo might help me ward off some of my own."
Your hand was close enough to his on the table that he could've pretended it was an accident. He didn't, though. The microscopic movement until his little finger touched yours was intentional; and he wanted you to know it.
Not daring to move that hand away, Jungkook grabbed his drink with the other and raised it. He waited for you to raise yours, too, before cheering, "To ghosts that mind their own fucking business!"
Hi Jade! I just wanted to send you big hugs on this Monday to make your week go by fast! Just started following you but I can already tell you’ll be one of my favorite people on here!!! 😊🥹💜
Hi! I just want to say how OBSESSED I am with Camp Bangtan so far. I absolutely LOVE campy vibes BTS and I can’t wait for this story to unfold. You’re a wonderful writer!!!
Thank you so, so much! I was super hesitant to start a series because it seems like most people are looking for one-shot smut (which is fine!!) so I’m very grateful for your kind words 🥰🤭
WILLOWW!!! HOW COME I DID NOT SEE THE LATEST UPDATE OF SHHH??!!! I AM SO UPSET AT MYSELF BRB GONNA GO DIE READING IT!!! Also miss u hope you are doing amazing ❤️❤️❤️
omg nOOOO don’t you DARE BE UPSET AT YOURSELF. PUNCH A TREE (softly so you don’t hurt urself) BUT NO ANGER TOWARDS THE MOST LOVELIEST LASS JOANNA OKAY
but honestly posting chapter five was an absolute MESS. it didn’t show up in the tags and it took me about three hours before it would let me tag anyone in the taglist 🙄so, definitely not your fault. But i hope you enjoy it nonetheless!!!!
I follow you obviously bc you are AMAZING TALENTED FUNNY PERFECT I COULD GO ON AN ON!!!!
WELL YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS NOW LOVING JOANNA HOURS BECAUSE YOU ARE JUST ONE OF THE BEST READERS OUT THERE. YOU ARE ALWAYS SO KIND AND COMPASSIONATE. YOUR EXCITEMENT AND ENTHUSIASM MAKES ME FEEL LIKE WHEN I WRITE, SOMEONE IS LISTENING, AND I AM YELLING BECAUSE THAT IS TRULY SO IMPORTANT TO ME. YOUR ENERGY IS MAGNETIC AND YOU ARE TRULY SUCH A BLESSING.
WILLLOWWW SH IS EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED!!!! Locked up in a cabin with BTS??!! Yes please!!! Your smut is once again fueling me and the cuteness of Hobi is truly the icing on top. Your stories are perfection!!!! 😭😭
JOANNA, YOU
ARE THE BEST
your support means literally the world to me 😭 i can’t wait to see how this fic unravels and to hear your thoughts as we go along!!!! i hope you’re doing well and staying safe and that you have a fabulous weekend you beautiful bean
I am here to say that I have literally just sat in my room bawling over ITW and what an INCREDIBLE writer you are. I am literally speechless. This felt so damn real and so true to anyone who has ever been a counselor with an unrequited love (literally me way back in the day). The raw emotions of YN’s feelings towards Jimin had my heart crying. I felt her pain, and her sadness, and her joy all at once. This reminds me SO MUCH of Dirty Dancing LOL. Ugh TY for this. This was truly A++++. 💔😭
oh my goodness thank you so much for reading it !!!! i feel like ITW really does encapsulate that sort of wistful summer feeling, the kind where you just enjoy what you have because you know it’ll come to an end soon. i’ve been told quite a lot that ITW is reminiscent of past memories, and for that i’m honored to have written something so nostalgic for so many of you !!! thank you so much for all of the love that you’ve given it and i’m so glad that you enjoyed it!!
