23 Tattoos and Talking

All eyes were on Yeom Tae, from the concussed Youngsoo to Haneul who was tending to Haru's wounds.

"Woah!" Haru was the first one to express surprise.

The tattoos were standing out, and specially for someone who had had such an elegant attire on him. It was really strange and surprising. The tattoos surely added to his arrogant and aggressive facial features and made him stand out as an individual. If a stranger would walk inside the room, his eyes would also only go towards Yeom Tae.

Yeom Tae cleared his throat, flustered by their reaction. He cleared his throat lightly as he walked towards the chair alongside the study table to sit on it. The chair had a pile of clothes on top of it. He cleared his throat yet again and defeatedly walked towards the bed to sit beside Youngsoo.

"When did you get these tats?" Youngsoo asked, super impressed by the tattoos while staring at them constantly.

"It's a hobby." Yeom Tae muttered. "I get one every month, every now and then."

"Woah, then you must be full of tattoos!" Haru exclaimed while Haneul was still bandaging her leg.

"More or less." Yeom Tae chuckled.

Haneul peeked at his tattoos from the corner of her eyes. Yeom Tae instantly noticed and grinned slightly. Maybe revealing a bit of his tattoos was not a bad idea.

"Did it hurt?" Haneul asked out of curiosity.

Yeom Tae hummed as if thinking deeply to recall whether it hurt while getting tattoos or not.

"Not that I recall except," Yeom Tae answered. "The back tattoo hurt a lot though. It was a full back tattoo too so it stung kinda."

They were all astonished by the man who appeared to be much much more than how he looked.

Haneul taped Haru's bandages to secure them in their places then stood up to sit back on the couch placed next to the bed, where Haru was seated.

The door of Haru's room knocked and she quickly stood up to check but her knee ached and she fell right back. Haneul sighed and shook her head, lightly slapping the back of Haru's head as she stood up to check the door. Haneul opened the door to see Haru's older sister, Shin standing with a tray of refreshments.

"Hi, Shin." Haneul said, receiving the tray.

"Hi, Haneul." Shin replied in a dead, neutral and weary tone.

"Have a nice day, and good luck drawing." Haneul said slowly.

"You too, and good luck surviving." Shin replied, turning around to go back to her den.

Haneul slowly chuckled before closing the door and walking back with the tray of refreshments. She placed it on the round table placed

"Your sister will never change." Haneul said while sitting down on the floor with the couch on her back.

Haru slowly slipped out of the couch to sit on the floor. "She has a lot of commissions so bear with it." She said while she giggled.

Shin was an artist and oh so well did she fit into the appearance of an artist, especially with her always droopy and dead eyes.

"Come down, gentlemen." Haru said to the guys. "The weather is perfect for potato pancakes and makgeolli."

Youngsoo slipped down the bed to sit in front of the table while Yeom Tae stood up, walked a step closer to the table and then sat down on the floor. Had to preserve his elegance no matter what, huh?

The tray had a pile of potato and scallion pancakes, a common one. There were 2 bottles of makgeolli, i.e, rice wine. Perfect for the stormy and rainy weather outside.

Haru quickly poured rice wine for everyone in yellow aluminum bowls and handed over chopsticks to them.

A shot of makgeolli was followed by the pancakes for the ultimate experience.

"So," Youngsoo muttered while chewing. "You guys seem to be together a lot, huh?"

Oh, the pancake that Haneul wanted to swallow got stuck in her throat. She quickly reached for the wine and drank it down, feeling the pancake bite slip down. Youngsoo had the worst timings to speak up.

"Well," Yeom Tae cleared his throat and looked at Haneul.

This was even worse. Now everyone expected Haneul to answer. She simply just looked away, forcing all eyes back on Yeom Tae. He playfully shrugged, looking adorable as he did so. No one would ask any further after that now, would they? Haneul was envious of his ways of tackling different situations. She could just shrug too but her friends would continue to tease her. Life was unfair.

"Well it's good to see you two getting along." Youngsoo said, "Thanks for coming for us today." He expressed his gratitude.

"Yeah, Mr. Bowel Movements. We really appreciated that." Haru murmured playfully, only to receive a light hit from Haneul's elbow.

Yeom Tae bursted out laughing, "I believe I have a name." He said playfully.

Fortunately for Haneul, Yeom Tae was quite laid back and down to earth.

"Oh yes, Yeom Tae-ssi, Yeom Tae-ssi," Haru quickly corrected herself, politely and playfully. "I have some questions for you if you don't mind."

Haneul quickly looked at Haru with a stern gaze but Haru ignored while rolling her eyes. Yeom Tae nodded, ready to receive the questions.

"Do you live alone?" Haru asked boldly.

Uh oh. Personal question. But Yeom Tae actually found it nice that she asked. It gave him an opportunity to mention it in front of Haneul. Haru and Yeom Tae shared a quick glance. They were on the same page.

"Yes." Yeom Tae replied. "You guys should come over someday, actually." He added. "It's an interesting place, you see."

"Yeah?" Haru excitedly looked at Haneul. "We definitely will."

"I bet it's full of gaming hardwares." Youngsoo muttered.

"Correct." Yeom Tae smiled.

Haru and Youngsoo seemed much more excited than Haneul but it was okay, she was going to like it too.

"Next question," Haru murmured. "What do you like about Haneul?"