Black & Grey

As Yoochan was about to nonchalantly slip his phone into his pocket, it vibrated.Sure.Jungeol’s brief reply made Yoochan chuckle as he turned off the screen.* * *The following week, after returning from his trip with friends, Yoochan happened to be near the tattoo shop. Remembering Jungeol’s invitation to visit if he stayed quiet, he decided to drop by with some ice cream. The shop was quiet, and only the manager was at the counter.“Oh, a customer? It’s been a while!”The manager, who was practicing on a piece of pigskin, greeted Yoochan warmly. Yoochan gave a small nod, handed over the ice cream, and scanned the shop. There were no customers, nor any sign of Jungeol or Taeho.“Where are the hyungs?”“Taeho’s on vacation and won’t be back until the day after tomorrow. As for Jungeol Oppa, he’s in the U.S.”“The U.S.?”The manager nodded while handing Yoochan a sweet, ice-filled mixed coffee.“Yeah. Oppa really admires a certain tattoo artist there. Their schedules never lined up before, but he finally managed to book a flight a couple of days ago.”“When’s he coming back?”“It’ll probably take a few weeks. That artist only works a few hours a day, and Oppa plans to get his back, chest, and full sleeves done. So yeah, it’ll take a while.”Yoochan sipped his coffee, then belatedly noticed the design the manager was working on.“Wow, noona, you’re a tattoo artist too?”“More like an apprentice.”The manager blushed shyly.“I’m learning from Jungeol Oppa, but I’m not skilled enough to work on people yet.”“Since Hyung’s your teacher, are you learning black-and-gray tattoos?”“Nope, I’m studying blackwork with Oppa. That’s what he started with originally.”“Can I take a look?”The manager hesitated for a moment before showing Yoochan the partially completed design on the pigskin—a small dog surrounded by delicate leaves.“Aw, it’s so cute! Is it yours?”“It’s a pit bull terrier that Jungeol Oppa and Taeho are raising together. Its name’s Gaang-i. Adorable, right? It often hangs around the shop, but Taeho took it with him on vacation this time.”As Yoochan examined the pigskin closely, he asked, “Do you have more drawings, noona?”“Want to see?”Initially reluctant to share her work, the manager excitedly pulled out a tablet when she saw Yoochan’s enthusiastic response.“Perfect timing! Taeho and Jungeol Oppa are such harsh critics that it’s nerve-wracking to show them. Especially Lee Taeho—he nitpicks like crazy. Anyway, I’m curious what a non-professional thinks. Have a seat. Oh, do you like chocolate? Want some?”Yoochan sat down, munching on the chocolates she offered and the ice cream he’d brought, spending several hours hanging out at the shop. As evening approached and it was time for his tutoring session, Yoochan said his goodbyes. On his way out, he remembered something and messaged Jungeol as if reporting in:Went to the shop today, but you weren’t there. Heard you’re in the U.S.? Hope your tattoos turn out great. I’ll visit again sometime, lol.Knowing a reply would likely take weeks, Yoochan slipped his phone into his sports bag and sprinted to the bus stop.* * *By the time Yoochan’s busy school schedule had completely wiped Jungeol from his mind, it was already autumn. In a dull class, Yoochan suddenly thought of the tattoo shop, took out his phone, and scrolled to the bottom of his messages to find the conversation with Jungeol.Went to the shop today, but you weren’t there. Heard you’re in the U.S.? Hope your tattoos turn out great. I’ll visit again sometime, lol.The message was still unread. Remembering the manager’s claim that Jungeol rarely managed his account, Yoochan checked his feed. It hadn’t been updated in ages.Considering sending another message, Yoochan locked eyes with his teacher and cheekily hid his phone with a grin.* * *Plans to visit the shop never materialized. With senior year nearing its end, Yoochan’s parents ramped up their expectations. Weekends, once free, were now consumed by additional tutoring.During a rare break, Yoochan accidentally clicked on Jungeol’s account while scrolling. He hesitated before exiting. The feed was frozen in time.Though it wasn’t unusual for someone to neglect their account, the lack of updates for over six months on a business page felt odd.“Could their shop have gone under?”It was a plausible thought. The shop’s inconvenient location, shabby building, and selective clientele made failure seem likely. The possibility left Yoochan oddly wistful.A few days later, Yoochan used his rare free time to visit the shop. When he arrived, the locked door and empty space indicated the shop had been vacant for some time. He stared at the door for a while, then cautiously sent a message to Jungeol:Hyung, just wondering… Did the shop close? Or did you move?The message went unanswered.* * *After a hectic senior year, Yoochan got into his desired university. The tattoo shop and its crew faded from his thoughts until a classmate mentioned getting a couple’s tattoo.Snickering, Yoochan’s amused expression drew curiosity.“Oh, it’s nothing,” Yoochan said, shaking his head. “Just remembered some hyungs who used to say couple tattoos were a bad idea.”Stifling his laughter, Yoochan revisited Jungeol’s account for the first time in years. The feed was still frozen in time.Yoochan frowned, briefly debated, and then unfollowed Jungeol without hesitation.A few weeks later, Jinhong, who had insisted on getting a couple’s tattoo, showed up with a small heart inked on the back of his hand. However, his expression was far from satisfied.“Ugh, I should’ve just paid more and gone to a famous shop. I was trying to save money and ended up getting this mess from someone inexperienced,” Jinhong grumbled, his voice filled with frustration.The placement and size of the tattoo weren’t bad, but the lines were uneven, and the area was inflamed. When Jinhong began considering a cover-up, a friend at the table tried to talk him out of it.“Just live with it. It doesn’t even look that bad. The inflammation will go down with some meds.”“Actually, my girlfriend said it’s such a generic design that she’s already sick of it. And honestly, it doesn’t suit my hand at all. I think a cover-up would be better.”“Yeah, go for it. That heart sucks anyway; just cover it up,” Yoochan said, nodding in agreement while shoveling a large spoonful of food into his mouth. He had to admit, Jinhong’s large, rough hands—typical of an athletic type—with hairy fingers didn’t pair well with the dainty heart tattoo.Yoochan suddenly remembered the tattoo shop he had visited briefly in high school and the tattoo artist there. The artist’s appearance was so striking that Yoochan could picture his face clearly, but for some reason, his name wouldn’t come to mind. All he could recall was something like “Jo Jun-something.”“That Jo Jun-something hyung’s work was really amazing, though,” he mused.Even though Yoochan wasn’t an expert, he was sure of that hyung’s talent. Just seeing his work up close had been enough to elicit a genuine “wow.” Yoochan couldn’t understand how such a skilled artist had ended up failing.“Baek Yoochan.”Jinhong, who had taken Yoochan’s contemplative expression as a sign he wasn’t paying attention, snapped at him.“Stop eating like it’s not your problem and help me find someone! Don’t you feel bad for your friend?”Reluctantly, Yoochan put down his spoon and pulled out his phone.The search for Jinhong’s next tattoo artist continued after lunch at a campus café.Finding a new artist was no easy task. A simple search for “Seoul tattoo” on social media or search engines yielded an overwhelming number of names. Yoochan and his friends sifted through portfolios, carefully selecting a few to show Jinhong.What they thought would be a quick task turned out to be anything but. Because it was a cover-up, Jinhong was even pickier than he’d been for his original tattoo.“What about this person? They have 12,000 followers.”“Not bad, but isn’t their style too cutesy? Might as well be another heart. My girlfriend would like it, though.”“This one?”“Oh, they seem good… No, wait. Look closely; the photos are way over-edited.”Yoochan leaned in to look at his friend’s phone. Sure enough, the photos were oddly retouched, with the models’ skin looking unnaturally pink, almost like sausages. Yoochan tapped one image to zoom in.“Yeah, you’re right. It looks worse when you zoom in. Definitely editing tricks. Let’s skip this one.”“Look at their follower count. Two hundred? That’s it? No way they’re any good. If they were, they’d have way more followers by now.”Yoochan thought back to Jo Jun-something hyung, whose followers hadn’t even reached 100, and tilted his head.“That’s not always true….”Another friend chimed in, “Yeah, but just because someone has a lot of followers doesn’t mean they’re great, either. Plenty of people buy followers these days.”“That account looks like they bought theirs for sure. Way too many for it to be legit.”“How many?”From across the table, a friend scrolling through Instagram chimed in. Yoochan leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. The numbers “4” and “8” caught his eye.“4.8 million? That’s not even that… Wait, no. Forty-eight thousand?!”Yoochan’s eyes widened as he realized what he was looking at. Jinhong, equally astonished, grabbed the phone.“Forty-eight thousand? Are you kidding me?”Leaning over Jinhong’s shoulder, Yoochan scanned the screen. It wasn’t a mistake. The account had 48,000 followers.“Scroll down,” Yoochan urged.Jinhong scrolled through the profile, revealing a series of works: tigers, lions, crucifixes, and sculptures that could’ve adorned a European cathedral. Even at a glance, the quality was undeniable. Yoochan thought this artist might even surpass Jo Jun-something hyung.“This is incredible. It’s like art. But… isn’t this person a foreigner? Most of the comments are in English. I’m not about to fly overseas for a tattoo,” Jinhong said, sounding disappointed.“No, the profile says ‘Tattooist Jet’ in Korean. They probably just get a lot of international clients,” the friend who had found the account explained.The comments were a mix of languages, with many in English praising the artist’s skill or asking about the next booking. The tattooist’s replies were polite and brief, explaining that they couldn’t take many bookings and that the next openings would be in about a month.Yoochan checked the date on the most recent reply. It was almost three weeks ago.“Mid-February, a month from then… That’s next week.”“Jinhong, send them a message and ask for the exact date,” Yoochan suggested.