“Oh yeah? What’s that? I love a deal.”
She chuckles and I feel my chest bloom with warmth. “I’m offering soulmate tattoos.”
My eyes widen and my heart picks up speed. “Really?”
“Mhmm.” She pulls out this giant bin filled with white balls. “I’ll give you a tattoo that will be linked to your soulmate.”
“How high is your success rate?”
“Pretty damn high,” she says proudly.
I only think about it for a moment before I’m setting my bags down on the ground. “How do we do this?”
She waves her hand over the bin. “Pick a ball.”
“It’s that easy?”
“Yep!”
I dig my hand into the bin, shuffling the balls around before finally gripping one and pulling it out. I hold it out for her. She places her hand on top of it, staring at me with wide eyes. I watch as her eyes flash with a deep green color, warmth spreading through my arm.
“Perfect,” she finally says, taking the ball and popping it open. There’s a piece of paper inside. “This will do nicely. Would you like to see it?”
I shake my head. “Show me once it’s done.”
“Oh, I like you,” she says with a chuckle. “Where do you want it?”
I think about it for a moment before taking off my jacket, then my sweater, and then finally my shirt. Layers are good but they make getting naked kinda inconvenient. I point at my right shoulder blade. “Does this work?”
“Perfect. Why don’t you lie down and I’ll get started?”
I get myself comfortable on the table, listening as the tattoo artist gets her supplies ready. I realize I don’t even know her name.
“Hey,” I say, popping my head back up. “What’s your name?”
“Tilly.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jin.”
“Pleasure,” Tilly says with a grin. “Do you want color or just black?”
“I thought this was kind of a pop up thing. Isn’t it supposed to be just black?”
“This one feels special,” she says with a shrug. “That happens sometimes. Strong pull with this one.”
“Do whatever you think is best.”
“Can I ask what you are? That’ll change what I add to the ink to make sure it doesn’t just heal over straight away.”
“I have angelic lineage,” I tell her. She nods and adds a few drops of something to the little ink cup.
I put my face down and close my eyes. It hurts when Tilly starts the tattoo but it’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The buzzing sound of the tattoo lulls me into a bit of a trance. Time goes by but I have no idea how long. Eventually, she taps my other shoulder.
“All done, Jin.”
“Awesome,” I breathe out, carefully sitting up. My shoulder stings but I assume that’s to be expected when getting a new tattoo. I look over at Tilly who’s giving me a soft smile.
“Not to toot my own horn, but it turned out really pretty. I hope you like it.”
