#► — interactions / seonho & matthew

[fireliit]

"A thousand dollars?" He whistles. "If that was my going rate, my bank account would be in a far better state than it is." The sentiment that Matt relays is one that he could echo. It would be nice if he had more of a leg up than he does, but he tries not to complain. "Your apprenticeship is kinda the same to an internship, right? That's probably how they rationalize not compensate you for your practicing time, but I don't mind volunteering myself as tribute once you get to that point." Laughter rips through him freely. "Okay, that's fair. Animals have plenty to say, but I don't know how good I'd be at interpreting."

"Like a thousand dollars at least. Maybe more." He couldn't afford that, but hey, maybe someone could. "Damn, I wanted to be a nepo baby." He sighed, wishing that he could be like Jamie Lee Curtis or someone as cool as her. "An internal promo doesn't sound as cool. Though I dunno if it's really a promotion yet, I don't get paid much to practice because it's like practicing, you know?" His rate had to be lower, of course. "You can't have a back and forth with a dog? I've seen some huskies on tiktok that love to argue."

[fireliit]

"Thanks. It is possible that I missed my calling as a professional hype man," Seonho jests, hands curling around his chin as if in deep contemplation. Being a motivational speaker would never be in the cards for him. While he may be an eternal optimist, he doesn't think he would garner much of an audience. "Well, you have at least already impressed the tattoo artist mentoring you, right? Otherwise they wouldn't have taken you under their wing." It's sweet that Matt lays out a few options for him, humming. "A flight attendant couldn't work when I need to be close-by my siblings at all times, but I do love dogs. I am often compared to a golden retriever myself."

"A very under-appreciated art form. Almost as unappreciated as sand painting. You'd be a great motivational speaker, fyi." He chuckled, and honestly, he could use someone to hype up his work at the moment. "We have to impress not only our tattoo artist but also the client. It's hard." He was definitely right about that, though, boomers did screw everyone over. "Some of 'em need to have their driver's licenses revoked too." Mostly because he hated slow drivers. "So no desk jobs. You should become a flight attendant or a pilot. Oh or a dog groomer or something. Those definitely don't involve cubicles."

[fireliit]

"I wonder what would be a fair rate for me to charge for that." It's an amusing thought to entertain in a hypothetical manner only. "I don't think that counts as nepotism. It's more like you already had some of the skills. It's, like, an internal promotion, which is totally different." Or it is in Seonho's head anyway. He laughs freely, the sound vibrating through his chest. "You aren't wrong. But I do think that I would miss the back and forth conversation."

"For real. You could be one, I'd hire you." Well, if he could afford it. "I kinda had an in anyways, being a piercer, I'm like almost a nepo baby with gettin' to be an apprentice." He was the furthest from a nepo baby, in reality but there, maybe it was comforting to feel like one. "See? You should work with dogs. They don't talk as much as people do. And their breath's probably better than most too."

[fireliit]

"Well, it's an art form, right? So like any kind of art, you have to hone your craft, right? You will get there, and it should get easier." The encouragement comes to him naturally, giving Matt a thumbs up. "Probably because they screwed everyone out of the idea of retiring before they are, like, eighty, including themselves." He doesn't really know, and it's very possible he is thinking of older Gen Xes, but they are all the same to him. "I, uh..." Trailing, he doesn't want to say that pursuing his passion isn't a viable option for him. "I'd take pretty much anything that would let me have the flexible schedule that I need, but nine to five jobs tend to be confined to an office and I would wither away in a cubicle."

"I barely have the vision too. I think it takes a ton of practice and I dunno if I'm there yet but I appreciate the faith. You got like five stars for giving me the faith." Boomers. Fuck boomers. "Why are boomers still in charge?" Weren't they like old at this point. "Sunset Records is sick. I've only been in like once or twice but I don't have a record player so I'm like it's probably not worth it to get any records. Is there anything you want to do full time?"

[fireliit]

"That's part that I would really suck at. I don't have that kind of vision like you. I'm sure it will all come together for you though." He's musically creative, but it's different than sketching something from scratch. "Yeah, it's shitty that employers still hold onto such ridiculous attitudes. Guess it's that lingering boomer thinking." He shrugs, heaves a sigh. "Most of my bosses are really cool though, like Bianca and Aurel. I work at Sunset Records and a clothing warehouse from time-to-time, but I'm still kind of all over the place. Ending up a few summer contracts now that were in the Cherry Street District."

"And you gotta make it look good." It was hard, but that was the reason why it was a requisite to be creative in the first place. "So you don't want a tat just like that then?" He teased, with a smile. "Yeah, I get that. I don't have to worry about that now so I don't get it fully, but like it's crazy that tattoos are considered unprofessional. What's wrong with them? If anything, they show that you can be committed to something. Which jobs are you doing now?""

[fireliit]

The delivery of Matthew's joke causes Seonho to laugh, covering his mouth to mute the loud sound as the younger man explains what he's actually doing. "Whoa, that is a lot to fit into one design." His nose pinches as he tries to be helpful and consider how he could execute the design but comes up blank. He can't conjure up the image in his head, humming lowly and his feet tapping on the floor to expend some of his excitable energy. "You aren't wrong, but I don't want to run out of canvas, y'know? I only have so much skin to work with, so I am trying to be more purposeful in my choices. Especially since I sometimes have to cover them up for some of my jobs, so my options are more limited."

He was kind of deep in thought when Seonho interrupted his own thoughts, bringing him back to reality. "I'm drawing you." He joked, before quickly correcting himself. "It's actually something a customer requested. She wants an elephant, two butterflies, and a rose all in one design so I'm struggling a little trying to make it look smooth with all these components." He hadn't been tattooing people super long, mainly working on fake skin and fruits, so this was putting a lot of faith in him. "You should get whatever makes you go, yeah I want that. Tattoos don't have to be meaningful. I dunno why people always think they do."