Ma Tian waited outside a Hot Pot restaurant with his arm loosely wrapped around Xu Chen's shoulder, Wang Li rushed to Xu Chen and snaked his own arm onto his friend's shoulder, removing Ma Tian's in the process. Ma Tian laughed at Wang Li then made his way over to Kong Da giving him a wet kiss on the cheek. Kong Da pushed him away but didn't say anything towards this act. Wang Li's eyes went wide before he feigned ignorance and clung to Xu Chen.

Inside, Ma Tian gave his name and a waiter guided them to a private room. Everyone sat at the table with Kong Da sitting across from Wang Li. Usually Wang Li would grab at any opportunity to sit beside his crush but he wasn't fond of Ma Tian teasing his Xu Chen, thus sacrificed the special seat in the name of friendship.

Unknown to Wang Li, Ma Tian didn't care whether he was sitting beside or across from Xu Chen since he could tease him in any seat. The waiter handed Ma Tian the menu before leaving and closing the door. Ma Tian looked at the long menu with bored eyes while talking in a sweet voice.

"Xiao Chen, since this dinner is for you, what do you want?"

"I-I'm not fussy."

The waiter came back with tea and water for everyone before standing next to Ma Tian, ready for the order. Since Xu Chen didn't specify, Ma Tian ordered almost everything and three broths. He would've ordered more but Kong Da snatched the menu from him, returning it to the waiter. Wang Li had never seen Xu Chen's flushed face last so long and softly patted his friends heated cheeks.

The food came quickly and it didn't take long for the broths to start boiling. Xu Chen tried to boil meat for himself but Ma Tian beat him to it, blanching a few slices for him and placing it in his bowl. When he reached for a dumpling Ma Tian told him he had already begun boiling a few and to wait a couple more minutes. Xu Chen wasn't used to this sort of treatment and found it hard to be waited on.

Wang Li on the other hand, was almost a clone of Ma Tian. After a few mouthfuls, he would place a freshly blanched shrimp or vegetable into Kong Da's bowl. At first Kong Da would place the food back in Wang Li's bowl but after the third mushroom he stopped and ate quietly, basically ignoring everyone at the table

Both Wang Li and Xu Chen were shy in front of strangers, Kong Da himself wasn't much of a talker unless he was passionate about the topic and he didn't seem like he was in the mood for talking anyway, leaving Ma Tian to make up for all three of them.

"Xiao Chen are you in University?"

"I'm majoring in hospitality."

The lack of teasing meant Xu Chen was slowly warming up to Ma Tian and no longer stuttered when he talked, though his flushed cheeks hadn't gone away. Wang Li looked over at Kong Da as he thought about how he could find out Kong Da's feelings without saying it in front of everyone. The day was almost over and he hadn't even held a proper conversation with the man, he felt as if his progress was rewinding. The worried boy ate as if his mind wasn't racing and he slowly came up with an idea and slid his shoe off.

Kong Da seemed to be in deep thought again, the small crease forming between his brows again. Wang Li slowly lifted his sock covered foot and pushed it forward until he felt Kong Da's shoe, the dazed man mustn't have felt this since his eyes were still unfocused. Wang Li slouched down a little and pushed his foot until it was sitting on top of the large foot, leaving it there. Kong Da had now felt what Wang Li was doing and looked over at him expressionless. Ma Tian was still feeding and talking to Xu Chen happily. Kong Da didn't push Wang Li's foot off and instead placed a slice of meat in his bowl.

"Eat properly."

Wang Li smiled widely and roughly slid his other shoe off, not bothering with being slow or sneaky and placed it on Kong Da's other shoe before he continued eating, every now and then he would wriggle his toes in excitement. With his achievement, the meal passed by and everyone was surprised by the amount they were able to eat. Only a few stray vegetables and noodles were left once the bill had been paid. The small group had already one foot out the door while Wang Li quickly wiped his hands then pushed his shoes back on, rushing to catch up.

Once Ma TIan, Kong Da and Xu Chen were outside the sun had already set, leaving only a faint red light in the cloudless summer sky. Ma Tian stretched lazily but winced and put his arms back down.

"What's wrong."

Xu Chen looked up at Ma Tian with a face of worry. Ma Tian grinned as he swung his arm back onto Xu Chen's shoulder.

"I'm tender after the tattoo. You really should've come to hold my hand, I wouldn't be in any pain if you had."

Xu Chen had completely forgotten about the tattoo on Ma Tian's penis and he looked at the dirty ground shyly, the easy going atmosphere Ma Tian had created between the two of them returned to the teasing from earlier. Off to the side, Kong Da held the door open while Wang Li caught up with everyone and they slowly walked their way back to the studio. Wang Li was about to tell Xu Chen they should head back when Kong Da whispered in his ear, sending a tickling feeling down his neck.

"Can we talk?"

These words never brought any good and the tickling he felt instantly turned to anxiety but he agreed despite the fear in his heart. Kong Da called out to Ma Tian, who was a few meters ahead with Xu Chen.

"Tian, Xiao Li and I are going to walk a little longer."

"Good, more time for me to spend with Xiao Chen."

Wang Li was about to say something but Ma Tian had already turned around and continued walking towards the studio with his arm around Wang Li's soulmate. Kong Da shook his head as he led the way across the road, heading towards a scenic area with seating. He sat first with Wang Li sitting with his legs crossed and body facing Kong Da's side just like they had sat at the campsite.

"I was hoping that I wouldn't need to tell you this but with how things are going between us and it's obvious that you're feelings for me aren't fading, I can't hide the reason those men from today came to the studio."

Wang Li was relieved since he thought that Kong Da was about to tell him that he should stop pursuing him, Kong Da sighed heavily as the last of the final light in the sky faded, the bright street lamps offering a cold light over the scenic park, the perfect atmosphere for telling a sad story.

Ten years ago at the age of 18, Kong Da had become one of the main artists in the studio where he and Suo Su were working, his pay from his work was slowly building like his stream of customers, Kong Da didn't focus on one style and this helped pull in more people to the studio.

Just like any other day, Kong Da was consulting with a client when a girl around his age walked in, no one recognised her and she didn't speak to any of the artists. Once Kong Da was finished consulting his client, the strange girl walked over, she first introduced herself as Chen Ai then directly told Kong Da to tattoo anything on her, she didn't care what it was but it could only be done by him.

Kong Da was a young artist since he was only 18, although he had been tattooing for 5 years there were artists in the studio who had been tattooing for over 10, Kong Da had explained this to Chen Ai and she left after a short goodbye. He thought this girl was someone who grew up getting her way and if she didn't then she would look somewhere else. But Chen Ai came back the next day and told Kong Da again that she wanted a tattoo of anything as long as he did it. Kong Da declined again.

The girl was relentless and Chen Ai came back everyday for a week, she no longer told Kong Da to tattoo her but Chen Ai would sit in the shop from opening hour until they closed, if someone asked her what she was doing Chen Ai told them that she had an appointment with Kong Da. Once the first week passed, Kong Da gave up and agreed. The actions had left a sour taste in his mouth while he asked what style the tattoo would be in but the girl said "You Choose" He asked how big, again "You choose." Any question regarding the tattoo would result in "You choose." Kong Da was a little frustrated by this and took a proper look at the girl standing in front of him.

She was someone who would be deemed beautiful by everyone, long black hair, striking phoenix eyes and a soft gentle smile. Chen Ai didn't look like someone that would get a tattoo and this made it hard for Kong Da to decide on the style, anything too rough or harsh would clash with her looks but a small tattoo would seem like a waste of her time and effort. Kong Da spent two and a half days drawing on scrap pieces of paper and pushed all of his clients aside until he figured out the perfect design.

He didn't expect to care so much about this tattoo but he did, Suo Su even tried warning him against the whole situation but he pushed him aside too. Chen Ai watched over happily when she saw how serious Kong Da took this tattoo and didn't bother looking over the design once it was done. She simply walked to the back room and asked what she had to take off.

The tattoo Kong Da had designed was a back piece. While Chen Ai removed her shirt and undid her bra, Kong Da faced the wall, waiting until Chen Ai was laying on the massage table and started the long process of creating this back piece. There were no flashy colours or bold outlines meaning all Kong Da needed was his machine, black ink and water.

Kong Da spent the whole afternoon tattooing Chen Ai with no breaks, once he was done Chen Ai stood in front of a mirror holding a towel in front of her with Kong Da holding a mirror behind her. The piece was a traditional Chinese ink painting, there no harsh lines and most of the back was untouched. A waterfall took up one shoulder while on the opposite side around her waist was a building surrounded with trees, where the waterfall ended was a small mountain. Kong Da was expecting a big surprised reaction or a thank you but instead Chen Ai turned around to face him.

"Un, It's good. I want to date you."

In his eighteen years of living Kong Da had never felt the need to date someone and mostly slept around when the urge hit him. Nine days of this woman badgering him for a tattoo but all of it was for a date. Kong Da was pissed off since he had spent a lot of his time on this tattoo and even though he was paid a lot by Chen Ai, the sour taste in his mouth had returned. Kong Da flatly told her no and left the room so she could get dressed. Ignoring her when she came back to the main part of the studio.

Like when Chen Ai wanted the tattoo, everyday she came into the studio and waited for Kong Da but her answer had changed when people asked her what she was doing, instead of saying she had an appointment she told everyone she had a date with Kong Da. Suo Su already didn't trust this girl, he only had to take one look at her to see she wasn't a good person and he personally tried many times to get her to leave, even telling her Kong Da wasn't all she cracked him up to be but Chen Ai would always come back the next day.

After two weeks of his colleagues and clients teasing him, Kong Da had lost all of his patience and finally accepted the date. He thought everything would be over once the date finished but Chen Ai came back again asking for a second. Very quickly Kong Da found himself in a cycle of refusing dates then accepting dates and he didn't know how to get out of it.

Six months passed like this and Kong Da was beginning to say no less and less until he would be the one to ask when their next date was. Suo Su continuously tried to tell him that something was off about the whole situation, but Kong Da had started to develop real feelings towards this girl and found her stalker behaviour endearing instead of a red flag.

Once Kong Da started taking initiative in the odd relationship, Chen Ai's true side came out and he saw her true colours; most nights Chen Ai would turn up at Kong Da's apartment interrogating him about his clients and how many of them were woman, if the amount of female clients surpassed a certain number, she would accuse Kong Da of cheating. Every time he would play passive and accept whatever was in store for him instead of fighting back, only because he couldn't be bothered with arguing about nonsense.

Aside from the constant cheating accusations, the rest of the relationship was fine in Kong Da's eyes and another six months passed by slowly before the couple moved in together. At first, Kong Da thought the accusations would stop after they moved in together and they did but he found out something else about his girlfriend.

Kong Da always thought Chen Ai's crazy behaviour and personality was from growing up in a bad home; but one day Kong Da came home early because he had over worked the previous day and couldn't stay awake any longer. The bedroom door was slightly open and he saw Chen Ai crush something with the bottom of a shot glass, then pour the powder into the glass and mix it with alcohol. Instead of barging in and demanding to know what was happening, Kong Da walked out of the apartment, calmed his mind then re-entered, making sure to make loud noises on his way to the bedroom.

As he got undressed in the bedroom he saw first hand how Chen Ai went from a crazy erratic girl accusing him of cheating, to slowly falling into a calm but dazed state and asking when their next date would be. Kong Da was still young at this point and knew he should do something about this matter but had no idea how to handle it. Do I call the police?, the hospital? Will Suo Su help me?

In the end Kong Da did nothing. He thought he liked Chen Ai's dazed state, that was the way she was most of the time and Kong Da thought it was fine, so he pushed the scene of Chen Ai taking drugs to the back of his mind. Slowly their relationship matured and they had been dating two years.

For their two year anniversary, Kong Da had made a reservation at a nice restaurant and was driving on the highway. For some reason, Chen Ai was acting different this night; instead of being the dazed Kong Da obsessed girl he knew, she was becoming erratic to the point where Chen Ai became violent towards Kong Da.

Because they were on the highway, Kong Da had no way of stopping and tried his best to drive straight while Chen Ai threw slaps and punches at him. Kong Da had gone from the passive boyfriend taking the insults and punches to someone fearing for his life. After a lifetime of dangerous driving, they finally made their way off the highway, Kong Da had taken the first turn off and he was about to make a turn to pull over but Chen Ai grabbed the wheel. A set of lights were ahead and the car swerved dangerously to the opposite lane. Kong Da reacted quickly and pressed down the brakes, stopping the car in the middle of the intersection.

He had reached his breaking point now and was about to release the two years of pent up anger when Kong Da saw headlights come from behind Chen Ai. Before he could react, the car was hit and he was knocked unconscious.

A couple days later Kong Da woke up in the hospital with Suo Su and Ma Tian waiting in his room. There were bandages on his head as well as a cast on his leg. Kong Da had never seen Suo Su cry but when he opened his eyes Suo Su had burst into tears; the doctors had told them that they weren't sure if he would wake up and if he did, they didn't know how serious the damage would be to his brain.

Suo Su had held back the news about Chen Ai passing away until Kong Da could stay awake for longer than ten minutes. Both Suo Su and Ma Tian didn't know how Kong Da would take the news and they tried to find a good way to let him know but in the end, they could only say it plainly. The two men had to watch as Kong Da's gaunt and bruised face turned expressionless and his lifeless eyes closed.

The police had done an investigation about the accident and charges weren't pressed since it was seen as a tragic accident, however Chen Ai's family believed Kong Da had wanted this to happen and had caused the death of Chen Ai. The police did a follow up investigation on the request of the family and found drugs in Chen Ai's blood, in turn her family accused Kong Da of dealing drugs.

Chen Ai's family didn't stop but the police couldn't do anything to Kong Da since there was nothing illegal he had done as well as no evidence. Suo Su and Ma Tian had tried to stop all of this being found out by Kong Da because they were worried it could have an affect on his recovery and mental stability, but Chen Ai's family had found his hospital room.

Kong Da had been in hospital for two weeks when Chen Ai's brother broke the door down and tried to beat him but security caught up to him quickly, the man continuously screamed about how Kong Da was a murderer and he should've died instead. Although the relationship between him and Chen Ai wasn't great and they were probably better off not being together, Kong Da still thought that he had loved her. I spent two years of my life with this girl, shouldn't I love her? I'm devastated knowing she's dead, doesn't this mean I love her? After hearing the words murderer, Kong Da thought about that day he saw Chen Ai take the drugs and how he did nothing. If I loved her shouldn't I have said something?

The words murderer triggered something In Kong Da's head, he thought that if he had said something about the drugs then she wouldn't have changed that night and grabbed the wheel, even if they had fought for hours and hours she would still be alive. Maybe he would have loved the real Chen Ai if he had gotten her help. Countless thoughts rushed through his mind as Chen Ai's brother's screams lessened while he was dragged out of the room by security. After that day, Kong Da believed he was a murderer since he hadn't said anything.

Time passed slowly in hospital and Kong Da never spoke a word about how he believed he was a murderer. Once he was discharged, Chen Ai's brother came and found him again in the apartment Kong Da and Chen Ai used to share. Without putting up a fight, Kong Da accepted the beating because he thought he deserved it, he was on the brink of death when Suo Su came over to see how he was recovering. After more time in the hospital, Suo Su finally saw Kong Da's destructive behaviour and talked about how Chen Ai's actions were all on her. Suo Su told the broken man that even if Kong Da had said something about the drugs when he had found out, there was no way of knowing if that would stop her from taking them again.

Chen Ai's brother came back again but instead of accepting the beating, Kong Da simply asked him how much his family wanted and he would pay it. Someone had come with the brother during this visit and dragged the angry man away, stating the family would be in touch. A couple days later, Chen Ai's parents called Kong Da to pay 200,00 RMB in one payment; only then would they seize calling the police on him and their son would stop targeting him.

After accepting the amount he would pay, Kong Da focused on his recovery and once he could focus for a few hours at a time he returned to the studio, against Suo Su's and Ma Tian's wishes. He had planned to work and save until he had enough but on the first day back, the head of the studio gave him his equipment, telling Kong Da to leave since word had gotten out about the accident and the rumours surrounding him were bad for the shop. When Suo Su heard about this, he took his equipment and left too, taking half the studios clients with him.

Ma Tian and his father had offered multiple times to pay the family off in Kong Da's name, especially since Kong Da was technically part of their family but every time they were refused. In Kong Da's mind, this was not only buying his freedom but also giving one last gift to the girl he could have treated better. For two years after being kicked out of his job, Kong Da struggled to find work, he had never finished school let alone attended university so people wouldn't hire him. Suo Su easily picked up another job as an artist but the studio refused to hire Kong Da after finding out who he was. Over time Suo Su married JieJie, instead of having a honeymoon they used their savings to buy the studio they work in now.

As soon as the studio was set up, Kong Da was hired and he began saving every penny he had. Unlike before, his clients were sparse but slowly over time they picked up and people no longer spoke about the accident that night. Kong Da saved and barely ate during the 2 years it took him to come up with the money, most of his meals were given to him by JieJie since she couldn't stand seeing him so skinny, the married couple had also offered to house and feed him until his debt was paid but like all of the offerings given, Kong Da refused.

Once his account showed 200,010 RMB, Kong Da visited Chen Ai's parents and handed over the money. Suo Su picked him up in his new car after finding out where he had run off to, the plan was to treat the skinny man to a nice meal as a celebration for leaving the past behind him, but Kong Da couldn't stay in the car five minutes before he opened the door, if Suo Su hadn't pulled the handbrake when he did, Kong Da would have ended up in hospital again.

The feeling of discomfort and fear was new to Kong Da, he tried again and again but every time he was in a car, his body would feel like it was on fire and he couldn't breathe. The final straw was after a failed trip on the studio's two year anniversary. Kong Da had given up on the idea of driving and refused to enter a car... until he had met Wang Li.

Wang Li had also been the reason Kong Da invited Ma Tian back to China, every few months Chen Ai's brother would come looking for Kong Da and every time a fight would ensue. His parents had accepted the money but he couldn't belittle his sister's life down to a case of money. For years Kong Da had given up on the idea of leaving his past behind and would deal with Chen Ai's brother whenever he visited, however when he saw Wang Li attack that man and end up in hospital, he decided it was time he did something about the crazed man.

Ma Tian wasn't a criminal but the Ma family was important and rich, meaning he had power and money. Kong Da had spent ten years living in a nightmare created by his relationship with Chen Ai, after ten years he had gotten used to the difficulties of living and had decided to endure instead of change. Although Kong Da hadn't known Wang Li long, he couldn't bring himself to try and push away the true feelings he was experiencing. He wanted to experience what real love felt like.