The next day, the weather was still cold and overcast even though they were in the later part of spring. However, when Wang Li woke up, he felt as if the low grey clouds were clear blue skies. Xu Chen was still snoring softly when Wang Li had lightly showered, applied medicine to his tattoo and dressed in an oversized shirt and cardigan paired with blue jeans. Wang Li couldn't be considered exceptionally handsome, at best you could say he was a fresh looking ordinary youth. While he was putting on his shoes, Xu Chen finally woke up and asked in a raspy voice.

"Where are you going? It's only 8:00 am."

Wang Li finished tying his laces and swung open the door with a large smile on his face.

"I told you, I'm going to woo Da Ge."

Xu Chen groaned and cocooned his body in his blankets, praying to the gods to strike him down now. You're incredibly shy, how are you going to woo an older man? Wang Li had no time to think about Xu Chen's early mid life crisis and made his way to his favourite bakery. He mostly liked to eat here because the food was cheap, but their breads were also some of the best he had eaten in his twenty years of living.

After picking out one of each flavoured bun and a couple to spare, Wang Li walked to the tattoo studio and sat outside. In his dream-like state of mind, he hadn't thought to check online what time the studio opened and had arrived an hour early. Luckily JieJie and Suo Su arrived together after 30 minutes of waiting. When Suo Su saw him, he couldn't even get a greeting out before he started laughing loudly. JieJie ignored the crazy man beside her and helped Wang Li stand before she rushed to unlock the door and prepare hot drinks for everyone.

Wang Li opened the large paper bag containing the different breads and walked to the seating area, placing the abundance of buns on the small coffee table. Like a hawk Suo Su saw the food and sat beside Wang Li.

"You're such a kind kid. Bringing us old folk breakfast on a cold morning."

Suo Su went to reach out but Wang Li timidly reached out and gripped onto his sleeve. Although Wang Li was confident and loud in front of Xu Chen, when it came to strangers he was like a shy child. Suo Su looked back and saw Wang Li's blush filled face and pulled his hand back as he chuckled.

"What? You gave up on King Kong now you want Su Ge?"

Wang Li Quickly let go of the sleeve and muttered under his breath before he took a deep breath and spoke to Suo Su in a serious tone.

"What is Da Ge's favourite flavour?"

JieJie came in holding a tray of coffees and sat opposite the two men. Suo Su sighed and took a sip of coffee before speaking to JieJie.

"Didn't you tell him last night?"

Wang Li butted in before JieJie could speak.

"She told me but I chose not to listen. I want to woo Da Ge."

Wang Li could see how hard Suo Su was trying to hold back his laughter, the older man could only hold back for three seconds before sprawling onto the sofa and bellowing out with loud laughter, Suo Su laughed until his stomach hurt and he wiped the tears away from his eyes. Suo Su sadly had no time to speak when he saw Kong Da walk in quietly. Wang Li hadn't noticed so he kept quiet and leaned back into the couch thinking this man laughed too much.

"How do you plan on succeeding?"

Wang Li thought about how to answer since he was new to this sort of thing. Suo Su could see in the corner of his eye Kong Da was about to come out of one of the private rooms and was wishing this kid would hurry and speak. Wang Li was about to answer when Kong Da spoke from across the room. The low voice was enough to make Wang Li blush.

"What's with the small meeting?"

Wang Li took in a few deep breaths before he turned and faced Kong Da, speaking in a rush.

"I bought buns from my favourite bakery as a thank you for yesterday."

Kong Da walked over and looked at the ten buns covering the small table. Once Kong Da was close enough, Wang Li spoke again.

"Take as many as you want, we've already had some."

Suo Su was about to expose the blatant lie when a cold glare was given to him by JieJie, he could only keep his mouth shut and hoped there would be enough buns left for him. Wang Li watched carefully as Kong Da looked over all the different flavours of buns; he ended up choosing two red bean buns and a chocolate bun before he sat down in an armchair, eating quietly.

The happiness Wang Li was feeling was very obvious on his face so he quickly picked a random bun and stuffed it into his mouth. Since he had picked up a bun, Suo Su swiftly reached over and grabbed four, before JieJie could scold him he had already finished two buns. Kong Da side eyed the two people beside him eating but still didn't say anything. JieJie then reached over calmly and picked up one bun. Suddenly, Kong Da spoke to Wang LI.

"How many did you buy? I'll send the money back to you."

Wang Li almost choked on his bun as he swiftly shook his head.

"There's no need Da Ge. It's a thank you gift, so you can't return it."

Kong Da didn't push any further and continued eating in silence. Wang Li finished his bun quickly then picked up his untouched coffee, handing it to Kong Da.

"I don't like coffee so Da Ge can have mine."

Kong Da gave a quick thanks and took the cup from Wang Li, their fingers brushed against each other lightly and the electric current Wang Li felt last night returned. Suo Su and JieJie were staring at each other, arguing without speaking.

Suo Su: I thought I told you to tell this kid to not bother

JieJie: I did tell him, he obviously said he didn't listen to my advice

Suo Su: Tell him again

JieJie: It's your turn to tell him, don't be a baby

The two's silent conversation was broken when Kong Da spoke.

"JieJie is your stuff set up? I want the piece done before my client shows up at two."

Ah! JieJie quickly finished her bun and coffee before rushing upstairs to set up her equipment. After only ten minutes, she called from upstairs that she was ready and Kong Da thanked Wang Li again for the breakfast before walking upstairs.

"He's getting a tattoo?"

Un. Suo Su reached forward and ate the last bun. Wang Li wanted to watch but thought it would be inappropriate to ask, instead he stood up and collected the small paper bags the buns came in and placed them in a close by bin. Wang Li made one more glance up at the upstairs section before waving at Suo Su. He didn't even take one step before Suo Su called out to the upstairs, asking if spectators were permitted entry. The upstairs was silent for a few seconds before JieJie called back

"Permission granted."

Suo Su stood up and walked upstairs, he looked back and saw Wang Li standing still so motioned for him to follow. When they reached the section above, there was only one massage table, a simple chair and a room off to the side. Kong Da was sitting in the chair wearing a loose pair of black shorts while JieJie placed the stencil on the section of skin above his knee. Suo Su walked into the back room, bringing out two small chairs and placed both of them down off to the side so Wang Li and him could sit and watch. From where they were sitting they couldn't see what the picture was, Wang Li leaned close to Suo Su.

"What is Da Ge getting tattooed?"

"A dragon head, King Kong doesn't have any coloured tattoos which is why JieJie is tattooing him. She's basically the best at the black only style. Her lines are never too thick or thin and the detail is never lost in the monotone colour palette."

Wang Li continued to listen as JieJie began tattooing, Kong Da didn't even react in any way to being tattooed, he simply leaned his head back and closed his eyes as if he was about to fall asleep. Wang Li wasn't surprised that Kong Da had a lot of tattoos but he hadn't been able to see them yesterday. Now that his crush was wearing shorts, he could perv openly. Kong Da's legs were long and the muscles in his thighs were well defined but not bulky. On Kong Da's calf, Wang Li could see a large tattoo taking up the whole length of the area but because of his position, he couldn't see what it was and was too afraid to ask.

Although Wang Li wanted to stay and watch for the three to four hours it would take for Kong Da's tattoo to be finished, Xu Chen had called him twice already and he couldn't bear to let it ring to answer service for a third time. He answered without standing or moving but regretted it instantly.

"My Xiao Li when are you coming back?! I'm bored~."

Xu Chen had practically shouted into the phone so Suo Su could hear their conversation clearly. JieJie had also now stopped tattooing in order to change needles. Everyone in the now quiet room could hear the loud shouting coming from the phone, Wang Li was about to tell Xu Chen to shut up when more shouting came through the receiver.

"Sweet Li hurry and come back already! I'm hungry~"

The constant shouting made Wang Li's cheeks feel hot. He couldn't bear lifting his head to see if Kong Da had any reaction and he quickly stood up, running down the stairs to leave the store. Xu Chen's shouts kept persisting until he had run down the street and Wang Li's panting could be heard on the other end.

"Huh, Xiao Li why are you panting?"

"Asshole, what game are you playing? What was all that shouting for?"

"I'm bored~ I've said this a hundred times now."

Wang Li used all the power in his body to send subliminal curses to Xu Chen in hopes he would swallow his own tongue as he made his way back to the dorms. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Xu Chen lying on his bed and Wang Li grabbed the pillow before smacking it down onto the young man's face multiple times.

"Mercy, this innocent man begs mercy."

Wang Li wanted to continue but the rapid movement made his tender sternum hurt, causing him to stop. Xu Chen hopped down from the top bunk and sat beside Wang Li on the bottom bunk.

"Did you woo him?"

"It's been only a couple hours, how can I woo someone so quickly?"

The two laid back onto the bed and sighed together. Xu Chen nudged Wang Li a little.

"You won't leave me behind will you?"

Wang Li suddenly sat up and looked at Xu Chen.

"What do you mean?"

"Well...We're both little virgins, once you get a boyfriend, you're not going to forget about me right?"

Wang Li turned and laid down across Xu Chen's torso, he would hug him but his tattoo was too tender, hence he could only do this to comfort his friend.

"I won't leave you behind, we're soulmates."

Un. The two laid together quietly before both their stomachs growled and they got up, after Xu Chen was dressed, the two left for the school canteen. The two had a large portion of food each and sat in the mostly empty canteen together, Xu Chen then asked Wang Li about his plan of action to woo the scary man.

"First of all, you only think he's scary because of the tattoos and second, I don't know. I've never done this before so I don't know what I'm doing; Earlier I bought buns and he ate three, he even accepted my cup of coffee, though I should've taken a sip then we would've had an indirect kiss."

Xu Chen listened before giving his two cents.

"Try with the coffee thing again then since he's not opposed to accepting drinks and food."

"I already told him I don't like coffee though, it would be weird if I bought coffee again."

Both the little virgins were at a loss so turned to the internet to figure out what to do. Wang Li went directly to online forums to read about similar problems. Unfortunately most of these were directed towards women trying to woo men that were the same age as them, he didn't know how old Kong Da was but he was sure there was some form of age gap between them. Xu Chen had similar luck in that all the advice was given to girls trying to grab the attention of their school crush. Both felt a little defeated but refused to give up. Xu Chen placed his phone down and looked t Wang Li.

"Maybe for now stick to feeding him, if he doesn't like food then you know he isn't for you."

"Un. But he must like food since he ate three of the buns I bought."

Xu Chen nodded before stopping.

"Three? How many did you buy?"

Wang Li scratched his nose awkwardly and held up ten fingers, Xu Chen's eyes nearly fell from his face as he choked on his food.

"Xiao Li why did you buy so many?"

"I didn't know what flavour he liked so I bought all of them, then I didn't know if he was a light eater or a foodie so I had to buy extras."

Xu Chen was shocked but understood the reasoning, though after this incident he couldn't let his friend spend all his money on one man, he promised him that if he wanted to give food to his Da Ge, Xu Chen himself would bake it.

"My teacher always tells me to use the class kitchen whenever I want and one cake or bread won't use too many ingredients, it should be fine."

With the food gifts sorted, they worked on looking for Kong Da's Weibo in the hopes they could figure out what else the man liked. Wang Li was first to find it but was disappointed with the results of his crushes posts.

"It's basically a copy of the tattoo studios pictures. There's no personal pictures."

Xu Chen moved from across Wang Li to sit beside him, thinking they could stalk together. The result really was disappointing though, the amount of pictures were limited and they were all close ups of tattoos Kong Da had done. Not one selfie could be seen. Xu Chen slumped against Wang Li then thought of an idea.

"Follow him then ask on the studio WeChat if Da Ge will be taking a picture of your tattoo when it's healed."

Wang Li patted Xu Chen's head whilst calling him a genius before he sent a message through WeChat.

Tang Li: Hi, I remembered that Da Ge didn't take a picture of my tattoo.

"Is this good?"

Wang Li showed Xu Chen the short message wanting a second opinion before sending it, Xu Chen gave a thumbs up and the message was sent. They only had to wait a couple minutes before they received a reply.

Iron studios: Come back to the studio in three weeks. The tattoo should be healed enough by then.

Wang Li giggled and excitedly showed Xu Chen the message even though he could clearly see it. However, all his excitement was thrown unfortunately out the window by Xu Chen's words the very next second.

"Three weeks is so far away though, what if someone else comes along."

Wang Li couldn't come up with a plan or excuse to go visit the studio before three weeks when Xu Chen spoke again, covering him in cold water again.

"Also, Xiao Li, what if Da Ge isn't into men?"

"...He'll tell me early on if he doesn't like men, if he tells me early on then proper feelings wouldn't have developed, so I wouldn't feel too sad."

He hadn't really given it much thought if Kong Da would like men, he thought about Suo Su and JieJie. If they had told him not to go after Kong Da because he is straight then he wouldn't be doing any of this but they only told him to give up, nothing more.

"Then it's best if you make it known that you like him, Xiao Li. He might not realize what you're doing until you're in too deep."

Un. Wang Li slumped against Xu Chen. He had never done anything like this; in his head, Wang Li could conjure up a great plan of him and his tattoo god falling in love but in reality, the words "I have feelings for you" gave him heart palpitations.

"ChenChen what should I do?"

. . . . . .

The next day Xu Chen wrote down a list of "helpful" tips to attract your crush but Wang Li took one look at it and crumpled into a ball. What sort of advice is bite your lip, eye contact, laugh while looking at him or stretch in front of him!?!

Though in Xu Chen's opinion, his soulmate's plan wasn't great either. Wang Li got dressed then headed to the tattoo studio again. He took one step into the studio and JieJie looked at him dejected.

"Again?"

Wang Li didn't bother explaining and simply asked if Kong Da was in. JieJie led him to the sofa as she told him to wait since he was busy tattooing someone. Whilst waiting, Wang Li was sending messages to Xu Chen to keep him updated.

Chen Chen: this idea is stupid

Tang Li: It's not, it's reasonable.

Ten minutes passed and the door to a private room opened. Wang Li quickly straightened out his clothes but was disappointed to see the woman from two nights ago walk out a client of hers. When she returned, she sat down beside Wang Li.

"I hear you're trying to seduce the King."

Wang Li's cheeks reddened while he nodded timidly. The woman suddenly scooted closer to Wang Li, they were so close their shoulders were touching.

"Need help?"

Wang Li was about to refuse but properly thought it over and nodded again. The woman first giggled excitedly then introduced herself as Fang Mei. From what Wang Li could see she had a hard exterior but was gooey on the inside.

"I should warn you that Kong Da has had many pursuers before. He has never accepted them and actually, he usually tells them within the first few attempts to stop and move on. If they continue he ignores them until they give up."

"How long do they try for?"

"I think two weeks was the longest, they would come in almost everyday."

Two weeks wasn't very long in Wang Li's opinion and he was a patient person. Wang Li was about to ask Fang Mei about how to woo and seduce someone but thought of a more important question.

"Have you ever tried to date Da Ge?"

Fang Mei giggled again but her giggling was covered by a loud roaring laughter coming down the stairs. Suo Su laughed all the way from the stair to an armchair and turned to Wang Li.

"You don't need to worry about this one, she's like you but the girl version. Also, Kid, why are you here again!?"

Wang Li was about to say his plan to Suo Su when Kong Da walked out of the other private room with a client, his client was a young girl around Wang Li's age and he could see that this girl thought his Ge was handsome too.

"Da Ge, thank you for your hard work."

Wang Li knew he shouldn't be but he felt jealous over this stranger. Kong Da seemed to be unaffected by the young girl though and gave a simple nod, walking her to the door and turning around to walk back into the open room. Kong Da took a small glance at the three people on the sofas then carried on into the private room to clean and sanitize everything. Once Kong Da had walked into the small room, Wang Li stood up and timidly walked to stand in the doorway, he then lightly knocked on the open door.

Kong Da hummed without turning around and began taking his machine apart in order to clean it. Wang Li didn't know if he should enter or not so he stood in the doorway as he spoke.

"Da Ge, I misplaced the medicine you gave me for the tattoo, I put lotion on and now it's a little  itchy."

The audible sound of a slap could be heard from the seating area, and Wang Li saw that Suo Su's head was in his hand while he shook it back and forth. Kong Da turned his head to look over Wang Li before he put his machine down and stood up. The tall man walked to the entrance of the room making Wang Li take a few steps back.

"Sit on the massage table and I'll have a look."

Wang Li moved to the same table he was tattooed on and sat obediently. For the purpose of his plan he really did use a simple body lotion the previous night and made sure not to use anything on the tattoo before coming. When Wang Li took his shirt off the tattoo looked fine but was rather dry, the skin around the tattoo looked a little tender still but this wouldn't be caused by the lotion. Kong Da put on gloves and lightly rubbed over the tattoo before he stood up and sprayed the area with a watery soap, he lightly wiped the area clean before he walked over to a shelf to grab another small container of medicine to apply to the tattoo. The whole process was done in silence but Wang Li felt this was heading in the right direction. Suo Su quickly made his way over when Kong Da was almost finished rubbing a large amount of medicine over the tattoo.

"Kid, you could've asked me or Miss Mei to have a look, why did you wait until Kong Himself was free."

Suo Su's words caused a light blush to cover Wang Li's entire body, while he struggled to come up with a good response, in the end he stayed quiet. Kong Da continued rubbing on the medicine and acted like he didn't understand what Wang Li was trying to do. Suo Su chuckled under his breath before leaving to the front of the store to look for JieJie. After everything was done, there was no need to cover the tattoo so Kong Da gave Wang Li another container of medicine.

"Thank you, sorry for bothering you Da Ge."

"Be careful about what you use on the tattoo, it's still an open wound."

Un. Wang Li smiled up at Kong Da, he really was happy with his plan, even with Suo Su poking fun at him. Kong Da stood in front of the smiling Wang Li as if he was about to say something but simply turned around to walk back into the private room, he waved his hand without looking back. Wang Li put his shirt back on and Fang Mei came over quickly.

"What sort of plan is that?"

Wang Li didn't have time to speak when Fang Mei carried on.

"If you always ask him about your tattoo or problems with your tattoo, he's going to think that you're either only interested in this profession or that you shouldn't get tattoos since you can't look after them. None of these ideas are romantic in the least."

Wang Li could now see why Xu Chen didn't like his plan, also why Suo Su face palmed and said what he said. Wang Li felt dejected all over again.

"Mei Jie you need to help me. I don't know what I'm doing."

Fang Mei helped him off the table and walked him to the front of the store. She didn't need even a second of thought before she rambled about Kong Da.

"Teacher Kong likes sweets and baked goods, his favourite coffee is black with two sugars. He also never works tuesdays but every other day he's here at 10:00 am until 11:00 pm. Aside from this there's not much to mention other than he doesn't talk much to strangers and always rejects his pursuers."

"Tell me, do you think I have a chance?"

Fang Mei thought seriously before nodding and giving a big thumbs up.

"I'm rooting for you."

Wang Li felt his spirits lift and he bid farewell to everyone before strolling down the street happily. Old Suo Su broke Fang Mei's daydream.

"You're only rooting for him because you want to see King Kong date a guy."

Fang Mei shrugged before turning back into the open room to clean her equipment and wait for her next client to arrive.