Tattoo

at Zhou Zui, who was expressionlessly fiddling with his coil machine.
Lu Xiaobei said, “Is there a message? If there is, read it!”

“There is.” Xu Lin did not dare to really read it so she ran up and handed it to Zhou Zui next to him, “Boss, flowers!”

Zhou Zui swept a glance, and signaled him to take it.
Lu Xiaobei came over to take it.
“I’ll see what’s written.”

Zhou Zui reached out and picked up the card before he did.

“Tsk.” Lu Xiaobei only let out this sound, and then kept staring at him.

Zhou Zui looked at the card.
On the front were three words: Good person card.
On the back were two lines:

Boss Zhou, I’m returning this good person card to you, and I refuse any reasons for rejection.　

Wait for me to pursue you.

Zhou Zui looked at the card and gently frowned.
He tossed the card aside and continued to outline the back of the person.
His face still looked expressionless with that cold and aloof look.
However, the light in his eyes had clearly softened, and the curve of his mouth was not that hard.

Xiao Ke also hesitated for a long time before asking the florist to add this card.

The previous words from Zhou Zui were actually quite demotivating for Xiao Ke.
He originally thought that after those two days, the relationship between the two of them had become closer so he didn’t expect Zhou Zui to give him those words before he left.
What he said was quite profound.
”You are on earth and I am in hell.” So digging to the root, he issued a good person card.

Xiao Ke smiled to himself, and sent the two sentences to the florist’s WeChat for them to write.

When pursuing someone, Xiao Ke often did not go back without hitting a wall, but in fact, he did not hit a wall.
When he told Zhou Zui that he wanted to pursue him, it was not a lie.
To give up on Zhou Zui was even more impossible.

Xiao Ke saw Zhou Zui again the next weekend.
He pushed open the door of the shop with his down jacket.
Lu Xiaobei was squatting on a chair in the vestibule smoking a cigarette, and he raised his arm when he came in, “Hello, the indisputable god of flowers.”

This name made Xiao Ke laugh and asked him, “Where did that come from?”

Lu Xiaobei lifted his eyes to look at him.
“You didn’t use the opportunity you were given, huh?”

Xiao Ke flicked his bald head and said with a smile, “How do you know it’s not working?” Lu Xiaobei was about to say something else when Xiao Ke asked, “Is your big brother here?”

Lu Xiaobei pointed inside and said, “I don’t know if he’s upstairs or downstairs, you can find him yourself.”

Xiao Ke first looked around downstairs, but could not find him.
There were two other boys doing tattoos downstairs so Xiao Ke said “hello” separately before going upstairs.
Upstairs was quite quiet, and he found Zhou Zui in the lounge.

Zhou Zui was lying on the bed, sleeping, and covered with his jacket.
He didn’t look very comfortable with his eyebrows furrowed and his expression was not good.

Xiao Ke walked over to him with light footsteps and stood by the bed as he looked at Zhou Zui in a very casual manner.
He found it very comfortable to watch Zhou Zui in the silence.
He liked to look at him as it was addictive and fascinating.

When Zhou Zui turned on his side, his clothes slid down as he was lying flat on his back so Xiao Ke reached out to help him pull it up.
However, when his hand touched the clothes, Zhou Zui suddenly grabbed his hand and his eyes opened immediately.

At that moment, his pupils were constricted.

For the first time, Xiao Ke saw this expression on Zhou Zui’s face.
In his impression, this person was always calm and cold.
Xiao Ke subconsciously froze.
Just now, Zhou Zui’s expression was full of resistance.
There was shock in his eyes, and he flinched.

“You…” Xiao Ke coughed and cleared his throat.
“What’s wrong with you? Did I scare you?”

Zhou Zui stared at Xiao Ke for a while before coming back to his senses.
He let out a long breath before he let go of Xiao Ke’s hand and lifted his arm to cover his eyes.
His voice was muffled, “It’s okay, I got drowsy.”

“Dreaming?” Xiao Ke felt a little worried so he gently patted him and asked with a smile, “Do you need comfort, warrior?”

He thought Zhou Zui would refuse, but he didn’t expect Zhou Zui to sit up and nod before saying, “Mn, comfort me.”

Xiao Ke raised his eyebrows and paused for two seconds before smiling. This is what you offered me, not me taking advantage of you. Xiao Ke walked up and leaned over slightly to gently hug Zhou Zui.
He patted him on the shoulder and whispered in his ear, “Don’t be afraid.
Professor Xiao is here.”

Xiao Ke’s voice was beautiful as it sounded very soft and youthful.
His voice was young, his face was young, and his body was young.
The muscles in his arms became visible and strong whenever he hugged someone.
He had a very faint scent of milk on his hands because of the hand soap from his dad.

Xiao Ke himself had to laugh since he was actually joking in order to take advantage of Zhou Zui when he was not awake.
Zhou Zui sat very stiffly and could feel his muscles tense up when he touched his shoulder.
However, this was the closest they’d ever been so even if the hug started as a joke, it was admittedly intimate.

He held Zhou Zui like a small child and whispered, “…Professor Xiao will protect you.”

Zhou Zui did not quickly push him away.
He gently closed his eyes as he lay on Xiao Ke’s shoulder.

Translator Notes:

If you’ve never gotten a tattoo, the person takes whatever design you’re getting and then will use a specialized printer to print it on a type of carbon paper, this is called a tattoo stencil. https://readinsideout.com/education/how-do-tattoo-artists-transfer-designs-from-drawing-to-skin/

Alcohol thins your blood, which can make the tattooing process trickier for your artist, and can worsen your healing too.
Excess blood while you are being tattooed could mean more ink gets pushed out of your skin, leaving you with a lackluster tattoo.