AD Chapter 2

Shen Du later covered his mouth and didn’t let go.

Actually, Qin Yi’s technique was exceptionally good; it didn’t hurt as much as Shen Du imagined. The main reason for his strong reaction was that it was just too ticklish.

The tingling sensation from the needle piercing his skin spread through his nerves, traveling densely to his limbs and every part of his body.

He couldn’t bear it.

Several times, Shen Du wanted to pull away but failed. His arm was firmly held by a large hand. Even through the glove, he could feel the warmth of the other person’s palm. Although it seemed like Qin Yi wasn’t applying much force, Shen Du was firmly pinned and couldn’t move.

Downstairs, more and more customers began to arrive. Xu Qingluo noticed the other tattoo artists in the shop. They were all men and reasonably good-looking, but none as stunning as Qin Yi.

“Hey, miss, do you have any other good-looking artists here?”

The receptionist chuckled. “You’re asking if there’s anyone as handsome as Brother Qin, right?”

Xu Qingluo didn’t deny it, having been seen through. “So, is there?”

“Nope.” The girl shook her head. “With Brother Qin’s looks, it’s not easy to find someone like him.”

There was a second-most-handsome guy, but he wasn’t working today, the girl thought to herself.

Hearing this, Xu Qingluo felt a little dissatisfied. “It’s not that rare. My buddy isn’t any less handsome than your boss, right?”

“True.”

“And his voice is pleasant too, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, yeah!”

The clock on the studio wall ticked as the hour hand turned again and again. Shen Du felt like he was losing all feeling in his body. He felt dizzy, and even the ceiling looked blurry.

Just when he was about to drift off to sleep, he finally heard Qin Yi speak: “It’s done.”

Shen Du’s body jolted, startled. “It’s already done?”

His voice sounded hoarse.

Qin Yi nodded, pulling back from his arm. “You can get up now.”

As soon as Qin Yi moved away, the oppressive feeling in the air lessened considerably. Shen Du eagerly tried to get up from the small bed, but when he exerted himself, he found his lower body had gone limp as if paralyzed, completely devoid of strength.

Just as he was about to collapse back onto the bed, a hand reached out and steadily supported him from behind.

“Careful.” Qin Yi helped him sit upright and softly gave instructions: “For now, don’t let the wound touch water, and avoid disturbing it. After four hours, you can remove the cling wrap and rinse it gently with warm water.”

“Don’t apply anything to the wound except the ointment. When showering, you can wrap it with some cling wrap first.”

“I got it.” Shen Du straightened his back and quietly distanced himself from the hand behind him, his lips pale. “Mr. Qin, sorry to trouble you, but could you help me with something? I think I might have low blood sugar.”

Qin Yi paused, looking him over. “You don’t have any candy on you?”

Shen Du closed his eyes, trying to endure the overwhelming dizziness. “I’ve never had this issue before.”

It was only today he realized that getting a tattoo could cause low blood sugar.

Qin Yi removed his mask and gloves, placing them to the side. He grabbed a tissue from the table and said softly, “Wait here for a moment; I’ll be right back.”

Shen Du exhaled. “Sorry to trouble you.”

“No need.” Qin Yi thoughtfully closed the door behind him and adjusted the air conditioning to a warmer setting before leaving.

Not long after, Xu Qingluo rushed upstairs. “Brother Shen, my dear brother, are you okay? It’s just a tattoo. How did you end up with low blood sugar?”

“I don’t know either. Maybe it’s because I didn’t have breakfast this morning and stayed still here for so long.” With someone familiar by his side, Shen Du relaxed slightly. He leaned weakly against Xu Qingluo’s shoulder, still feeling faint.

Qin Yi returned quickly. Shen Du felt like he had barely stepped out before catching the familiar scent of sandalwood again, mixed with the smell of disinfectant, which eased the nauseating feeling in his chest.

Qin Yi poured a glass of warm water and gestured for Shen Du to extend his hand. “I got some chocolate from the receptionist. Eat it and drink some water to feel better.”

“Thank you.”

The boy’s voice was weak, completely unlike how he had sounded earlier on the bed. Qin Yi frowned slightly, but before he could make a move, Xu Qingluo had already taken the glass of water. “Thank you, Boss Qin.”

Qin Yi’s hand hesitated in mid-air before he withdrew it, shoving it into his pocket. “Come back in a few days for a check-up. No one else will come here for now, so you can rest here for a while.”

After saying that, he left.

Xu Qingluo watched as Shen Du finished the chocolate. Only when he saw the color return to his face did he breathe a heavy sigh of relief. “You scared me to death! I thought you’d run into trouble just from getting a tattoo. How are you feeling now?”

“Much better.” Shen Du still had one chocolate left. He held it up in front of him, examining it from side to side. “I recovered pretty quickly.”

It was kind of amazing.

“If you hadn’t, I’d already be rushing you to the hospital by now.” Xu Qingluo set the glass down and suddenly thought of how Qin Yi had looked when he came downstairs to find him earlier. He began gushing again. “Wow, that guy is seriously so handsome.”

Shen Du looked up. “You like him?”

Without hesitation, Xu Qingluo replied, “Of course I do!”

Who wouldn’t like someone so good-looking?

“If you like him, go for it.” Shen Du teased him.

Xu Qingluo sighed, his tone filled with regret. “I don’t even know if he’s straight or not. And I’m not about to try the whole ‘turn a straight guy’ thing.”

“But what if he isn’t straight?”

Xu Qingluo picked up on something in his tone. “What are you saying?”

Shen Du unwrapped the last chocolate and popped it into his mouth, speaking indistinctly, “I think he isn’t.”

Earlier, when he couldn’t hold back and made a noise, although Qin Yi had hidden it well, Shen Du had noticed it.

The guy seemed to have reacted to him.

Xu Qingluo’s mouth formed an O as his eyes widened. “How do you know?”

“Don’t worry about how I know.” Shen Du patted his shoulder. “Just tell me—are you going to go for it or not?”

“I can’t. I really can’t.” Xu Qingluo waved his hand, looking regretful. “Guys like him, I’m definitely not his type. I can’t win him over.”

When Qin Yi returned after finishing his call, the studio was already empty.

He went downstairs to take a look around but didn’t see anyone. He asked the receptionist, who was pouring water for a customer, “The customer number 51 left?”

“They just left not too long ago. That handsome guy’s friend got a phone call and seemed to be in a hurry.”

Qin Yi asked, “Did they leave any contact information?”

The receptionist replied, “I asked the handsome guy to add the studio’s WeChat.”

Qin Yi nodded. “Alright, carry on with your work.”

That evening, while taking a shower, Shen Du accidentally let water touch his wound.

“Hiss… Oh no, oh no, it’s going to get infected, isn’t it?”

He had clearly wrapped it with cling wrap as Qin Yi instructed.

The wound stung painfully upon contact with water. Shen Du quickly patted away the water with a dry towel, not daring to do anything further. He hurriedly grabbed his phone and opened the WeChat he had added earlier in the day.

[°: Hello, are you there?]

The WeChat account the receptionist had him add was likely for the studio. Since it was after hours, he figured he wouldn’t get a reply.

Shen Du exited the app, trying hard to recall what Qin Yi had told him earlier, but couldn’t remember if he’d mentioned what to do if water accidentally got on the wound.

He opened his browser and scrolled through various so-called expert answers. In the end, he decided to turn to the public for help—he started a livestream.

“Good evening, everyone. Yes, I wasn’t planning to stream tonight, but something came up.” Shen Du rested his arm on a soft cushion and said, “I got a tattoo today, but I messed up. I accidentally let water touch it while showering. Anyone in the chat have experience? What should I do? Do I need to disinfect it?”

“The ointment already washed off. I was supposed to apply another layer before bed.” Shen Du exaggerated, “It’s fresh and raw right now, still looking like a bloody mess. I have to go back to the studio for a check-up in a few days. When it’s all healed, I’ll show you guys the results.”

“Oh no, oh no, it’s leaking.”

Earlier, he had wiped away as much water as he could, but now liquid was oozing out again, seemingly from the wound itself—a whitish fluid.

Shen Du grabbed a couple of tissues and pressed them lightly against the wound, muttering, “Can you even use tissues on this thing…”

[Leaking… Ahem, that sounded a bit suggestive.]

[A little water shouldn’t be a problem; just be careful next time.]

[The fluid is lymph; it’s normal. Gently wipe it with tissue, and avoid sunlight.]

[Dreamy Affection: You got a tattoo?]

The streaming platform Shen Du used was very fan-friendly. Messages from moderators and the top 10 users on the interaction leaderboard were displayed prominently with their IDs and profile pictures. The top supporter even got special treatment—whenever they sent a message, it would appear pinned, in red, and with a gold “V” for verified fan status.

So, when Dreamy Affection showed up in the stream, everyone noticed immediately.

The chat was filled with greetings.

[Hello, Affection #1! Long time no see.]

[Affection #1, where have you been these days? Without you around, Deep-sama hasn’t given us any steamy reads!]

“Hey, hey, be fair when you talk.” Shen Du defended himself. “I’ve just been busy studying lately and didn’t have time, okay? Don’t make it sound like I was doing it just for our top supporter.”

The platform really did give Affection #1 a lot of recognition. As soon as Dreamy Affection entered the stream, Shen Du received a notification.

“Yeah, I went today. The tattoo artist I had was pretty skilled.”

[Dreamy Affection: What a coincidence. I also tattooed a client today.]

[Dreamy Affection: The client seemed very sensitive and afraid of pain.]

Shen Du immediately thought of how ridiculous he must have looked at Qin Yi’s studio earlier. Unable to resist showing off, he replied, “Really? I was fine. Didn’t feel a thing. Slept through the whole process.”

The chat exploded with praise, spamming 666 and calling him impressive, while asking Dreamy Affection if he was a tattoo artist and if his recent disappearance was because he had taken on a big project.

Ever since Dreamy Affection started appearing in Shen Du’s streams, he had been shrouded in mystery. Everyone was curious about him, and many asked questions, but after those two comments, Dreamy Affection went silent as if he had logged off.

Shen Du assumed he had left, but a few minutes later, he received a private message from Dreamy Affection in the background.

The message contained a detailed list of tattoo aftercare instructions. It was similar to what Qin Yi had told him, but Dreamy Affection’s version was far more comprehensive, covering every minor detail. It didn’t seem like something randomly pulled from the internet.

Could he have used the time he was “gone” to write all this?

[Dreamy Affection: If there’s anything else you don’t understand, feel free to ask me.]

Shen Du typed with one hand: [Thanks (heart)]

[Dreamy Affection: You’re welcome. If you really want to thank me, how about agreeing to one request?]

Shen Du, still memorizing the aftercare instructions, didn’t think much of it when he saw the message: [What is it?]

Dreamy Affection replied almost instantly, as if he’d been waiting for this question: [When your tattoo is healed, let me be the first to see it.]