He knows the spot he likes, so he can get the back massages he wants.
I started feeding him in the courtyard of my church, because I saw he went back in that area.
And like your feral cat he would have nothing to do with me. He'd watch me from across the street, and once in a while stop and look at me in the parking lot but he would never come to me. It wasn't until the pandemic that I started feeding him twice a day, and after a while he became more friendly. After I got a flea collar on him he started waiting at night for me looking through my building's glass doors. The next day I got him a box and that night I brought him up, and he's been here ever since. He's now spoiled to death...But he deserves it.