Chapter 3

[Damn it, he backed out! What do I do, everyone? Please help!!! How can I get him to agree to come out?!]

Aside from the commenters cheering him on, the same user who had first offered advice reappeared.

[Does it have to be your buddy who takes the fall?]

[Can't you just find someone else?]

Simon replied, clearly displeased: [No. It has to be him. I just don't like him. You have no idea—during lunch today, the way he acted all high and mighty pissed me off. Anyway, I want to see him socially ruined and condemned by everyone!]

I stared coldly at Simon's comments. The last trace of goodwill I had for him vanished completely.

After that, the other user suddenly went silent—they had likely moved the conversation to private messages.

After my shower, I opened Simon's post again. This time, he sounded pleased.

[Done. Got him to agree. This weekend, I'll be back with good news for everyone.]

Reading that, a flicker of confusion crossed my mind.

Had he switched targets?

Just as I was puzzling over it, I noticed my younger sister had sent me over a dozen messages. I'd been so focused on Simon's post earlier that I hadn't noticed the notifications.

When I opened them, panic surged through me.

She had sent a screenshot.

[Bro, Simon asked me for your ID number. He said he's treating us to the EDM festival—is that for real?]

[Can I go?! You didn't reply, so I just said yes…]

I never expected Simon to go around me and message my sister directly.

Anger flared instantly.

I called her right away.

"Don't go to the festival. Tell him to refund the tickets."

She sounded confused. "Why not? It's free. And I already agreed—wouldn't it be rude to back out now?"

She hesitated.

I took a deep breath. "Just don't go. And from now on, talk to him less. Better yet, delete him."

Hearing that, she immediately asked, "Did you two have a fight? Is he asking you out to make up? You've known each other for five years—you know each other inside out. What could you even fight about?"

Her words made my chest tighten.

Yeah—five years. I had always treated him like a real brother. After graduation, we even joined the same company. Whenever projects were assigned, if he wanted a particular one, I'd give it to him without hesitation. I never argued, always handing over whatever he wanted.

Thinking back on all those moments only made it hurt more.

My sister kept trying to persuade me to go to the festival with her.

I didn't want to hide it anymore. I told her everything about the post.

She was stunned—and furious. She immediately blocked Simon.

"He's unbelievable. How could he set up his friend like that? You've known each other for five years!"

She cursed under her breath.

I tried to calm her down. "Alright, just don't confront him about it. I'll handle it myself. As for the festival, turn him down and tell him to refund the tickets."

She agreed, then warned me, "Now that you've seen who he really is, stay far away from him. People like that are scary—you never know what they'll do behind your back next."

I nodded.

Then I called Simon.

At first, when I brought up the festival, he seemed momentarily stunned.

Then, as expected, he started playing the "best bud" card again.

"Tyler, do you even see me as your best bud? I just want to treat you to a festival. Is that really so hard?"

I let out a cold laugh to myself before replying, "But I don't want to go. Why do you insist on me going? Is there something special about this festival?"

At that, Simon fell silent.

Sensing my suspicion, he stopped pressing me and simply hung up.

I thought that would be the end of it.

But the next morning at work, our manager suddenly announced that we'd have a team-building event on Friday and Saturday.