The moment Simon went to the restroom, I immediately opened the post again.

The original poster had updated it just a second ago.

[Guys, quick update—I made it happen! I told him I'd bring my girlfriend along, and he agreed without hesitation. Good thing we're tight. He didn't suspect a thing. 'Victory emoji.']

My heart dropped.

I kept scrolling and saw several new comments.

After Simon's reply, most of the silent onlookers couldn't stay quiet anymore. One after another, people jumped in to tear him apart.

[Is breaking up really that hard? You'd rather scheme against a buddy who trusts you? Are you even human?]

[Meeting someone like you is the worst kind of bad luck. I hope your buddy sees this post and realizes what you really are. Disgusting.]

[Stop pushing this kind of garbage to me. I'm so mad I'm about to get a lump in my chest! Idiot!]

But the poster wasn't affected in the slightest. He fired back at each comment.

[I'm not stupid. If I break up, my girlfriend will definitely demand money and use the baby to threaten me.]

[Besides, if you were in my shoes, you'd all find some sucker to take the fall too.]

[And honestly, I've never liked the guy. Just some rural nobody—why does he always have girls hovering around him? Always acting like some perfect gentleman…]

[Anyway, I want him socially ruined, condemned by everyone… And I get to dump my girlfriend on him. Kill two birds with one stone!]

The more I read, the more shocked I became.

By then, I was completely certain—the poster was Simon.

Just like he said, I came from the countryside. I was the only one from my village who made it into college. Because of that, I'd always felt inferior during my university years. I didn't have many friends.

Simon was the only one willing to hang out with me. From freshman year to graduation, and even after we started working, I'd always treated him like a real brother. So it never once crossed my mind that, behind my back, he saw me this way—looked down on me, resented me… even wanted to ruin me.

The sudden betrayal hit hard, leaving me both furious and sick at heart. My hand trembled as I gripped my phone.

It wasn't until Simon stopped replying to the comments that it hit me—he was probably on his way back.

I quickly put my phone away, took a deep breath, and forced my expression back to normal.

By then, I had already made up my mind. Not only would I refuse his invitation, but I would also keep my distance from him from now on.

Just as the thought settled, Simon walked out of the restroom. He sat back down and said, "Tyler, give me your ID number. I'll book your ticket right now. And don't worry about the cost—I've got it. Consider it my treat for coming with me."

He slapped his thigh and laughed.

But to me, that smile felt like provocation—mocking, taunting, laced with ridicule.

I forced down the anger surging inside me and replied, "Simon, cancel the ticket. I'm not going."

"What?!" Before I could even finish, Simon blurted it out loudly.

Realizing he'd overreacted, he quickly cleared his throat.

"I—I mean, why the sudden change? Isn't this a bit too abrupt?"

I put on an apologetic tone. "I thought it over just now. The timing feels too tight. And I've been swamped with a project lately—I'll probably need to work overtime this weekend.

"So I'll pass this time. Let's go somewhere together during the next holiday instead. You can go to the EDM festival with your girlfriend. I won't play third wheel."

At that, Simon's smile completely vanished. His expression darkened. "But we already agreed on this. Backing out now—isn't that a bit much? Are we even best buds?"

In the past, whenever he played the "best bud" card, I would always give in. As long as he wanted something, I'd do my best to go along with it.

But now that I'd seen his true face, I finally understood just how foolish I'd been these past five years.

I let out a self-mocking laugh and lowered my head, continuing to eat.

When Simon saw that I wasn't responding, he grew anxious.

Just as he was about to speak, I picked up a napkin, wiped my mouth, and stood up before he could say a word.

"Sorry, Simon. It's getting late, and I still have work to finish. I'm heading off. As for the trip, next time—I promise I'll go with you."

With that, I turned and walked away without looking back at his expression.

It wasn't until I got home and opened X that a new notification popped up at the top of the screen.

Simon had made another post.

[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.

At first, I didn't think much of it.

As early as last week, our manager had mentioned the possibility of a team-building event. I just hadn't expected it to land on this Friday and Saturday.

After briefly going over the destination, he added with a smile, "This time it's a countryside retreat. We'll be teaming up with another department. All of you who are single—maybe you'll find someone."

Then he turned to Simon.

"You've got it easy. You can go with your girlfriend—consider it a company-sponsored trip."

Hearing that, I frowned.

Instinctively, I glanced at Simon.

He was already looking at me. Our eyes met, and I clearly caught the flicker of smug satisfaction in his gaze.

No way…

Could it be that our department being paired with his girlfriend's department had something to do with him?

After the manager finished speaking, everyone went back to work. Only then did I open the post I hadn't checked for the past two days.

By now, nearly five hundred new comments had piled up.

I scrolled through them one by one.

The more I read, the angrier I became.

Another user had offered him fresh advice.

[If they won't go willingly, then find a way to make sure they have no choice. Tell me your situation.I'll come up with something for you.]

Simon quickly laid it all out.

[We work in the same department. My girlfriend is in another department. Our company is planning a team-building event soon—does that count as an opportunity?]

The other user replied excitedly: [Of course it does! Team-building is even better! When the time comes, everyone in the company will know they spent the night together. You think he won't take responsibility then?"

Simon: [But team assignments are pretty random, and there are a lot of people. There's no guarantee I'll even be near him…]

The user immediately shot back: [Are you stupid? Someone has to be in charge of the arrangements. Find out who it is, get close to them, and see if you can pull some strings to get placed together.]

For the sake of breaking the ice, the company always randomly paired two departments and had them compete against others during team-building.

I kept scrolling until the very end.

There, I saw Simon's reply: [Thanks, man. I found the person in charge and gave him a gift. I told him I wanted to be grouped with my girlfriend, and he agreed!]

Then, almost immediately, Simon posted another update: [The plan is progressing smoothly. Just got confirmation—I've been grouped with my girlfriend's department! Everyone, wait for my good news.]

I looked up at Simon, who was humming to himself across from me, and felt a chill settle deep in my chest.

Without hesitation, I stood up and headed straight for the manager's office.

"Mr. Bailey," I said, "can I opt out of this team-building event?"