C35 The Protector

While we were talking, a young woman slowly approached us.

She seemed nervous. Very nervous. It looked like she had spent several minutes building up courage before walking over. "Hi..." she said softly. We greeted her politely. She looked directly at me. "I was wondering if maybe we could connect on Weibo?"

Before I could answer, Chris stepped forward dramatically. "Sorry," he said. "My brother doesn't need any more friends. I'm already his only friend."

I stared at him. The girl stared at him. For a moment there was complete silence. Then she forced a small smile. “Oh... alright." She turned around and walked away.

I could swear her eyes looked watery as she left. I felt slightly bad. But at the same time, I wasn't looking for new friendships. Not yet.

The people closest to me had been Chris, Samantha and Ben. One remained. One disappeared. And one betrayed me.

Building new friendships wasn't something I was eager to do. Maybe one day. Just not now.

Chris crossed his arms proudly. "There. Problem solved." I laughed. "Brother, I didn't know that after only five days I would become this famous." "You have no idea." We both laughed.

I remembered something. Earlier, during lunch, Chris had called himself a lone wolf.