More Than Friends, Less Than Lovers

The following evening.

Central Perk.

"Why? Why? Why?"

As soon as Monica entered the room, she bombarded Adam with three "why" questions.

"What's wrong?"

Adam was somewhat confused.

Are all men liars?

Monica was clearly furious and launched a sweeping attack on the entire map.

"That depends on the situation."

Adam laughed and said, "Men are like demons before sex and saints after sex. Which kind of man are you asking about?"

"Is there a difference? They're both scammers!"

Monica said irritably.

Adam was speechless for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's right! Men are all liars when it comes to the indescribable!"

Whether it's a devil who constantly deceives beforehand with indescribable intentions, or a saint or Buddha who becomes a monk and meditates afterward but only wants to sleep, they are indeed all liars.

Phoebe had a pretty good idea. "Your date with Paul didn't go well? Really? You even let him stay overnight."

"I regret letting him stay overnight, that big liar!"

Monica said angrily, "He tricked me into feeling sorry for him, but who knew he would use the same trick to fool my colleague as well? I even thought I had done such a great thing!"

"Ah!"

Phoebe exclaimed in surprise, then couldn't help but laugh, "What exactly happened?"

"Last night was our first date, and I never expected things to move so fast."

Monica was eager to vent and told him everything, "But during our date, he brought up his ex and seemed hesitant to say anything. Of course, I asked him about it, and he told me that when they broke up, he smashed his ex's watch. As for the reason, well, his ex cheated on him and dumped him."

"Then what?"

Phoebe pressed on.

"Then he hesitated before mentioning that because of the green shadow, he hadn't been able to do anything for two years, two years!"

Monica said bitterly, "I spat out my drink at the time and said he did a good job smashing it. I was soft-hearted and couldn't resist, so I invited him over for coffee."

"Hehe."

Adam vaguely remembered that he had been tricked into dating and couldn't help but laugh.

"Why are you laughing?"

Monica retorted angrily.

"I'm laughing at you, saying you've had quite a few boyfriends, and you actually believe this?"

Adam joked, "If what he said is true, he would never say something so embarrassing on a first date, or even ever."

"I thought I was special, which made him open his heart without thinking."

Monica looked annoyed.

"Haha, I don't know if he opened his heart to you, but you did."

Adam laughed, "This once again proves my theory that in love, men and women are rivals, and whoever cares more loses, and obviously you lost."

That's right!

He's stopped pretending and laid his cards on the table!

Well, actually, after hanging out for a while, Adam's theory of not dating and Joey's theory of only spending one night together naturally came to the attention of Monica and the others, and were called the two major theories of scumbags.

"That's fallacy and heresy!"

Monica retorted, "What if I really encountered that kind of person? Do you know how I felt this morning?"

"I know!"

Phoebe raised her hand and exclaimed, "Your smile just won't stop! My God, that's a smile of happiness!"

"Absolutely correct!"

Monica pointed, and a high-pitched voice echoed, "Although I misjudged this time, it doesn't mean I'll always be wrong in the future."

"Etc."

Adam waved his hand to interrupt, saying, "Don't get excited. It's just a smile formed by the aftermath of pleasure and the illusion of being invigorated. It's not worth elevating it to the level of lifelong love and happiness, is it?"

Monica was stunned, and her face immediately fell.

Adam's words were impulsive but his reasoning was sound. The reason she was much happier than usual before she found out Paul was because she felt she had done Paul a great favor; otherwise, it would have just been a pleasant night out.

Her happiness shouldn't be so cheap!

"It's better for us to pursue it than for you to give up."

Phoebe comforted Monica by criticizing Adam: "Are you and Caroline just going to keep things ambiguous like this? And what about Juno and Karen who came last time?"

"Juno, Karen, and I are just like you, we are all just friends."

Adam explained with a smile, "As for Caroline, we're more than friends, but not quite lovers. We help each other and follow our hearts. Isn't that good?"

"More than friends, but less than lovers?"

Monica said disdainfully, "I don't think she'll ever become a lover."

"Right!"

Phoebe chimed in, "Men are all fickle. If they weren't prepared to be lovers from the start, how can they expect to be together later? I don't believe in the idea of love growing over time!"

Adam's lips twitched, speechless.

Wasn't this supposed to be a rant about Monica being tricked and dated? How did it turn into a critique of him?

He felt he was more reliable Joey.

Joey would enthusiastically ask girls out most of the time, but once he got them that night, no matter how much they wanted to continue, he would simply stop contacting them.

The frequency was outrageous.

So much so that when Joey later encounters the woman he once spent a night with, neither of them recognizes the other, it's truly a case of two equally matched opponents.

Although it was later proven that he had actually been hanging out with the other person's roommate, Joey wasn't surprised that he couldn't remember the other person, but was annoyed that the other person had also forgotten him.

Because he'd been with too many women, he and Barney from "How I Met Your Mother" were known as the two biggest playboys who shared all the girls in New York.

He's a simple-minded person by nature, so he can't possibly remember all those girls. He usually forgets them as soon as they're over, only remembering the ones he didn't get.

Adam used to state his attitude directly, leaving the decision to the other party, unlike Joey who only wanted to spend one night with someone.

Upon arriving in New York, I realized that the previous method was too straightforward and not very suitable for the customs of big cities, so I changed to a tacit understanding.

This refers to the magical state of being "more than friends, but not quite lovers".

Going forward is obviously impossible, but taking a step back would allow us to become friends again, and it's infinitely safer than Joey and Barney recklessly roaming all over New York.

This change occurred when Adam was volunteering at New York University Medical Center.

Because he had heard many sensational stories here, he realized that this was the American TV Show World, which not only had heartwarming and funny stories, suspenseful and terrifying ones, but also chilling ones.

Joey was chosen as a model for a public service advertisement, but people would avoid him as soon as they saw him. His family wouldn't let him go home for Christmas. Didn't they know that he was just an advertisement model?

No!

Of course they know!

But they knew Joey's ways all too well, so it would be strange if they weren't suspicious!

In other words, Chandler and his crew were with Joey every day, so if Joey had any problems, they couldn't hide it from them. Otherwise, they might have kept their distance from him.