It is all the candle's fault

As quoted and requoted so many times already, 'there is no free lunch in this world.' To add on to that, I shall say that 'anything that seems like a free lunch is a trap in disguise.'

One fine day, a boy with a squishable face and big appetite got a free dinner for two (preferably) from a boss in a restaurant. (Do not ask how he got it because I'm writing the story and I shall decide what happens) He is super happy, because there is actually free meal in this world, amazing!

And so he got very excited and decides on who to invite to go with him for the dinner. Suddenly, he realised to his horror that it is in fact a CANDLELIT dinner. And all at once his fantasy was crushed. Invite a girl? No way, it would only suggest that he is going to ask her out as a gf or something. Invite his best friend? Nah, people around will start staring and whispering stuff like 'omg the two guys there are dating!'

NANI? HOW TO CHOOSE? The boy is deeply troubled. How to invite a person without zi-owning, or more of, how to not zi-own at all. There are a few options left. 1. Go by yourself and pretend to be forever single (至今单身 ftw) 2. Dao the thing, free lunch is a trap, I shall not fall for it. 3. Give the chance to the parents, clearly it's a win-win situation as they get to have romantic candlelit dinner while the boy can slack at home, but at the cost of losing the dinner of course. 4. Go with best friend anyways, who cares about the nonsense other people whisper?

WHAT SHOULD HE DO?