The two men, who looked quite menacing, put their arms around each other’s shoulders, grinning together as if they had never been at odds. I was genuinely surprised—I thought they might lunge at each other any moment.

Did I misjudge them just by their appearance? 

I carefully looked up at them and asked, “Are you...friends?”

“Yep, we're friends.”

“We're like brothers, bonded by life and death.”

The two men laughed in a harmless way that put me at ease. As I looked around, I realized that the two groups, which I thought were about to fight, were actually laughing together. …