Unfortunately, sometimes you have to be a little mean to make people realize you're not someone to be played with. Not everyone respects kindness, but they will respect boundaries.
My friend saw a guy she liked and immediately started forming hard-to-get.
The guy asked for her number.
She said, “I don’t normally give my number to people.”
He said, “Okay.”
And walked away. 😭
She stood there for like 10 seconds waiting for him to beg.