Friend request send only one time

This is my code of friend request accept and reject but one user send many times request same user.it is not rights...how can i done perfect work? This is my code. You can see problem in database. How can i separate 2 API

1. Send friend request
2. Accept/reject request.

  public function request(Request $request) {
    $input =$request->all();

    $user = User::find($request->user_id_1);

    if(empty($user)){
        return [
            'status' => 'error',
            'msg' => 'no user found'
        ];
    


    if($request->approved == "yes"){
        $friend = new Friend();
        $friend->user_id_1 = $user->id;
        $friend->user_id_2 = Auth::guard('api')->user()->id;
        $friend->approved = "yes";

        $friend->save();            
        $data = array("status" => $user);
        return $data;
    }
    else{
        $friend->approved = false;
        $friend->save();
        return [
            'user_id' => $user->id,
            'true' => true
        ];
    }

    }

}

via Chebli Mohamed