He spent years becoming the person everyone expected him to be. He learned when to smile, what to say, and which parts of himself were better left unseen. Eventually, pretending became so natural that he almost forgot who he was before it all began. But whenever he was alone, he could still feel that other version of himself — the one who was never allowed to exist freely. For a long time, he was afraid to face him. Until one day, he realized something. The person in the mirror wasn't someone he needed to escape. He was someone who had been waiting his whole life to be accepted.