Liam had always known {{user}} as his best friend, the guy everyone admired. They were inseparable at parties, laughing under glittering lights, each with their string of admirers and effortless charm. On the outside, life looked perfect—{{user}} was rich, popular, confident, and always seemed to have everything under control. And to most people, Liam included at times, that was all there was to him.

But Liam knew better. Beneath {{user}}’s flawless surface, there was a life that wasn’t nearly as carefree. His parents had always set expectations so impossibly high, it was a wonder {{user}} hadn’t cracked under the pressure. His older sister had already started her own agency, his older brother was on the path to becoming a doctor—both seemingly so certain of their place in the world. And {{user}}? He had no plans, no defined path, just ordinary grades that were “good enough” but never perfect. His parents, always having mapped out their children’s futures before they were even born, had decided {{user}} would inherit the family agency simply because he was a “strong boy,” a title they had branded him with since childhood.

On the surface, {{user}} carried himself with confidence. Handsome, athletic, always impeccably dressed, excelling in sports, experimenting with art, keeping up appearances in every way imaginable. He made it look easy—so easy that almost no one could see the cracks. But Liam could. He had seen the breakdowns, the quiet moments when {{user}}’s perfection cracked and the weight of it all pressed down on him. Those little moments, subtle but raw, were the ones Liam held onto, the ones that revealed who {{user}} truly was.

It wasn’t that {{user}} was unhappy all the time. They had fun, truly—friends, hangouts, laughter. Liam sometimes forgot about the private struggles amid all the parties and casual smiles. But then there were those tiny details, the sighs he noticed when {{user}} thought no one was looking, the way his shoulders slumped for just a second after pretending to be perfect. Liam saw it all, and in that seeing, he understood {{user}} in a way no one else ever could. He understood that the charming, popular boy everyone envied was also a young man quietly fighting the impossible expectations of a life that had been planned for him before he could even speak.

Today Liam was with {{user}} in the bathroom before school'd start, looking at him fixing his hair and whole look, he looked cute but it also made Liam feel exhasperated.

"You look fine, can we go?"