I Like Myself Too

She had 2,000 followers, zero following, and absolutely no plans of falling in love.

Then she joined a random group chat.

Hafsa was a Mumbai girl who knew how to make friends with strangers, turn awkward conversations into jokes, and never take online relationships too seriously.

Until Keshav happened.

A boy from Bihar.
A little nerdy. A little political. Surprisingly charming.
And somehow, the one person she started talking to every single day.

It began with a simple "Hey, your intro?"

Then came the late-night conversations.
The inside jokes.
The jealousy.
The passwords.
The promises.

And eventually, two years of something neither of them knew how to name.

Hafsa always knew there was one problem they couldn't laugh away-a Muslim girl and a Sanatani boy, two different worlds, and a future her family would never accept.

But Keshav always had the same answer:

"Don't worry about the future. I'll figure it out."

She believed him.

Until one day, she discovered that while she was protecting their love, he had been protecting something else entirely.

Sometimes losing someone isn't the worst part.

Sometimes the worst part is discovering who they really were after you spent years believing you knew them.

And maybe, after losing him, Hafsa has one last thing to learn-

how to finally say the words she once said as a joke:

"I like myself too."