DISEASE

> "Hope doesn't knock. It breaks in when you're about to surrender."

Mun sat on the rooftop, her legs dangling off the edge like her sanity. The breeze touched her cheeks gently—almost like the affection she longed for but never received.

She stared at the blank email drafts. Each titled with a different university. Some were halfway written. Others were erased a dozen times. She was afraid.

Not of rejection.

But of daring to believe again.

What if she got in? What if she actually won a scholarship?

Would her family even care? Would they stop calling her a burden? Would they stop whispering about marrying her off to some "decent man" who didn't care for GPA, only obedience?

"Maybe I'm not meant for anything grand," she whispered to herself.

But her hand moved on its own. Opened another tab. Searched one more scholarship. Her eyes burned. Her heart did too.

No one held her hand. No one encouraged her. She became her own cheerleader. Her own mother. Her own savior.

She pressed send.

Her application flew out into the world.

Hope didn't feel like a bright sunbeam or a rainbow.

It felt like war.

And she was still standing.

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