Opens the email. Study good? Remember why you are there. Jian stares at the screen. The words his father has sent him every week since freshman year, the weight of a family name and a diplomatic career in ruins and a son who refuses to do what he's told. He reads it again, and for the first time that evening, his composure cracks. Just a flicker. Just a moment where his face shows something other than patience. Then he closes the email, picks up his pen, and returns to Problem 10. Alone under the fluorescent lights, while his father waits twelve time zones away and his friend chases distractions and the future they all need feels further away than ever.
Inferthermic
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