Eli throws himself back in his chair, one hand to his head and the other limp across the chair’s arm. The box falls out of his grip and clatters on the wooden floor. His grandmother’s ring pops out of the box and skitters away from him. The diamonds taunt him in the moonlight.436Please respect copyright.PENANAI3bN9u76KH
436Please respect copyright.PENANATFGSZILWXS
“We can’t do this,” Mari said gently, curling his hand over the ring.436Please respect copyright.PENANAfBi9fImN4m
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The memory makes him shudder. Good thing he did it alone rather than in a crowded location as he was originally planning to.436Please respect copyright.PENANAWoAusL1hnx
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“I love you,” he said.436Please respect copyright.PENANAuXNWPTb78p
436Please respect copyright.PENANAg8IhKxiTVC
“I love you too.” She stared at the flame of the candle between them. “But…how can we get married when you aren’t old enough to drink at your own bachelor party? Are we supposed to pop open a bottle of apple cider?”436Please respect copyright.PENANAr2DxLhhLYp
436Please respect copyright.PENANAhvFtvLy5en
“I didn’t know drinking was that important to you,” he said stiffly, running his pinky along the rim of his water glass.436Please respect copyright.PENANAPBeop3SAvs
436Please respect copyright.PENANAX1XUvx5rpW
“It isn’t that,” Mari said. “It’s what being able to drink represents.”436Please respect copyright.PENANAda2UCofxRy
436Please respect copyright.PENANAHZAuohSFfX
“And what’s that?” he asked, knowing he wasn’t helping his case by sounding like a petulant child.436Please respect copyright.PENANATppKdeapf2
436Please respect copyright.PENANAk2I8BOlYkN
“That you’re an adult,” she said, reaching across the table to put a hand to his cheek. “Which you aren’t yet.”436Please respect copyright.PENANAExwatlepTO
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“That’s not what you said last night,” Eli muttered.436Please respect copyright.PENANAzhVUK7Ro9Z
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She shot him a look and her smile melted away. “I love you, Eli. You know that. But we can’t get married. At the very least, we can’t get married right now.”436Please respect copyright.PENANAyfzZUmmDC4
436Please respect copyright.PENANAxPKuXPkfHf
The table is still set for dinner, even though Mari has long since left. The ice in her water glass has melted. He can still smell the candle wax.436Please respect copyright.PENANAFbyxsail5S
436Please respect copyright.PENANArkDZ10Hqy9
Mari wanted to go to the Epik High concert even more than Eli did. Or rather, Eli wanted to go but had to accept the fact that he couldn’t afford to do everything while studying full-time and working part-time at the university bookstore. But Mari wanted to do everything.436Please respect copyright.PENANAke03iRwejG
436Please respect copyright.PENANA8WSDqVXJjS
“I can’t go to the concert,” he told her.436Please respect copyright.PENANAqK0yKX4mNm
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She bought him a ticket anyway, telling him, “It isn’t a big deal.”436Please respect copyright.PENANAwIn9Gj4wNM
436Please respect copyright.PENANAB4n8GwuilG
It’s always been like that. She casually buys him a ticket to something and doesn’t think twice about it. For him, however, each event she pays for becomes a brick on his back. He can’t imagine she’s as fine with it as she seems to be.436Please respect copyright.PENANABlpwEmSibq
436Please respect copyright.PENANAnkuxbAsxdQ
He has never been sure what bothers him more—being a burden on her or the fact that she isn’t honest about how she feels, that she pretends it’s okay that she has to keep paying for him.436Please respect copyright.PENANARxghpdZzyM
436Please respect copyright.PENANAcJJXBmnwNo
Eli gets up, leaving the ring where it is on the floor and goes out to the balcony. He leans his forearms on the cold metal railing and leans forward, staring up at the sky. His favorite thing about living in a college town is that he can actually see the stars—especially since his apartment is at the top of the hill.436Please respect copyright.PENANA2kpb3q8yYW
436Please respect copyright.PENANAcHSXrSsZRI
He drops his gaze down toward the school and can even see Bell Hall, the building with the lab where Mari works. There are some lights on, although he’s fairly certain Mari isn’t there right now. She’s probably soaking in a hot bath—probably reading to calm her nerves after rejecting Eli’s proposal.436Please respect copyright.PENANA3fC80H0Dg8
436Please respect copyright.PENANAYKs09ctLfh
He grips the railing and leans back, eyes turned upward again. The night breeze pushes his hair off his forehead.436Please respect copyright.PENANAm9StTyOrwg
436Please respect copyright.PENANAKApQylvbB5
He went to the lab with her once, but only once. Mari had needed to stop by and start an experiment before they headed out on a date. He had trailed in after her, wanting to see what she did and just wanting to be in her presence.436Please respect copyright.PENANAIQ2MU5mcYI
436Please respect copyright.PENANALpkQZW4zCX
One of her coworkers stopped by to talk to her and glanced at Eli questioningly.436Please respect copyright.PENANAH76WBJ8mnK
436Please respect copyright.PENANAv543PVrKOf
“Alan, this is my boyfriend, Eli,” Mari said.436Please respect copyright.PENANAb0nIVocfXW
436Please respect copyright.PENANAJum8BXYUv2
“So, Eli, what do you do?” Alan said as they shook hands.436Please respect copyright.PENANAZ5eJ5XrJbD
436Please respect copyright.PENANAK2qF4zcXEi
“Are you really going to pester my boyfriend right now?” Mari said, taking Eli’s arm and tried to pull him away.436Please respect copyright.PENANAPGULe96B0c
436Please respect copyright.PENANAVRA53hAOQQ
“Pester him? I’m just trying to be polite,” Alan said. “Is his job top secret or something?”436Please respect copyright.PENANAVuo9Tp0O1k
436Please respect copyright.PENANAsd0X14kwMX
Mari’s lips were pressed together. Clearly she had never told her coworkers she’d met her boyfriend while she was a graduate student T.A. for his undergrad biochem class.436Please respect copyright.PENANApe6fMelS9H
436Please respect copyright.PENANA6UBMc2B0pc
“I’m a student,” Eli said, suddenly wanting to leave the lab and head out to their movie.436Please respect copyright.PENANACxiQDWeqLP
436Please respect copyright.PENANAJ9VmU0K7l6
“PhD? What do you study?” Alan said.436Please respect copyright.PENANAD9UQWvGLnz
436Please respect copyright.PENANAygnZNRvOEe
“No, not a PhD student,” Eli said, his neck and cheeks starting to heat up. He couldn’t meet Mari’s gaze.436Please respect copyright.PENANAzf3O41gI8N
436Please respect copyright.PENANApPck8uHojH
“Oh, Master’s then?” 436Please respect copyright.PENANAL5xP4rWFJ7
436Please respect copyright.PENANASzSe1iZBpx
“Actually, I’m an undergrad,” Eli said.436Please respect copyright.PENANA4SHVWCzrpY
436Please respect copyright.PENANAddCX2JImhV
“Oh.” Alan looked at Mari and then back at Eli. “Well, it was good to meet you, man.”436Please respect copyright.PENANAyxA65JMoXL
436Please respect copyright.PENANAblCHm2KZ0d
Eli followed Mari in silence. He could feel something like embarrassment or shame rising off of her, but she turned around and placed a hand on his forearm, forcing a gentle smile.436Please respect copyright.PENANABqmOr8LDUn
436Please respect copyright.PENANArvCULB7cdI
“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “This is just because of your age. One day, you’ll catch up to me—maybe even pass me—and it won’t matter. We’ll forget there was ever a time like this.”436Please respect copyright.PENANA05nrbpNRVI
436Please respect copyright.PENANADuFtwxrtu3
Eli sighs. Crickets chirp in time with the twinkling of the stars. As he stares up absently, a giant meteor falls. He watches it streak across the sky, getting brighter and brighter and brighter until the blazing light fills the sky, fills his vision, fills his mind.436Please respect copyright.PENANAHSzgLHR1c9
436Please respect copyright.PENANA3T1P6UCLaQ
He blinks. He’s in the living room of an apartment. There are no lights on, and the time reads 2:57 a.m. on a digital clock with green numbers—just around the time he was standing outside. 436Please respect copyright.PENANAx0kFyL488r
436Please respect copyright.PENANARDt7UczyOM
He realizes with surprise that there’s something in his hand. It’s a piece of a rock. He would think it’s a dream, but the rock smells like metal and fire. It’s warm. Eli brings it to his face. 436Please respect copyright.PENANAtLdBOijREB
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He doesn’t see how it’s possible, but he wonders if it’s a part of a meteor—maybe the meteor he just saw.436Please respect copyright.PENANAAZxmlH7DZn
436Please respect copyright.PENANAF5VGKKX3Jx
He surveys the apartment. It’s bland and undecorated, but the wooden dining table seems ready to splinter under the weight of open textbooks and notebooks. A closed MacBook charges, precariously close to a half-finished mug of coffee. Eli leans forward and looks at the notebook, immediately recognizing the handwriting.436Please respect copyright.PENANAsbjlaEjoTZ
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It isn’t possible.436Please respect copyright.PENANAQdD5yyZatM
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He glances toward a closed door that he assumes is a bedroom and makes his way over warily, quietly pushing it open. There’s a bed on the other side, up against the wall. Moonlight streams directly upon the sleeping form. Her back is turned, and even if it weren’t for the dark hair ribboning across the pillow, he still would have recognized her.436Please respect copyright.PENANACtBrsgDXGD
436Please respect copyright.PENANAVK6bx3UHKB
He creeps closer—she’s a notoriously light sleeper—and takes a better look. She shifts in her sleep slightly, as though she can sense she has a visitor. And then he sees her face. Mari looks pretty much the same as she did when he saw her a few hours ago, only more vulnerable. There are streaks of lavender in her hair, starting at her scalp and traveling out. Her bangs are shorter, settling on her closed eyelids. There’s still a hint of baby softness that hasn’t yet melted away to reveal the sultry cheekbones in the Mari he loves.436Please respect copyright.PENANAcGADI7OLUP
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Eli presses a button on her phone, illuminating the screen, to see the date. Five years ago to the day.436Please respect copyright.PENANAd1LpsuwYP3
436Please respect copyright.PENANAM1NAiysPzj
If this is right, if this isn’t a dream of some sort, he’s seeing her when she was the same age as he is now. He looks at the meteor, still in his hand. He isn’t sure how he knows this, but he’s suddenly sure the meteor was his ticket here and will be his ticket back to his year.436Please respect copyright.PENANAj21UIrDc5c
436Please respect copyright.PENANAtNSzkr8p6m
But he has an idea. Now that he’s here, why not stay? He’ll age with her, and she will no longer be five years older than him. He’ll make it work, somehow—find a way to survive as a twenty-year-old in this year, stage a run-in with her. She’ll fall in love with him again, but they’ll be on equal ground.436Please respect copyright.PENANA79u3VgSWET
436Please respect copyright.PENANA3NDJ5Emlal
Sliding the little meteor piece into his pocket, he takes a deep breath, excitement mounting at the thought of starting again with her at the same age—even if she is still a month older. They’ll have five more years together than they would have otherwise.436Please respect copyright.PENANAUaHrJshRu9
436Please respect copyright.PENANAzfRbuwBc26
“Is this really want you want?” Mari asked him multiple times, a shrewd look on her face. “With me five years older than you, you do realize things might need to happen five years faster than you want them to, right?”436Please respect copyright.PENANAExUr7Xw6tt
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“Like what?” he said.436Please respect copyright.PENANAUm1iy1ePOH
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“Getting married, having kids,” she said.436Please respect copyright.PENANAD6qivTDteC
436Please respect copyright.PENANABpsLJk1kyV
“Well, good thing you warned me about it now,” Eli said. “Now I’m mentally prepared.”436Please respect copyright.PENANAoeamQelNbG
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“Seriously, though,” she said. “Don’t you want someone your age?”436Please respect copyright.PENANA6WPUS8XxXQ
436Please respect copyright.PENANAdg6Rr8pWtJ
Eli sits cross-legged on the floor beside her bed, deflating instantly. If he stays here isn’t he finding someone his own age. He told her he didn’t care about their age difference. And he doesn’t, really. He presses the heels of his hands to his eyes, feeling a little dizzy as if he just got off a rollercoaster.436Please respect copyright.PENANADVezNbetaa
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“I can’t believe you’ve never ridden a rollercoaster before,” Eli said.436Please respect copyright.PENANAODuaELlU6h
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Mari gripped his hand, her nails digging into his skin. Her eyes were wide, focused on the car that sped by thunderously. The riders’ screams seemed to hover in the air behind them.436Please respect copyright.PENANAm8DrsdDYLZ
436Please respect copyright.PENANAa79PmpKulT
“Well,” she said. “I guess this is all part of our goal of making new memories together.”436Please respect copyright.PENANAmwhIym7E9a
436Please respect copyright.PENANA3Xpnmbm3PV
This Mari sleeping in front of him doesn’t have that memory of riding the rollercoaster with him. She doesn’t have any of the memories they’ve created over the past two years. The situation would be unbalanced with him knowing her soul even as she tries to discover his.436Please respect copyright.PENANA5cYwU4WzCw
436Please respect copyright.PENANA1DQTrO15XE
Eli takes the meteor out of his pocket. It seems like it’s getting warmer. He stands up and looks at her again, a little sad at the thought of a future that can never be. Taking his chance, he leans forward and presses a kiss to her forehead, just above her left eyebrow. Even five years ago, she used the smell shampoo she uses in the present.436Please respect copyright.PENANAonkYJzorVF
436Please respect copyright.PENANATRGpClRJEe
Mari stretches and blinks blearily at him. He knows she was almost blind pre-LASIK. This Mari can barely see anything without her glasses or contacts. He must be just a blonde-haired outline to her, too indistinct for her to even tell he’s Korean under that blonde hair.436Please respect copyright.PENANAwmureepI1J
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“Who are you?” she murmurs.436Please respect copyright.PENANAxsUuOn6rS6
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He thinks about it for a moment and speaks softly to keep from waking her up completely. “I’m someone you haven’t met yet—someone you’ll meet in the future and fall in love with, but not quite as deeply as I’ll fall in love with you.”436Please respect copyright.PENANAJ8JbWAp1uk
436Please respect copyright.PENANAHm4PQcZplE
“Why?” Her voice is still groggy, eyes half-closed.436Please respect copyright.PENANAf6ftkYZuF3
436Please respect copyright.PENANAiNs9iVWDvz
“Because I’m younger than you,” Eli says, gently putting a finger to her cheek. “It’ll bother you, and I think you won’t believe me when I say just how much I love you. But I love you, and only you, and especially you when you’re five years older than me. Don’t forget it, okay?”436Please respect copyright.PENANA6nDyS8Xh74
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He holds his pinky out to her. She curves her own pinky around his. Her skin is almost as warm as the meteor.436Please respect copyright.PENANAF6d8kIIKe0
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“Okay.” Her voice is nearly gone now as she sinks back into sleep.436Please respect copyright.PENANApsV83ReIXN
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He holds the meteor in his palm as it burns more fiercely, watching this Mari and thinking about the Mari waiting for him back in his present.436Please respect copyright.PENANAXkHFERL6Bv