IRENE

“I don’t like that color.” She grimaced at the horrible shade of yellow her husband had just chosen to color their kitchen walls.

“What, why?!” Mino turned around to examine it again. “You said yellow. Is this not yellow?” he questioned and Irene shook her head but smiled endearingly at him.

“I meant a nice pale daffodil, not mustard, babe. But, I won’t get to see it for another 715 days so you can leave it like that until then.” Mino sighed and leaned on a kitchen counter.

“I can’t believe I thought I could handle being this far away from you for so long. I miss waking up to your ratty hair and dried drool.” Irene playfully glared at him and he sent her a kiss. “It’s really a majestic sight to behold.”

“I’m a majestic sight to behold in general.” Irene winked and flipped her hair. “I miss you.” She sighed and glanced down toward her left hand. “But I think I miss my ring more.” Irene grinned and Mino chuckled.

Mino was Irene’s shooting star. Anything she wished or desired, Mino made it his mission to make it possible for her. That’s how she ended up on the Aquarius in the first place.

Irene had been 16 when she met Mino. Her father had been killed in a car accident two months prior and her mother had left them a week after she had been born. She was sent to live with her grandmother and spent most of her days that summer helping her garden or exploring the neighborhood. Irene was used to being alone; she actually preferred it back then. She figured everyone would eventually leave and she’d be back to being alone, so it was better to just avoid close relationships.

But then Mino appeared.

He had just arrived home after spending his summer with his brother in Los Angeles and was sitting on his porch when she walked past to get back to her grandmother’s house. He claims she was the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on; Irene thinks it was just the lighting. Mino sprung to his feet and introduced himself, then walked her home. After that, he was just kind of everywhere.

And Irene found herself never wanting to be without him.

Mino had graduated high school that year and stayed in the small town working odd jobs in order to make enough money to rent an apartment in L.A. for them once she finished high school. When her grandmother passed away halfway through her senior year, Mino moved into her house so she wouldn’t be alone. She finished high school with honors and hadn’t planned on continuing her education after that but Mino had different ideas. He’d talked to his uncle, an alum of Stanford University, who pulled a few strings and got her a last minute interview with the dean of admissions. She was accepted and the next thing she knew Mino had moved both of them to a small studio apartment in Palo Alto.

She spent the next four years earning her bachelor’s degree in mathematics, while Mino opened a music production company with his brother and it had taken off. On her graduation night, Mino asked her to marry him, she’d been so surprised that she accidently said no and Mino had laughed, slipping the ring on her finger anyway.

They got married on the beach while the sun was setting and had a bonfire with Mino’s family and a few close friends afterwards. Irene’s favorite memory of the night was Mino’s arm draped over her and his smile being illuminated by the fire. Mino’s was probably her and the s’mores.

Mino had noticed her fascination with the stars and space in general. She’d revealed to him in one of their very first conversations that she wanted to go there one day. Irene had never thought it would actually happen, but once again Mino made it his mission to get her up there. He enrolled her in all these piloting classes while she was working on her master’s and from then on Irene decided she was going to go to space.

NASA offered her an opportunity to train with them and she was going to decline it because it was in Houston. Before she could even contact them, Mino had packed up their apartment and the next week they were in Texas.

“What are you thinking about?” Mino asked and Irene wished she could reach out and snuggle up to him.

“How we met and everything up until this point.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Wow, that’s a lot of history in such a small amount of time.”

“Yep.” She nodded. “I love you Mino.”

“Not as much as I love you Irene.” He grinned.

Mino is Irene’s shooting star.

And they’re each other’s universes.