Kyungil stared up at the glass domed ceiling watching the different flocks of birds pass by. It was twelve o’clock in the afternoon and the water fountain at the center of the building was putting on its show shooting different spurts of water that glowed a variation of colors. Kyungil turned from the sky and scanned the mall; it was the largest mall in the city and the interior reflected that. Large ferns and palm trees grew starting on the main floor and towered to at least the second or third floor. The floors were a pristine cream marble, the columns that dotted the open circle in the middle of the mall were made from the same material.

He was seated next to the railing on the fourth floor food court where he ate every day. If he chose to look over the railing he could see down to the floors beneath him all the way to the ground floor. He didn’t often do so.

Someone’s tray clattered down on his table turning his attention from examining the four-floor drop.

“You really shouldn’t sit with me.”

The boy held his sandwich near his face, “why not?”

“This has become a habit. It’s not good.”

The boy took a big bite of his sandwich, “so what?”

“Yijeong, I’m serious!” Kyungil tapped his fork against the tray, “we could get into serious trouble.”

“Oh, come on. We’re not dating! What’s the issue?”

“You know the issue,” he murmured before turning back to his noodles. He was twenty-six and Yijeong had just turned eighteen; that was an eight-year . In the past, many, many years ago, that would have been alright. Kind of. However, time had been unkind to the earth and politics. Instead of a future where everyone lived happily side by side, there were now more laws than ever to keep civil disobedience low.

One of the top ten laws is related to interpersonal relationships. That should be low on the list of issues the government cares about, right? No. One of the main causes of rebellion is love and you cant keep people from falling in love. However, you can make it illegal. And that’s where the most controlled, harshly punished, and abided by law comes from.

Four years, that’s all you get. You can date and marry anyone you want regardless of gender as long as they are within four years age difference. Four years and one month, you both incur hefty fines. Five years, you will be chemically sterilized even though the birth rate is plummeting. Laws are absolute. Six years, you both go to jail. Seven years, you get set to jail and put in solitary. Permanently.

You can only imagine what an eight year difference will get.

Kyungil watched the boy across the table from him and regretted, like every day since they met. He regretted meeting the boy. Regretted they worked so close and saw each other often. Regretted their age difference and the ability to see if there was anything. Feeling sorry for yourself did nothing so he tried his best to push those feelings of regret away.

He stared back out of the domed ceiling, the clear blue sky was slowly darkening, it wouldn’t be long before sheets of rain were attacking the glass. The noodles on his plate had become cold and Yijeong was nearly done with his sandwich.

“Don’t you get tired of eating here every day?”

Yijeong paused, his cheeks puffed out full of food, “no? There’s so many places to choose from. If I’m tired of one I’ll go to the next place.”

“It’s expensive though,” Kyungil poked at the noodles, “I should start bringing my lunch.”

“Ooh! Bring me lunch!” Yijeong bounced in his chair, his feathered hair flopping every which way.

“No way,” he glanced nervously at one of the guards patrolling the food court. They had been keeping an eye on Kyungil and Yijeong as if they could sense something brewing. Their mechanical eyes dilating as they absorbed every little detail, they were built and programed like hunting dogs. There was no need for the carelessness of humans when a machine could do a better job.

Kyungil turned his attention back to the boy beside him who was still talking, “so I wont be able to have lunch with you tomorrow.”

“Huh?”

Yijeong sighed deeply, “I was saying that my sister is coming by to take me out so I wont be able to have lunch with you. I’m sorry.”

“That’s alright,” Kyungil couldn’t help but smile at Yijeong’s pitiful expression, “I’ll just pack my own lunch, like I said, and eat at the jewelers.”

A guard walked by their table only a foot away and examined them, the matte black metal intimidating as he calculated the acceptable distance between them. Apparently it was agreeable and he walked on.

“This is not good, Yijeong,” Kyungil gathered his plate as he stood, “we attract too much attention.”

“Oh. My. God. Kyungil.” He grimaced collecting his own tray, “we are not dating. We are not ing. We have lunch together. That. Is. All.”

“Doesn’t matter,” the brunette blinked, “that’s not what they think.”

Kyungil fiddled with the eye loupe in his hand but he couldn’t focus on the task at hand. It was wrong, so wrong, he wanted to cross the mall and sit on the bench in front of Yijeong’s store. Shaking his head Kyungil lifted the loupe to his eye and examined the jewels for the ring he was custom making. The diamond and two sapphires were pristine, as expected of the jewels at his shop. He molded the shape of ring and the setting for the gems but the sound of the bell at the front of the shop pulled him away from the piece. Putting down the smoldering torch he walked to the front of the store.

“Hello,” He leaned over one of the display cases, “what are you looking for today?”

Kyungil spent the next forty-five minutes with a very nitpicky customer trying to find something impossible. Eventually she left with a beautiful necklace, though she was slightly unhappy. He was proud of his work so of course it made him angry when someone didn’t like it. He grumbled to himself all the way back to his workshop, he wanted to continue the engagement ring even less now.

Maybe a little peak wouldn’t hurt.

His shop was located at the tail end of one of the hallways so there was very little foot traffic. Flipping the ‘be right back’ sign over Kyungil closed the shop and walked to the other side of the mall. The walk took over five minutes, another reason why he didn’t visit Yijeong.

The young boy worked at a clothing store popular with teenagers so of course seeing a twenty-six year old man wandering around was odd. He strode down one of the aisles knowing he didn’t have to look for Yijeong, the boy would find him. Not two minutes later he slid up beside Kyungil, “I thought you said we were attracting too much attention. What gives, Kyungil?”

“I was feeling frustrated,” he examined the shirt in front of him as if he was truly interested in it.

Yijeong started folding another set of shirts, stealing covert glances at the man beside him, “frustrated because of what?”

Kyungil sighed and turned away from him, ghosting his fingers over Yijeong’s just out of sight from the security cameras and guards, “everything.”

“Thanks, I’ll see you later,” he added in a hushed whisper before stepping out of the store. The rush he felt was sickening and when the adrenaline faded he always wondered if this was the best course of action. Yijeong was cute, but was he worth it?

Yes? Maybe?

It was so hard to know for sure. Interaction was impossible; they couldn’t go on dates, they couldn’t go to each other’s houses. Lunch was the only thing they shared and even that was risky.

Kyungil returned to his shop and went back to work on the engagement ring. For the rest of the day he only got two more customers making it easy to finish the project. When he first started, he often he wondered how he got by, occasionally scraping by at the end of the month with only a few dollars left to his name. Those were the times he wished he’d become a jeweler at a chain store though stability was never more important than freedom to him. And the times he did have profits reminded him of such and his desire to get his designs out into the world.

Jewelry was for the rich, though, and the rich love big names. His was not. He had customers and they kept him in business. What more could he ask for?