Our Love Story

In 2009, we belonged to different schools and different worlds, until one casual friends’ meet-up changed everything. That day, his eyes found me—Jasmine—across the crowd, and something inside him clicked. He didn’t have the courage to ask me directly, so he quietly asked my friend for my number instead. That same day, a simple text arrived, and just like that, a tiny spark was lit. We started texting—small talks that grew into daily rituals. Then life happened: signals faded, messages stopped, and years slipped by without a word. But he never really let go. In 2012, with pure persistence (and what he jokingly calls his “detective skills”), he tracked down my Facebook profile. One friend request, one accepted notification, and suddenly the conversation picked up right where fate had paused it. We became friends again, catching up on everything we’d missed, even if my studies kept me buried in books most of the time. From 2014 to 2016, the chats became constant. He sent joke after joke, story after story, until my laughter echoed through every reply. Somewhere between the memes and the late-night messages, I fell—completely, hopelessly— for the boy who never stopped making me smile. January 1, 2017. After eight long years of almosts and what-ifs, of missed chances and quiet wondering, we finally decided enough was enough. No more waiting for friends to bring us together, no more leaving it to coincidence. We chose—both of us, bravely, deliberately—to step toward each other. Messages turned into plans, plans turned into a date, and when we finally stood face-to-face again, the air felt different: electric, certain, like the universe exhaled and whispered, “Finally.”

Twenty-eight days later, on January 29, 2017, inside the peaceful walls of Quiapo Church in Manila, he held my hand, looked at me with everything he’d kept for years, and asked me to be his girlfriend. My “Yes” came out steady and sure, like it had been waiting its whole life to be spoken. Eight years of chasing, waiting, laughing, and hoping all led to that one sacred moment when the universe finally said, “Now.” And just like that, the boy who once borrowed my number from a friend became the man I call mine. This is the story of how we began—