The first time we met was when we both started our co-op at Netgear in 2019. Ivy, shy and reserved looked at Frank and two things immediately stood out: “Wow, he’s tall,” followed quickly by, “Wow, he’s intimidating.” Frank, also a somewhat reserved individual did not think much and thought Ivy was just going to be a coworker.

For the first few months, they barely spoke — just polite hellos and work emails. Gradually over time they discovered they both had an interest for true crime and K-pop, and slowly the intimidating and tall façade started fading away.

Halfway through Ivy's co-op, she began a capstone course at UBC that involved learning games like OSU! and League of Legends. Frank offered to teach Ivy and suggested they connect over Discord — Frank had to reassure Ivy it was a legit app gamers use and not something sketchy!

From there, things escalated quickly. They started gaming together, talking constantly, and eventually Ivy introduced Frank to the world of Korean/Chinese dramas and variety shows. Before they knew it, they were spending 4–5 hours a day on call, laughing, learning, and quietly becoming each other’s favourite person.

At the end of 2020, Ivy was planning to move to Toronto for her job, and they both figured that might be it — maybe they will just stay long-distance friends. But then COVID hit… and Frank decided to take a chance. He made the first move, and the rest is history.