It was in the library. She was working, and I remember thinking, she must be really smart. I liked her from the very first moment.

After that I started showing up everywhere – uni events, volleyball matches, trying to play it cool like I just happened to be there. In reality, it was very carefully planned. Then she'd show me her assignment solutions and I'd just stare at them thinking, I would never come up with this. Not in a million years. That's when I realized I was falling for two things at once – her mind and her soul. For the record, I did not start pursuing her because of the assignments.

Every day I'd pay attention to what she liked and quietly act on it – a small sticker here, starting the same anime she was watching there. It was so genuine, the way her face lit up at these small gestures. It made me want to keep going, to keep finding new ways. Friends thought I was overdoing it. I didn't listen.

I opened up to her early, fully, honestly, because I wanted her to know exactly who I was. But quietly, I wondered if it was too much too soon. Then one day she showed up with a homemade lunchbox. I was so genuinely happy. That's when I knew, I'm choosing her. And from that moment, all I've wanted is to make her laugh. Even with the unsuccessful jokes.

It's been 4.5 years and I'm still not tired of trying. These years weren't without their hard moments, but I've come to believe that everything is solvable when you're standing together against the problem – not against each other.

For me too, marriage feels like another beginning.

It started at the library. I was studying when he walked in with a friend, asking about the printer. I noticed him right away, serious-looking, but handsome.

Then I started noticing him more. He came back almost every day, and for a while he seemed too shy to even say hello. That's when I knew he had a kind heart. I've always loved that in him.

After that, things kept happening; we accidentally ended up sitting next to each other in the lab, then somehow at the same spot at gatherings with friends. Each time felt like a pleasant surprise.

When he finally opened up, he really opened up, telling me everything, sometimes things I probably didn't need to know yet. But it was so adorable, that kind of honesty right from the start. No masks, no games. And somehow, even after all of that, there are still new things I'm learning about him. I think that's the most beautiful part – we're both still growing, still figuring out how to live. After all, we are all living for the first time.

We made it through every hard part, including resistance we didn't expect. But we made it. Not because it was easy, but because we genuinely couldn't see another way. Neither of us could picture a future without the other.

Now, after 4.5 years, we're stepping into the next chapter. We're getting married! And honestly, it still feels like the very beginning!