Vivian and John met at USC where they lived in the same dormitory. Vivian remembers John as part of "the studious crew" who refused free chocolate chip cookies for textbooks. John remembers Vivian as the girl who spent her dining dollars at the end of every semester on Goldfish. Their first impressions stuck until they graduated from college, when the two started hanging out in Westwood, where John went to dental school and where Vivian often visited her sister who lived just down the street.

It was March 2019 when the two were preparing to travel to Japan together. In the midst of packing, John casually asked to take Vivian out on a date, and she thought it was to celebrate her birthday. Little did she know, John was taking her on an adventure he had planned for months to Mulholland drive, where he set up picnic tables with candles that lit up to say "M-A-R-R-Y--M-E-?". From there, the two decided to spend the rest of their lives together.