That's the story, folks. Nothing else to see here. You don't need to know that Sofia was Jacob's middle school church youth counselor or that there's a whopping 6 year age gap. Totally irrelevant. Move along now. All jokes aside, that's how it happened. Sofia was a shy high school girl who had found a place for herself at Seattle Chinese Baptist's youth group (Teens Together in Christ, or TTIC for middle school, and Brothers and Sisters in Christ, or BASIC for high school). Jacob was a sarcastic and voluble middle schooler who loved to make new friends. Through many years of chatting after youth group, Jacob and Sofia gradually went from acquaintances to friends, and from friends to best friends. Whenever Sofia planned an outing, Jacob was sure to sign up,sometimes being the only one to do so. Sofia had an inkling that Jacob might have a boyish crush on her, but assumed that it would fade with time. When he described a very friendly female lab partner in his college chemistry class, Sofia encouraged him to invite her on a date. For some reason, he didn't take this advice very well. Not well at all. The very next week in fact, Jacob gave Sofia a ring he'd made himself. Subtlety had never been Jacob's strong point. Sofia started to wonder if this boyish crush was something more than she'd bargained for. Over several months of awkwardly skating around the topic of dating including a chapped, sneak attack kiss in a church parking lot, Sofia and Jacob finally approached their parents to get their blessing to date. The rest, as they say, is history!