W H E R E

Hoi An, Vietnam

W H E N

March 15th, 2026

our forever story

It all started with a Facebook auction and a dare.

Brian’s cousin posted him on Subtle Asian Dating—a chaotic Facebook group where people auction off themselves or their friends for love (or chaos). Melody just so happened to see the post and her friends dared her to shoot her shot since Brian also lived in NYC.

So she did what any bold girl would do—commented, followed him on Instagram, and waited. Brian followed back… and then nothing. Radio silence.

That is, until Melody replied to one of his IG stories and slid into the DMs.

Girl. Shot. Her. Shot. 🎯

One week later: first date at a Filipino spot. First kiss. Instant connection. And with Melody heading out of town for a month, we squeezed in date #2 before she left. That month? Daily FaceTime dates. We’ve been together ever since (2021!).

We’ve traveled the world—Spain, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Italy… where Brian proposed.

The Proposal

Italy was Melody’s idea (Taylor Swift concert). The proposal? All Brian. He had the ring custom-made in Vietnam, flown to the US via his dad, and set just in time for the trip.

In Venice, Brian hired a secret photographer. The plan: wander, take photos, then hop on a gondola. When we floated past the fish market, the photographer would whistle a fisherman’s tune as the cue for Brian to propose.

Plot twist: the photographer couldn’t whistle. Like, at all.

Still, Brian took the wheeze as a sign and dropped to one knee. Melody, thinking he was about to fall into the canal, panicked and blurted out, “No no no no!”

Brian: “Wait—what do you mean no?!”

Melody: “I mean yes! But you didn’t ask me anything yet!”

Brian: “Just give me your finger!”

Reader, she did. 💍