Jean Kim first spotted her destiny husband on a chilly day in 2002 at Amherst College. She was at the rooftop terrace of Valentine Hall, a eating facility that was doubling as a dormitory, while she regarded out onto the campus grounds and Bryan Woo caught her eye.
“He has this cocky strut,” Ms. Kim, 33, recalled. “He was absolutely bald, he wore this large puffy jacket and flip flops inside the bloodless. I concept to myself, ‘Who is that this horrifying-looking man?’”
Mr. Woo and Ms. Kim, it turned out, couldn’t be extra one of a kind. He is a New York City native, unnerved by the silent geographical region of Amherst, Mass. She acclimated less difficult coming from a New Jersey suburb. He became private-school knowledgeable. She went to public schools her complete existence.
As a swimmer at Trinity School on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Mr. Woo, 34, changed into also very competitive, decided to win (hence the shaved head) and dedicated to constructing his biceps. A dragon tattoo included his left shoulder
At Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest, N.J., Ms. Kim had a herbal flair for both lecturers and athletics. She made the all-kingdom orchestra for violin and the school volleyball crew, wherein she helped the crew to a country championship her senior yr.
Although both Mr. Woo and Ms. Kim coincidentally enrolled in the same Japanese Aesthetics magnificence — he cherished anime; she respected the lifestyle — they interacted particularly due to mutual friends. During their freshman 12 months, Mr. Woo grew close to four of his Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity brothers, who quickly formed an inseparable team. Three of them additionally lived in Valentine Hall, along side Ms. Kim.
“They all taken care of me as a touch sister, however I turned into nevertheless one of the men,” she stated.
Then, in 2004, Ms. Kim fell between a stairwell banister, fracturing her right wrist and jaw and dislocating her hip. She took the year off to recover. In 2005, Mr. Woo started relationship Ms. Kim’s pal during his junior year. Upon Ms. Kim’s return, the three of them would often spend time together.
“It was very platonic,” Mr. Woo stated of their deepening friendship. “Although, one way or the other in each single photo we've of us 3, Bryan is making an attempt to consume my face,” Ms. Kim brought, giggling.
After the connection between Mr. Wood and Ms. Kim’s friend dissolved in 2008, Ms. Kim remained a confidante to both events.
Mr. Woo, who had a double principal in economics and psychology, lower back to New York after graduating in 2006. He traded actual estate bonds for NorthStar Realty Finance. Then, in September 2008, he moved to Seoul, South Korea, for a process at Mirae Asset Global Investments. He resided on Yeouido Island, which, coincidentally, changed into in which Ms. Kim’s mother and father and maternal grandparents had at onetime lived.
Ms. Kim graduated in 2007 with a diploma in English, and that summer commenced a career in advertising analytics at Viacom in Manhattan. She currently works as a senior account manager of the Enthuse Marketing Group.
Although each actively dated different human beings, their procedures have been very exceptional. “Dating turned into in no way just a laugh for me,” stated Ms. Kim, who regarded relationships as a method to finding a potential lifestyles partner and settle down. Mr. Woo courted girls casually, with relationships lasting from one to six months
“I turned into very focused on work,” Mr. Woo stated. As the primary son from an finished immigrant circle of relatives, he felt a duty to maintain his family’s fulfillment. His father’s actual property improvement firm, Youngwoo & Associates, purchased the AIG towers with Kumho Investment Bank of South Korea for round $one hundred forty million in 2009 and won the bid to expand Pier fifty seven with RXR Realtythat equal yr.
After Mr. Woo again from Seoul in 2010, he became the director of acquisitions at his circle of relatives’s firm. That October, Ms. Kim received an unexpected smartphone call from Mr. Woo. Eventually they stuck up over dinner at BCD Tofu House in Koreatown — however now not earlier than Ms. Kim had tried to reschedule.
Mr. Woo insisted on their authentic date. The reason? His cousin’s archery match turned into at the alternate day she had counseled. “I by no means predicted him to prioritize his baby cousin or circle of relatives,” Ms. Kim said. “That stood out to me.”
From then on, their encounters were informal and often in group settings. “I could ask her approximately my dating lifestyles due to the fact she changed into the most effective girl opinion that I relied on,” Mr. Woo stated. Ms. Kim become in relationships, however Mr. Woo by no means permitted of her suitors.