Connect How did your love story begin?

Two words. Hurricane Helene. Uniya was fleeing their hometown of Asheville to visit their sister in chicago and seek stability. Natalie and Maya (uni’s sister) had been friends for years in Chicago. Everyone went out to burgers together, Nat Uni Maya and another friend (also Maya) for a casual dinner. Literal love at first bite. The very next day they both professed their desires for eachother. Uni decided to move to Chicago and never looked back, moving with whatever was already in her car.

What is your favorite memory you've shared as a couple?

We joke about the time we went to the same Halloween party weeks after just starting to see each other, and how we met up in the back alley just to hug. That’s it. No steamy rendezvous—just a drunk Spider-Man and Jacob Elordi squeezing tight on the cold chicago night. A moment of true care and comfort. Less favorably but def notable was after when Uni walked me home after I had been sexually harassed at that party. I was embarrassed but uni stayed close and comforted me the whole way home.

What would you do with $20,000?

Uni said “I’m sure there’s a couple with cancer” so maybe donate to cancer research, pay off some student loans, and go to Paris to SMOOCH (Uniya has never been)! That’s Uniya though, always wanting to give back whatever is given to them. Personally, although I admire that, Uniya has had some pretty tumultuous times, and I believe they are more than deserving of some loan relief and time away to rest and recoup in a city they have always dreamed of going to.