Juan Nuñez Rodriguez met Julio Gonzalez on the speech team at the University of Texas. Both men had romantic feelings for each other, but never acted on them. Then, Julio graduated and moved to Chicago for work. Earlier this summer, Juan visited Julio for a month. While here, they bonded closely and quickly. And their relationship blossomed. The pair visited the StoryCorps booth right as Juan’s visit to Chicago was coming to a close.

Bill Healy produces StoryCorps Chicago and teaches journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him @chicagoan.