Their students knew it before they did.

It was a kind of romantic potential for Cindy Chang and Jonathan Chun when they worked together as special-education teachers at Farrington High School eight years ago. And they didn't see it at first.

"There was nothing romantic," said Chang, 32, now a graphic designer at Local Motion Hawai'i, who had a boyfriend at the time they first met. "We were strictly co-workers."

But their students — and even some fellow teachers — were already trying to pair them up.

"They'd call us Mr. and Mrs. Chun," Chang said, laughing.

They worked together for about two years before Chang left for a career in retailing. They didn't expect to see each other again.

But later that year, Chun took a job as a physical-education teacher and needed someone to fill his old position. He immediately thought of Chang.

At first, she was hesitant. She wasn't sure if teaching full time was the right career choice. After all, she had majored in fashion merchandising — not education — at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

"I had to really think about it," Chang said. "This was a huge leap for me."

But she took it.

And Chun, finding out that Chang was newly unattached, took his own leap: He asked her out.

He called her one night, asking how things were going with the new job. Soon the conversation turned personal. They talked about their common interests — working out was one of them — and planned to go fishing that weekend.

They quickly became close friends, watching movies, going to dinners, surfing together. It didn't get romantic until months later. But by that time, they knew enough about each other to know it was going to work.

"We were just hanging out at first, seeing if we had things in common," said Chun, now a 32-year-old firefighter. "That was super important."

They both had healthy lifestyles. Chun competed in triathlons; Chang ran and worked out. And they shared an affinity for the ocean. Chun, who grew up surfing, would take Chang to his favorite breaks. They'd spend weekends biking, hiking, camping or fishing.

"It was really important to me that he was fit and healthy," said Chang. "But I also liked his family a lot, his values and morals."

In 1999, Chang decided to go back to school and to earn a degree in graphic design. The next year, Chun left his career in education to become a firefighter.

They talked about marriage but decided they'd wait until Chang finished school. Then until she got a job. After a while, she forgot what they were waiting for.

"I didn't bring it up," Chang said, "but I would hint at it."

It may not have seemed he caught on, but Chun did. And he had a plan.

"It took so long because I wanted everything set," he said.

The couple started looking for rings in December 2003. A month later, Chun bought one his girlfriend had been admiring and waited two months before popping the question.

He knew he wanted to propose near the ocean. Maybe on a surfboard, maybe on his 13-foot boat. He wanted the moment to be special, meaningful, but nothing dramatic.

For the fifth anniversary of their meeting, in March, he made reservations for the Dolphin Encounter at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hawaii. After a quick lunch at Kozo Sushi — "How's that for fine dining!" Chun joked — they went to Kahala to swim with the dolphins in the hotel's lagoon. She had no idea he was carrying an engagement ring in his pocket.

"I was so nervous," Chun said. "It's such a huge deal."

While in the lagoon, he convinced her to take a break on a mossy rock near the edge of the pool. She sat. He got on bended knee in the water, pulled out the ring and asked, "Would you be my wife?"

Everyone started clapping.

Life quickly changed for the newly engaged couple.

A few months later, they bought a two-bedroom townhouse in Waikele. Instead of seeing each other only a few times a week, they were now living together and planning a wedding.

"It was very stressful," Chang admitted. "I thought we weren't going to make it. We had huge fights."

They quickly learned the importance of communication, compromise and separate bathrooms.

"We had to really work things out," Chang said. "Now, I really like living together."

The couple exchanged wedding vows on July 10 at the Hale Koa Hotel in front of 330 guests, who received little koa surfboards shaped by Chun himself.

Together for six years and now married for four months, not much has changed for them.

Well, except for one thing: joint checking accounts.

"I like to shop and he's a saver," Chang said with a smile. "We're still working on that."

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.