Their relationship began with a lie, or at least a mutually unshared truth.

When Nicholas John McClure and Jinie Kwak matched on the dating app Hinge in the fall of 2020, both had their locations set to Denver, but neither actually lived there. “We joke that we catfished each other,” Mr. McClure said.

Mr. McClure, 35, who grew up in Tucson, Ariz., had a Denver setting because he was planning to move there from Washington, where he was working in international development. He now works remotely as the senior environment project manager at RTI International, a nonprofit research institute. He has a bachelor’s degree in international relations and affairs from George Washington University and a master’s degree in environmental management from Yale.

Ms. Kwak, 36, who was born in South Korea and raised in Colorado Springs, has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and advertising technology from the University of Colorado Boulder. She was residing in Brooklyn as of 2020. Her role as the managing director of global communications and marketing at the advertising agency VML allowed her to work remotely, so she embarked on a solo road trip out west that summer, visiting national parks and relatives in Colorado. She chose Denver as her location because it was the closest city to her at the time.

“I put my stuff in storage knowing, ‘OK, I’ll be away for maybe six months at most,’” Ms. Kwak said. “I had every intention of resuming my New York City life.”

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After weeks of texting, they met for drinks at a bar in the River North Art District of Denver, on the evening of Election Day 2020. “It’s going to be much more fun at a bar chatting than it will be doomscrolling in our separate apartments,” Mr. McClure said.

“He was really sweet and we had great conversation,” Ms. Kwak said. “I just remember time passing super quickly.”

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