Akama Miki, a Canadian model / singer and Zhang Muyi, a Chinese pop star, claim they are madly in love. Unfortunately the pair have a major obstacle to overcome ... their age difference. While it’s not uncommon for people to date someone older or younger than themselves, that doesn’t seem to work for this pair. Miki is 12 years old, and Muyi is 24 years old.

Miki and Muyi’s odd relationship has caught the attention of thousands, as the pair, who are both relatively famous in China, have recently become pretty vocal about their love (non-physical of course) affair. The duo constantly take to Weibo, a Chinese social network similar to Twitter, to express their undying love.

According to Australia’s news.com, Miki has around 500,000 people following her on Weibo, but the 12-year-old only follows one person back, Muyi. The pair send each other public messages like:

“Wait until I’m old enough to marry you, and then I’m going to say ‘I do,’” reads a message that Miki posted after her birthday.

“I simply can’t wait for these next four birthdays of yours to pass, I’m counting down each one,” Muyi posted in response, including a photo of them sharing cake on her 12th birthday.

“I will always love you and you will be my darling forever!!!” Miki has wrote on Muyi’s Weibo page.

So, why exactly is their relationship making headlines now? It’s all due to a photo that the 24-year-old posted. The photo shows the pair at night on what looks like a beach with their finger tips touching. As Jezebel writes, the finger tips are touching in a kind of “kiss.” Muyi wrote in the caption for the photo that he loves the 12-year-old.

While the photo and the back-and-forth Weibo messages have many upset over the relationship that Muyi, an adult, is having with the child, and many are questioning the legitimacy of their dating. The speculation over how real their relationship is has come under fire because their public relationship declarations coincide with the release of a music video for their duet.

However, Jezebel reports that Muyi is denying any claims that his relationship with Miki is a publicity stunt.

“Many people have doubted us and our love story,” Muyi explained. “There’s nothing we can do about this, nor do we feel the need to prove anything to these people. All we can do is continue to persevere with our love, our life, and our being together.”

Take a look at photos of the couple below, along with their duet music video.

Australia China Twitter Video