Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was still early, almost hazy and nearly still around campus. Namjoon had most of his focus on his textbook that he held in his left hand - the other was wrapped around an iced Americano he had gotten on his way to campus and had nearly finished drinking. The air had a slight breeze to it every few moments and the rising sun had not completely rid the air of the chill from the night before. If Namjoon were to wander off the walkway he was on, he would find that the ground still had a layer of dew on the grass. Namjoon lifted the hand holding his coffee up enough to take a drink before lifting his hand more to extend his index finger and push his black framed glasses back up his nose before lowering his hand to his side again, glancing off to the right when he heard someone make an almost obnoxiously loud shout in that direction.

Of course he was not surprised to watch as Jackson ran around the grassy area, laughing and smiling as he was being chased around by one of his friends. He had something in his hand that Namjoon was assuming he had stolen from the friend and was the reason he was being chased around. Namjoon smiled a little to himself and lifted the textbook he was holding to cover his face and mask his laughter when after only a few moments, Jackson slipped on the slick grass and went crashing to the ground with a groan and more laughter. Namjoon shook his head a little, shifting his grip on the book to actually close it before starting to walk in Jackson’s direction. Before he could reach Jackson, however, the friend that had been chasing him (Namjoon was pretty sure his name was Mark) helped him stand. So, Namjoon stopped and then continued toward the building he was heading to in the first place. Doing so, he missed the way that Jackson’s gaze followed after him for several moments.

When Namjoon reached his destination, he found all of his friends sitting at the same table in the cafeteria, making his brows raise slightly at the sight of the eldest of the group. “You’re not even a student,” he commented, which made Jin huff out something about having brought him lunch for later so he better watch his tone. “Thank you, hyung.”

Namjoon took a seat next to Taehyung, who was leaning into Hoseok’s side with the elder’s arm draped loosely over his shoulders. Taehyung gave Namjoon a slow once over with an amused smirk on his face. “Joonie has the ‘Jackson smile’ on his face again,” he announced to the rest of the table.

The response was immediate and caused Namjoon to go red in the face while sinking down in his seat more and mumbling that there was no such thing. Hoseok cooed at him while Yoongi just smirked and made a comment about how he should just talk to the guy. Jungkook laughed and had the audacity to tell Namjoon that he looked adorable with his ears going red like that. Jimin giggled behind one of his hands and insisted that he always did get a shy little smile after he’d seen Jackson somewhere. Jin. Jin was Namjoon’s favorite because he reached across the table and simply pat his forearm instead of actually saying something. The younger (Hoseok included as he tended to be attached at the hip with the maknaes) boys and Yoongi were all loud and caused others in the room to look in their direction while they all kept teasing Namjoon and Namjoon just wanted to be anywhere but right there. “I need new friends.”

***

The record shop was one of Namjoon’s favorite places off campus. It was small, tucked away in the corner of a shopping strip with slightly dim lighting and music always playing out of the speakers in the corners of the room. That day, when Namjoon went in (alone, which was usually not the case as he tended to drag one of his friends along with him) there was something soft and gentle playing on the speakers. It seemed vaguely familiar to Namjoon, possibly something from one of the dramas he’d seen. Namjoon greeted the associate sitting behind the counter that afternoon. He was maybe only a little disappointed that it wasn’t Jackson sitting there. But he just smiled and made his way over to the section he wanted to look through.

Namjoon found himself idly humming to himself as he searched through the records - he was looking for a particular English language album that was the follow up to one he had gotten recently. Namjoon had enjoyed the first one that he’d picked up on a whim. Which really meant that Jackson had said something about how he looked adorable in the oversized sweater he was wearing, which made him panic, grabbing an album on random and purchase it without seeing what it was so that he could get out of there. At least the album had ended up being a good listen anyway. Namjoon was so busy searching through the albums while trying to fight his urge to resort them (he did not agree with the owner’s sorting style) as he flipped through the options that he did not realize someone else came into the shop until he had to blink several times in an attempt to focus on the fact that there was a cup suddenly being held in front of his face and someone behind him saying, “Here, Namjoon-ah. I thought you could use a drink.”

Namjoon reached up to grab the cup and Jackson stepped back away from him, removing his arm from around him. Namjoon glanced at the cup which seemed to be filled with his favorite tea and some orange popping bobas. It made Namjoon smile slightly as he often had that drink when he came into the record store. He had not stopped that day, intending to on his way back to the apartment he shared with Yoongi. “Thanks, Jackson,” he replied with a small, almost shy smile on his face.

It made Jackson smile brightly, looking rather pleased with himself as Namjoon took a drink of his tea. Jackson looked over his shoulder to the person behind the counter when the guy shouted across the store at him and Jackson waved him off. “Go on. Thanks for hanging out longer.” The guy gave Jackson an amused look, telling him to not have too much fun. It made both Jackson and Namjoon turn rather red in the face. “So… looking for anything in particular?” Jackson flashed Namjoon a bright smile, placing a hand on the edge of one of the displays to lean against. It slid forward causing Jackson to stumble and almost trip over his feet. He stood up straight quickly, brushing off his clothes with a mumble of how he had meant to do that before rushing off to go answer the telephone ringing.

Jackson seemed to look everywhere around the shop except at Namjoon, especially when Namjoon found the album he wanted and started to walk up to the counter with it. Namjoon stood there patiently as Jackson finished up the phone call. “So, uh, found what you needed then?” Jackson questioned after hanging up the phone and clearing his throat a little.

Namjoon nodded. “Yeah.” Jackson nodded as well and totaled up Namjoon’s purchase, still not looking directly at him. Jackson continued to sort of avoid his gaze as he paid and even after Namjoon said good-bye. Once the door shut behind Namjoon, Jackson let out a heavy breath and groaned while leaning down to rest his head on top of the counter.

***

Taehyung and Hoseok were cute. It was almost annoying. Honestly, though, Namjoon was just glad that they had worked things out. He was always silently rooting for soulmates to work out, even if he knew that not all soulmates were lovers or meant to ride off into the sunset together. His own parents weren’t soulmates. His mother’s soulmate was her best friend, someone that she loved with her entire being - but their love was strictly platonic. Then his father had one of the rarer types of soulmate; a familial one. His father’s soulmate was his twin brother, the two of them having been born five minutes apart with each others’ names on their wrists. So, yes, Namjoon knew well that not all soulmates meant that the love between them was a romantic love. That did not mean he did not hold a want for everyone to have the same, happy and romantic endings that the best movies and dramas had. So when he found out that Taehyung and Hoseok were finally together, and that they were actually soulmates, he’d been so happy for his friends.

Two months later and they were still incredibly cute and annoying, but that was probably because they were sitting there wrapped up in one another on one of the chairs in Yoongi and Namjoon’s living room. Taehyung had Hoseok on his lap and his arms were wrapped around the dancer’s middle while they talked quietly to one another throughout the movie that was playing on the television. Maybe he would not find them so annoying if Jungkook didn’t have his legs stretched across the couch with his head resting on Yoongi’s shoulder while Yoongi had a hand in his hair; or if Jin and Jimin weren’t taking turns tickling one another or pointing out each other’s favorite parts in the movie that was on the television. His best and closest friends all had their happy ending already and Namjoon was not even sure if the person whose name was on his wrist was the person he was hoping it was.

王嘉爾

Namjoon had learned what the characters meant when he was a teenager, wanting to be able to actually read the name that was permanently scrawled into his skin. Was it too much to hope for that it was more than just a coincidence that Jackson’s last name was Wang? Namjoon was not aware if Jackson was his given name or one he had adopted over the years. He had not found a time to ask, each time he tried the words got caught in his throat or they were interrupted. He wanted to know. Then again, if it was, surely Jackson would have said something by then about having Namjoon’s name.

With an inaudible sigh, Namjoon pushed himself up from the chair he had occupied, mumbling something to the others about going out for a walk. Yoongi called over the back of the couch for him to bring back something to drink, but Namjoon barely registered it. He shrugged on his coat and grabbed his keys before heading out of the apartment. He had barely made it four steps from the apartment building when someone walked right into him, causing him to stumble back and slip on a patch of ice there on the sidewalk. Namjoon registered hands flying out in an attempt to stop him from falling but his feet knocked the ankles of the other person and then they were both falling. The air was knocked out of his chest and Namjoon’s vision went a bit blank for a couple of seconds. “-oon! Are you okay?” he heard a familiar voice ask him.

Namjoon blinked several times and then realized that it was Jackson hovering over him, looking sheepish and concerned all at once. “I’m okay,” he insisted.

“Are you sure? You didn’t hit your head, did you?” Jackson bit his lower lip as he moved to sit on his knees while Namjoon sat up with a groan. Namjoon shook his head and Jackson brushed off the back of Namjoon’s coat. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“I’m so sorry! I wasn’t paying any attention and I walked right into you.” Jackson then broke off into what Namjoon thought was Cantonese but he could not be entirely sure. He was mumbling it to himself so Namjoon was not too stressed about figuring out. He caught the jist of it anyway.

“Jackson. It’s okay.” Namjoon smiled, one of the ones that made his dimples show and his eyes crinkle at the corners, and Jackson stopped his mumbling to sigh and smile in return. Nodding once to himself, Jackson stood up and held out a hand to help Namjoon to his feet as well. “Where were you going in such a hurry?”

“Ah. I forgot that I have a paper due tomorrow. I was heading to the library so I could do the last little bit.” Jackson’s face grew red, though that could have easily just been the burst of cold wind that hit them.

“I could go with you, if you want?” Jackson seemed to perk up slightly at the suggestion, looking every bit as unsure as he was hopeful. “Keep you company and make sure you don’t fall asleep on top of your laptop.”

“Aish! It was one time. Don’t give me that.” Jackson pushed Namjoon’s shoulder as they both laughed, but he nodded and waited for Namjoon so they could start to walk toward the library. “Thanks, though. I’ll buy you coffee.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to.”

Snow started to flutter out of the sky around them and Namjoon smiled to himself as he shoved his hands into the pocket of his coat, walking down the sidewalk next to Jackson. It was a pretty good evening, if someone were to ask him.

***

There was sunlight streaming onto his face, which made Namjoon frown and curl up a little more on his bed, grabbing one of the pillows to hide underneath. It took him a few moments longer to realize that the pillow did not smell like the detergent that he and Yoongi used. It smelled like a different kind and faintly of a familiar scent that he did not wear himself. It took a few moments after that for him to put the fact together that he did not leave his curtains open in his room for the sunlight to filter in like that. Namjoon’s brow furrowed as he sat up slowly and looked around the unfamiliar bedroom he was in. He was still wearing his clothes from the night before, so that was a good thing. Namjoon had vague memories of stumbling down the sidewalk underneath someone’s arm draped over his shoulders, though. “Oh, you’re awake,” Jackson said from the door, making Namjoon look up at him quickly. “Good morning, Namjoon-ah.”

Jackson looked freshly showered, much too cheerful and smiley to have consumed the amount of alcohol that Namjoon knew he had the evening before. “Uh, yeah. What time is it?” he replied with his brow furrowing slightly.

“A little before nine. You can borrow some clothes if you would like to shower. I don’t have an extra toothbrush, but you can help yourself to the mouthwash or toothpaste. I was going to start breakfast?” Jackson smiled smally, as if he was nervous for whatever Namjoon’s reaction was going to be.

Namjoon let out a breath he did not even realize he was holding. “That sounds great.”

Jackson smiled a little more then. “Bathroom is the second room to the left. You can choose anything.” Jackson gestured to the closet and dresser in the room. “Towels are in the bathroom.”

“Thanks, Jackson.”

Jackson nodded and left the room, Namjoon sat there a few moments later before wandering over to where Jackson’s clothes were kept in order to pick out something to wear. Namjoon took the clothes to the bathroom and found the towels before he started up the shower and got in. He was a little unsure of himself as he glanced around at the shampoo and body wash in the shower, there was something almost daunting about the fact that if he used them he was going to be going home smelling like Jackson. But Namjoon just let out a heavy breath and he washed up fairly quickly, taking less time than he usually would since it wasn’t his own shower. After he showered and dried off, Namjoon changed into the clothes that he’d grabbed; some jeans that probably looked better on Jackson and a pink sweater with a wide collar and arms long enough that the tips of Namjoon’s fingers barely passed the end.

Namjoon made sure to clean up after himself, drying any wet spots left on the floor and putting his towel neatly into the hamper in the corner. Then he made his way out to the kitchen, and stopped with a furrowed brow when Jackson started coughing and choking on the tea he’d just taken a drink of. Jackson covered his mouth and ducked behind the island in the middle of the kitchen, lifting his hand in a thumbs up motion when Namjoon asked if he was okay. “Fine,” Jackson voice squeaked out from his hiding spot.

Namjoon lifted both of his hands to hide his smile and laugh behind, though when Jackson stood up he could tell Namjoon was still smiling anyway from the way his eyes crinkled at the corners. It was easily the cutest thing he’d ever seen and Jackson felt the overwhelming need to just… go sit down somewhere or lay face down on the floor and contemplate his existence because what the fuck . “So, uh… breakfast?” Jackson asked after a few seconds, laughing at himself and gesturing over to the easy meal that he had thrown together for them.

“Thanks,” replied Namjoon with a smile.

After that, the two of them took their food to the couch to sit and eat as they talked about the party the night before. Honestly, Namjoon did not remember much. Jackson had been with his friends Mark and Jaebum most of the night while Namjoon had hung out with Taehyung. Though at some point the two of them had apparently ended up dancing and when they left Jackson had promised Taehyung that he would get a stumbling Namjoon home - “I texted him this morning so he wouldn’t be worried if he went to your place and you weren’t there. You were whining about not wanting to go back to see Yoongi and Jungkook with their hands down one another’s pants again.” “It has happened four times too many, okay.” “How many times has it happened?” “Four.” - but had ended up going to Jackson’s instead. Namjoon had tried to insist he would just take the couch, but Jackson hadn’t let him.

The two of them sat around talking for a while after they finished eating, but eventually Namjoon did have to go home, though the two of them seemed rather reluctant for him to actually leave. They hung around the doorway, talking about the couple of shared classes they had or about their friends and making plans to hang out again soon. Just with less alcohol that time. When Namjoon finally left, he was unable to keep the smile off of his face and he laughed a little at himself. He really just needed to talk to Jackson because it was getting ridiculous.

Who cared if they weren’t soulmates? Namjoon still wanted to date him.

Of course, all thoughts of Jackson and dating were completely shoved from his mind as he walked into the living room of the place he shared with Yoongi only to groan and throw a hand up over his eyes when he caught sight of his roommate and Jungkook. Jungkook was sitting on Yoongi’s lap, his oversized shirt tugged aside so that his shoulder and collarbone were exposed which was why Yoongi’s mouth was attached the skin to add more hickes there. Jungkook was just in a pair of boxers while his hand was down the front of the sweatpants that Yoongi had on. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Namjoon grumbled to himself, going to the kitchen to grab himself something to drink. “I’m going to burn that damn couch.” He shouted the words over his shoulder back toward where the other two were.

Namjoon couldn’t see it, but he could hear the smirk in Yoongi’s voice. “You might want to burn the kitchen table, too.”

“I hate you.”

Both Yoongi and Jungkook laughed from the couch and Namjoon sighed, taking his drink back to his bedroom while kicking the door shut behind him.

***

“Jackson flirts with everyone,” one of Namjoon’s classmates said with a roll of her eyes, looking away from where Jackson stood across the library with a charming smile on his face. He laughed at something that the person he was talking to had said, gently placing a hand on her shoulder while he worked on attempting to convince her to let him take it since it was the only copy of the book he needed for a paper he had to write. Namjoon wanted to argue with the girl he was studying with - maybe he should try to actually learn her name but he doubted he would remember before their project was over and they no longer had to work together; but, he also knew she was right. Jackson was a flirt. He flirted with everyone , always. It did not even seem to be an overly conscious decision. He was just… a flirt. It was who he was.

Watching the girl get all shy smiled and a little giggly as she gave him the book made Namjoon bite his lower lip as he focused on his textbook opened on top of the table. It made him start to reconsider the thought of asking him out. Maybe he was just reading too much into Jackson being… well, Jackson . “Namjoon-ah!” Jackson called across the library once he noticed Namjoon sitting there, ignoring the way people hushed him and glared in response. Namjoon sank down a little lower in his seat, but Jackson came over and took the chair next to him with a bright smile on his face. “Why didn’t you say you were coming to study? I would have joined you. Oh, hello.” Jackson tacked on the greeting toward the girl sitting opposite Namjoon once he realized that the two of them were not exactly alone at the table.

“It’s for a project we have to do together,” explained Namjoon with a small smile. Jackson nodded in understanding with a sheepish smile.

“Ah. Right. I guess I should leave the two of you, then; but, Namjoon are you coming by for movie night later?” There was a hint of hopefulness in Jackson’s voice, he did not even bother to hide and Namjoon was not sure what that meant.

“Yeah, I told JB I would come and help him supervise.” Namjoon smiled as Jackson laughed.

“Sit next to me?”

He looked oh so hopeful again and Namjoon almost had to kick himself to stop his heart from fluttering a little at that. “Of course.”

“Great! I’ll see you then, I guess. Don’t study too hard.” Jackson gave both of them a smile before he got up to leave, squeezing Namjoon’s shoulder with his free hand before heading off to the front desk so he could check out the book.

Namjoon watched Jackson walk off before clearing his throat a little and focusing on his school work only to look up at his classmate who was watching him with a rather amused expression on her face. “What?”

“Nothing,” she insisted with a shake of her head. “Let’s get to work.”

It would be several hours later that Namjoon left the library in order to head over to the apartment that JB and Jinyoung shared. By the time he got there, the place was already incredibly noisy with so many young men all gathered together in the living room, spread out across the couch and chairs and the floor. Namjoon was let in by Mark since JB was busy holding Yugyeom against his side to keep the younger from flying off the couch and hitting BamBam for something he’d said that Namjoon had missed. Yugyeom was glaring daggers at BamBam, who simply smiled sweetly in response.

Taehyung had claimed one of the armchairs and had Hoseok draped over his lap, one hand threaded through the strands of his hair while Hoseok’s head rested on his shoulder. Hoseok seemed half asleep already. Jin and Jimin were sitting in front of the couch, eating from the same bowl of popcorn with BamBam on Jin’s opposite side to have some popcorn as well. Jungkook and Yoongi were sitting on the floor in front of the other chair where Jinyoung was sitting, using the remote to pick them out something to watch. Mark returned to the couch with Jaebum and Yugyeom while Youngjae settled down on the floor next to Jimin. A quick glance around the room had Namjoon realizing that Jackson was not there. It made him frown slightly as he walked over to sit down next to Yoongi when he realized that he was being gestured to. He sat down on the floor next to Jungkook, whose arms were firmly around Yoongi’s middle to hold his boyfriend on his lap. Yoongi leaned over enough to speak quietly to Namjoon without any of the others overhearing him in the din of the room around them. “Jackson will be here later,” he told Namjoon, chuckling a little at the look of confusion that found its way onto Namjoon’s face. “He got called into work to help close the shop. I figured him not being here is why you look like someone kicked your puppy.”

Namjoon rolled his eyes a little but got himself situated on the floor, resting his head back against the front of the chair’s arm while Jinyoung started the movie. None of them were really going to watch, Namjoon was sure. It was a Marvel movie they’d all seen too many times and they were all too busy talking to one another to really pay attention. It was nice, but loud and Namjoon was really glad that movie nights with all fourteen of them did not happen too often. Namjoon made it about thirty minutes into the movie before he excused himself from the whole thing. His head had started to hurt, though it was not as bad as he was pretending it was. He knew he probably shouldn’t use his migraines to get out of the situation, but he really just did not want to sit there surrounded by everyone that evening. He had only agreed to show up for Jackson, who was not even there in the first place.

He was almost to the record shop before he realized what he was even doing in the first place. His apartment was across town from there. Namjoon sighed, almost rolling his eyes at himself and he idly ran a hand through his hair before continuing to the shop only to stop outside when he looked in and saw that Jackson wasn’t alone. Someone that Namjoon vaguely recognized from their school was there. She was leaning against the counter as Jackson seemed to be showing her one of the order catalogues. She kept running her fingers through her hair and giggling, leaning in closer to Jackson. Jackson smiled and laughed at whatever she said, pointing out something in particular to her. They were obviously flirting and Namjoon remembered what his classmate had said earlier - Jackson flirted with everyone. That was a thing. He knew it was a thing. He was not special and needed to stop giving himself false hope.

Namjoon absentmindedly reached over to wrap his hand around his wrist, brushing his thumb against the name scrawled onto his wrist. The whole thing was ridiculous. He just needed to stop it and move on. There were more important things to focus on, like continuing to finish up his master’s degree. Letting out a breath he hadn’t even realized that he had started holding, Namjoon nodded once to himself and turned back around to actually head back to the apartment he shared with Yoongi (and basically Jungkook by that point in time, honestly). Namjoon took a shower and changed into his pajamas before sitting down on his bed with his books and a couple highlighters so that he could start preparing for a quiz he had coming up. He eventually fell asleep on top of his books and would find highlighter smears on his face come morning, along with a text message on his phone from Jackson.

I missed you tonight, Namjoon-ah :(

***

It was still early, almost hazy and nearly still around campus. Namjoon had most of his focus on his textbook that he held in his left hand - the other was wrapped around an iced Americano he had gotten on his way to campus and had nearly finished drinking. The air had a slight breeze to it every few moments and the rising sun had not completely rid the air of the chill from the night before. If Namjoon were to wander off the walkway he was on, he would find that the ground still had a layer of dew on the grass.

“Namjoon-ah!” he heard ahead of him, making Namjoon look up from his textbook and cause the hood of his hoodie to fall back off his head.

What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion and all too quickly at the same time. Jackson noticed the fact that Namjoon’s blond hair was no longer blond but had been dyed black since the last time they’d seen one another another; his eyes widened and he stumbled, dropping his books and falling forward too quickly for him to catch himself before he was sprawled out on the sidewalk. Namjoon dropped his coffee and his textbook in order to rush over to Jackson, not even noticing or caring how his coffee was soaking the pages of his textbook. “Jackson! Are you okay?” Jackson groaned and mumbled something about just leaving him there, but Namjoon helped Jackson sit up anyway. “Shit, you’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine,” replied Jackson with another groan, though he let Namjoon help him lean forward and pinch the bridge of his nose. “You dyed your hair.”

“Hush. Don’t start talking until it’s stopped bleeding.” Namjoon frowned a little and kept pinching Jackson’s nose until the bleeding stopped and Jackson reached up to wipe the excess away with the sleeve of his jacket. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine. I’m fine. Really.” Jackson smiled sheepishly at Namjoon then, laughing a little with a slight shake of his head. “That was really graceful of me, huh?” Jackson would be the first to admit that Namjoon tended to make him be a little more clumsy. “You look good, Namjoon-ah.”

Namjoon blushed and rolled his eyes a little. “You should be more careful. Your nose isn’t broken, is it?”

Jackson reached up to gingerly touch his nose. He winced but then shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. But it will bruise something beautiful.” Jackson laughed a little and reached up with one hand to rub the back of his neck. He took a deep breath then and grabbed a hold of Namjoon’s wrist to stop him from continuing to fuss with the front of Jackson’s jacket where he’d gotten a little blood on it.

“What are you doing?”

Jackson laughed again, more self-deprecating than out of amusement as he turned Namjoon’s arm over and pushed the sleeve of his jacket out of the way. Namjoon watched as Jackson brushed his thumb over the name written on his skin. “It’s my name,” he stated and Namjoon felt as though all the air was suddenly punched out of his lungs. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you since you told me your name to start with. Mark interrupted me that first day and then ever since I just…” Jackson laughed again with another shake of his head.

“You decided to wait until you scared the shit out of me by face planting on the sidewalk?” Jackson smiled sheepishly at Namjoon.

“It wasn’t my intention. I was going to ask you to go to this English movie fest at the theater this weekend, but then your new look kind of caught me off guard. It’s… It’s good. Really good. You look good.” Namjoon blushed again though he smiled and his dimples were showing and Jackson could easily sit there all day just watching him. He wanted to reach up and run his fingers through the strands, they looked soft; but, he was worried about that being too much too soon.

“Well…” Namjoon practically giggled, scrunching his face up slightly as he looked to where Jackson’s backpack was laying on the ground nearby, over to where Namjoon’s textbook lay with his empty cup on its side next to it. There was a slight breeze that rippled through the grass and their hair. It was definitely not the fairy tale type moment that he had thought he wanted, but watching Jackson continuing to brush his thumb against the familiar characters on his wrist and reaching out to see his own name written on Jackson’s made up for that all on its own. “Are you going to ask me to the movies or not?”