Gifted: A Journey Towards Epiphany – Chapter 22: Suga and Spice and Everything Nice

He had spent the night with her again last night.  He’d been curious.  He’d wanted to be there when she received her tenth gift.  So he’d slept above her head again.

But he hadn’t been able to fall asleep last night.  He’d tossed and turned.  And chatted with her.  Until very late in the morning.

So April was the only one who was awoken by the knock on her door later that same morning.  She bounded from her bed and flung her door wide.  And disturbed a beautiful man with a very sweet face standing across the hallway, his hand upraised as though about to knock on her neighbor’s door.  He glanced back at her and noted her wild hair.  It was sticking out in several directions.

Self-consciously, she reached up and smoothed it down.  She gave him a faint smile before bending to retrieve her gift.  Then she whisked it into her room and shut her door firmly behind her back. 

She’d never seen so many different guys in her hallway before.  How many girls had stayed in the dorm over the holidays?  She’d believed herself to be virtually alone until a couple of days ago.

April was very curious about the contents of that box.  But she’d promised her mystery man that she wouldn’t open the package until he was watching her.  So, with a sigh, she set it down on the floor next to her bed before she collapsed upon that soft mattress once more. 

Was it her imagination, or did that box smell sweet?  Like cinnamon?

Ooh!  She hoped it was something delicious to eat! 

––

A couple of hours later, the gorgeous guy sleeping above her finally woke up.  He bent his head over the side of the bed and glanced down at her.

“Did you get another present?” he queried in a deep rumble.

She wagged her head up and down.  “And I’m going to open it now!”

She lifted the lid and gasped with pleasure.  “Yes!  Cinnamon rolls!”  April glanced up at her mystery man.  “Now that’s just eerie.  Is someone listening to our conversations?  Just yesterday, I told you how much I wanted a batch of these.  What are you?  Clairvoyant?”

He beamed down at her.

 “You were going to bake me cinnamon rolls?” she queried after a silent moment.

“That’s right!” he remembered suddenly.  “I was!  Because you like them so much.”

“Wow.  This is awesome.  I hope the rest of your gifts are food.  If they are, we are going to eat well for the next few days….”  Her voice wandered off.  Then, a moment later, she exclaimed, “That’s it!”

“What?”

“I’ll leave a note on my door for whoever is leaving these packages.  He must be a friend of yours!  And he must be looking for you!”

Stupefied, he simply stared at her.  “Why didn’t we think of that sooner?”

“I don’t know.  I guess because I thought it might be a delivery service.  But even then, they’d know how to find you, right?  An address, at least.  Although, they might not be willing to give it to us. 

“Anyway, I finally thought of the obvious now, so I’m going to write a note right now.”  But she’d just reminded herself that there was another missive awaiting her perusal somewhere in that box, so she bent her head to search for it.

She found it instantly and withdrew it from the box before handing it to him.  “Would you read it to me?” she asked him with wide eyes.  Wide, aquamarine eyes.  That still captivated him.

He reached for it and cleared his throat before reciting the lines written in his neat, bold scrawl.  “‘Hello, my sweet.’”  He stopped to chuckle.  “Get it?  Cinnamon rolls?  Sweet?”

She smiled up at him.  “Yes, I get it.”

“‘Hello, my sweet,’” he began again.  “‘I thought it was time for a little more sweetness to flow into your life.  I hope you enjoy these cinnamon rolls that I made for you.’” 

He paused and muttered, “Except, of course, that I didn’t make them for you.  One of my friends must have.” 

“You couldn’t have used a delivery service then.  Kim!” Her excitement was flowing from her lips and her eyes.  “You know what this means?!  Whoever shows up at my door tomorrow will be a friend of yours.  A very close friend of yours!”

He quirked his midnight eyebrows.  “We must be sure not to miss him then.”

“I’ll leave him a note just to be sure.”

He nodded, glanced back down at the note, and read the remainder to her.  “‘May they remind you of every moment in your life that has brought you some happiness.  You have surely brought me some.’”

The deep purr of his mellow voice surrounded her and filled her with joy.  How amazing to have him reading his own letter to her!  Why didn’t she think of this sooner?

Her eyes met his.  And she smiled at him.  “Do you remember writing that note?”

“Do I?” he muttered to himself as his eyes slid back to the words on the card.  “Maybe.  I—”

Another image flashed through his mind.  “I remember a cinnamon roll key chain dangling from…your purse!”

Then he heard the echo of her asking the barista for a cinnamon roll.

“And you ordered a cinnamon roll at the coffeehouse!”

“That’s right!”  Her eyes lit up.  “See!  You’re remembering more and more!  This is great!”

He smiled at her a little sadly.  “But I still don’t remember writing this note.”

“It’s all right.”  She glanced down at the cinnamon rolls.  They’d been torturing her with their sweet aroma for the last couple of minutes.  “It’s time for breakfast.  You can try to remember more later.  Who wants to think on an empty stomach?”

He grinned down at her.  “You’re so cute,” he murmured.

She peered up at him in surprise.  “I am?”

He nodded his head emphatically.  “Definitely.  And you’re right…I’m starving!”  He suddenly jumped down from the top bunk.  Then he settled himself next to her as he reached for a roll.  “Thanks for sharing your breakfast with me.”

“Thanks for commissioning the baking of these cinnamon rolls,” she giggled as she took a bite of one.  Her eyes closed in bliss.  “Oh, my goodness!  These are so good!  Whoever your friend is, he’s an amazing baker!”

“Must be Jungkookie,” he murmured.  Then he gasped.  “I remembered his name!”

Their eyes collided with joy, and before they knew it, they were embracing each other, their cinnamon rolls held protectively out to the side.  For a moment, April buried her face against his shoulder and inhaled.  The man smelled so good.  He felt good too.  Solid and strong.  His arm tight around her, hugging her close to him.

“I’m so happy for you,” she muttered.

“If only I could remember my own name next.”

“You will,” she assured him.  “You will.”

––

“I’m out of food,” Poppy announced after April opened the door to her half an hour later.

“Would you like a cinnamon roll?” April queried with a wide grin. 

“A cinnamon roll?” Poppy’s eyes lit up.  “Wouldn’t I ever?”

“Come on in.  Kim brought me cinnamon rolls today.”

“Did you?  From the bakery across the street?” Poppy looked at their handsome friend.

“No, I meant they were the gift that was delivered this morning,” April clarified.

“Oh,” Poppy eyed the tin full of rolls.  “They look delicious!”  She reached in and grabbed one. 

“So…who wants to go shopping with me today?”  She glanced from one to the other.  “That’s why I came over.  I need to get some food.”   She smiled at April.  “But thanks for breakfast!”

“I would love to get out of this apartment and stretch my legs,” Kim commented as he stood up.

“Yeah.  I need to grab some groceries too.  When you’re done eating, we can head out.”  April replaced the lid on her cinnamon rolls before crossing the room to grab her coat.

Two hours later, they were walking back towards their apartment building when April suddenly came to an abrupt stop.  Kim walked right into the back of her.  He had been following behind her at close range. 

“Oof!” he exclaimed as, reflexively, his arms came up around her from behind to steady her. 

But she didn’t seem to notice.  Her gaze was set firmly on the bulletin board above their heads.  Across the street.

“Look!” she gasped.  “Those are all the men I saw out in my hallway this week every time a gift was delivered.  And…that’s…you!”  She turned wide eyes towards the gorgeous man still holding on to her.

He frowned as he gazed at the picture.  “That’s Jimin!  And Jungkookie!  And Yoongi!” he announced.

Poppy studied the sign.  “BTS?  Who is BTS?”

April pulled out her phone and googled BTS.  Up popped a million pictures of those seven boys.  Including her very own dear Kim.

“BTS is a K-pop band.  The biggest band in the world,” April murmured.

She clicked another link and gasped.

“Taehyung,” she whispered.  She glanced up at him again.  “Your name is Taehyung.  Kim Taehyung.”

The light bulb clicked on, and the piece fell in place.  His eyes lit up.  “Yes!  That’s why Kim Hyung sounded so familiar!  Because I am Kim Hyung!  Kim Tae Hyung!”

Poppy grinned at him.  “You remember?  So…what’s your address?”

“I…” he frowned, “I don’t know.”  He glanced up at the billboard again.  “I can’t remember the names of the three other guys either.”

“Namjoon, Jin, and Hoseok,” April supplied him their names via Google.

“There must be some way to reach them!  To get them word that you’re here.  Safe and sound.  With us,” Poppy insisted.

Tae shrugged.  “One of them will show up in the morning.  I can wait until then.”

Truthfully, he was feeling overwhelmed right now.  He still didn’t remember much.  How could he have forgotten the names of three of his best friends? 

He stared up at that billboard.  Was he really a member of the biggest band in the world?  Why couldn’t he recall any of it?

Suddenly, he just wanted to be alone.  With his thoughts.

He voiced as much to the girls.

“April can come hang out with me at my apartment.  And you can stay in hers.  By yourself,” Poppy offered.

They all agreed that this was an excellent solution.  Clearly, Tae needed some time to remember who he was.

The last few moments should have felt like an epiphany.  But Tae still felt lost.  He really hoped that whoever greeted him at her door tomorrow morning would jog all the memories that still remained in hiding.

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. BTSarmy

    This is really turning out interesting
    I really liked it!!!
    Good job author-nim

  2. Lucia

    I like this episode… I like he did not miraculously remember everything but the realistic way….. Although I am surprised he was not recognised

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