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Jimin stared at the key.  It wasn’t much of a clue.  How on earth was he supposed to know what it unlocked?  He glanced back at the note.  

Hmm.

It mentioned the recording studio.  Perhaps he should venture over there and see what he could find.  He sighed and dragged himself from bed.  So much for sleeping in.

After getting dressed, he opened his door and crept into the hallway.  Quite conscious that any one of six guys might be waiting around a corner to surprise him.  Startle him, more like.  Not that Jimin hadn’t done his fair share of pranking too.  

But he really hoped that this year the guys chose to make this a time of blessing.  Not blasting.  He could use a true present.  This year, 2020, already felt like some elaborate prank.  One from which he fervently hoped he soon awoke.  He could just hear someone shouting “Gotcha!  You’re on Candid Camera!” as they jumped out from behind a bush.

He grimaced.  He wished this were a nightmare from which he could be rescued by the sun rising again.  But it had already proven to be real enough.  The months had dragged on – sunrise following sunset repeatedly – with no resolution in sight.  No promise of upcoming concerts and fan meet-and-greets to which to look forward.  No flights to America to be interviewed again by James Corden and Jimmy Fallon.  All such showings were done via satellite now on apps like Zoom.  He and his friends stayed together, performing from their practice stages while they shared them with the world remotely.

That was exactly how it all felt.  Remote.  But Jimin wasn’t a distant kind of person.  He need face time.  Not the kind that came with an iPhone.  He needed true face-to-face encounters with people.  Up close and personal.  Intimate.  

He wanted to reach out and touch someone.  And to be touched in return.  He hated being alone.  And if there was one thing 2020 had made him feel, it was alone.  Despite the presence of the other members of BTS.  Even though they’d spent hours together practicing – singing and dancing.  Still, Jimin felt alone.  And sometimes he felt like he was growing despondent despite their encouraging faces.  It was a lot of pressure to be the source of the world’s hope and joy.  Perhaps his slim shoulders hadn’t been designed for such a mammoth task.

He sighed again and wandered down the hall.  But no one jumped out from behind a corner.  All was silent.  That, in and of itself, was highly suspicious.  Where were they all?  All six of them were missing in action?

He was disappointed.  He’d been hoping for a clue.  The recording studio it was.  He had no other idea about where to begin his search.

—

He opened the door to the lonely room.  Lonely because it was also empty.  He walked around inside peeking under chairs and examining microphones.  What was he looking for?

Suddenly, a voice surrounded him.  He glanced up sharply into the sound booth.  But no one was there.  Still, that voice surrounded him.  

“Happy Birthday, Jimin!”

He didn’t know this voice.  It sounded odd.  Like a compilation of many voices.  It spoke again.

“I am Van, the product of millions of ARMYs’ voices wishing you a very special day.  We love you, Jimin!”

He stood rooted to the spot.  Completely intrigued.  Millions of ARMYs had recorded their voices wishing him a happy birthday and expressing their love for him?

He felt a tear invading his eye.  To be so adored by the masses.  It was so much more than he had ever dreamed.  Really, it was too big to imagine.  That millions of people around the world had seen his face on a tiny screen and heard his voice flowing from its speaker and decided they loved him.  Why?  What had he ever done to deserve such devotion?  And why were such thoughts overwhelming him now?

Tears coursed down his cheeks.  He reached up to brush them away.  He still was no closer to finding his gift.  Was he?

But wait.  

Maybe the clue was in the message again.  He replayed it in his mind.  The only place that was mentioned in the greeting was a name which could be interpreted as a location.  

Van.

He headed downstairs for the company van that transported him and his friends around town.  But as he approached it, he realized that it was probably locked.  He would have to return to the building for the keys.

However, he had come all this way.  So he might as well check it out.  As he approached it, he saw the messages that had been written on its windows, and a wide smile spread across his face.

“Jiminie!  I LOVE you!  Happy Birthday! – Tae.”

“Hey, Mochi!  Have a great day! – Jin.”

“If I’m your hope, you’re my mochi! – Hobi.”

“Happy Birthday, Jiminie!  Hope you have the best. – Jungkook.”

“Jimin, Happy Birthday!  Take the day off and sleep in. – Yoongi.”

Fat chance.  It’s a little too late for that, Yoongles.

Jimin’s lips twisted into a grimace for a moment.  But then he grinned as he realized the guys had gone to extraordinary measures this year to make his birthday special.  His eyes slid over the last message.

“Happy Birthday to the heartbeat of our group.  Jimin, you always have a hug for us when we need you.  Keep looking up!  Things will get brighter. – Namjoon.”

Hmm.  

He walked around the van and examined it from all sides.  But he couldn’t seem to find the clue.  He read all the messages again.  But the only instructions were the one regarding sleeping in and Namjoon’s…

Keep looking up!

Jimin glanced up at the top of the van.  And growled.  This wasn’t fair.  He wasn’t as tall as Namjoon.  Jimin couldn’t see the top of the van.  Now if the door were open, he could stand on its threshold ledge and peer over the top.  He shrugged his shoulders.  He might as well try…

He reached for the passenger door handle and pulled.  It was locked.  That’s when he remembered the key.  He pulled it from his pocket and tried it in the door.  It opened!

He stepped up on the inside ledge and glanced down at the top of the van.  A huge piece of poster board had been taped to that surface.  It was a makeshift birthday card of sorts.  The guys had rewritten all their birthday messages on it along with cute little sketches of Jimin celebrating his birthday with them.  He studied those cartoons.  

In one of them, he was in bed, grumbling at being awoken by a knock on his door.  His lips twitched.  They had prophesied that event accurately enough.  According to the drawing, Jungkook had left the gift on the floor.  Of course, he had.  It had been his face which had greeted Jimin when he’d opened the box.  Jungkook must have wrapped that present for him.

The next scene was of Jimin prowling down the hallway as he approached the recording studio.  Tae’s head was peeping out from the corner behind him.  His best friend had a gigantic and mischievous grin on his face.  Reminding Jimin of the good old days.  Back when it was just the two of them.  He smiled.

The third panel showed Jimin searching the recording booth while Yoongi knelt on the floor in the sound box as his fingers reached up to press a button labeled VAN while the speaker on the wall exclaimed, “Happy Birthday, Jimin!  We love you, Jimin!”  Yoongi had been the one playing the recording?

The next scene was of the van he was currently standing on.  All six of his friends were surrounding it as they wrote on its windows.  He smiled as he studied their various facial expressions.  Jungkook looked very serious concentrating to draw just the right lines to make his window sketch communicate his desires.  He was completely focused on his endeavor. 

Namjoon was winking at the glare bouncing off his window.  Yoongi had a sweet expression on his face as he put the finishing touches on his sketch.  Hobi’s face was spread into a wide grin as he drew the letters H-O-P-E.  Jin was puckering his lips as though giving Jimin a worldwide handsome air kiss.  But it was Tae whose countenance unleashed Jimin’s grin.  Tae was biting his lower lip as he hugged Yeontan to his chest with his left hand while drawing with his right.  He had written “I LOVE you” in such a way that the word LOVE was made from a bunch of asterisks.

There was one more panel.  It was of the kitchen the boys shared.  Jin was standing in it at a mixer while Namjoon spilled flour on the floor and Hobi bent to clean it up.  Jimin studied it for another clue but found none.  

So…off to the kitchen now!