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The kitchen revealed a beautiful cake resting on the island counter.  The cake was a pristine white, its top covered in luscious strawberries.  Jimin reached out and pulled one off the top, popping it into his mouth with glee.  He glanced around, anticipating the arrival of his friends.  Ready to clown him for snagging a strawberry off his cake before they all shouted birthday greetings and took way too many selfies with him and his cake.  

But he was disappointed, for no one appeared.  He frowned.  This little treasure hunt was fun.  However, he was really beginning to miss his friends.  They had all been pictured twice on the poster board, so he had assumed he’d find them all awaiting him in the kitchen.  But this place resembled a ghost town.

“All right, guys,” he called.  “Enough!  If you don’t come out now, I’m going to eat this entire cake by myself.”  

Silence.  

“Right NOW,” he threatened.

Stillness reigned.  

“And you know what I get like when I eat too much sugar.  I will not be held responsible for the consequences.”

Quiet surrounded him still.

“Unless you show your faces right now,” he finished lamely as he plucked another strawberry from the top of his cake.  

He dragged it through some of the frosting before popping it into his mouth.  He closed his eyes and savored it.  It was delicious!

He really didn’t want to eat his cake without them, so he set it on the counter as he glanced around looking for a clue.  Where to now?

Just as he was about to give up, he heard the strains of some lovely melody pouring from his bedroom.  He wandered down the hallway and entered his room.  The beautiful music was flowing from a boombox resting on his nightstand.  

He gave in to the impulse that had returned to him several times today.  To lie down in his bed.  Rolling onto his back, his head sinking into his pillow, he closed his eyes and gave himself to the gorgeous music overwhelming his private sanctum.  Soon enough six precious and very familiar voices began to take turns flowing along with that mesmerizing melody.  This song was spiraling down into his heart and invading it with a deep emotion that drew tears from his eyes.

Jungkook’s sweet tone greeted him first.

“Longing for a home,

Someone to carry this heavy load,

I once walked alone

Down a lonesome broken road.”

Then Tae’s soulful voice wrapped around Jimin with a deep comfort.

“I waited for a friend.

A simple outstretched hand to lend

Me the help I need

Every single time I bleed.”

Then Yoongi’s velvety rumble slid along his nerves.

“But I looked and there was no one

On that fractured path.

My eyes they scanned the horizon

My brain did the math.

“Still, my lonely heart kept searching,

Knocking on every door,

Looking for the waiting promise

That somewhere there is more.”

Then Jin’s voice blended with those of Jungkook and Tae in a trio of soul-stirring tones that echoed the passion flowing from Jimin’s heart as he listened to the song that they had written for him. The swirling tempestuous emotions of the first verse found their crescendo in this powerful chorus.

“I am not alone,

Never on my own.

There is one whose love

Wraps me from above.

“I am not alone

Trapped within my moan.

There is a bright light

Burning up my night.”

Then Yoongi’s soft purr interwove itself with Namjoon’s smooth tones.

“Be still,

Be calm.”

“My heart, breathe

In this balm.

Yoongi’s sweet whisper sounded again.

“Be still,

Be calm.”

Hobi’s cheerful tone finished the rap line’s section before the three vocalists sang together again.

“My soul, soak

In this balm.”

“You are not alone,

Never on your own.

There is one whose love

Wraps you from above.

“You are not alone

Trapped within your moan.

There is a bright light

Burning up your night.”

A moving interlude intervened while Jungkook harmonized before singing the opening lines of the second verse in that tender timbre of his.

“Longing for a friend,

Someone to help me round the harsh bend,

I once sang alone

Some sad, deep, and soulful tone.”

This time he was followed by Jin’s clear, soft notes.

“I waited for a voice

To offer me a better choice,

The comfort I crave

Whenever I don’t feel brave.”

Next, Namjoon’s dulcet tones joined the fray.

“This time when I looked down that road 

Past its hairy bend,

Six stood there to carry my load

Till the very end.”

Hobi’s friendly voice filled the void left by Namjoon.

“Through times that came quick to quake me

These six all held my hand.

In places designed to shake me

They helped me understand.”

Then, after that short, sweet interlude, the vocal trio returned with the stirring chorus once more.  But this time, their voices were so clear and so loud that it was as though they were standing next to him, singing directly to him.  Jimin’s eyes popped open to meet the gazes of six men who called themselves his best friends.  They were singing to him!  In his bedroom.

Jungkook’s lips curved into a sweet smile before his eyes fluttered shut so he could concentrate on channeling all the emotion contained in the lyrics through his heart and into his voice.

“I am not alone,

Never on my own.

There is one whose love

Wraps me from above.”

Tae grinned at Jimin before reaching out to brush his hand along his shoulder, his deep voice hugging Jimin close.

“I am not alone

Trapped within my moan.”

Jin’s lips twitched as he focused on singing the high notes.

“There is a bright light

Burning up my night.”

Yoongi stood on the outskirts of the group, a sweet glow lighting up his face as he opened his mouth to let his honeyed voice echo, “Be still.  Be calm.”

Namjoon’s dimples were in evidence before he took a deep breath and murmured his line, “My heart, breathe…in this balm.”

Yoongi’s eyes smiled this time as they collided with Jimin’s.  His voice thrummed comfortingly, “Be still.  Be calm.”  

He walked up to the bed and gently pushed Jimin down until he was lying on his back again.  Then as Hobi sang the last of his lines, Yoongi pulled the covers up around Jimin and tucked him in.

“My soul, soak…in this balm.”

But as Jimin lay there, his high, sweet voice joined the chorus of the other vocal line members.  Now the song was complete.  All seven of them had provided their part.

“You are not alone,

Never on your own.

There is one whose love

Wraps you from above.

“You are not alone

Trapped within your moan.

There is a bright light

Burning up your night.”

Jimin was grinning from ear to ear by the time the final strains of the music ceased to play.  His eyes swept the faces of the six men surrounding him.  Suspiciously.  For he knew what was coming.

Jin started it.  He careened forward, falling on top of Jimin.  Tae followed him, smashing Jin into Jimin.  Laughing, Jungkook joined the pile.  Then, Hobi.  Next, Namjoon.  

Finally, Yoongi asked, “Jimin, can you still breathe?”

“Yes,” resounded a giggling Jimin gasping for air.

“Good,” Yoongi replied as he fell forward onto Hobi.  But the pile was so tall now that Yoongi’s feet were still on the floor.  He was simply leaning into the others.

“Enough,” Jimin gasped.  “You’re not supposed to suffocate a guy on his twenty-sixth birthday!”

“No?” Tae responded as they all began to climb off the pile one by one.  “Not till next year then?”

A chorus of chuckles and good-natured guffaws followed that remark.  Finally, everyone had their feet firmly planted on the floor.  Except for Jimin.  Who was quickly swinging his legs down so he could jump off the bed.  He wasn’t about to give them all another opportunity to smash him today.  But he couldn’t help the beaming grin that had completely suffused his face with joy.

“You guys wrote that song for me?”

“For you?” Yoongi asked dryly.  “No.  I wrote that song to encourage myself.”

But Hobi couldn’t keep a straight face.  He began to chuckle.  He was dancing around the room and accidentally bumped into Yoongi, launching him towards Jimin again, who was suddenly being flattened once more by his hyung.  Yoongi’s lips twisted into a sour line as he rebuked Hobi.

Meanwhile, Tae and Jungkook were grinning like twin Cheshire Cats.  

“Come on, you goofballs,” Namjoon called as he walked out the bedroom door.  “I want some cake.  Let’s go see if Jimin saved us any.”

“Wait!  What about the last surprise?” Jin questioned their leader before his dark blond head disappeared around the corner.

“You tell him,” the tall one responded.

So Jin turned his beaming face towards Jimin, but Tae beat him to the punch.

“We’re taking you back to the recording studio.  We want you to sing this song with us.  Jungkook sang your lines originally, but now you get the first stanza of the second verse.  After all, this song is really about all of us.  And we’d like to record it and release it to ARMY today.  To celebrate your birthday.”

“Properly,” added Jungkook respectfully as he bowed his head to Jimin.

Jimin grinned and leaned forward to pet Jungkook on the head before he threw his arms around Tae. 

“You guys are the best!” Jimin shouted.

“We know,” Yoongi murmured.

But he was smiling sweetly as they all headed to the kitchen for cake.  So was Jimin.  He’d received the best gift of all for his birthday today.

The gift of friendship.