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Buddha’s Temptation, a food soul of grace, charisma, and of impeccable scent.
Who’s scent can attract and tempt Buddha who has ascended from this world, whose scent is truly timeless.
A smell that you always face first thing in the morning, usually because the owner of the scent is always trailing around your room, lingering around or even waking you in the same way you can always remember. But today, he did not wake you, along with his presence being absent in your room and by your side, that the first thing you smell in the morning is not him . That for once this morning, it is the fresh scent of mother nature just beyond your windows that greets you instead of his intoxicating aura.
It would be a pattern that would repeat multiple times throughout the day.
No other food soul seems to know where Buddha’s Temptation is, not even Ron Goldie.
You’re a bit worried.
As you walk throughout Kongsang, you smell so many things. All very unique, all very familiar, all of them missing just one. One that you are, and always will be the most familiar with. Would he be resting somewhere, perhaps? You don’t want to think he might be in trouble…
But you try to calm yourself and look off to somewhere, to the horizon and wondering if the air would go right at you and hopefully lead you to where the missing food soul is. You look around, and then feel the wind suddenly pick up just a little, and you start to whisper that hopefully your soft words might be delivered by the breeze;
“If you’re having problems, please come home. Nobody would want you to deal with it alone.”
It’s not himself to have troubles, especially troubles that might lead him to go somewhere in which he may be alone, in which he drops his tasks, in which he disappears from your side and his fellow food souls without any explanation or a letter. It’s also not you to whisper into the air, talking to nothing.
And so you return from the hills and back to the populations.
You try to work. Try to focus.
Your head is blank, and cannot hear any other words thrown at you.
Until suddenly, the walls of your thoughts fall down, crumbling before the gentle voice of Hu-Geng.
“Master, maybe you should take a walk to clear your mind.”
It took you a moment to understand what he just said. Hu-Geng gives a small smile, leaning into your vision, “You might even encounter Buddha’s Temptation on your way.” He suggests as another nudge for you to pause work for just a little to freshen your head.
Hu-Geng calms you, and you stare at him for a few more seconds before nodding at his suggestion, “Yeah, I haven’t been moving much these days. Even Harbin has been merciful.”
You get up from your chair, and take a deep breath while Hu-Geng quietly takes a few steps back, “I’ll go and pack some food for you, Master.”
You’re not really sure what has gotten in you today, just because Buddha’s Temptation decided to take some time to himself, a rare thing in itself. Yet it has such a big effect on you, your mind so distracted with wonderment that you barely remember how you even exited the bustle of Kongsang and how you found your way to these grassy hills.
Maybe you’re starting to learn how it really feels to be apart from him for just a moment, like three seasons passing that you could care less about. It’s not that you favor him over the other food souls — of course not! You’re just more… Sensitive and affected when a single food soul is not anywhere nearby, ever since what happened last time…
You start moving towards the trees. You don’t want to be under the scrutiny of the sun right now, favoring the merciful shade that the leaves provide as they stand tall over you to create shadows of safety. You hold onto the snack that Hu-Geng nicely prepped for you, humming a tune that you’ve been hearing Spring Roll repeatedly and joyfully play around the fields. You brush your fingers against the barks of the trees, and take a deep breath.
Bark… With the faint smell of sap as it escapes from the tree. Dew that still remains on the grass.
Then you keep walking normally, observing nests, chasing after squirrels that only wanted to find some nuts, and then you take another pause. Another pause to take one, big, inhale as your nose is pointed up high.
And you smell the same thing; bark, sap, and dew.
You know you’re looking (or in this case, smelling) for something. And you know who exactly it is you want to find.
Continuing on with your journey of finding some peace of mind and hopefully being able to encounter the certain food soul you are worried for, you finally end up in something even more beautiful. A field with warm, neutral beiges. They dance gently, following the lead of the breeze as it takes away the breath of whoever sets its eyes on its whole existence, beckoning for people to come and walk through them. Visiting them, joining their movements.
Soon, the air finally starts blowing from the right to right where you are, and you suddenly smell something.
Him .
You look around, and once you spot him, you can already hear Harbin scoffing or making a joke about how he might have to train your eyes. Buddha’s Temptation’s color scheme overall blends in with the light, brown fields as he lays down, surrounded by their touch. Finally…
What you do not smell is tree bark, sap, grass dew, the smell of large fields and the sweet breeze, but what you smell is the savory scent that you remember has always been by your side ever since you’ve been born. What you’ve been trying to find since this morning, having quite missed it.
It’s strange. You’ve never felt this way when you had to leave Kongsang to travel around and Buddha’s Temptation has not been assigned as a partner to you, yet here you are, feeling sweet relief of finally reuniting with him with barely half a day of separation. Maybe it was because he just left with no explanation, not even through a letter or from the other food souls?
You call out for him.
He definitely did not expect that, with the way he instantly sat up with wide eyes, yet even as he was surprised, he somehow instantly knew where to glance to find you.
“Oh, hello, beautiful.” He gives a smile that he usually puts on everyday, yet you can see a slight strain — a twitch. Even the nickname he always says with so much adoration is a bit crippled, yet still held on a tone of delight. Just not the same.
Indeed, something must really be bothering him.
You walk over to where he is, going down a slight slope as your body crashes against the reeds as you run down. Then amongst the reeds, is a hidden rock that is peaking just outside the ground and you immediately trip down right beside Buddha’s Temptation, “Ah!”
The soft laughter of the food soul immediately distracts you from the embarrassment, feeling him nudge you a little to help you fix yourself. You reach out to the food box and soon fix your position, sitting properly with the box on your lap,
“I was worried for you.” You immediately start out. He shouldn’t really be leaving without telling anyone where he would be.
Then you cut yourself off. Are you being too worried? He’s older than you, and he fights better than you, and he definitely has actual brain cells in that noggin of his…
Then you shake your head. You are his master, you are a master of many food souls — of Kongsang, you should be worried. Because you shouldn’t fail them again like how you failed them before. You sigh, looking to the side to look at the expression of Buddha’s Temptation over your words.
“I apologize, Master.”
That took you off guard. He’s not using a nickname.
“What brought you out here?” The first question to start this whole dilemma off.
He moves his arm, spreading it a little wide, welcoming you to sit closely and lean to him while you both talk. You push yourself closer, letting him hug you with just one arm if that would mean he will become more calm, less nervous to explain what is troubling him. You graze his fingers with your own to encourage him.
The scent he always lets out is now dull to your nose, that although you tried to find it, you cannot focus on what lingers with how anxious you are and how many thoughts are running in your head. Unable to appreciate his presence, only able to put the worries under the spotlight. While you were expecting him to speak, there was just silence as an answer to your raging head.
With birds going home, and the sun starting to kiss the horizon, you wonder if this conversation — if there even will be one — will last until the stars blanket the sky with their hushed beauty.
“I’ve been thinking about the things you said when we first met for the first time.”
‘Second time.’ You correct in your head.
“About how you lost us, about how we used to know each other long before I met you that very day and helped us…”
Buddha’s Temptation looks toward the sun as it continues to settle, something gleaming on his eyes that softened.
“Sometimes I feel quite somber when I think about that. How we had so many years of memories together, how our memories now can’t hold a candle toward it. It is strange, because they aren’t my memories anymore, no longer my thoughts — I’m not the exact same food soul who held you when you were just so little…”
He sighs.
“But that’s the point. There was a version of me who held you ever so carefully, and then watched you grow up to be such a beauty, a delicate moon of the food souls in Kongsang to guide us within the path we all take. And then, there is me, who does not have any memory of those.”
Silence.
“I feel grief, somehow, for those lost memories.” Buddha’s Temptation finishes with a brief exhale.
And as you two sit together, this time, the ever familiar scent smells quite bittersweet for the first time. Bittersweet with solemn thoughts, of yearning, of nostalgia that only exists in your mind and not shared with the people who created these memories with you. Irreplaceable memories slowly being replaced by your whole family, even if they do not mean to. You then shake your head aggressively, making your companion beside you a little confused by such a gesture.
“I…I guess I understand.”
You’ve never really thought about it. You were so busy bringing everyone back, that you never sat down to not only grieve over how they forgot who you are.
There’s also about how it might as well the memories you formed with them before having to rip The Tale of Food never existed in the first place. That even if you found them all, they remember nothing. You sit there, pondering as you are hugged by Buddha’s Temptation.
His words made you really think.
It’s true.
He doesn’t remember how he met you when you were born, so small and tiny, under the protection of everyone.
He doesn’t remember about the small games you and he made up when you were just a child.
He doesn’t remember or understand why he started greeting you every morning, laying in your bed.
He doesn’t remember the deep bond he had with your father before you were born.
At a technicality, that Buddha’s Temptation you knew and grew up with is dead.
The one beside you…
No. Not an impostor. It’s still him.
Just…
“Even if…” You start, trying to gather your thoughts.
“Even if you can’t remember all those… It just means you have more space now, for new memories.” But you stammer. You don’t sound confident.
Buddha’s Temptation looks up to the sky, and you both just realize that night has finally come. Fireflies are starting to come out of their homes, joining the stars in shining the world, fighting darkness for everyone to feel safe. The sight is supposed to be beautiful, to encourage the energy of laughter and appreciation of how life is, of how everything is okay. How everything is alright if you are in the company of those who you love and forever will. But the somber mood only gravitates towards you and your companion.
“Those stars…” He suddenly starts.
“Those are what we had before. So many things we have done together, times we have spoken to each other, looked at eachother… Uncountable. Yet, what we have now are these fireflies. So beautiful…”
“Beautiful, but they can all be gathered and counted, and you would have a solid number.”
What are you even supposed to say? What a master you are…
But how do you even quiet down a yearning that’s like this? You can’t transfer all the memories from before inside everyone now. No, you can’t.
Nothing can be exactly the same anymore. And that’s okay.
“It’s okay, you can feel grief over those memories you were forced to forget. I understand now.”
You yearn, too. Just like any soul.
“You can’t remember a lot of milestones I went through. You don’t remember how I looked as a baby, as a child, as…” You cut yourself off before you start rambling and losing the point, “I’m not that old yet. I’m still growing, and I want to keep growing right beside all of you.”
You look up.
Buddha’s Temptation’s eyes are shining, the stars reflecting.
“I’m not the same food soul who was with you since the beginning.”
You stand up suddenly, surprising your companion a little and forcing him to look up at you while he continues to sit.
“When I started my journey to try and bring all of you home, that was a beginning. Life always has beginnings and ends. Chapters.” You explain, looking off to the distance, “So that just means you were with me since the beginning of the first chapter of my life, and now you were with me since the beginning of my next chapter. We’re all still together.”
All of you were always in my beginning of growth, you whisper in your thoughts.
Buddha’s Temptation smiles at your words, “I see your beauty does not end with your face.”
You huff at the tease he shoots at you.
“Then, I place my trust and heart into your hands, although I already have done that.” The food soul then rises, patting some loose grass on his clothes.
He offers his hand, “Why don’t we make a new memory right now, Beautiful? The night is quite delightful at this moment.”
Maybe it’s time to brush up your dancing skills.
You take the offer, and your bodies start to move along the soft, gentle glades of the field, the fireflies carefully flying all around you two. Buddha’s Temptation has placed himself as the lead, naturally, and so you simply follow him while you two dance along the buzz of the fireflies. That’s when your companion decides to hum a tune, his voice giving it such a lovely tune, but then you realize something after a few seconds just passed. As he swings you around a little, you remember that lullaby he’s humming is something faint from when you were little.
A lullaby you always heard when you could barely walk.
You lose focus on the dance for just a second. Does that mean his memories are returning..?
Or…
Your dancing partner twirls you around, finding amusement how you almost stumble because you were stuck in your own thoughts again.
“You…” You grumble, earning a laugh from him.
No. It’s not his memories returning. That lullaby he hummed was something he made out of love for you, so that something could comfort you in restless nights and days. And that lullaby returned to him, because he loves you just as much, even if he does not remember all the memories of watching you grow. The music he hums to you right now is not by memories, but of pure love that will go across every universe and star.
You smile.
Although his reasons from before are gone now, he now has other reasons that still lead to everything being the same at the present.
Now he wants to greet you every morning to make you feel better as you continue to protect your family.
The bond he had with your father will now be seen through you.
He will make new games with you that you two will play together once boredom strikes.
He will hum a lullaby purely made to comfort you, even if it was long forgotten before.
And his scent will always stay beside you, something so familiar. So comforting. Saying that everything will be alright, because you are at the close, warm grasps of those you love.
But the stars will always be above all of you, of memories ripped apart.
Though they will stay there.
The fireflies will be closer, will increase, and will grow brighter.
The short dance soon ends, with you two back sitting down in comfortable silence.
“I only wish I still knew what it felt like to see you achieve some things from before.”
“That’s understandable.”
You lean closer to him, and this time, he hugs you with both arms, keeping you warm from the breeze slowly becoming colder.
“Some things will stay the same. You care for me the same as you did before, and I think that’s enough. That’s all I need.”
“You are all I need, too, Beautiful.”
“Not your brother?”
Buddha’s Temptation smirks, “Hm.”
That’s all that comes out from him, and it causes you to silently laugh.
You both sit under the stars, and you can only watch the sky. So many bright memories that cannot be reached, that are long gone. But you two are still here, able to touch each other, feel each other's warmth, and soon, make new memories that will shine brighter than before. You close your eyes, head resting on his chest as it slowly raises and settles down. Listening to the tune of his heart beating together with your heart, both satisfied and happy with eachothers companionship under such a beautiful night.
“I shouldn’t take up all your attention. Should we head home now?”
“Oh, right.” You then get up and see the food box Hu-Geng gave you, “Oh no! I forgot to eat what Hu-Geng made for me!”
“Well, you certainly can’t eat it now. You’ll spoil your appetite for dinner…”
“But I can’t waste food, you know that.”
Buddha’s Temptation exhales, “Well, let’s share it. Together.”
You blink. The last word certainly had more passion put in it than the other words before it. Guess the speech really got to him.
“Okay~”
You two start walking, using the same way you went through while looking for the food soul who’s accompanying you. Buddha’s Temptation holds some kind of confidence as he traverses the paths, and not just being general confidence — he most likely has taken this path numerous times already. Hm, so this must be one of his favorite places to relax in.
As you walk through the darkness with some faint light, you open up the box to reveal the snack that Hu-Geng has prepared. It's your favorite. How thoughtful…
That’s always how Hu-Geng has been.
You exhale, thinking about Hu-Geng is the only one in Kongsang who has no past interactions with you. And if he did, you were likely too young to remember anything at all.
You hand over some to Buddha’s Temptation for him to eat his own share, all so that you wouldn’t eat it all or waste it so that your appetite is not completely destroyed for dinner.
It took a while to get back because the trees were covering most of the gracious light the moon was trying to provide. Eventually, you’re back home. With a sigh of relief, you look down to see that you and Buddha’s Temptation have unconsciously laced your fingers together, keeping each other close as if afraid you two would be separated once again. You squint into the distance to see two familiar figures as if waiting around for something.
It seems to be Hu-Geng and Ron Goldie waiting for both of your arrivals.
While the white haired food soul stays behind, Ron Goldie is quick to rush after the both of you with a small pout.
“What were you doing with my brother, huh?!” He shouts, immediately going between you and his brother, taking over Buddha’s Temptation’s hand that was just holding yours. The taller food soul is amused by this act, seemingly never tired of seeing Ron Goldie not wanting you near him, while he wants to be near you at all times.
“It was safer!” You try to reason.
“Y-You didn’t have to be so close to him!” Ron Goldie stammers, pushing his brother a bit further from you.
You cross your arms, “Ron Goldie..”
Before you two could argue like little children, Hu-Geng caught up, “Let’s go home, Master. A lot of the food souls are worried about how long it took for you to return.” He smiles.
“Right! Let’s go before Sweetsour Whitebait starts another search team!”
You rush along with the three food souls, answering the questions of Hu-Geng while Ron Goldie keeps shooting his own questions towards his older brother with suspicion reeking in his words. Buddha’s Temptation only keeps deflecting, teasing both you and the frustrated food soul. You laugh, feeling so close to these food souls, and you’re excited to finally continue laughing along with the rest of your family.
Gathering with everyone, you’re finally able to eat dinner peacefully now that you’ve returned home, easing the worries of all the other foodsouls. After dinner, and now that everyone is soon trying to settle into their own rooms (or at least most of them), you have the sudden urge to get up and try to bid everyone goodnight personally. You’re not sure if you can do it in time, but…
You get up anyway with determination, leaving your desk behind and deciding to start with Spring Roll’s room. And then to Candied Hawthorn, Mugwort Rice Ball, Candied Gingko Nut, and on and on you bid goodnight to every food soul who resides here.
Now, you aren’t sure if you did this intentionally, but somehow, Buddha’s Temptation is the last one.
You peak in, checking if he’s already fallen asleep. You see him standing by the window, staring up at the sky as the essence of the moon lays itself upon himself thickly. It makes him look like he’s from another world, and his eyes say the same, looking lost, adventurous, and… Maybe he shouldn't be disturbed. You back away. After all, you could consider the time you spent together in the field as a long goodnight simply because it would hopefully make Buddha’s Temptation dream of things that do not give him grief.
You jump into your bed, alone. Your only companion now is peace, and the sounds of every bug that decides to cause ruckus. You smell your clothes, not in the mood to change into something new. So many scents are stuck within the threads, reminding you that everyone is actually here and not just a fragment of your imaginations caused by insanity from grief. One last inhale, and you settle down, your head floating down to the clouds of sweet dreams and warmth.
…
And once morning comes, what arrives next is just as what you’ve expected. The familiar jump to your bed, weight settling down on your legs.
Oh, and that scent. That scent of familiarity.
You open your eyes, and although tired, they instantly gleam with joy.
“Good morning, Beautiful.”
“Good morning, how was your sleep?” You sigh.
“It was wonderful, because it had you.”
You let out a light laugh.
He’ll always greet you like this every morning, and that’s what’s normal for you. Normal for him. Hopefully, everything will stay alright, just like this.
And all those lost memories that left him empty will soon fill him again with newer ones. You close your eyes again, just wanting to take this all in, pushing your hand to his and lacing both your fingers together, and there you hold each other.
Holding each other, being together, loving each other for all eternity.
And it will never change, no matter what.
All you really need is the familiarity of his scent, and his love that will always warm your heart.
Everyone’s love.