Asclepsius

Chapter 17: When the Past Awakens

Author's POV

The air changed before anyone realized it.

Jimin took another step forward.

Too close.

Amungi instinctively moved backward.

But there was nowhere left to go.

Her back met the wall.

Jimin didn't touch her.

He didn't need to.

His presence alone seemed to fill the small space between them.

"Stop doing this."

His voice was low, trembling with something far stronger than anger.

"Stop acting like I'm the problem when you won't even tell me what's wrong."

Amungi's shoulder throbbed.

Once.

Twice.

Then faster.

Every inch Jimin moved closer sent another violent pulse through the strange symbol hidden beneath her clothes.

"Jimin..."

Her breathing became uneven.

"Please..."

"Please what?"

His eyes were filled with frustration and hurt.

"You won't talk to me. You won't look at me. Every time I come near you, you react like..."

He stopped.

Like I'm hurting you.

The unfinished thought hung between them.

Amungi pressed herself against the wall.

There was nowhere else to go.

The pain suddenly surged through her shoulder and spread across her back like fire beneath her skin.

She gasped.

And something inside Jimin changed.

Jimin's POV

Why won't she tell me?

I didn't understand.

I had spent months wondering what I had done.

Months watching her avoid me.

Months trying to convince myself that I could give her space.

But now she was standing in front of me, clearly in pain, and I still had no idea why.

"Why won't you just tell me?!"

My voice came out louder than I intended.

I stepped forward.

Then suddenly...

Something happened.

My blood felt hot.

Not warm.

Hot.

It rushed through my veins with a strange intensity.

My chest tightened.

My vision blurred around the edges.

I could hear my heartbeat.

Loud.

Heavy.

Almost unnatural.

I looked down at my hands.

They were trembling.

What's happening to me?

Then I heard someone behind me.

"Jimin, stop!"

Jungkook.

He was moving toward us.

I turned instinctively.

And everyone froze.

Author's POV

Jimin's eyes had changed.

The familiar warmth of his brown eyes was gone.

In its place was a deep, burning red.

Not a bright, artificial red.

Something darker.

Older.

Like embers buried beneath centuries of ash.

Heat seemed to radiate from him.

Taehyung stumbled backward.

"What the..."

Namjoon's expression went completely blank.

Jimin himself didn't seem to understand what was happening.

His breathing was heavy.

His vision seemed tinted crimson.

And his gaze instinctively locked onto Jungkook.

Protective.

Possessive.

Almost primal.

"Jimin?"

Jungkook stopped moving.

Jimin stared at him.

He didn't know why he felt threatened.

He didn't know why his body had reacted.

He didn't even know what was happening to his eyes.

Then...

Amungi's body reacted.

AM's POV

The pain suddenly changed.

It didn't disappear.

It transformed.

A warmth spread through my body.

Then—

Golden light burst beneath my skin.

I gasped.

"What..."

My hands trembled.

I looked toward the mirror.

My eyes...

They were glowing.

Brilliant gold.

Not soft.

Not subtle.

Something ancient seemed to burn behind them.

The mark on my shoulder suddenly grew warm.

Then brighter.

The symbol seemed to shine through the fabric.

Jungkook stepped back.

"What is happening?"

I couldn't answer.

I couldn't even hear him properly.

My vision sharpened.

Everything around me suddenly seemed clearer.

Then I felt something strange in my eyes.

My pupils changed.

They narrowed.

Lengthened.

Until they resembled the vertical slits of a serpent.

Gasps filled the room.

I looked at Jimin.

He was staring at me.

His red eyes met my golden ones.

And suddenly...

the entire room disappeared.

There was only him.

And me.

Red.

Gold.

Fire.

Serpent.

Something inside me recognized him.

Something I couldn't explain.

Something that existed long before this life.

Jimin's red glow intensified.

My golden light answered.

The two energies seemed to react to each other.

Not fighting.

Recognizing.

Author's POV

The mark on Amungi's shoulder blazed brighter.

The original symbol remained at its center, but faint golden patterns began branching outward from it.

Lines of light traced across her skin like something ancient was slowly revealing itself.

The room trembled.

Only slightly.

But everyone felt it.

Namjoon immediately stepped forward.

"Everyone..."

His voice was cautious.

"Back up."

Nobody argued.

Jungkook kept his eyes on Amungi.

She wasn't hurting anymore.

That was what frightened him most.

For months, being near Jimin had caused her unbearable pain.

But now...

the pain was gone.

It had been replaced by something else.

Power.

Warm.

Ancient.

Awake.

Jimin looked at his hands.

The red glow flickered around his fingers.

"What..."

He swallowed.

"What's happening to me?"

No one answered.

Because no one knew.

Amungi slowly looked at him.

Her golden eyes softened.

"You don't know."

Her voice was barely a whisper.

And suddenly she understood something.

Jimin wasn't doing this intentionally.

He wasn't trying to hurt her.

He wasn't even aware of what was happening.

He was just as lost as she was.

He wasn't the cause.

He was part of it.

Whatever it was.

The golden light pulsed again.

Jimin's red glow answered.

Once.

Twice.

Then—

Everything went dark.

The lights flickered out.

The supernatural glow disappeared simultaneously.

Silence swallowed the room.

A few seconds later, the emergency lights flickered back on.

Jimin's eyes were normal again.

Brown.

Confused.

Terrified.

He stared at his trembling hands.

Amungi's eyes had returned to normal too.

But her legs suddenly gave way.

"AM!"

Jungkook rushed forward and caught her before she fell.

Jimin stumbled backward.

His breathing was still uneven.

"What..."

He looked around the room.

"What was that?"

Taehyung's voice was barely audible.

"I don't know."

No one moved.

No one spoke.

Because everyone had seen it.

There was no pretending this hadn't happened.

No explanation could make glowing eyes, unnatural energy, and a mysterious symbol disappear.

And yet...

none of them understood what they had witnessed.

Jungkook carefully looked toward Amungi's shoulder.

Beneath the fabric, the mark remained.

Faint.

But different.

It was no longer dormant.

Something had awakened.

Something that had been waiting.

Something that had recognized them before they recognized themselves.

And deep within the two people standing at the center of it all...

a forgotten past had finally begun to remember.