Asclepsius

Chapter 9: The Mark

Author's POV

Amungi leaned closer to Jimin, a playful smile forming on her lips.

She whispered near his ear,

"Do I look beautiful?"

Jimin's entire brain seemed to stop functioning.

"I... uhh..."

He blinked several times.

"You... look... okay."

Amungi raised an eyebrow.

"Okay?"

Jimin immediately realized how ridiculous that sounded.

"I mean... you look really good."

Amungi chuckled smugly.

"Thank you."

She walked away, leaving Jimin completely dumbfounded.

He watched her disappear into the crowd.

What is wrong with me?

A Little Later

Amungi wasn't much of a party person.

In fact, one of the biggest reasons she usually avoided parties was the presence of alcohol.

She had plenty of reasons for not drinking.

But there was one reason she rarely told people.

She didn't completely trust herself while intoxicated.

Even though she had a relatively high tolerance, she knew that alcohol could make anyone less cautious.

And Amungi valued her own safety.

Tonight, however, something felt different.

Maybe it was the celebration.

Maybe it was the atmosphere.

Or maybe she simply wanted to let herself relax for once.

So she decided to drink.

She started with an Irish Bomb challenge against Yoongi.

To everyone's surprise...

Amungi won.

Yoongi stared at her.

"Seriously?"

Amungi laughed.

"Never underestimate me, hyung."

After that, she had a few stronger drinks.

Eventually, she began feeling slightly dizzy.

She immediately stopped.

"Okay. That's enough."

She moved toward the bar and sat down, sipping water while the party continued around her.

A few minutes later, someone approached.

A young man, probably in his twenties, stopped beside her.

"Hello, gorgeous."

Amungi looked up.

She gave him a small, playful smile.

"Hi, handsome."

The stranger laughed.

"That was a good one."

He extended his hand.

"I'm Jihyun."

Amungi smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Jihyun. I'm Amungi..."

She paused.

"...but you probably already know that."

Jihyun laughed.

"Of course I do."

"Why?"

"Because if we work at BigHit, we should know who you are."

Amungi tilted her head.

"Why's that?"

He grinned.

"First of all, you're probably the cutest person in the entire building."

Amungi blushed.

"And the second reason?"

Jihyun leaned slightly closer.

"It's surprising you're still single."

Amungi laughed.

"Yeah. That's true."

Jihyun looked amused.

"Honestly, I'm surprised Bang PD even allowed you to join."

"Why?"

"I heard he has some pretty strict rules about staff."

Amungi shrugged.

"Maybe I was lucky."

"Definitely."

She looked at him.

"But you don't seem married."

"I'm not."

He smiled.

"Bang PD made an exception because I'm not directly assigned as idol close staff."

Amungi nodded.

"Oh."

Jihyun smiled and held out his hand.

"Would you like to dance?"

Amungi glanced toward the dance floor.

Then back at him.

"Sure."

She placed her hand in his.

Meanwhile...

Someone had been watching.

Jimin sat at the bar, his eyes fixed on Amungi and Jihyun.

His fingers tightened around the glass in his hand.

He couldn't understand why he was feeling this way.

He had no reason to be bothered.

Amungi was free to talk to whoever she wanted.

She wasn't his girlfriend.

She wasn't even...

He stopped himself.

Then why does this bother me so much?

On the dance floor, Amungi and Jihyun continued talking and laughing.

Ten minutes passed.

Then fifteen.

Their conversation became quieter as they moved closer.

Jimin's jaw tightened.

He looked down at the glass in his hand.

His grip became firmer.

Too firm.

Crack!

The glass shattered.

Jimin immediately flinched.

"Ah!"

A sharp pain shot through his hand.

He looked down.

Blood.

He quickly pulled his hand away.

But before anyone noticed, something strange happened.

Across the room...

Amungi suddenly froze.

A sharp pain struck the exact same place in her shoulder where the strange pain had appeared before.

She flinched.

"Jihyun..."

She looked toward the bar.

"I'm sorry. I have to go."

She hurried away.

"Amungi, wait..."

But she was already gone.

Am's POV

I reached the bar and immediately saw Jimin.

His hand was bleeding.

"Jiminah!"

I rushed toward him.

"What happened? You're bleeding!"

He looked up at me.

His eyes were strangely emotional.

"Please don't..."

He swallowed.

"I don't..."

His voice broke.

I didn't know what he was trying to say.

All I knew was that he was hurt.

I quickly grabbed a napkin and pressed it against his hand.

But the bleeding was worse than I expected.

Without thinking clearly, I tried to help stop the bleeding using the quickest first-aid response I could think of before getting proper medical care.

The moment I touched his wound...

Pain.

A terrible, burning sensation exploded through my shoulder.

I gasped.

My hand flew toward the painful spot.

"What...?"

The pain intensified.

"Ah!"

Jungkook, Namjoon, and the others suddenly rushed over.

"Am!"

Namjoon looked alarmed.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!"

I tried to steady myself.

"Jungkook, take Jimin to the hospital."

I pointed toward Jimin's hand.

"That cut needs to be treated properly."

Jungkook nodded immediately.

"Okay."

"Please go now."

Namjoon looked at me.

"But you're not okay."

"I'm fine, hyung."

I forced a smile.

"I'm going home."

The members hesitated.

"Please just take Jimin first."

Jungkook nodded.

"Okay."

They quickly helped Jimin out.

I remained standing there for a moment.

My shoulder was still burning.

Something was terribly wrong.

Later That Night

The pain followed me home.

It didn't disappear.

It didn't even weaken.

I was sweating and exhausted, unable to understand what was happening to me.

Eventually, I collapsed into bed.

And sometime during the night...

I fell asleep.

The Next Morning

6:00 AM.

Amungi's eyes opened.

She immediately touched her shoulder.

Nothing.

No pain.

She slowly sat up.

What happened?

She got out of bed and went to the bathroom.

Her hand moved toward the strange spot.

There was a mark.

Not an ordinary scar.

It looked almost like a symbol.

Amungi stared at it.

"What is that?"

She moved closer to the mirror.

And then...

CRASH!

The mirror suddenly shattered.

Amungi jumped backward.

Her heart pounded.

She stared at the broken glass.

"What the..."

For a few seconds, she couldn't move.

Then she forced herself to breathe.

"Okay..."

She looked away.

"That definitely wasn't normal."

She decided not to think about it.

Not yet.

After taking a shower and getting dressed, the first thing that came to her mind was Jimin.

She immediately picked up her phone.

Phone Call

Ring...

Ring...

"Hello?"

"Hi, hyung!"

Amungi spoke quickly.

"How's Jimin? Is he okay? What did the doctor say? Is his hand alright?"

Namjoon laughed softly.

"Am, calm down."

He smiled.

"Jimin is absolutely fine."

Amungi sighed in relief.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"And honestly, credit goes to you."

"Me?"

"Yeah."

"You gave him first aid quickly, which helped him get treated without unnecessary delay."

Amungi smiled.

"Oh."

She felt relieved.

"I'm really glad he's okay."

"He is."

Namjoon paused.

"By the way, do you have any plans today?"

"No."

Amungi laughed.

"The first thing I did after waking up was call you to ask about Jimin."

"Then come over."

"Come over?"

"Yeah. We'll have lunch together."

Amungi hesitated.

"But hyung, I'm just staff. Me coming to your private house might be..."

"Am."

His voice became firm.

"You're not just staff."

She went quiet.

"You're like our sister."

Amungi smiled.

"So you coming over isn't a problem."

He continued,

"I'll send you the location. You're coming."

She laughed.

"Okay, okay."

Then she remembered something.

"What about the others?"

"They're all here."

Namjoon chuckled.

"Today's an off day. Everyone's free."

He paused.

"And they'll be more than happy to have you around."

"Okay."

Amungi smiled.

"I'll come."

"Good."

Namjoon's voice became playful.

"Come ASAP. Everyone will be waiting."

There was a tiny pause.

"...Especially someone."

He said the last words so quietly that Amungi barely heard him.

"What did you say, hyung? I couldn't hear the last part."

"Nothing!"

Namjoon quickly recovered.

"Just come ASAP."

Amungi laughed.

"Okay, hyung."

The call ended.

She placed her phone down.

She had no idea that the lunch invitation would become the beginning of something none of them could explain.

And she certainly didn't know that the strange symbol on her shoulder was not a scar.

It was a mark.

A mark that had been waiting thousands of years to awaken.