Asclepsius

Chapter 15: The Mark Between Them

Jungkook's POV

I rushed through the hallway, looking everywhere for her.

"AM!"

Nothing.

"Amungi!"

I turned another corner and finally spotted her.

She was standing near the end of the corridor, completely still.

"AM!"

She flinched and turned around.

"Jungkook!"

"What are you doing?"

"I..."

Her voice trembled.

"I-I don't know."

I immediately walked closer.

"Calm down, Am."

She looked like she was trying to process everything that had just happened.

"We're here, okay? You can tell me anything."

I lowered my voice.

"Are you uncomfortable with Jimin?"

Her eyes widened.

"No!"

She answered immediately.

"I could never be uncomfortable with him."

She paused.

"He is..."

Her voice became quieter.

"He is... I can't explain it."

"What do you mean?"

Amungi looked down at her hands.

"I don't know what's happening to me."

Then she touched her shoulder.

"I have a feeling the scar I have here..."

She swallowed.

"...is because of him."

I frowned.

"What?"

"Take those wipes."

She pointed toward the small pack in my hand.

"Wipe the back of my right shoulder."

I hesitated.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded.

"Please."

I carefully wiped the area.

Then I froze.

My breath caught.

There was a strange mark on her shoulder.

It wasn't colorful.

It wasn't like an ordinary tattoo.

It looked almost like an old scar.

But the shape...

It was unmistakably a symbol.

"What..."

I stared at it.

"What is this?"

Amungi shook her head.

"I don't know."

She looked terrified.

"Kookie..."

Her voice cracked.

"Whenever I see Jimin or even get close to him, this place starts hurting."

She touched the mark carefully.

"Today it was unbearable."

I looked at her.

"Are you sure it's connected to Jimin?"

"I don't know."

She shook her head.

"Maybe I'm imagining everything."

She paused.

"But when he hugged me..."

Her expression became confused.

"I don't know why he did it."

She looked away.

"But nothing about the hug felt wrong."

She swallowed.

"Except the pain."

I didn't know what to say.

There was clearly something neither of us understood.

I finally spoke.

"Maybe you're imagining a connection that isn't there."

She nodded slowly.

"And if..."

I lowered my voice.

"If there really is something going on, don't tell Jimin about the mark yet."

Amungi looked at me.

"Why?"

"Because we don't know what it means."

I glanced toward the styling room.

"Let's figure out what's happening before we tell him."

She nodded.

"Okay."

I gave her a reassuring look.

"Go home and rest."

"Okay."

She picked up her bag.

"Thank you, Kookie."

"Anytime."

She walked away.

But I couldn't stop staring at the direction she had disappeared.

That symbol wasn't normal.

And somehow...

I had a feeling this was only the beginning.

Meanwhile...

BTS Styling Room

The atmosphere was tense.

Jimin was still standing near the door.

Namjoon walked toward him.

"What was that, Jimin?"

His voice was serious.

Jimin didn't answer.

Taehyung stepped forward.

"Jimin..."

He folded his arms.

"If Am felt uncomfortable because of you in any way..."

His expression hardened.

"I swear, I will..."

Jimin suddenly looked at him.

"TAE!"

His voice echoed through the room.

"She would never be uncomfortable because of me."

Taehyung stared at him.

"Then explain what happened."

Jimin opened his mouth.

Nothing came out.

He looked toward the door again.

"I..."

Silence.

Namjoon sighed.

"You know what?"

He shook his head.

"Leave him alone, guys."

The members slowly backed away.

But Jimin remained frozen.

His mind kept replaying the same moment.

The second he had seen Amungi...

The sudden need to hold her.

The strange sense of familiarity.

And the way she had suddenly pulled away.

Why does she affect me like this?

Three Weeks Later

Something had changed.

Not just between Amungi and Jimin.

Within everyone.

For three weeks, Amungi continued coming to HYBE.

She did the members' makeup.

She joked with Jin.

She argued playfully with Yoongi.

She laughed with Hoseok.

She teased Taehyung and Jungkook.

She worked comfortably with Namjoon.

But she never touched Jimin's makeup.

Not once.

Whenever it was Jimin's turn, Amungi would quietly step away.

And Jimin noticed every single time.

At first, he tried to understand.

Then he tried to talk to her.

But Amungi always found an excuse.

Eventually, Jungkook requested that Jimin temporarily work with another makeup artist.

The request was accepted.

So the new routine became permanent.

Amungi would arrive.

Everyone would greet her.

Everyone would get their makeup done.

And when it came to Jimin...

someone else would take over.

No arguments.

No explanations.

Just distance.

Yet every time Jimin looked at her from across the room...

Amungi could feel something in her shoulder.

A faint warmth.

A warning.

A memory trying desperately to surface.

And somewhere deep inside Jimin...

he felt it too.

Neither knew what the symbol meant.

Neither knew why their bodies seemed to remember something their minds had forgotten.

And neither knew that three weeks of distance had done nothing to weaken the strange pull between them.

If anything...

it was becoming stronger.