Shamans Kim

Chapter 22 : An intruder in the Pavilion of Light

A/N: Thank you for your support.

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Feeling the gaze of Jimin and Namjoon weighing on him, Jungkook tried to pretend that he was confident and walked towards the door of the pavilion of light after dropping his school bag on the ground. The eye in the crescent moon was closed, as if sleeping, and a low purring vibrated the gilding and the wood.

Jungkook knew it was going after anyone who got too close without having Seokjin's mark. He looked at his hand where there was a perfect replica of the one that had once allowed him to enter the pavilion without being devoured. He wondered if, due to a misunderstanding, the door could have thought it was Seokjin's.

Moreover, he had become friends with this door at some point, so it certainly wouldn't come after him, he had to reassure himself, thinking of the time when the door had wanted to help him win against Seokjin, in their chase.

Then, having made up his mind, he raised his right hand and placed it on the door. Instead of knocking, he let his hand brush against the door, in a caress to awaken the door that he knew had a consciousness of its own. He didn't want it to wake up suddenly and be in a bad mood.

Oddly, he feels a force emanating from the door when his hand makes contact and he thought that as a shaman in a magical place, he would have to get used to feeling the magic emanating from things. He pushed the feeling aside, remembering his mission: to enter the pavilion.

"Hey, I'm back, remember me?" he said softly at the door, nervously.

The large eye suddenly opened and focused on Jungkook who swallowed hard. He turned to Jimin and Namjoon who, a few meters away, were staring at him with apprehension. Namjoon seemed to be ready to jump to pull him away from the door if it decided to attack Jungkook. After all, Seokjin had ordered the gate not to let anyone in or out and Jungkook wasn't even supposed to have access to the pavilion anymore since Seokjin had removed his mark.

Namjoon wondered if the door would remember that it had already let Jungkook in once and if it might allow him to enter again. Even if he doubted it, he especially wanted to give Jungkook the opportunity to show if his new shamanic magic allowed him this kind of feat, before jumping to his aid.

"I came before and you let me in," Jungkook continued, addressing the door, "you even helped me win against Seokjin when we were playing cat and mouse. Could you let me in again? Uh... please?"

The door's eye lowered to look at the mark on Jungkook's hand and for a brief moment he thought that he had managed to fool it. But very quickly, the look at the door hardened and gave the impression of entering into a mad rage.

"Jungkook back up!" Jimin shouted, frightened.

The wood rippled, forcing Jungkook to withdraw his hand and the gilding that adorned the door suddenly detached itself from the wood to shoot out like metallic vines and wrap itself around Jungkook's arms, legs and waist, preventing him from move away and making him cry out in surprise. A wide mouth opened and two rows of teeth and a tongue covered in saliva appeared, terrifying Jungkook: the door wanted to devour the intruder.

Jungkook suppressed his fear as best he could and shouted at Namjoon who had started moving.

"No, don't come any closer, I'm not finished yet!"

"But- "

"Let me talk to it again, I'm sure I can convince it to let me in!" interrupted Jungkook, whose emotions oscillated between terror and excitement.

Namjoon looked at him like he was losing his mind. Reasoning Seokjin's door was impossible!

He stood nearby and watched as Jungkook struggled against the golden bonds and continued to speak to the door, shouting to make it see reason and convince it not to eat him: