The first impression had turned out to be correct: Soonyoung was an extremely lively person who liked to smile and talk non-stop while moving around with the restless energy of an overeager puppy. In the time it took the pair to guide him towards the office they had already learned everything from his favourite colour (white) to his dislike for mushrooms ("They turn so squishy when you cook them, gross.").

And it didn't stop there. When he returned after his appointment with the secretary they found out that Soonyoung was conveniently placed in every single one of their classes (and in the class Chan attended alone) and he eagerly accepted Jisoo's offer to sit with them.

Due to that offer Chan was grumpily rubbing his ears on their way to Jeonghan's apartment, wondering aloud how a single human could produce so much noise. Jisoo wisely decided against telling his moody Guardian that Soonyoung's behaviour was quite similar to Chan's when he was in high spirits.

When they arrived at the luxurious apartment complex Jun and Hansol were already waiting for them at the door to apartment number seventeen. Chan wasn't happy about the long hug Jisoo received from Jun but he let it go (this time) to explore the kitchen instead.

Jisoo and his two Warriors remained in awkward silence until they decided to move to the living room.

"Where's the rest?" Hansol asked after flopping onto the couch, his feet propped up on one of the arm rests. Jun sent him a look of reproach and pushed his legs from the sofa to make some space for Jisoo and himself.

"They're still in university, Jeonghan and Seungcheol are preparing something for their group project and Jihoon stayed with them," Jisoo answered while sitting down next to Hansol, who immediately stiffened at his close proximity and looked down. Jun plopped down next to Jisoo and promptly leaned his head against the Wielder's shoulder, making him flush. "B-but I need to talk to you guys." The two Warriors lifted their heads at his words and Jun sent him an encouraging smile. "Uhm... The others are a bit unhappy about some of your habits. I get that you're not used to sharing a flat and you're only here until we find a better solution but you need to get along with them somehow. And some behaviours are bound to cause conflicts, that includes not cleaning up after yourself and barging into other people's rooms," Jisoo chided gently.

Hansol nodded and avoided eyecontact while Jun looked rather contrite. "I couldn't help it, I was worried about you. There was so much sadness suddenly, I thought something had happened and since I don't have a phone it was the only way I could contact you."

"Thanks Jun, but it wasn't anything serious so no need to worry. I'll leave my number for you so you can call me on the landline whenever you're concerned, okay?" the Wielder offered and Jun was satisfied, judging by the way he wrapped his arms around Jisoo.

Since his bond with Jun was already sufficiently strengthened Jisoo had promised himself to make an effort with the younger of the brothers today. After he had asked Jun to prepare dinner together with Chan he focused his attention on the remaining Warrior who kept fiddling with his shirt and sat as far away as possible on the couch. Pondering his approach he decided to simply ask some questions he was curious about anyway and to see where it went from there. "Does the contract with me feel any different from the one you had before? Yours wasn't forced, was it?"

Hansol looked a bit uncomfortable at the question but still nodded. "'course it does. The other guy was a massive ." Jisoo bit his lip to prevent himself from criticising the younger's choice of words and just kept quiet for Hansol to keep talking. He did after a short pause. "The bond was uncomfortable. And it got freaking tight whenever he punished me. But I still got lucky compared to Jun, I'd rather get physically punished than being trapped in a forced bond."

"Is that why you took his punishments for him?"

Hansol scoffed, his face reddening in anger. "Jun never did anything that deserved punishment but that bastard found all kinds of absurd reasons. I'm sure he somehow got off on his little power plays. Did you know that he tried to punish Jun for dropping his pencil once? I emptied several buckets of water into his room before he could though, I'm pretty sure the scars of that beating are still visible. God, I hate him. I hope he rots in hell."

The raw pain in Hansol's voice cut into Jisoo like a knife and their bond was pulsing wildly in reaction to the Warrior's hatred. The Wielder bridged the gap between them and wrapped his arms around Hansol's shaking shoulders, running his fingers through the shaggy hair of the other to soothe him. Slowly Hansol's heavy breathing returned to a more normal rhythm and his overly tense body relaxed. When Jisoo pulled back the younger's cheeks were tinted pink and he looked a little lost. "You know, I admire both of you for being so strong. You're amazing."

Hansol blushed even more at the compliment.

Jisoo and Hansol had joined Chan and Jun in the kitchen to ensure that dinner would be ready when the others returned (and to make sure that he house wouldn't burn down), which was where Jihoon found them half an hour later. The Warrior was not the least bit impressed by the mess that was his formerly pristine kitchen but after thoroughly cussing out everyone (except Jisoo) he calmed down at the Wielder's promise to clean up after dinner.

Dinner itself was quite taxing for Jisoo. It hadn't even been five minutes after they had started eating that Jeonghan couldn't keep quiet anymore. "Do you really need to go on a date with that guy?" he asked randomly, catching the Wielder off-guard, who had been discussing new ideas for their project with Jihoon.

"A date with whom?" Jun immediately asked, eyeing Jisoo. Even Hansol was staring at him and he could feel his mouth going dry at the amount of attention. He swallowed his salad with difficulty and set down his fork.

"A friend of mine," he answered evasively and Jihoon snorted. "Why wouldn't I go? He asked me and I like him." His ears already felt overly hot again.

"You like him? As in like like? More than a friendly like?" Jeonghan kept interrogating.

With all eyes directed at him, Jisoo experienced the very uncomfortable feeling of standing in the spotlight but having forgotten his lines. "N-no- I mean yes. I don't know. H-he's nice but I don't know him well enough to actually l-like him that way. Yet."

"But you might in the future?" Chan readily jumped into the conversation.

"M-maybe?" Was it just him or had it gotten unbearably