Freedom

The Others
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The silence that followed his question was deafening. All three students had turned pale and stood completely motionless for a few seconds.

Jihoon broke the silence with a heartfelt "!", his formerly relaxed stance rigid and his eyes searching his Warriors.

Jisoo took a wary step back at the look on the other Wielder's face. He was used to indifference, annoyance and even anger in Jihoon's expression - but this time something seemed off. He looked desperate, for the lack of a better word, like an animal trapped in a corner. It made Jisoo's already fast beating heart double in speed and the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach intensified.

Jisoo took another step back when Jihoon crouched down slightly, assuming an obvious fighting stance - but strong arms once again wrapped around him, preventing his escape. This time, Jeonghan's embrace was lacking the gentleness from earlier, instead it felt like chains had wrapped around the Wielder, holding him in place. The feeling in Jisoo's stomach spread throughout his whole body when Seungcheol stepped in his line of vision and hid Jihoon's smaller body behind his broad shoulders. His face was uncharacteristically emotionless and his eyes held coldness that did not match their warm chocolate brown colour.

"What are we going to do with him?" Seungcheol asked, his piercing gaze boring into the Wielder who had started to shake slightly. It took all of Jisoo's courage to open his mouth to try and say something to defuse the situation, but long fingers immediately prevented him from speaking. The cold fear that rushed through him made his limbs feel numb and he frantically tried to imagine what Chan would do in this kind of situation.

"Now what?" Seungcheol asked again while Jihoon stepped next to him to take a look at the trapped Wielder.

Jihoon visibly hesitated to speak and something akin to pity shimmered in his eyes. "Can't we just send him home with a warning? He's actually pretty nice for a Wielder; I don't think he'd try to forcebond us."

"And he's obviously scared, Cheol. He's shaking like a leaf. Let's just talk to him about it," Jeonghan's voice piped up, way too close to Jisoo's ear to be comfortable.

"If we let him go and he rats us out, it will get all of us in trouble, especially you, Ji," Seungcheol said, clearly not convinced. "And our parents," he finished, a grim expression painting his features when Jihoon opened his mouth to argue once more. That seemed to hit a nerve and Jihoon stayed quiet, destroying the little glimmer of hope that had awoken in Jisoo's chest while Jihoon and Jeonghan had defended him. Tears sprang to his eyes when Seungcheol stepped closer and he hopelessly fought against Jeonghan's grip - but the Warrior was too strong for him to break free.

Just when Seungcheol was about to touch Jisoo's wet cheek, the door flew open and crashed against the wall with a deafening sound. In rushed Chan, an anxious look on his face. Rage immediately overpowered his concern as soon as he spotted the restrained and crying Wielder surrounded by the three students. "Hands off, you fu- Jeonghan?! What the hell is going on!"

"Chan?! What are you doing here?"

Although Chan was clearly just as surprised as Jeonghan, he did not hesitate to step forward and rip Jisoo out of the Warrior's arms, who had loosened his grip in confusion. The Wielder immediately clung to his Guardian, his face buried in Chan's neck, and used the familiar warmth to calm himself down. Seungcheol tried to take a step in Chan's direction but he was held back by Jihoon who was in turn watching Jeonghan. Tense silence descended on the room, only broken by Jisoo's quiet sobs.

"What are you doing here, Chan? I thought you're in America," Jeonghan carefully tried once again.

Chan warily eyed him and the others, still visibly trying to hold back his anger for the sake of calming his Wielder. "How about you explain this ed up situation to me first, huh? What were you doing to Jisoo?" he hissed while simultaneously rubbing little circles into Jisoo's back.

"Your Wielder saw something he shouldn't have," Jihoon said, "we-"

"Your Wielder? You're a Forcebearer?!" Jeonghan exclaimed in astonishment, prompting Jihoon to throw him an annoyed look, but he was too preoccupied with staring at the Guardian to notice it.

Chan blushed at his obvious disbelief. "So what? Got a problem with that?" he asked defensively, glaring back at the Warrior.

"Woah, everyone was wondering why they cancelled your birthday party so suddenly. Were you grounded or something?" Jeonghan looked genuinely curious now while Chan seemed more and more embarrassed.

To everyone's surprise, it was Jisoo who stopped them. He had let go of Chan after drying his tears and now turned around to face his classmates. "How do you know each other?"

Jeonghan immediately looked down and avoided eye contact instead of answering the question, therefore it was Chan who replied while stepping around his Wielder to stay at his side. "We kinda grew up together. His mother is pretty famous, so I'd always see him at all kinds of social events. And since we're somewhat close in age, our parents forced us to get along." The quotation marks he used for 'get along' were audible. Jisoo noticed that Jeonghan's face fell a little at Chan's obvious disdain even though the Warrior still hadn't looked back up. "And now that you know that I'm a Forcebearer too, mind explaining why you were threatening my Wielder?"

The three students shared glances before Seungcheol spoke, his voice cold. "Like Ji said, he saw something he shouldn't have and that makes him a threat."

"So you wanted to get rid of him?" Chan snarled and even Seungcheol looked vaguely uncomfortable at that accusation.

"Of course not. We wouldn't seriously hur

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blue_deer
We have reached 100 upvotes here and over 850 kudos on AO3, thank you all so much! Also, the lovely shuajai has translated this story for the Spanish-speaking fans on Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/story/264092377-the-others-joshua-harem :)

Comments

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reading67 #1
This story was soooo good!! One of the best I've read and I really love your writing style! And I need to know Plan B omgggg!
joshuji_o
#2
Chapter 61: I need the plan B
joshuji_o
#3
Chapter 50: Ok, no puedo creerlo. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT.

SOONYOUNG WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!
estefdegyu
#4
Chapter 61: necesito saber el plan b, omg.
YoonJoshuji
#5
Chapter 61: Damn what a unique concept i really wanna know what is their plan B or if the other forcebearer will break their rule hahahahah
Caratmia #6
Chapter 61: Omg I love this I can't wait to see what happens next!!!
IamProudTrash #7
Chapter 2: This story is literal gold!! I love the way you tell stories!
JOSHUJIIIIi #8
Chapter 61: im so excited i wanna know yugyeoms plan b
JOSHUJIIIIi #9
Chapter 50: this is one of the best stories out there omg I have read this book for four times now and it's still the best, I never got bored when I read it again and again
Kookie_Lover9703
#10
Chapter 61: Ohhh plzzz I want the next snippet...plan b!!!!