Even with the distraction Chan provided, the time until the end of their classes had gone by incredibly slow. Maybe it was because he was so tired after two nights of restless sleep but Jisoo had to fight the tempting urge to lean his head against the younger's shoulder and simply close his eyes for a few minutes. He didn't do it of course, he usually tried to be a good student to make the most of his parents' money - but on some days being attentive was harder than on others.

At least Chan seemed well rested and eagerly scribbled everything the professor said in his notepad, asking Jisoo questions from time to time the elder couldn't answer.

Jisoo's salvation came in form of his professor closing the book and dismissing them with a nod. Tiredly he stretched his arms and tried to gather the motivation to get up while Chan had already finished packing his bag and was excitedly chatting about all the new stuff he had learned today.

"You seem to like university a lot," Jisoo remarked with a smile after he had finally stuffed all of his notes into his bag.

The younger nodded enthusiastically while he skipped towards the door. "It's awesome, so many new people and all kinds of interesting subjects. Getting homeschooled was so boring, trust me, it really to be alone all the time."

The Wielder's smile faded at the words of his Bonded who was too busy speedwalking towards his locker to notice. He had never really considered how lonely Chan must have been while his parents had kept him away from society. Come to think of it, the younger had not once talked about any friends he might have had before fleeing and meeting the Wielder, not even friends in his own social circle. The only one who seemed to have gotten somewhat close to him was Jeonghan and Jisoo wouldn't exactly call them friends – they had more something along the lines of a love-hate relationship (on Chan's part at least).

Suddenly it became pretty obvious to Jisoo why Chan seemed to be so overly attached and protective of him, although it was hard to imagine the talkative younger as someone suffering from loneliness. Seeing that Chan had already arrived at his locker, Jisoo decided that he would ask Jeonghan about the young Guardian later. Maybe the Warrior could shed some light on the issue.

Today no letter was waiting for them upon opening the locker and Jisoo actually felt a bit disappointed. Somehow it gave him a subtle feeling of safety to know that someone was looking out for him and guiding him, even though he didn't know the other's intentions.

They were greeted by the three Warriors waiting for them at the gate. "If you want you can come over too. We can have dinner together," Jisoo proposed to Jihoon and Seungcheol, "but I need to buy groceries first." The Warriors shared a look and nodded, Seungcheol stone-faced while Jihoon spared the Wielder a small smile.

Ever since the incident on the night of meeting Chan, the Guardian had been on high alert whenever they went to the supermarket (he had forbidden Jisoo to go alone, even though neither of the two had seen the thugs again), a fact that didn't escape the Warriors.

"What's wrong with Chan?" Jihoon asked Jisoo in a low voice, while eyeing the younger who was walking in front, looking around cautiously.

Jisoo sighed and answered just as quietly, "We had a run in with some thugs who tried to forcebond us on our way once, ever since then he's really vigilant when we're walking around this area. That was also the reason I formed a contract with him afterwards, he was unbonded back then and I was really scared they'd get him."

"Dirty bastards. How did you stop the forcebonding?" Jeonghan hissed from behind and stepped closer to into the conversation.

The Wielder smiled brightly when he remembered the small Guardian showing off his fighting skills. "You wouldn't expect it, but Chan can pack quite a punch."

Jeonghan looked highly satisfied at that revelation. "That's my baby."

Hiding his smile at the Warrior's smug expression, Jisoo decided that now was a good time to ask some questions. "You really care about him, don't you?"

"Of course I do, I've known him since he was like five or something. Though we'd only see each other once or twice a year, but I've always liked him more than the other spoiled brats."

"You're pretty spoiled yourself, Han," Jihoon disrupted and Jeonghan flicked his forehead in retaliation.

"Anyway, the other kids stayed away from me because of my parents' scandal but Chan never really seemed to care. He said yesterday that his parents forced us to get along but they only introduced us and then never actually showed up anymore. Too busy socialising I guess. And since he was always alone too we just naturally started hanging out."

"Do you know why he was alone?" Jisoo asked worriedly.

"I think it was because his parents are so influential, everyone is afraid of getting on their bad side. And since Chan was kinda cold to everyone they just tended to stay out of his way. He's really changed now though, if he didn't look the same - well, except for the horrible sweaters, what the hell, Jisoo? - I wouldn't have recognized him." Jeonghan spared Chan's oversized sweater (an old one from Jisoo) a very judgemental look and the Wielder felt his cheeks heat up.

"I d-didn't have the money to buy him a lot of new clothes this month," he admitted, his head bowed in shame and the Warrior immediately looked guilty while Jihoon stared his brother down. "A-anyway," Jisoo cleared his throat before Jeonghan had the chance to apologize, "how is he different from before? I've only ever known him the way he's now."

"Hm... He's more lively and I've never seen him so openly showing his