Jisoo curled up a bit more to try and prevent the dreams from escaping for a few more blissful minutes. Everything was warm and soft, his unfocused thoughts once again drifting with the clouds and wandering towards happy places - but his subconscious kept nagging him, preventing him from fully embracing sleep the way he wanted to.

He furrowed his brows and attempted to smother the quiet voice in the back of his mind, until the unexpected feeling of Chan's fingers lightly caressing his forehead made him flinch and dispersed the dreams once and for all. Slowly he opened his eyes, only to realize that the floor in his living room hadn't turned soft over night. Instead he was in his bed, securely wrapped in his blanket - and the person next to him who had hastily pulled back his hand certainly wasn't Chan.

Jisoo blinked a few times until he was sure that he wasn't just seeing things and a sleepy but wide smile brightened his face. "You're awake!" He cringed at his own raspy morning-voice and cleared his throat with a little grimace.

Jun, who had looked slightly nervous after accidentally waking up the Wielder, laughed and visibly relaxed back into the soft mattress. "Yeah, for a while now. Guess I should say 'good morning' but it's already dark outside."

Jisoo's eyes widened and his sleepiness dissipated at once. "What?! Oh god, what time is it? Did you eat something? Are the others back already? How are you feeling?"

Jun laughed once again and shushed him softly. "No need to panic, it's still early. I'm doing pretty good, I feel kinda weak still but Hansol took care of me ever since I woke up. I think he used up your ramyeon though, sorry about that."

The Wielder only shook his head with a little smile. "That's fine, I don't mind." He rubbed his cheek against the pillow and attempted to hide a yawn behind his hand, before he focused back on the Warrior. "So you're not in pain? Everything is okay?"

Jun also snuggled further into Chan's pillow, his face close enough for Jisoo to touch if he extended his arm, and nodded. "It hurts a bit when I press on my shoulder but I very much prefer that over an actual bullet wound."

Although it sounded encouraging, Jisoo still felt the worry from yesterday creep up on him at the Warrior's words and images of dark red blood and oozing wounds floated through his mind. Their not-quite-right bond tucked weirdly in reaction to his concern, reminding him that he definitely needed to address this issue, but the worry about Jun's actual physical state outweighed his worry about faulty contracts for now.

"Would it maybe be possible for you to show me your chest?" he asked timidly after contemplating how to word the question in a way that didn't make him sound creepy (he ended up sounding overly formal instead). Jun's amusement was obvious and made him flush red, but the Warrior sat up nonetheless and took off his shirt in one fluid movement (Jisoo recognized it as one of the bigger shirts he only used for sleeping). The Wielder also got up and hesitantly moved closer while eyeing the now clean and smooth chest. He blushed even harder and Jun raised an eyebrow at him with a little grin. "I-is it okay to touch y-you?"

The Warrior looked like he was torn between laughing and cooing, but in the end he simply nodded. "Sure, go ahead."

At first Jisoo only prodded the area of the former wound lightly, but when Jun didn't show any signs of discomfort he got more daring and actually ran his fingers over the pale skin, feeling the bones and muscles beneath it for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. He was so focused on his task that he forgot to be embarrassed and Jun watched him with a warm smile, their faces mere centimetres apart. Jisoo only got aware of how close he actually had gotten when he looked up to ask about Jun's back - and the tip of his nose nearly touched the Warrior's, whose dark eyes were intently focused on his. They remained in this position for a few heartbeats until the situation really settled into Jisoo's brain and he recoiled, hastily turning around to scramble out of bed, completely flustered. But Jun easily stopped Jisoo's attempts of escaping by wrapping his arms around his waist and pulling him into his lap, the Wielder's back pressed against his chest. Jisoo immediately froze, suddenly incredibly conscious of every little area where their bodies were touching.

"Let's talk for a bit longer. The others are making dinner right now anyway," Jun whispered, his warm breath fanning over Jisoo's ear and cheek, causing shivers to run down his spine.

"W-what do you want to t-talk about?" he squeaked, not quite trusting his voice. He kept staring straight at the wall across his room, not daring to move even a little bit.

"You formed a contract with me while I was knocked out and I'm glad you did. But why does it feel so different?"

Jisoo turned around at once, straddling Jun's legs and startling the Warrior (and himself) at his sudden boldness - but he couldn't bear the thought of admitting to forming the contract without looking the other in the eye. Their noses were once again almost touching and Jun still had his arms wrapped around him, while Jisoo placed his palms flat on Jun's chest, so he wouldn't topple into him completely (he tried very hard to ignore the fact that the other was still half-). Even though the bond felt uncomfortable and restrictive there was still a certain warmth flowing through it at that moment and Jisoo felt surprisingly safe in the Forcebearer's arms.

He took a deep breath and ignored his shyness for the sake of holding Jun's gaze. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done it without your consent but I was so scared that you might die and Hansol also- we should cancel it immediately, I'm not happy with it either-"

"What are you talking about?" Jun interrupted him gently, his long fingers rubbing soothing circles in the small of his back. "This feels so much better than my other contracts before, I've never thought that a bond could feel this good."

"You- what? It feels good?" Jisoo asked incredulously.

"Of course. You don't think so?" Jun actually looked rather sad at this prospect and the Wielder immediately felt bad.

"It's- it just feels... different. What did your other bonds feel like?"

"They were painful, you know. Like barbed wire wrapped around my body. But this one doesn't hurt at all, it's amazing."

Jisoo's face immediately fell at the description and a deep anger towards Jun's former Wielders brewed in his stomach - but he swallowed it down and smiled sorrowfully while brushing a strand of hair out of the Warrior's face. "That's probably what forced bonds feel like, regular bonds aren't supposed to hurt. But Jun, the contracts I make have to be based on a mutual decision, I can't handle them otherwise. That's why I need to cancel your contract."

Jun remained quiet for a while and Jisoo grew slightly nervous before the Warrior breathed a deep sigh and pulled the Wielder even closer, burying his face in Jisoo's hair. "But I want to be in a contract with you," he said finally, his deep voice nearly inaudible.

Jisoo couldn't help but smile at how cute the Warrior was being, even though their closeness still flustered him. He al