Bright, warm sunlight was filtering through the blinds into his small bedroom when Jisoo opened his eyes. He stretched and yawned, still comfortably wrapped in his fuzzy blanket. The apartment was quiet and peaceful, only the sound of the clock ticking in the kitchen was breaking the silence. Not even his usually chaotic neighbours were being noisy and that was the first sign that something was awfully wrong.

With an ominous feeling in the pit of his stomach, Jisoo reached for his phone on the bedside table - only to find it turned off. The feeling intensified while he tried to revive the trusted yet ancient device (it was one of those flip-phones one could close with a dramatic gesture of the hand; he really liked doing it when nobody was watching) but after a few minutes of frantic effort, he gave up with a loud sigh.

It seemed like he would have to buy a new one soon - which was not an easy task considering his almost empty bank account. All the money he earned through his part-time job went into the rent for his small apartment and his parents were already paying his university tuition for him. Besides, he would never ask his parents for money anyway. They were struggling to make ends meet even without him pestering them but fortunately, their Wielder was a kind man who had offered them two rooms in his mansion for free. He had even offered to pay for Jisoo's tuition but his parents had strongly refused since Jisoo wasn't one of his bonded Forcebearers.

Jisoo was somewhat of a rare case. Usually, at least one parent had to be a Wielder for the possibility to bear a Wielder child to arise; there were only a few documented cases in history where two Forcebearers had given birth to a Wielder - but he was undoubtedly his father's child, seeing as they shared pretty much the same facial features. Therefore he had been raised as a Forcebearer all his life and the Wielder of his parents had always treated him as one of his own. When the intricate key on his hipbone had appeared on his 18th birthday, everyone had been in disbelief - especially Jisoo, whose secure future had crumbled before his eyes. He had moved out of the mansion a few months later and - after finishing high school and several futile attempts of getting a job in his hometown - had decided to attend university in Seoul instead of staying in Daegu. A fresh start in a big city where nobody knew of his parents and whispers wouldn't follow him wherever he went.

But now, only about a month into his university life, it seemed as if he had gotten into quite the predicament. Chucking his dead phone aside, he sprinted into the kitchen to check the clock - almost getting a heart attack when it read half-past nine. His class had started at nine and the professor had an especially nasty attitude when it came to tardiness, gleefully letting students fail whose attendance was less than 90%. Hurriedly, Jisoo threw on some clothes while simultaneously brushing his teeth and stubbing his toe, and ran out of the front door, his bag dangling dangerously low on his shoulder.

Jisoo was a positive person. Therefore, throughout the morning, he repeated to himself that the day would eventually get better. He repeated it when his professor chewed him out in front of the class for being an hour late; he repeated it when he found out that he had forgotten to finish the essay he was supposed to hand in today; and he repeated it when lunch break came and he couldn't find his wallet anywhere in his bag. He even knew exactly where he had left it: securely placed in the middle of his little kitchen table, pretty to look at and completely useless in his current situation.

By now his stomach was rumbling since he had skipped breakfast in order to get to university as fast as humanly possible. While he pathetically stood in front of the cafeteria entrance, watching the other students come and go, he failed to notice that he was blocking the way of a rather large group of people.

"Oi, move it!"

The loud voice from behind made him flinch and he hastily turned around to move out of the way. Of course he knew who the guy was who had just spoken; everyone on campus knew Jackson Wang. He was one of the most powerful Wielder students, the people he surrounded himself with consisting almost exclusively of four-star Forcebearers and some of his almost equally powerful Wielder friends. They were as admired as they were feared and Jisoo usually went out of his way to avoid them at all cost - just like he did with any of the big Wielder groups in his university, making him somewhat of a loner.

He cursed his bad luck when Jackson eyed him up and down, a small, predatory smirk pulling at his lips. "I don't think we've met. Warrior or Guardian? And which rank?"

"I-I'm a Wielder." Jisoo hated his voice for breaking. A Wielder was supposed to stand strong and proud, not stutter as soon as someone spoke to them.

Jackson raised an unimpressed eyebrow at that statement. "You look more like a little Guardian. But there's an easy way to check, right guys?" He stalked towards Jisoo while his friends closed in as well, preventing his escape. He was surrounded by at least seven people and his heart felt as if it was about to burst o