The warm rays of the morning sun tickled my face and woke me up. It was something I hadn't experienced in a while. My parents' Forcebearers had probably forgotten to close the curtains last night - but they already knew I wouldn't rat them out for their mistake.

I shielded my face with my arm and sleepily tried to turn around to hide from the bright light but something heavy and warm restricted my movements. Opening my eyes, it took me a moment to see properly through the haze a good night's sleep always left me with. I focused on the white ceiling above me. A quiet rustle next to me made me turn my head – and I came face to face with a young, sleeping man.

All the memories crashed down on me at once.

It was physically painful to think about yesterday's incidents, a sharp sting in my heart, and I could already feel the lump forming in my throat. I wasn't at home anymore, this wasn't my room and it wasn't even my own bed I was lying in right now.

A sudden movement snapped me out of my depressing thoughts. The person next to me - my new Wielder, Jisoo; my brain helpfully supplied - had used his arm (that had stopped me from turning earlier, for such a thin appendage it was surprisingly heavy) to pull me closer, wrapping his limbs around me like a koala. It was as if he could feel my sadness even though he was still fast asleep. But that wasn't possible, was it?

I watched his peaceful face, his pink lips slightly parted and his dark lashes a pretty contrast against his pale skin. Jisoo was undoubtedly a beautiful human being, inside and out. I still remembered vividly how he had tried to hide me behind him on the street yesterday while we got attacked. Not many people would do that, much less for a stranger. And not to forget the many times he had consoled me after taking me in - just thinking about it made my heart flutter a little.

Jisoo had shown more compassion and interest in me than anyone ever before, including my family - which was kind of sad, really, considering that I had only known him for less than 24 hours.

He was a bit too close to me now though, I wasn't exactly sure how to handle this type of situation. Jisoo had hugged me yesterday too but somehow that had felt much less ... intense? It felt so intimate to get cuddled while lying in bed together with his breath hitting my cheek - it made me feel all kinds of things. Things I should most definitely not feel for my Wielder.

Speaking of Wielder - the thought of being a Forcebearer was still odd to me. Especially the shock of finding out about being a rank five had made it seem all the more unreal. I was still really curious about my ability, though. I knew it was there, I had felt it unlock the moment Jisoo's and my blood had mixed but I just couldn't seem to grasp it properly.

Did all Forcebearers have those kinds of problems in the beginning? I should have asked the servants of my parents but I had always been too busy preparing to be a Wielder instead of giving much thought to the experiences of Forcebearers. Maybe I wasn't as different from the rest of my family as I had imagined to be...

What a scary thought.

I closed my eyes and tried once again to activate my ability. It simply pulsed a few times, taunting me just like it had yesterday. But I wasn't called stubborn for nothing, so I took a deep breath and concentrated. I could feel it deep in my chest and I imagined grabbing onto it, to hold it between my fingers, before I pushed it out of my body with as much strength as I could muster.

With bated breath, I peeked through my lashes, prepared to see something, anything - but nothing had happened once again.

Damn it!

I punched the mattress in frustration, completely forgetting about Jisoo next to me. Fortunately, he only mumbled something incoherent at my movement and snuggled even closer, his forehead and nose now pressed against my burning cheek.

After a few seconds of pretending to be dead, I relaxed slightly and dared to breathe again. Was it normal for a guy to smell so good? I immediately shuddered at my own random thought. This situation was definitely a bit too much for me to handle in the early morning. I had told Jisoo last night that it was okay for me to sleep on the couch but we had found out shortly after that he only owned a single blanket so he had forced me to share his bed.

The lives of regular people were definitely very different to what I was used to. But it was also interesting and as long as Jisoo was here to help me out, I was sure I could do anything.

Weird, how such a thin and soft-hearted person like him could make me feel so safe.

He was completely different from all the Wielders I had gotten to know over the years, regardless of whether they were friendly towards their Bonded or not. He was neither very dominant nor outgoing, characteristics most Wielders seemed to share. Also, there wasn't even a hint of superiority in his behaviour. It was no surprise that he got mistaken for a Forcebearer, really. What worried me was that people seemed to be interested in him even though he gave off the typical impression of a low ranking Guardian. Usually, Wielders passed by anyone who was below rank three without even sparing them a glance but I had seen the stares he had received in the supermarket yesterday - the ones he seemed to be completely oblivious of - and the fact that we, of all people, had gotten jumped in the street worried me even more.

I carefu