"Mingyu, stop."

The tall Warrior ignored the soft voice next to his ear, almost drowned out by his heavy footsteps on the thick carpet, until slender fingers began to lightly pull at his hair.

"Mingyu!"

"No."

"Please!"

"No, Jisoo."

"He's going to kill him!"

With an audible sigh, the Warrior adjusted his grip on Jisoo's thighs before he replied, "Let the crazy bastards do their thing. We're not getting involved any more than we already are."

"It will ruin Soonyoung's life and we're talking about Chan's brother here." The Wielder tugged at his hair again and Mingyu finally stopped walking.

Chan's tired voice from behind made them both jump. "I don't really mind, hyung..."

When Jisoo tried to argue further, Mingyu's patience ran out. "His life is ruined anyway; he kidnapped you, for 's sake!"

"Stop being such a god damn saint and start caring about your safety." Jihoon had listened in as well. The rest of the group had noticed the argument and came to a stop next to them, exasperation already clear on their faces.

"He's not trying to go back, is he?" Hansol asked and Jihoon shrugged.

"Of course he is."

"I've already called the police, sweetheart. They'll take care of it and everyone will be safe," Jeonghan piped up and the Wielder frowned at the obvious attempt to placate him.

He let go of Mingyu's shoulders and almost toppled to the floor, only Seungcheol's quick reflexes stopped him. The tall Warrior quickly set him down. Back on his own two feet, Jisoo leaned against the wall, his legs still somewhat unstable after everything he had been through - but his voice held determination when he declared, "I'm going back. I promised Soonyoung I would take care of him."

The Forcebearers gawked at him. "You did what?" Jihoon finally asked, rage barely contained in his voice. "Are you insane?!"

At his disbelieving questions, Jisoo looked sheepish and ducked his head to avoid the accusing stares. "H-he said he'd get you o-out in return."

"And he broke his promise so you have absolutely no obligation to keep yours." Seungcheol's tone was final and the Wielder puffed up his cheeks.

Seokmin poked them, a warm smile blooming on his face at the sight of Jisoo's defeated expression. "Don't feel bad, Soo. He doesn't deserve your kindness."

The rest nodded while Chan took his hand. "And Yohwan deserves what he's getting."

"Don't say that, he's still your brother!" the Wielder immediately scolded but his grip tightened around Chan's fingers nonetheless.

"I wish he wasn't."

Jisoo remained quiet at his bitter words and Jeonghan ruffled Chan's hair, pity in his eyes.

"Can someone take Seungkwan? He's heavy." Minghao broke the tense silence.

"He'd hit you if he could hear you," Jun said and the Warrior managed a grin at his words.

Hansol stepped forward. "I'll take him. I'm stronger anyway."

"As if," the redhead mumbled but still looked relieved when the weight of the Clairvoyant left his back. He stretched before he clapped once. "Okay, let's get outta here." The other Forcebearers nodded.

"Want me to carry you again?" Mingyu asked but the Wielder shook his head.

"It's alright, thanks." He reached for Minghao. "I'll just prop myself up a little if that's okay?"

"Uh, sure." A blush tinted the redhead's cheeks while he wrapped an arm around Jisoo's waist.

"Let's go then. Try to hurry a bit, I wanna be out of here before the police arrives," Seungcheol said and everyone started walking again.

"Are you sure you don't want me to carry you?" Minghao asked not long after, concerned about how far they were lagging behind, but the Wielder shook his head once again.

"If I'd ask you to help me, would you do it?"

Surprised, the Warrior stumbled slightly at the question. After he had found his balance, he examined Jisoo who was decidedly avoiding his eyes. "That's why you wanted to walk with me? To convince me to help that psycho?"

"I'm not asking you to help him; I'm asking you to help me."

Minghao looked disgruntled at his words but after a few seconds of silence, he heaved a low sigh. ". What do you want me to do?" Jisoo smiled brightly and the Warrior rolled his eyes before he leaned in and kissed the Wielder's cheek. "It's kinda scary how whipped I am," he mumbled, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Blushing slightly, Jisoo got to the point. "If we bond, you can stop them from following me, right?"

"I guess... But they're going to beat my afterwards."

"We'll just say I forced you to do it."

"Yeah, like that's believable," Minghao grumbled, a deep frown on his face. "I don't get it. Why do you want to help him? He betrayed us and he's the main reason you almost died. I don't want you to even be in the same city as him, let alone in the same room."

"I know and he actually really scares me." Jisoo looked down for a long moment. Minghao itched to ask what had happened between them but then the Wielder kept talking. "I can't help but feel bad for him though. I want him to get help, not to make everything even worse."

"Well, he doesn't seem to be a fan of Wielders, judging by how he's currently killing one. How do you know he's not going to come after you after finishing off Yohwan?" Minghao still sounded sceptical.

"I don't." The redhead looked even less convinced after that answer. "But I think he wants something from me, so he probably won't hurt me."

"I don't like the 'probably' part."

Jisoo grinned weakly. "Me neither. Are you in?"

Minghao glanced at the rest of the group who had almost reached the window they had first used to get in. When he turned back to the Wielder, his expression was grim. "I'll wait in front of the door and block it. If anything seems even remotely fishy, you scream immediately, got it? I don't care if I have to fling Soonyoung through the roof; if he touches you, he's dead."

Jisoo tried to hide a smile at the threat in his voice and decided to divert his attention. "Alright, I promise. How do we bond?"

Minghao eyed him for a few seconds before he shook his head with a grimace and reached into his pocket, producing a safety pin. After poking his finger, he held the pin out for the Wielder. "Just so you know: I'm mad at you for even having this incredibly stupid idea."

Jisoo flinched when the pin drew blood but his smile persisted. "I'll make it up to you. Thank you, Minghao."

They pressed their fingers together. "You better come back alive and give me something real good then."

"Minghao, I swear to god I'm going to rip your ing head off if you don't let us in. Right. Now." Jihoon once again tried to pry open the door to the living room but it didn't budge an inch and he slammed his fist against the wall in anger. "You're so dead!"

Seungcheol prevented his brother from physically assaulting the pale redhead and Minghao relaxed a little, seeing the fuming Warrior restrained.

"He's going to kill him! Stop being a freaking idiot!" Jun pulled at the doorknob but gave up when it didn't move. He continued mumbling curses in Chinese when he returned to Seungcheol's side.

"I promised I'd keep it closed until he either screams or comes out..."

Throwing up his hands in distress, Jeonghan restlessly walked back and forth in front of the door, passing by Seokmin and Hansol, who was still carrying Seungkwan on his back. "Oh my god, do you even hear yourself talk?!" he snapped. "'Until he screams', it's gonna be too late then!"

"We really need to get inside, Minghao. It's dangerous," Seokmin said with forced calm. It was obvious that he was agitated as well.

When the redhead stubbornly shook his head, Mingyu had enough. " this. Wonwoo, get rid of his bond."

The Guardian, who had remained on the sidelines together with Chan, looked up from his hands. "No."

Appalled, Hansol turned to him. "Are you nuts? Jisoo is in there with that freak!"

"Come on, we need to get in! Please! Do you want him to die or something?"

Mingyu sounded pleading but Wonwoo's face had hardened at the question although his voice remained toneless. "It was his decision to go. Even though I don't like it, I respect it because I respect him."

His words were enough to immediately silence the group and they exchanged guilty glances for a moment. Finally, Jihoon took a deep breath to calm himself before he spoke. "Alright. But if as much as a hair of him is missing after this is over, I'm personally going to hunt you both down."

"S-Soonyoung? Are you s-still here?" Jisoo's whispered words floated through the dim room, only lit by the dying fire in the ornamented fireplace. Shivers ran down his spine at the heavy silence that hung in the air. He jumped when the Warrior's voice sounded to his right. Soonyoung stepped into the light of the fire.

"What do you want?"

The Wielder froze at the amount of blood that was coating Soonyoung's skin and had soaked into his clothes, tainting everything a gruesome, rusty red. Turning his eyes away from the unsettling sight, he squinted to see if he could make out Chan's brother but the area behind the blond was shrouded in shadows of broken furniture. "I-is Yohwan... did you... I m-mean-"

A cruel smile played on the Warrior's lips and Jisoo felt the hairs at the back of his neck rise. "He's still alive. I'm not going to make this easy for him, trust me. I'm paying him back for every single lie he's ever told." Soonyoung's smile suddenly turned more genuine and an oddly proud expression took over his face. "I even got back at him for you."

The Wielder inhaled sharply and willed himself not to run as far away as he could from the man in front of him, who spoke so casually about torturing another human being. "I... uhm," he stopped for a short moment, "I a-appreciate the thought. I really do. But you need t-to stop, Soonyoung. You can't just go around hurting people. It's bad and a-against the law."

The Warrior's pleased expression vanished as quickly as it had come. "You don't like it?"

Hesitating for a second, Jisoo worded his answer carefully. "I don't like it when p-people get hurt."

Disappointment seemed to press down on Soonyoung's shoulders until his face hardened once again and he returned to the uncaring manner he had displayed earlier. "That's fine, I guess. I'll still get rid of him, he deserves it," he said with a shrug.

"No! Soonyoung, wait!" Jisoo leaped forward to stop him from turning back and the Warrior immediately raised Yohwan's dagger and aimed at him. Hastily, the Wielder took a step back, raising his hands.

"Don't make me hurt you."

Jisoo's brain seemed to cease to function when the blond turned around. With bravery that only desperation could conjure, he stepped forward, slowly this time to not spook Soonyoung again, and wrapped his arms around his sturdy frame. The Warrior immediately froze at the unexpected warmth against his back.

"Soonyoung, you want to be my Warrior, right?" Jisoo's voice was merely a whisper.

"....yes." The blond sounded wary.

"Why do you want to be my Warrior?"

It took a moment for Soonyoung to answer. "You let your Forcebearers do whatever they want. You respect them."

"Do you think I could do t