"I got you, sweetheart."

The voice struck him harder than the collision itself. Taehyung staggered backward, Noah clutched tightly against his chest, every muscle in his body locking as though survival itself had forgotten how to breathe. His eyes strained against the suffocating darkness, desperately trying to make out the man standing before him, yet the night swallowed every feature, leaving behind nothing but a familiar silhouette.