Taehyung didn't know what death was like. Was it the overpowering blackness on his mind? Was it the feeling of being doused in his own blood? Was it the complete immobility and paralysing weakness in every cell of his body?

He felt all three. Had he truly lost his hold on life?

"TAEHYUNG!"

Was this the sound of his head? Why did it sound so... ferocious? And so... close?

"Oh, my God! TAEHYUNG! TAEHYUNG!"

Taehyung's eyelid cracked open with a weak jolt. Blurred black with wisps of alien yellow zoomed in his vision. He tasted metallic blood on his tongue. His face felt sticky – was it blood or sweat?

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the man. The man was leaning against the opposite wall, crumpled up in an odd position. His shattered bottle hung loosely in his still-maintained grip but now his eyes were shut and he was breathing heavily – as if in a tortured sleep.

Someone rushed to him – to Taehyung. He still couldn't see much, just flashes of colour, the feeling of a jacket... strong arms propelling him up... his head being pressed in a tough but quivering chest...

A face came to his sight. Taehyung couldn't recognize it immediately, although he knew he had seen it before.

He tried to speak. "You... Who..." But he couldn't form a word. The loss of blood from his head must have been a lot. The world spun around and, just as he felt himself being carried up amidst someone shouting, he fainted.

When Taehyung's eyes opened again, it was under a fan. The ceiling, that he saw, was clean and plain. There was a blanket on him and he felt a little damp, as if the bloody parts of his body had been cleaned.

He blinked. Now the blurred vision cleared up better. He could feel his lungs breathing, his heart beating. When he parted his lips, he could utter sounds again.

Something was locked on his hand. He tried to look around but his neck throbbed with a sharp pang. He tried to move his hand but the thing tightened.

It took him a while to realize his hand was being held. In normal circumstances, Taehyung wouldn't mind his hand being held but, after the brutality he faced in the maniac's apartment, he furiously tried to get his hand.

"Taehyung...?"

He knew this voice.

"Is he awake...?" The same voice, but now speaking to someone else.

Slowly, a face came into view. He knew this face well. Taehyung squinted.

"J-Jimin?"