(my) diamond in the rough

Taehyung bit back a chuckle as he crept through the silent palace halls, an unknown intruder among marble floors and woven tapestries. Scaling the castle's tower had been more amusement than effort, and sedated wine was the source of the guards' quiet snoring as Taehyung walked by.

He expected a bit more of a challenge. But then again, he wasn't wanted in five different kingdoms on his good looks alone.

The thief had an impressive bounty on his head, but even the reward for his capture (dead or alive) didn't match the treasures that Taehyung had knicked away. The famed Lilac Diamond, the golden bust of Venus, the crown jewels of the lost Toshima Dynasty. All sitting presumptuously in Taehyung's home base, priceless treasures stored next to liquor bottles.

It wasn't the money that Taehyung was after - not really. He liked a pretty gem as much as the next man, but it was the chase, the thrill of the guards trying to keep up with his quick feet, that Taehyung truly craved. The few nights he had spent in prison had done little to dissuade his hobby - no man had yet constructed a cell that could hold him for more than 48 hours.

He had come to King Sangchul's palace upon hearing that the king possessed a treasury unlike any other. The royals wore diamonds on every stitch of their clothing, spent pearls like the gems were as common sand as on the beach. And - as the rumors whispered - all the gems came from a single source of magic, locked away in the highest tower of the castle.

Taehyung didn't believe in magic. Every 'golden goose' he had ever found was just a well-hidden mine that the monarch's ancestors had been lucky enough to settle upon. And he couldn't wait to pull back the curtain of the hidden treasure of the Blood Rose Kingdom, discover it for the fraud that he expected it to be.

He had a bet going with Yoongi that all the gems were fakes, and he really didn't want to give the fellow thief his only fire opal.

His deft fingers made quick work of the various locks that guarded the treasure room from the rest of the castle. Taehyung used the same rusted lockpicking kit that had broken him into his first chest full of copper and silver. And - as the door to the treasure room slid open - it hadn't let him down since.

The room was dark. Quiet. Taehyung's eyes, already adjusted to the low lights, quickly scanned over the room. Making sense of the forms that he saw in front of him.

A wardrobe. A plain carpet, nicer than anything a peasant would own, but certainly not one of a royal. A window divided by iron bars, letting the moonlight shine through. A canopied bed pushed against the eastern wall, boasting plush blankets and, from the looks of it, silk sheets. And - most captivating - underneath the blankets, curled up in the fetal position, the unmistakable shape of a human.

Taehyung walked closer, heartbeat quickening as his eyes narrowed in interest. This was the palace's treasure room - he was sure of it. Yet up the looming tower, though the multiple guards, past the padlocked door, there was just a bedroom. Simple and well kept, where a dark-haired figure slept peacefully.

Features on the figure's face became clearer as Taehyung neared, illuminated by the moonlight. Long eyelashes, slightly parted pink lips, and - Taehyung frowned - a bruise on a delicate cheekbone, the color of an heirloom rose.

Something glimmered on the boy's pillow, and Taehyung's kneen eyes caught the shine immediately. With a careful and steady hand, he reached out and picked up the object, examining between two elegant fingers.

No larger than Taehyung's fingernail, in the shape of a teardrop, was a clear and flawless diamond. Taehyung examined the object in wonder, turning it over in his hand. This was no fake - it refracted and contained the light in a way only a legitimate gem could. In fact, it was one of the most flawless diamonds Taehyung had ever seen. He brought it closer to his eyes, captivated by the jewel.