The market was loud, the kind of loud that hides a thief's footsteps. Fingers nimble and stomach growling, he slipped a loaf of bread beneath his worn shirt, dodging guards like it was a dance he'd learned from birth. Just another day surviving in the dust-covered alleys of a kingdom that recognized him as a wanted thief; Agust D.

But as he bit into the bread, leaning against a rooftop, his gaze drifted upward. The warm afternoon sun hit his face, carrying the faint scent of jasmine from the direction of the castle gardens.

There it was. The castle.

Bathed in golden light and towering over the city like it owned the sky. And on the balcony, it was her. The princess. Laughing softly, her hair catching the wind like a whispered secret. The sound of her laughter reached him faintly, carried on the breeze with the distant chime of a bell.

He didn't believe in fate. He believed in stealing what the world refused him.

But for the first time, he wanted something he couldn't steal. Something about her seemed different from the other nobles he'd seen—they always looked down at the common people with disdain, while she looked up at the clouds with longing.

He told himself it was nothing. Just a passing glance. A pretty girl in a high place. He'd seen nobles before—painted smiles, empty eyes. But she... she wasn't looking down like the rest. She was watching the sky, like she wanted to fly away from everything gold and glittering that trapped her.

He watched her every afternoon after that, always from the shadows, always with the same damn piece of bread in hand. He started stealing just enough to get by—less than before. Strange. Dangerous. She was making him soft.

"Huh, bullshit." Yoongi muttered to himself, stuffing his mouth with the piece of bread he had stolen earlier with such ease.