"FATHER I LOVE HIM!" Taemin screeched, causing gasps and whispers to erupt from the crowd. He could no longer contain his tears and ran into the safety of Minho's warming embrace, sobbing into the man's shoulder. Everyone stared at their beloved Prince in shock, even the thieves, but none seemed to be more surprised than his own father.

"Tae..." Minho mumbled, stunned by his lover's confession. He looked up and faced the fiery eyes of the King, who's face was burning red after his son's unruly confession.

"Taemin," the King fumed. "Is this some sort of a practical joke?"

"No father," the Prince murmered into Minho's shoulder. He then gathered the courage to stand up in front of his father and said, "I really do love him. It may sound strange and impractical to love a criminal, and a peasant, not to mention a man, but I couldn't care less about what you, or mother, or even the entire kingdom thinks about our relationship! I love him and nothing is ever going to change that!"

"Tae, please. It's alright." Minho urged his lover to stop before the situation worsened.

"It's not alright!"

"Taemin, stop this nonsense! You're making a fool of yourself!" the King roared, frightening the audience. No one had ever seen their beloved ruler so angry before.

"I won't allow him to lose his life because of me! Please, release him!" the Prince begged.

"GUARDS!" The King suddenly called, causing a flood of soldiers to come running in at the his command. " my son back to his room and make sure he stays there! Take the thieves back to their cell and as for you..." he paused for a moment, pointing to Minho. "...take him to one of the guest rooms in the palace. I have special plans for him."

"STOP! Let me go! MINHO!" Taemin screeched as he was pried off of his lover and dragged away.

"Taemin!" Minho reacted the same and stuggled against his bindings, only to get beaten across the head with some sort of metal object. He stumbled over in reaction, which gave the guards the opportunity to drag him along towards the palace. Soon his surroundings were blurry and distorted, and the faint, familiar sounds of his lover's calls were soon fading to nothing.

~~~~~~~~~~~

 How did I get myself into this mess?

Minho was now restrained to a bed pole in one of the palace’s guest rooms, slouching against it after being forced to stand up for so long. He could barely hear Taemin screaming his name every now and then a few doors down, but wasn’t able to respond with a buckle gag strapped around his head that the guards forced on him. He felt like vomiting; the thing tasted repulsive, and probably had never been cleaned even after all of the mouths it's been in.
 

He’s probably not getting out of this alive, he thought. Though it was his own fault for giving into temptation, and now his friends were paying the price for it as well. However, Minho didn’t regret it. He was in love with Taemin, as cheesy as that sounded, and he would fight for their relationship until the end.

He just hoped that he'd get the chance to tell him that.

His thoughts were interrupted when the door swung open, revealing the King and a flock of guards respectively standing behind him. The older man took his time stepping inside, never taking his eyes off of Minho for the slightest second. Minho, still wanting to act polite around his lover’s father, did his best to get on his knees out of respect for the man.

“Don't strain yourself. There’s no need for that here.” the King’s voice sounded cold, though his words were kind. He turned to his guards. “Take that awful contraption out of his mouth and free him of his bindings."

“Are you sure, sire? He’s highly danger--”
 

“Did I ask a question?” he asked sharply, shooting the inferior guard a cold glare.

“N-no, your majesty...”

He then snapped his fingers and ordered the other guards to do as their ruler said, relieving Minho of his restraints. Without hesitation, the man spat on the castle's marble floor, trying to get rid of the disgusting taste left in his mouth.

The King eyed the substance disgustingly and stepped around it, before saying to his men, "Get us two chairs, please."

In an instant, two chairs were set up for the King and the prisoner.  Hesitantly, Minho took a seat across from the intimidating ruler.

"Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

"N-no, your majesty. Thank you." he bowed his head politely.

He nodded and turned to his guards. "Then that will be all. Leave us alone to talk and make sure no one disturbs us."

The men bowed in unison and exited the room.

"What was your name again, son?" The King asked. "I didn't quite catch it despite my son screaming it for the past hour..."

"Ch....Choi Minho." the thief managed to speak, anxious now that he was face to face with Taemin's father.

"Ah...I see..."

It was silent after that. For a while, the King just stared at the younger male, who was awkwardly looking down at his lap to avoid looking at the ruler's intimidating stare.

“What is my son, to you?" the King suddenly spoke up, his tone colder than before. "A ticket to the luxurious life of a royal? God forbid, a  toy? What?” 
 

Minho was taken aback by the older man's attacking statement. He panicked as he tried thinking of a proper response, but his mind drew a blank.

"Well?"

Minho took a minute to recompose himself, then prompty answered, "Do you really think so lowly of me? I love your son, sir. Those things simply don't appeal to me."

"Is that so? Because if you really loved my son, I would have assumed that you and your friends would have let him go back to his family and erased all thoughts of taking our money for your selfish needs."

"The money is not for me." Minho stressed.

"Then what was it for?"

He hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should get Mrs. Park involved in his mess. He figured the King wouldn't be cold enough to punish the orphans for something he did, and decided to answer, "The orphanage. I owe it to them after taking me in when I had nothing left. It's your damn taxes that are causing them to suffer and possibly to shut down."

The King scoffed. "Don't think that you can make up lies to sound sincere, hoping that I will take pity on you and your friends. You're al