ADMIRATION
-
"all of the time"
• • •
AS SOON AS the meeting was over, minho ran over to leo to ask where lyn had disappeared to. he said she'd mentioned going over to the deadheads with chuck, and had instructed him to tell minho to come and find her when he was done if she wasn't already back with the others.
he found her sat with chuck on a log, but didn't approach her right away. instead he stood leaning against a tree several metres away from her, the stray leaves and branches concealing him sufficiently (at least, that's what he convinced himself).
he thought she was beautiful. stunning. ethereal. like a diamond in a world of rock.
she was perfection, with not a flaw on her being. he felt that she had completely bewitched him, body and soul.
"minho! is the meeting over?" clearly his make-do hiding spot hadn't quite proved adequate since the girl came playfully bounding up to him. her eyes — to the average person they'd just look regular, nothing special about them — but to minho, they held a whole world within them. the world of lyn, which he was aching to discover. she had so many secrets, most of which she didn't even know herself, and part of his attraction to her was to do with this mystery.
"yeah, it finished a minute ago," he fibbed. the last thing he wanted was for her to figure out he'd been watching her interaction with chuck for the past ten minutes.
the little boy followed her over and asked, "what happened?"
minho sighed as he began to recount the events that had occurred. "nothing much. lyn, you're sharing a room with the new girl and that's all they've decided for now, until she's awake at least. and then there was a long conversation of why she's even here, and why you got that note sent up with you when it wasn't even true."
the pair, who were listening eagerly, nodded as he finished. the sun continued its beating down on them, even with it being nearly dusk. the evening meal was being served late due to the incredibly busy day the gladers had all endured.
but on time or not, the trio weren't keen on missing any of frypan's signature stew. "race you both there!" lyn called, already beginning to hasten away.
~
"so, you two," thomas began almost immediately after they sat at the table. lyn blushed as minho simply smirked.
newt looked at the brown-haired boy and continued, "we know there's something going on. you don't have to pretend."
chuck made eye contact with lyn for a brief second before he began laughing hysterically, only to be greeted with a sharp jab in his upper arm from lyn.
to her surprise, minho spoke up before she even had the chance to open her mouth. "you know, i wish the slintheads who put us in here had changed your brains so you wouldn't blab so much about every little thing. it would be so much quieter, don't you agree, lyn?"
she simply nodded, pursing her lips together to contain a laugh. then he nudged her under the table and gave her a look, asking whether he could tell them or not. she glared at him, warning him not to say a word about their situation; they hadn't even had a proper, private conversation about it themselves, so it seemed ridiculous to complicate it all.
"but no, there's nothing. don't worry." he finished. lyn let out a breath.
soon after, every plate on the table was clear and all the gladers all cleared off to bed hastily — lyn, on the other hand, was to spend the night in the slammer.
newt and gally walked her over to the dug-out 'jail' of sorts, but gave her a blanket and a pillow to make her as comfortable as possible. minho had promised to come and see her after dark, so she had that to look forward to.
"we'll come and get you at sunrise." gally reassured her, patting her shoulder.
"sorry about this by the way, lyn," newt began. "if i could have it any other way i would, but we need to set an example for the others. and besides, consider yourself lucky you don't have to suffer listening to zart's snoring all night." he wasn't wrong, she thought. zart was very noisy.
as the two boys locked the door and left her, she huddled herself in the rough blanket and hugged the pillow to her chest. she felt beyond lonely there by herself. even with the tiny light she'd been given, the darkness was still unsettling. random thoughts clashed and argued inside her brain once again, and she felt as though she was going to explode. until she heard minho's voice, like calm in a storm.
you okay, lyn?
yes. bit cold, though.
don't worry, i'm on my way now. and remember, you said we could sneak out the other day. still up for it?
i'm locked up, idiot.
i've got a plan.
• • •
"lyn," minho whispered through the darkness. "lyn!"
the girl hurried to the opening of the little cell and touched his hand. he held up a lantern and pulled a key out of his pocket, before fiddling with the door, trying to get it to open.
when the lock finally gave way, he pulled lyn up so she was pressed against his chest. his face was in her hair, which oddly smelt of strawberries (not that he was sniffing her hair on purpose or anything).
"how are you doing? i'm sorry for taking so long, i just couldn't let us get caught." he told her.
"i'm happy you're here now," she spoke into his chest. he grinned down at her, despite the fact she couldn't see it. "thanks for letting me out."
"no problemo, shebean."
"can you even call me that now? with the new girl?" the mention of her wiped the smiles off of both of their faces. lyn pulled away and looked up nervously at minho.
"obviously. you'll always be my shebean." he winked, though it was missing the usual 'minho flair'. after a short pause, he continued, "you're smart." she snorted at this. "why do you think she got sent here with the same note as you?"
lyn thought about this for a second. "i think — i think maybe it was a mistake. or they did it to confuse us."
"which they've done a damn good job of! i can just imagine the bastards now. 'oh, how wonderfully our plan worked, fitzwilliam!'" he teased in a shrill voice, with an accent that sounded very much like a mocking and amplified version of newt's. this lured a laugh out of lyn.
"indeed, elizabeth, absolutely marvellous if you ask me," she replied between bursts of giggles, in a similarly ridiculous voice.
"but anyway," minho began once the fits of laughter faded away, "tonight we don't need to think about that. tonight is a night just for us lyn, so forget about everything and everyone else. okay?" she nodded, eager to see what the boy had got planned for them. "that is," he added, "until we get near the homestead, when you should please remember newt and how scary he will be if he catches us sneaking around. because i don't know about you, but i wouldn't really like to be chased round the glade by that shank tonight," he joked. then he stood up and took her hand, pulling her up to stand beside him.
"where first, m'lady?" he asked, and (still with her hand in his) led her away from the slammer and towards the kitchens.
~
"honestly, you wouldn't believe how funny gally can be sometimes. he's a bit uptight a lot of the time, but give him some of this," minho held up a tankard of gally's famous drink, "and he loosens right up. i'm pretty sure it's alcohol, but he'll never tell anyone exactly what's in it. oh well. want some more?"
lyn and minho were sat on the wooden floorboards of the kitchen together, having been laughing and joking for hours already. they'd raided the store of gally's drink and, to put it simply, lyn was feeling a little dizzy and couldn't quite walk straight when she'd tried.
"you know what?" she said, her words slightly slurred, "being here isn't half so bad as i thought it'd be when i came up out that box."
"oh yeah? and why might that be?"
"hmmm... let me think about that..." minho raised an eyebrow at her as she feigned racking her brains for a second. "the stew," she announced decidedly.
"and not the handsome, hilarious and kind-hearted boy she met when she arrived? that is a real shock."
"thomas?" she teased, "because you're right, it was a toss-up between him and the stew actually."
laughing, minho shook his head at her.
she placed her head on his shoulder and they sat in silence for a while. then lyn spoke again. "minho, i need to tell you something."
"is it that you are very sorry for mistaking the hunk in front of you's name for thomas? because if it is, you're forgiven — just about."
she rolled her eyes at him, and said, "you're not funny." she was lying.
"i am."
"if you insist. but anyway... i think — i think that i love you, minho."
"yeah, yeah, tell me that when you're sober." he smirked cheekily at her.
"you won't say it back?" she questioned, looking at him and doing an over-the-top impression of being hurt.
"tell me again tomorrow." he winked. "but now, shebean, i think it's your bedtime. you're falling asleep on my shoulder!"
~
minho walked lyn back to the slammer and helped her clamber back in. after tucking her under the little blanket (and, of course, leaving his jacket with her), he kissed her forehead and was about to turn and leave when she stopped him and asked, "can you stay with me for a while? please?"
"of course."
and they spent the night curled up together, keeping each other warm and safe in their arms. but their contentment would be short-lived.