"You ready?" Amery whispered as we tiptoed through the hallways.
I swallowed away my fear of having to face Minho in a horrible state again. "I hope."
"He's already in there. Tied up."
I looked down and nodded, feeling bad that Minho had to be tied up.
"Good luck."
Amery opened the door and let me in, closing the it behind me again. Minho sat there, a dim light lighting the room up. His hands were tied together and his feet were tied onto a chair.
"Hey," I said quietly. Slowly he looked up, just like the first time he saw me again, and searched around my face with his eyes. I didn't know what to say and just waited for him to say something, which he eventually did.
"What are you doing here?" He spat out.
I took a deep breath. "Trying to talk to you."
"Or kill me?" Minho's eyes were already full of fire, staring at me like I was a monster.
"No, Minho, I... I won't kill you. Never wanted to." My voice broke already.
His gaze softened lightly. "But you killed them."
"Who's them?" It came out of my mouth as a whisper, so afraid I was of what he would say.
"Alby." Minho furrowed his eyebrows. "Clint, Jeff, Zart... and I'm convinced Chuck's death is your fault too. Me having to kill Gally was because of you."
My heart broke into pieces by hearing that all these died. And by Minho thinking I did that. "Minho, I wasn't there. And even if I was... I would never-."
"Of course you weren't there!" He slammed his hands on the table and grunted loudly. "You weren't there because you didn't want to get killed yourself. You weren't there because you were the one that sent the Grievers."
"I didn't send the Grievers."
"Oh, and suddenly you didn't create them?" Minho stared at me blankly.
"I did create them," I admitted. "But I never sent them into the maze. I didn't even know that ever happened."
He bit his lip and shook his head, not knowing what to say next.
"And not even three months after you got sent into the maze I escaped from WICKED," I added. "So I wasn't there when that happened. There's no way I could've sent the Grievers to you."
Tears stood in his eyes now.
"Then how do you know who those people are? My friends?"
"Because they were my friends too. Chuck was like a younger brother to me, and Alby an older one."
Minho sniffed, followed by a cry. "Why didn't you get sent into the maze?"
"I don't know. It wasn't on their planning or it's because I created the Grievers and they realized I would know how to defeat them."
"Thomas and Teresa built the maze. How come they did get sent into the maze?"
"I don't know. As I said, I already left WICKED." I explained carefully with my voice still low. "All I know is that I didn't kill our friends."
"You killed my parents." One single tear leaked from his eyes, making me feel so bad.
I walked closer to him.
"I know, and I won't deny I didn't. But do you think I did it voluntarily? They manipulated me. They told me your parents were bad and that they would help you get a better life, Minho. And I was too young to realize they were lying."
His lower lip started to tremble and his shoulders shake a bit. Sobs escaped his mouth and all I could do was watch him in pure pity and grief.
"Should I... should I untie you?" I blurted out. There had to be something I could do to help.
He looked up, eyes watery. "You would do that?"
I nodded and gently took his hands, taking the ropes off, followed by his feet. Minho stayed completely still until I was done.
"How do I know you're not lying?" He then asked, looking up threateningly. The sadness in his eyes already disappeared, they were raging now. And that's when I realized those tears weren't even real.
Before I could reply, he jumped on his feet and pushed me against the wall. My breathing hitched as he squeezed my wrists hard enough to make bruises.
"You're lying." Minho snapped, though I was sure he was aware of Janson being able to hear us. Otherwise, he would've screamed, I knew it.
"I'm not," I whispered. "I'm not lying, Minho."
His breaths were heavy. "I saw you. I saw you do it all."
"That wasn't me. That never happened. WICKED is only trying to let you think I'm bad." I replied. "You used to convince me I wasn't bad, Minho."
Minho tightened the grip on my wrists. "Janson says that everything that comes out of your mouth is a lie." He paused. "And I know that I would've saved myself a lot of suffering if I let you go back to Holt."
My heart broke once again. I had nothing to reply with.. because he did have a point. No matter what he said I did, he had a point. Because I thought it was my fault we were even trapped in the first place.
"Why are you here?" He repeated.
I felt a tear run down my cheek. "I wanted to talk to y-."
"No." He interrupted. "Why are you here? In WICKED's department. How come you're here?"
"Because I went after you when you got caught." I eventually summarized.
"Why would you?" His face washed over with confusion and in his eyes, I could see he was struggling to fight something. "All I remember is a small memory of you working here."
"I don't work here anymore." I shook my head. "And because... I love you. I couldn't lose you."
Now he was even more confused. "What?"
More tears coming from my eyes followed. "You really don't remember anything, Min? Us? We were.. no, are a couple."
"Liar!" Minho attacked me. The grip on my wrists hurt so badly that I had to kick him in the stomach. He groaned and quickly got up as I fled a few feet away from him.
I cried out, not wanting to fight him, but when he pushed me onto the floor, I had no other options.
"Minho, please!" I sobbed when his hands wrapped around my neck again. Mine grabbed his wrists, in the hope to push him off me.
"You killed them!" He pulled my head up and slammed it right back down again, hard. Something thick stuck to my hair. Blood.
My hands made their way to cup his face, my mind changing into a better plan. "It's Lena, Minho. Not Lenora."
His grip on my throat didn't loosen, but his eyes did soften a little bit.
"Lena," I assured once again, more tears streaming down my face. I couldn't lose him like this. I didn't want to.
Suddenly Minho groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. Not long after, I realized a memory was starting to get through his mind. A wrong memory.
"Don't believe them, Minho," I whispered, still cupping his face. "It's not real."
He was fighting it. I could see by the way his face tensed and he made his way to bite his lip. Small cries escaped his mouth.
"Shh," I whispered. "Don't let them do this, Min." My voice was raspy by now.
His eyes shot open at that. They weren't dark or raging like before, but sweeter and glowing. "How do I know you're not lying?"
"Because I love you... you, Minho." I said, forcing him to look at me with my hands.
Slowly he got off me. I didn't hesitate to sit down against the wall, Minho across from me. His eyes closed again, as if he was sleeping. The heavy breaths turned steadier and his tense face relaxed.
"Your favorite color is red." He realized quietly. "Is that real?"
"That's real," I responded, whispering too. "Yours is orange."
Minho's face got hit with more realization. "You're good with a bow. Is that real too?"
"That's real," I confirmed again. "You're good with your fists... you always fight whenever it comes to me or any of your friends."
And then it poured out of my mouth like rain during a storm.
"You bite your lip whenever you don't know what to say next. You love Frypan's steak, especially when I hunted on the animal. You always sleep on your back no matter what. You have different smiles. One is a crooked one. That's whenever you just want to be polite or find something cool. With the other smile, your eyes disappear and you get dimples. When you're nervous you run a hand through your hair, but sometimes that's also because you just want to fix it."
In the meanwhile, tears were streaming down my face at all the good details and memories I remembered.
"You cross your arms out of habit. The most important thing to you are your friends because I know you would do anything to save them. That's why you're here too. When we were younger you always said you were stronger than me, which you still are. You love nicknames, even if Frypan called you 'Minnie Mouse'. You like to give everyone a nickname. Sometimes they're just funny, but others are... pure, and once you thought of that nickname, you never let go of it and never call that person by their normal name unless it's serious." I paused and took a breath. "You secretly like sunsets a lot, that's also a reason why you wake up early, and not just to train. You're confident. Very confident and you know what you deserve. You can be very sassy, but all you care for is others. And you were a Runner... still are."
Once I was done, I took a deep breath and broke down into more tears. Minho remained silent for a few seconds as I buried my head in my hands.
"You love me and I love you." He suddenly said. "Real or not real?"
Slowly I lifted my head up and nodded. "Real."
Minho was about to reply, but out of a sudden, pressed his hands against his temples, groaning loudly. His face twitched into pain and his body tensed again. Full of worry, I crawled over to him, taking one of his hands in mine. He squeezed my hand hard, heavy breaths leaving his mouth again.
"No..." He muttered, his tone soon turning louder. "No! I won't... I won't believe it."
All I could do was watch him suffer and caress his hand. Minho resisted and resisted, but at some point, he whispered, "Get away from me, Lena."
And then, just as if it was timed, Amery walked in. For a few seconds she inspected us, then she rushed over to Minho and told me to go back to my room, which I ended up doing.