𝐌𝐈𝐙𝐏𝐀𝐇 - TMR, Minho

𝟢𝟨𝟣，𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬

I'm not exactly hiding, but I'm not exactly out in the open either. I lean against the walls of the Map Room, fingers tracing over the rough wood. The Map Room's quiet, the kind of quiet that doesn't make my skin itch for once.

Outside, I hear voices. The Gladers, all busy with their jobs. The walls are too far away, and the Map Room's walls don't talk. Just the buzzing.

Two knocks on the door. I immediately know who it is. Before I can reply, the door is already open. "You hiding from me now?" Minho grins, leaning against the doorframe.

"Not hiding. Just... thinking."

He raises an eyebrow. "Thinking? You? I didn't see you as someone who often thinks..."

I roll my eyes.

Minho pulls up a chair, spins it around, and sits backward, crossing his arms over the back. "Alright. So what's got you thinking today?"

I don't know how to explain it. My fingers keep moving over the paper of a map, folding a corner down, then up again. I don't say anything for a minute, then finally manage, "You ever feel like you're just... waiting? Like there's something that's supposed to happen, something big. But it's stuck?"

He tilts his head. "I'm too busy trying to survive to think about that."

"Yeah, no— I understand that. But... you're not waiting to find something spectacular in the Maze, out of a sudden? The way out? Anything?"

His face darkens. The now sadder eyes trail to the table in the middle of the Map Room: the miniature Maze, built with sticks, sand, and stones.

I step closer to it. The whole table is covered by the miniature. Corridors, sections, walls.

Slowly, a frown forms on my face. "It's finished," I realize.

Minho swallows. "Yeah."

Looking up at him with slightly paler skin, I repeat, "It's finished. As in... you've searched everywhere?"

"Yeah," he mutters, face averted. "I've ran in every section. Every path."

"But you haven't found a way out?" It's barely a question. My voice is high— shocked. Sad.

His nod confirms it.

I try not to seem too miserable about it, but it's hard. The Maze walls are laughing so loudly that I hear them mirroring between the trees. I can't bring myself to speak, even though my mouth opens.

"We're never escaping this place?" I peep. "There's no way out?"

"I don't think so." He sits down on a chair. Buries his head in his hands, murmuring things I'm unable to understand.

"For how long have you known?"

"A few months. Alby told us to stay silent about it, so the others wouldn't lose hope. Only the Keepers and Runners know."