Chasing Chances // Minho

WICKED's Lapdog

WICKED Facility
Undisclosed Location
August 6th, 229

I was 13 years old when Minho finally spoke to me again. Not that I ever really tried to talk to him after practically being banished, but two years is a long time to pretend that someone doesn't exist. Especially since he used to like me.

I had been walking down the hallway towards one of the labs, taping away at one of the many tablets we have lying around. I was trying to input some data about Teresa and Thomas' Maze and so I wasn't exactly paying attention to where I was going. I mean, I knew where I was going I just didn't account for obstacles that might be in my way. So when I bumped into Minho, I recoiled completely and dropped the tablet. "Damnit." I groaned, staring at the shattered screen.

"You should watch where you're going." My back stiffened at the sound of his voice. I hadn't heard him speak to me in so long and when I had imagined him doing so... He hadn't been reprimanding me for doing something dumb. I looked up at him carefully. He was scowling hard, arms crossed over his chest. I bent down and slowly picked up the broken device.

"Sorry." I muttered before sidestepping him so I could run down the hallway and out of sight. Before I could move too far past him though, Minho grabbed my arm and I paused, wondering if he was going to yell at me or scream at me or something along those lines but he stayed quiet and I slowly turned my head to look at him. "What are you doing?"

"It's free hour."

"Okay, let go please." I said lightly. Minho let go of my arm and I brushed out my lab coat and tried to to feel intimidated by him. He'd gotten a haircut recently and was a lot taller now that puberty had hit. We used to be eye to eye and now he could stare down at me. "Did you want to say something to me?"

"Oh I have a lot to say to you but I just don't know where to start." He said in a hard voice. I cleared my throat and brushed at a loose strand of my hair that had fallen out of my ponytail.

"Well I have work." I murmured. "I need to go see if I can back the data up on this." I hadn't been able to get the screen back up so this device was probably shot unfortunately.

"Just wait." Minho said.

"Ten minutes." I agreed, biting on my bottom lip. He takes a deep breath and begins to say something but he stops and grinds his teeth instead, his jaw tensing up. I glance down the hallway, wishing I could just run away.

"So what? You were a spy or something? Your mom have you sit with us, psychological evaluate us and then you tell her who the best candidates are?"

"No. I was a subject just like you." Minho scoffs.

"Yeah, was past tense Mallory. You're not one of us anymore." My hands tightened around the tablet as I tried not to cry. "What are you even doing for them? What's with the stupid lab coat?" I purse my lips, not knowing what he wants me to say.

"I work in the labs." I murmur. Minho rolls his eyes. "And we shouldn't be talking. I need to get back to work." I turn to leave but Minho just follows me down the hallway.

"You Said I had ten minutes."

"Well you're not saying much of anything Minho. What do you want? If you're going to yell at me, just yell. Just get it out of your system."

"I'm not going to yell at you. I just want to know why you didn't say anything. I want to know why you convinced me to stay, to not fight back. I want to know what this is all for." I stop. I want to tell him but I also know that my mom is probably watching and wouldn't appreciate any of this.