the analyst - (NEWT)

five.

"...have you lot even explored the whole maze yet?" when she jerks her head around the table she finds that ben, and two of the other runners shake their heads gravely. when she looks over to minho, she is intrigued to find him shifting in his seat. he shakes his head, but yn can tell that there is something he isn't telling them.

"we better get to the map room right away so we all get a good night's rest", minho interrupts, standing up and ushering newt to move. when he does, minho quickly strides to frypan, dropping his dishes off with a thank you and promptly makes his way to the map room.

yn turns back to look in front of her, only to find newt also gone and is quickly shooed out of the way by the other runners, who rush to make it to the map room with minho's earlier threat in mind.

minho's untold secret was weighing in on her brain; what valuable information could the keeper of the runners be tirelessly hiding, and why was he hiding it?

• • •

yn waited at the maze doors for her runner partner the following morning. jumping up and down to relieve her nerves, her ears perk up to the sound of crunching grass from behind her. she quickly turns around to send minho a nervous smile, "took you long enough."

her smug demeanour falls through when she sees three figures rather than one. one of those people was short, he was a little chubby and his plump cheeks held a rosy hue. yn smile drops, and the boy in question falters when he notices the change in expression.

"uh- hi! im chuck, the greenie before you... i just came to ask if it was okay to go into your room to put your stuff away or if you wanted to do it yourself", his innocent smile as he held up a bundle of sheets for her hammock, a candle holder and a candle to accompany it only made her even more speechless. 

she blinks and her lips part before stuttering out a response, "oh- if it wouldn't be too much to ask, could you drop it off at my room?" chuck grins and nods earnestly, jogging along to the homestead. when yn's eye gets caught on a snaggle tooth on the top row of his teeth, she looks away, instead looking at newt. the flame of pain and anger does not extinguish itself even when she looks at blonde, and he and minho seem to understand her frustrations.

"yn, i'll wait for you inside the maze. don't be too long, 'kay?" yn absentmindedly nods and minho jogs away.

a silence envelops the two teens before yn laughs grimly, "that young, huh?"

"yeah... that young." yn nods, breathing in shakily and balling her hands into fists. her pulse slowed, connecting the look of naivety and innocence on chuck to her sister. she regrets the thought as soon as it lands.

"um... i'll talk to you later- don't die out there alright?" yn purses her lips and nods once more, sending newt a wave, turning around, and making her way through the maze doors for her first run.

as she and minho ran, questions threatened to escape from her lips as she knew it wasn't smart to talk while she ran, so she waited till she and minho were able to sit down for a breather. but as they sat down for a break, her anger died on her tongue, leaving the two to catch their breath in silence. then, they were back up and running as if nothing ever happened. 

• • •

dinner was the same as it had been yesterday, dan had, again, been going off about how crazy the maze was to yn; even getting hank and ben to join in about their stories as well. as they bombarded her with many insane tales about their injuries, some old runners, and just full on weird encounters (which she genuinely enjoyed listening to, she just found it quite amusing how they sounded like the cows that would moo and the pigs that would oink right back at them in the glade) she looked over to see what newt and minho were up to. she finds that they were listening silently; minho occasionally adding a witty remark and newt just watching the lot of acquaintances babbling with an amused smirk.

as they all ate the dinner, yn finally asked why newt had decided to sit with the runners instead of the track hoes or alby for that matter. when yn notices minho glancing at newt occasionally, she believes she's said something wrong, but newt replies that he prefers their company over alby's nagging or the track-hoes' heaving over their dinner happily. yn calms at this, but doesn't fail to note how the table went quiet for a second before newt dropped his answer.

however, yn's night would significantly differ from her time at the runners' table during dinner. after yn gets cleaned up, she finds her way through the homestead to her new room. when she opens the door, she is greeted by a small cozy hut; she mentally notes to thank gally later as well as chuck, who had kindly organized her things for her; her candle on a candle holder and blankets and pillows already in just the right spot of her hammock. she happily hops into her hammock and loses herself in slumber

• • •

it was her again, but this time she had matured. though she still kept the baby fat,  yn thought she was beautiful nonetheless. yn no doubt knew that with her comforting smile, the threads of beauty didn't just stop to wrap around her sister, they also threaded themselves inside and out . 

her admiration is quickly interrupted as the girl's statement makes her soul drop to the floor, "yn... i know you're the big sister but you need to listen to me, okay? we're almost there, we're almost free, okay? i am so close to getting us out. i just need you to stall for a few more days; just 3 more days and that's all i need okay? try to avoid doctor's appointments and if you need to, i need you to fight them for me." being unable to control her body, yn feels shocked to find herself nodding frantically.

"never in my life did i ever think i would be ordered around by you", yn's own voice booms throughout her ears; she is shocked to find her tone so relaxed and trusting, but she revels in knowing that she shares a special enough bond with her sister that she felt light as a feather around her.

the two girls laugh, both with tears threatening to spill from their eyes before yn speaks once more, this time her tone solemn, "as for you... just stay alive, i can't do this without you."

"well obviously. i have been the one who's doing more of the work anyways", there is a brief pause before yn reaches her hand out to her little sister, cupping her cheek lovingly.

"i am so proud of you."

yn wakes up in a jolt. before she can even process the dream, hot tears start to stream down her cheeks with no will to stop. bringing her knees to her chest, folding her arms over her knees and burying her head into the space between her arms and chest; she cried as quietly as she could. eventually, a booming headache pierced through her skull due to the efforts of hushing her sobs, and she finally finds her way back to sleep; albeit hesitantly. her last thought before she again succumbs to the hands of rest was overwhelming guilt that she had not stalled well enough, resulting in the plan falling apart and leaving her to forget their bond altogether, only relying on nightmares to piece their relationship back together.

for the next 3 weeks, yn would continuously run into the maze, return before the hour hand hit six, and report to the map room. the only motivation keeping yn going was the thought of being able to see her sister again and being able to live a quiet life, no longer constantly in the face of danger. even as things rarely changed in the maze, she kept hope; a bright burning flame that lit up her blood with fury; so when she found herself at a great loss, isolated from her fellow gladers, she couldn't help but let the flame slowly diminish.

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