That denial Minho felt two days ago only grew worse. The day she arrived, Minho promised himself he'd never fall for her. Yet, here he was, tripping over his own feet for her. He hated it.  Both he and Y/N were strong and brave, willing to fight for what they knew was right. And it was those traits that had kept them knitted together in this strange, invisible way all this time. And now, it bothered him to no end, like an itch he couldn't scratch. It pried at his mind, keeping him from focusing all of his time and energy towards the maze.

'What's gotten into me?' He grumbled to himself as he jogged across the glade, coming up behind Y/N and Newt who stood at the maze doors.

"Mornin' shebean!" Minho hollered out as he rushed past, smacking the back of the girls head.

"What the hell, Minho?!" Newt snapped at the runner. Sure, Minho liked to pick on people, especially Y/N, but that hit was a little out of character. The runner just kept his eyes focused forwards on the maze doors and shrugged his shoulders.

"Ignore him. He's probably just seven minutes short of his beauty sleep." Newt looked to the girl sympathetically. The second-in-command was slightly confused to see Minho acting that way towards Y/N. All he'd ever done was try to protect her, yet here he was, provoking her. Why? He had no idea. But Newt, just as well as Alby, knew of Minho's affection towards the girl.

While Y/N was stretching out her leg, Newt ambled over to Minho who was looking over some drawings of the maze.

"Why are you treating her like klunk all of the sudden?" The blonde stood tall, pressing Minho for truth.

"It's runner stuff, we always pick on each other." Minho mumbled.

Newt pushed away the map Minho was studying unnaturally close to his face. "I know. But you've never done that to her before. Why now?"

"Well—She's a runner now—The past few days—" Minho scrambled for words.

"Alby wasn't kidding. You like her! Don't you?!" Newt exclaimed and Minho's face flushed a deep red.

"N-No—" He sputtered but Newt shushed him.

"Maybe she can teach you some humility and patience." Newt laughed and turned on his heel, leaving a flustered Minho in the desolate room.

"You tell anyone and I ought to break your shuck nose!" Minho screamed out after the blonde who was limping back towards the gardens.

Y/N approached Minho in slight confusion, seeing as how his face was still flushed and he was breathing heavily.

"What was that about?" Y/N asked quietly. Despite how calm her words were, Minho jumped back like he'd been faced with his worst fear.

"N-Nothing." He stuttered before regaining his composure. "Think you'll be able to keep up, shebean?" Minho ruffled her hair aggressively and she smacked his hand away.

"You'd better hope I don't leave you in the dirt." Y/N muttered and pushed past Minho in slight aggravation, making her way towards the maze doors.

"Man, you've sure pissed her off." Thomas scoffed, raising an eyebrow at Minho.

"Shut up." He grumbled. The ground began to shake and the doors slowly crept open, the dark corridor before the group just as foreboding as the day before.

"Alright. Thomas, you know when you ought to be back by. So, be careful. Don't die." Minho shrugged and looked to the girl. Her eyes were ablaze with something that he couldn't quite place. Anger? Passion? He had no clue. Maybe she was just glad to be back in the maze.

"Minho! Lets go!" Y/N's voice rang in his mind and he shook his head, trying to regain focus, sprinting forwards to catch up with the girl.

"Lead the way, slinthead." Y/N let him pass her before carrying on into the maze.

The day stretched on longer than either of the runners had hoped. The sun shone down upon them relentlessly and the dead air of the maze didn't make it any better. Minho signalled to the girl to slow down and he slumped against a wall, taking a lunch out of his pack. Y/N did the same and sat quietly, examining the stone walls around her.

"Not running too fast for you, am I?" Minho smirked and sat forwards while he waited for her attention to fall on him. To his dismay, she simply shook her head and kept eating.

"Why are you being so quiet, shebean?" Minho asked as he poked the side of Y/N's head and she finally looked to him with the irked glare that made his heart flutter.

"Because you're acting weird." Y/N eyed him suspiciously and shifted her focus back to the wall.

Minho's face tensed and it took everything inside of him not to scream at the sky. Why was he acting weird? Because he'd come to the full realization that he'd fallen head over heels for her.

His thoughts were broken by her standing up, walking curiously towards a thick patch of ivy on the wall.

"What's this?" She whispered and Minho jumped up. Her hands slowly reached up and pulled back the ivy, revealing a narrow, dark corridor. Minho hovered over her shoulder, trying to glance into the darkness. A gust of wind came blasting through, sending her jumping straight back into Minho. Unprepared, the boy stumbled back and crashed into the ground, the girl landing in his lap.

"The shuck was that?!" She hollered, her eyes searching the area for Minho.

"I sure hope I'm a lot more comfortable to sit on than the floor, because this is uncomfortable." Minho snickered and Y/N tried to lunge off of his lap. But, Minho held her firmly, not letting go.

"Would you--" Y/N snarled. "Where's the paper?" She asked, trying to get up and find it.

"Just hold on—put this thing on the map." He handed a piece of paper and a pencil to Y/N.

"Y/N, do you hate me?" Minho randomly asked.

"No? What's gotten into you?" She let out a small laugh which took him by surprise.

"Everything was fine until Alby took it upon himself to make you my running partner. And now—I don't know. I can't tell if I want you here with me running, or safe back in the Glade. Because I was fine on my own." He grumbled.

"Minho, you're literally spewing nonsense. And no, I don't hate you." Y/N said.

"So does that mean you like me?" He tilted his head in question, looking to her face for a reaction. To his disappointment, it stayed neutral as she sketched away on the map.

"Yeah, when you're not being a total jerk." She finally was able to pry herself from his arms and jumped up. That was when Minho realized he was being excessive. Over the past couple of days, he had been being rude, all in hopes it would mask how he felt for her. Unfortunately, it wasn't working. He still liked her just as much, but was treating her poorly. For a second he thought about how happy she seemed on their first day off while at the bridge, and now she seemed a lot more reserved.

"So, what now?" She sighed, picking up her pack and putting it on.

Minho rubbed the back of his neck and looked up to Y/N. "Sorry for what I said and the things I've done the past few days." He apologized, even though the words stung his mouth as they left.

"It's ok." Y/N smiled lightly, offering out her hand to help him up. "Besides, you haven't done anything that bad. Moving anytime I sat beside you though, was a little excessive."

Somedays, Minho could hardly believe how forgiving Y/N was.

"There is one thing I suggest you do, though." Y/N rocked back and forth on her feet.

"What's that?" Minho questioned.

"That you take a shower. Your stench alone might be what's causing you to act so strange." She suggested as a sudden grin erupted on her face and she rushed forwards down the corridor.

"Too far, Y/N! Too far!" He screamed out after her, racing down the corridor.

"Hey, just trying to look out for my running partner." Y/N shrugged and Minho pushed his legs nearly to the breaking point to catch up with her.

"I cannot believe you." Minho scoffed as he ran in unison with the girl beside him. A small smile grew on her face.

When their feet met the soft grass of the glade once again, Alby was there waiting for them. The leader looked between the two hopefully.

"Did you find anything?" Alby asked and Minho sighed a little, grabbing the paper from Y/N' pack and showing it to Alby.

"We found a new corridor, so we'll check it out tomorrow. Otherwise, everything's the same." He admitted weakly. Alby just nodded, his smile faltering a little before thanking his runners and walking off. From the gardens, Newt was hollering Y/N's name.

"I'll meet you in the map room later." Y/N said quickly before racing off towards Newt. In the very least, Minho might a of couple short hours to focus on the map and their new findings.