Pretender (Minho x Reader)

1

(Male/name). The resident pretender. 

(Y/n). The resident girl. 

Except everyone called her (M/n). 

Because no one knew that she was really female. 

At least, that had how it had ended up. When she had first come out of the Box, she had been mistaken as a boy. Somehow. She'd come up with shorter hair that could be tied in a small 'man bun', and her build was less like a female than she had later thought it should be. 

Something made her think that wherever she had come from, she had either been preparing for this or pretending there, too. 

And so she'd ended up pretending to be male. Which she was actually okay with after she'd figured out that there were no other girls in what the boys called 'the Glade'. No one really paid her any attention as her build was smaller and unremarkable and she was already set on the path of 'Slopper'. 

But her name. She hadn't remembered her real one, and everyone kept telling her she'd get it back in a day or two. Seriously? That's how it went? 

Her real name came to her during the bonfire. 

What a night that had been. Newt, the friendliest of the bunch that she'd met so far, had given her a tour earlier, then introduced her to the jobs and those who operated them during the bonfire when all the 'Gladers' were gathered together to enjoy the festivities. 

There was a group a little ways away from the fire that got both their attentions, gathered around in a circle. In the center of the circle were two boys, one almost a head smaller than a tall one with...strange...eyebrows. 

"That's Gally," Newt had whispered. "Keeper of the Builders." She had looked over at Newt, not realizing that Gally had thrown his opponent into the edges of the circle, the boys nearby shuffling backwards and bumping into her. One turned to look at her, a grin spreading across his face. 

"What do you say, Greenie?" he'd asked, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Should we test your mettle?" 

"Um, no thanks-" she had tried to protest, but the Gladers were already pushing her to the center of the circle where Gally was cracking his knuckles and studying her. She shrunk under his gaze. 

"This'll be easy," he had said, turning to rile up the crowd. He turned back to the Greenie. "Alright. Just try and knock me out of the circle, okay?" She stared at him, and after a moment, he shrugged and lowered his head, running at her. 

She dove out of the way, scampering to the other side of the circle. Gally skidded to a stop, turning back to face her and tilting his head. "Come on, Greenie, you at least gotta try." 

"I kind of don't want to get my head bashed in," she responded, keeping her voice a bit lower than normal. Gally simply laughed. 

"Don't worry. We're not that mean." She still didn't want to get punched, especially by someone who was twice her size. 

She ducked another swing from him, suddenly noticing how he left one side exposed. Out of some random instinct, she suddenly lashed out, giving him a nice hit on the side that made him pause. She scrambled out of the way, turning around just as he swung his fist outwards, nearly connecting with the side of her head. She grabbed it instead, her eyes widening as Gally ran towards her. 

"You got this, Greenie!" Newt shouted from the outer ring. He sounded slightly excited, but it only bolstered her slightly through her initial terror. She was thrown onto the ground by Gally, who planted a foot on her stomach. 

"Nice going," he said. "But no one's ever beaten me yet." 

"You're not open to the possibility?" she said, deciding to try her own bit of banter. In the meantime, she was looking for ways to get Gally out of the ring. She couldn't very well knock him over, but she could possibly get him to run past her if she played chicken long enough. That was counting on the fact that he could build enough momentum to not be able to stop in time and that he wouldn't be predicting this. 

It was worth a shot. 

So she wriggled her way out from under his foot, kicking his leg out of the way before standing and running to the opposite side of the ring. The Gladers jeered, Gally turning around slowly and shaking his head. She moved as close to the edge as she dared, boys behind her snickering and telling her to 'come closer'. Clearly, they were betting on Gally winning. 

She just hoped she could prove them wrong. 

Gally rolled his neck briefly before leaning over and spreading his arms slightly. He then ran towards her just as she thought he would. She bent her knees slightly, preparing to jump out of the way. 

And just as he would have hit her, she did. Gally indeed did fall out of the ring with a chorus of surprised shouts, but not before catching her leg and bringing her crashing to the ground head first. 

That hurt. 

"Greenie! You alright?" Newt shouted, rushing over to her. She merely groaned, pressing a hand to her head and rolling onto her back. 

Then a thought flashed through her head. 

(Y/n). 

It was her name. 

Then another thought. These boys didn't think she was a girl. (Y/n) definitely had a more feminine ring to it, so the word she suddenly blurted out, coming to her by mere desperation, was another name entirely. 

(M/n). 

"(M/n)!" she shouted, sitting up, though that caused a head rush and she instantly collapsed back on her hands. "That's my name!" 

The crowd went silent for a moment but for the crackle of the fire, then Alby, who had been presented as the leader, lifted both hands. "(M/n)!" The crowd erupted in cheering, hefting (Y/n) to her feet and patting her on the back. One even went to chest bump her which she did awkwardly, though the boy didn't seem to care. Someone handed her a jar filled with some weird liquid. She took one sip and instantly spit it out, the crowd parting to make way for it. 

Gally had come last, nodding to her. "Not so bad, Greenie," he said. "We'll have our rematch. And you'll learn to fight like a real man." He gave her one pat on the back and then was gone. 

(Y/n) watched as the crowd went back to their activities, then looked over at Newt, who had stuck around. "Interesting way of going about it," he said, putting an arm around her shoulders and leading her to a log by the fire. "Most boys charge him head on." 

"Still got my head bashed in," she mumbled, rubbing the spot on her head where she'd hit the ground. When she next lifted her gaze, she spotted a boy with tan skin and black spiked hair looking in her direction. Newt lifted a hand and the boy angled his head. (Y/n)'s cheeks turned slightly red and she looked away quickly. 

"Well, I think that's enough for one night," Newt said after a minute. She nodded in agreement. The blond stood up, offering her his hand. She grabbed it and he helped her to her feet. "Work starts tomorrow. I'm sure after that spectacle, some Keepers are going to want you on their teams. Think you'll be ready?" 

Without waiting for an answer, he started walking in the direction of the hammocks. (Y/n) hurried after him. 

And that's how he was born. 

(M/n). The resident pretender.