The Underground (Minho x Reader)

You're Not The Brains Of This Operation

Minho's head ached. It felt like his face had been bashed against a wall repeatedly. His stomach certainly wasn't steady. It threatened to betray him at any moment.

"Get up, kid." A man in armour kicked at Minho's legs.

With a grunt and wrinkle of the nose, he got up. Alongside dozens of other kids, Minho was shuffled off the giant deafening burg into a massive concrete building. Apparently, this was his life now. He knew the people who had just taken him from his family tried to play this whole thing off like they were the heroes, taking him to a better place. But, he knew the truth. He was smarter than that. He was now a prisoner being used for something. Granted, he wasn't sure what he was being used for, but he knew he'd just lost his freedom.

Somebody to his left was a little more fiery than even himself in this moment. A girl, tired and tattered looking, saw her chance and lashed out. She went straight for one of the guards and Minho watched as she took them to the ground. In that short moment, he was ready to join in on the fight if it hadn't been for three new guards coming and completely restraining the girl. None of the kids here stood a chance of getting out now. It was better now to stay under the radar, observing.

That girl still fought as the guards dragged her off the berg. Minho watched carefully, writing her features into his memory. He figured someday in the future if he ever planed to break out, this was the one person he knew he wanted on his team.

It was a long time until he ever saw her again. Or, well, it felt like a long time. In the grand scheme of things, maybe it had only been a few days. Since arriving, Minho had been isolated in his own room and was deprived of any sense of time. The contents of his meals told him what time of day it was, but that's all he knew.

Finally, Minho and the others were let out of those rooms for the first time, ushered down halls. Throughout the day they shuffled between different rooms, meeting different people and learning about the flare, why they were here and what the next few years of their lives were going to look like. It was like a fully functioning school. For the most part, totally boring in Minho's opinion. He hated the sit down and shut up approach to this place. It wasn't going to be long before he got in some kind of trouble.

What were they gonna do? Kick him out? Sure. That sounded alright.

The one good part of his day was the giant indoor track. If this place had one thing going for it, this was it. This place was ginormous.

Standing at the ready, waiting for the teacher to blow the whistle, Minho felt like maybe he could actually do something right. So far all day, he'd sucked at everything else. It's not like he was incompetent or hindered by something out of his control that made the school work hard. He just didn't like it. If he wasn't interested in it? Screw it. Wasn't worth his time. But this? This was worth every ounce of his effort.

Minho left his peers in the dust. He had so much ground on them he didn't even have to try and the race wasn't even half over yet. Happily, letting his ego take the drivers seat, he slowed a little. The person who'd been hanging just out of his peripheral saw their chance and began to speed up. Rounding in the last corner, they broke into a full sprint, flying past Minho like they were the one now who wasn't even trying.

The boy scrambled. Where had they come from? He was so far ahead—there was no way. Unless, there really was someone here who could match his speed.

It didn't matter how hard he pushed himself, there was no catching up to his competitor. He lost to them by mere feet but it felt like the world collapsed all down around him.

Slowing to a walk, Minho saw the teacher walk out onto the track to intercept the person in front of him. They tried to walk past but the teacher put out an arm.

"Shake hands with your classmate." They forced.

The person turned. Minho froze. He felt like he had an icy lump inside of his throat all of the sudden. That was a new feeling. Not a pleasant one, either.

It was the girl he'd seen on the burg. Hesitantly, she reached out her hand.

Knowing his hands were sweaty, Minho shook it awkwardly.

"Good race." She said.

Minho couldn't even get himself to respond. One, his ego was busted. Two, now he really wanted to know more but his brain was short-circuiting. His investigation would have to wait.

After the classes were over and all of the kids were sent to the dining hall for dinner, Minho began his hunt. She couldn't be hard to find.

Ah ha. He located her across the hall, sitting alone at the end of a bench. Haphazardly, not caring how many people took out or how many peas he dropped on the floor, Minho booked it. He accidentally slammed his tray down on the table and the girl nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Sorry," Minho cringed.

"It's okay." The girl smiled weakly. She looked lonely.

"I'm Minho." He said blankly. This time, he held out his hand with a purpose.

The girl took it, kinder this time. The teachers really seemed to set off her nerves just as much as his. Right now, she seemed like a different person. "Y/N."

"Well, Y/N." Minho stabbed his fork into the less than half decent looking slop on his plate. "You're fast, you're willing to beat up the guards and don't seem to like the teachers either. If I ever decide it's time to bust out of this place, I want you there with me. What do you say?"

"Sounds alright." She shrugged. "What do you have to offer though, if we were to attempt an escape?"

Minho felt cut to his core. What did he have to offer? Was she kidding? Could she see him? Maybe he was still a little scrawny for his age, but that would come with time, right? He could only imagine his sixteen, eighteen, whatever year old self. For a moment, he almost lost himself in daydreams about his incomparable, strong and fast future self. Yikes. "Um, everything. The brains, particularly."

"Oh, really?" She raised her brows. "I'm not so sure about that."

"Wow." Minho snarled. "Bold."

"I'm joking," The girl lightened up a little. "Maybe we can spend some time on the track before bed if they let us?"

"Deal."