forgotten│the maze runner

f i v e

Life was busy as a Runner—wake up at the crack of dawn, get ready in under ten minutes, write the patterns, run, and most importantly, come back before you were Griever food.

It had been two weeks since Suejin had started. After days and days of never-ending, arduous running, she was no closer to finding a way out. Meaning, she was no closer to finding out who she truly was—which was what frustrated her the most.

Her usual dreams would come and go, leaving almost nothing but a rushed turmoil of emotions that would always leave her feeling beyond confused.

Like Minho had said, the patterns were consistent—nothing ever changed. She was tired of mapping the same things, and she started to hate the usual process of running. It felt pointless, like they were walking in a never-ending circle. It was starting to get to her, and she had no problem showing it.

In fact, she thought that all the Runners could sense that she was on the edge.

  "Ease up, Suejin." Jonathan said to her as they were running in the Maze. "More fights like that and Minho might just feed you to the Grievers."

  "He asked for it." She grumbled, knowing that that wasn't completely true. Minho and Suejin were almost like opposite charges, always attracting and causing a reaction. Yet, their personalities weren't all that different. They were both strong-willed, stubborn, and logical.

Today, Minho hadn't said anything in particular that would usually trigger her. She would've hated to admit, but today's argument was entirely her fault.

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "Sure.." He sighed. "Maybe you should just calm yourself when you're so—" He paused when he saw the sour look on her face.

"So, what?"

"Irritated, mad, frustrated, angry—"

"Sorry, are you giving me anger management advice?" She tried to say it like a joke, but it didn't come out that way at all. He didn't respond for a moment, and she instantly felt horrible, knowing that it wasn't fair of her to take out her frustrations on Jonathan.

But thankfully, Jonathan being Jonathan, he just laughed. "Alright, alright. My bad."

The look on her face instantly became apologetic. He had always been nothing but nice to her. "Jonathan, I'm sorry. I just—"

He shook his head. "It's okay. I understand." He spoke in a gentle tone, which just made her feel even worse. "I just meant, you seem to be getting more stressed every day. You're not usually like this, and I don't think it was Minho this time."

Jonathan—he was so observant. She leaned down to tie her shoelaces. "It's complicated." How could she explain the dreams to him? He wouldn't understand.

"Okay." He sighed. "But you know—" He leaned down beside her, meeting her eyes. "You know you can tell me anything."

She nodded and gave him a small smile. "I know, and I appreciate it."

He smirked and flicked her in the head playfully. "Of course you do."

She rolled her eyes and punched him in the shoulder. "Sure, sure."

Jonathan got up, checking his watch. "We should head back now. Ready?"

She finished tying her laces and stood to her feet. "Ready."

As they were running, Suejin realized how grateful she was to have Jonathan as a friend. He was closest to her other than Newt and Flo, and he seemed to always know how she was feeling without her having to say anything. Which said a lot, because Suejin wasn't one for sharing anything. He never failed to bring a smile to her face when she was obviously stressed or feeling let down. And most importantly, he never questioned why she became a Runner. He just seemed to know how much this meant to her.