/////

"What did you say?" Alby asked Minho again. They are now in the Reign so that the former Keeper can talk to their leader.

When Minho woke up in his hammock—since he wasn't a Keeper anymore and his old room was owned by Ben—he immediately went to Alby's room. Even though Alby wondered what was going on and why Minho would wanted to talk to him, he just let himself follow the young man until they reached the Reign.

Minho took a breath before speaking and looked the leader in the eye. "Punch me, put me in the Slammers, Banish me, I don't know. Give me a punishment."

"And why should I do that?" Alby asked in surprise. He will not issue a punishment unless if the Gladers really did something against the rules. Minho looked away and didn't speak for a few minutes. Alby just took a deep breath.

"If you're not going to tell me what you want to say, why did you even bring me here?" He turned his back on Minho and was about to leave when he suddenly heard the young man speak.

"I kissed Zelia yesterday." Alby slowly looked at him; he didn't expect what he said.

"What?"

"I kissed Zelia yesterday. At the Deadheads. I wasn't in my right mind at that time because I had been drinking the glass full of what Gally's recipe. I don't know how many glass I drink." Aside from Zelia, Minho only tells the truth to Alby.

Alby seemed to want to laugh, but he realized that Minho didn't really know how he felt about Zelia. It is obvious from their actions that they have feelings for each other. There's one time when he couldn't sleep and he was about to go to Slammers to say check Minho, but he saw the two of them together inside, sleeping. He couldn't ask why and just let the two do what they wanted to do.

"What do you want me to do?" Alby asked for a few minutes, and neither of them spoke.

"Punished me." Because of what Minho said, he couldn't avoid rolling his eyes at him, and he crossed his arms.

"Minho, are you really that super dumb numb? Because if you ask me, you two are more obvious about your feelings for each other. The way you let yourself Banish yourself, the way she's waiting for you to come back, the way she's sleeping with you these past few days when you're on your Slammer. Tell me if you really didn't feel anything for her."

Minho looked away and looked at the grass. He doesn't know what to answer, or maybe he knows but still doesn't want to admit it to himself.

"She would probably hate me for what I did," Minho said softly but just enough for Alby to hear.

Before he could look at their leader again, he suddenly fell down on the grass and felt three punches in his face. Minho didn't try to fight back; he just let Alby punch him.

"Let's see about that," Alby said and helped the young man stand to pull him towards the kitchen.

-----

Zelia didn't know how she got to her room. She knew to herself that she didn't sleep well because of what happened that night. Even though she didn't close her eyes, she could still feel the man's lips on her own.

I need to talk to him right now. As in right now. Otherwise, I would go crazy thinking about him. I don't care if he avoids me; I will insist that we talk.

She got up from her bed—which she immediately regretted because she suddenly felt dizzy—and left her own room. Zelia ignored the pain in her head and looked for the man.

Zelia noticed that many of the Gladers were awake and starting to eat their breakfast. She immediately looked around to see what she was looking for.

The girl was disappointed that she did not see him. She just took a deep breath and ate, just in case she forgot everything because of that guy.

"You look gloomy today," Newt said as Zelia sat next to the young man. Only then did she notice that Kendrix, Maggie, Winston, and Chuck were with him. She knows that Ben ran to the Maze to do his work.

"What did you do to our friend?" Kendrix asked, making Newt raise an eyebrow.

"Excuse me? This is the first time in a day that I just talked to and saw Zel?"

"You are the only one who is strong enough to tease our friend."

"Am I the one who immediately ruined her day?"

Zelia took a deep breath because of the two of them. If not Ben and Kendrix, Newt will take over their bantering when the Keeper is away. Maggie noticed that the girl was silent, so she tried to speak.

"Hey, you okay? I noticed that you were looking for something when you came out of your room." Zelia looked up, and suddenly the two fell silent, waiting for what she would say.

"I'm fine; I just didn't sleep well," she said and looked back at the food she had never eaten since she was sitting down.

"You sure? Maybe because of what happened last night? You suddenly disappeared when Chuck—who went to the bathroom for a while—and I returned to the same place where we left you."

Zelia suddenly remembered everything—how she walked to the Deadheads, who she saw who's sitting at the front of the graveyard, what the two of them talked about before Minho left her. Minho, who is the reason why she couldn't sleep properly last night. Minho is the reason why she's having mixed emotions right now.

Zelia was about to speak when she suddenly stopped when she heard Chuck, Maggie, and Winston talking while they were looking behind the girl.

"Is that Minho?" Chuck asked.

"Right, wait, something's wrong." Winston.

"Oh my...What happened to him?" Zelia quickly looked behind her when she heard what Maggie said. What she saw was not expected.

Minho with wounds on his forehead and lips. This included Alby pulling the man by the arm as they walked towards them. To us?

"I hope you're not busy, Zel; you have patient. If he tries to leave, you have my permission to punch him," Alby said when they reached the table where the girl was. Zelia looked at his companion, who obviously did not want to make eye contact with her.

"Uhm, what happened?" The girl saw how the leader's mouth opened, but she didn't hear what he said because Minho cleared his throat. Alby just rolled his eyes and tightened his grip on the man's arm, so Minho simply groaned in pain.

"Just ask him. If he didn't talk, you also have my permission to punch him," Alby said while smiling at Zelia. She looked at her friends, who were also obviously confused, but she excused herself to treat the young man's wound.

-----

They are both inside the Med-hut. They just walked quietly until they got here. Zelia also took out what she was going to use to treat the man's wounds. Minho is now sitting while the girl is standing and busy with what she was doing.

"What happened?" The girl asked as she found her own voice while putting medicine in a cotton ball. Zelia looked at Minho—she was a little surprised that he was looking at her right now, waiting to see what she would do next.

She noticed something strange in the man's eyes, but she couldn't figure out what it was. It's hard to describe him since everything Minho felt right now—this is the first time. The former Keeper didn't really show any other emotions.

After a few minutes, finally, Minho spoke. "Alby did this." Zelia frowned while starting to dab his wound on his temple using a cotton ball with medicine.

"What do you mean?" She admitted it. It's hard for her to focus on treating the man's wound because he's just looking straight at the girl; it feels like he doesn't have any plans to look away.

"I told him to punch me." This time, Zelia raised an eyebrow, but she continued with the treatment.

"Such an idiot you really are."

"Maybe."

Silence surrounded them again. Zelia seems to have lost all the questions she wanted to ask Minho about last night.

When the girl finished treating the young man's forehead, she looked down at his lips. She secretly gulped and took new cotton ball with medicine, and she tried her best not to think anything, but who is she fooling? At the end, her mind just goes to what happened last night. Don't blame her; in the first place, it's Minho's fault because he's looking at her in the eyes, as if he's finding something deeper on her head.

She slowly touched the side of the young man's lips. Zelia wanted to tell Minho not to stare at her; the girl wanted to remove the man's eyes, but she chose to ignore him; she almost finished what she's doing.

At this point, it's scary to bring up the topic. It was scary what he would say. Maybe he just drank too much. Maybe all that he acted was nothing. Maybe he wasn't really jealous of Gally. Maybe he just forgot everything. Maybe-

Zelia was interrupted on what she's thinking when she felt Minho grab her wrist where she was holding the cotton ball.

"Your hand is shaking." The girl looked at the young man because of what he said. She didn't notice that her hand was shaking because of her mixed feelings.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it," Zelia said, and she was about to continue the treatment when Minho still didn't let go of her wrist.

"I'm sorry," the man said while still looking into the girl's eyes. "I'm sorry for what I really did since day 1. Ignoring you, being rude to you, making you worry, confused, not believing you."

Zelia didn't know how to react to what Minho told her. She opened her mouth several times, but no voice came out, so the man spoke again.

"Alby, make me realize that I'm being the one whose shank here, that I really need to tell you what I felt for you. I told him everything on what happened...yesterday."

Zelia frowned. "What you felt for me?" She felt her heart beat faster, nervous about what Minho's answer would be.

The man took a deep breath. "I can't see you happy with others; someone is holding you, everything. I'm hurting inside. You made me feel that I don't need to try harder when I'm in front of you. I don't have to pretend like I have to catch all the problems of the world. No matter how much I hold back, I ended up being honest with you. Like today, I admit it that I'm jealous of Gally because he's easy to make you happy even in the small things."

Minho took a pause for a moment; he didn't care if he looked stupid in front of Zelia. He just wants to say what he feels right now.

"I don't want to pretend anymore that you're invisible to me, that I don't care about you. I don't even know how you can still talk to me right now when I'm trying to push you away since day 1. I think that you're too good for me, but I can't let you end up with someone else."

Zelia just looked at Minho until he finished what he had to say. She's trying to understand everything he was saying, which gradually sank in with her. The man slowly let go of the girl's wrist and he stood up.

"I'm really sorry about the kiss. I didn't ask for your permission if it's okay to do that." He was about to leave the Med-hut when he suddenly felt someone grab his cheek and make him face it to her.

It was as if the man was standing like a statue—he couldn't move because of the shock he feel—and he could feel how their lips pressed against each other. Even though no one moves, the kiss is full of emotions.

It only took a few seconds, but it felt like their lips were touching for several minutes. Zelia is the first one who pulled away, looking at Minho, who's still in shock and wide eyes. She smiled at the reaction she saw.

"Now we're even."

Minho frowned, confused why she did that. "W-what...why..." He's trying to find his words; that's why she widened her smile.

Zelia caressed the man's cheek with her thumb, "I know Ben told you that I keep waiting for you when will you come back. Ever since I had my own room and before I went to sleep, I realized that there's something more about my feelings for you. It's not just guilt that every time I didn't see you going back at the Glade. I just don't want to admit it when I finally saw you again. But what happened yesterday makes me overthink through the night. I can say that I really care for you."

Minho was even more confused, so Zelia continued to speak. "I also don't want to pretend anymore that I'm trying to forget these feelings, like I don't know what they want to convey to me every time they ask who I like."

Zelia felt how Minho's arms wrapped around her waist to pull her for him. He hugged her tightly, so the girl smiled. He buried his face between her neck and shoulder and let out a sigh.

"I..." Minho started, and Zelia patiently waited on what he's going to say. "I don't know what to say or how to react. But seriously, I feel happy when you feel the same way."

The girl smiled at him. "Right, stop being a klunk from starting right now."

Minho pulled away from the hug, but his hands were still on her waist while looking at her, smiling. If she's being honest right now, this is her first time seeing this guy smile with a genuine. It makes her feel a butterfly in her stomach. She can't help it and realized that she's caressing the back of his neck.

"I won't. I don't want to regret letting you go to someone else. You made me feel that it's okay not to be okay. You help me that night, not once but until you make sure I can sleep properly again."

Zelia just hummed, enjoying the moment and how close they are right now. It seems that there is no plan for them to separate from each other. Only now did they feel this kind of joy.

She realized that Minho's head was slowly getting closer to her. Zelia waited for their lips to meet again. She can feel his breath but didn't mind and continued to lean forward; she's too focused on his lips that are just a little distance away from her lips. Even though the young man's lower lip was wounded, she could still feel it was soft the way she kissed him earlier.

"Oh, sorry. I came here at the wrong time."

Zelia was surprised by who spoke near at the door of the Med-hut, so she accidentally slapped Minho on his left cheek. He groans in pain, causing the girl to realize what happened.

"Oh my gosh, Minho. I'm sorry," Zelia immediately said while standing in her place, obviously surprised by what she did, not knowing what to do while just looking at the man holding his cheek.

"That's why you didn't hear my knock three times." The newcomer spoke again, so Zelia looked to see who it was. She saw Newt grinning and crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall, near at the door.

"Newt..." Zelia started, letting out an awkward chuckle. "W-what are you doing here? Is there something wrong?" The girl simply bit her lower lip as she stammered.

"Nothing's wrong. Just checking on you both to make sure you still didn't kill each other," Newt said while still grinning and shifting his gaze to Zelia and Minho. "I hope your patient is okay."

The young woman looked at the person next to her who was still holding his cheek; he was now smiling as if he was still enjoying being caught by their friend. Slowly, Zelia felt how her own cheeks warmed up.

"Yeah, he's...okay. Really okay. So if you excuse me, my job here is done." The girl said and hurriedly put away the things she used. Before she could get out of the Med-hut, thankful that Newt didn't stop her, she heard the last thing the two said.

"So you finally have the courage to tell her what you feel?"

"Yeah, it's worth a shot. Thanks for checking us, though."

Zelia just shook her head and walked out. She simply smiled and went to where the Armoury was.

So this is how Kendrix and Maggie really feel.