It’s been almost a year since I read The Maze Runner series. While I found the books a fun diversion for a tediously long layover, there were a few things about the story’s basic premise that bugged me enough that I never considered myself in the fandom. I did, however, consider myself in the Minho fandom. Minho was by far my favorite character in the books and I was also excited and pleased to find a series where an Asian character got to be one of the protagonists and have a badass leadership role. I found his and Thomas’s relationship especially compelling, so it was only a matter of time before I sought out fanfiction pairing them up.
My younger brother has just picked up the series, and talking to him about it has rekindled my interest—if not in the books, in my precious cinnamon roll Minho. I went deep-diving into my AO3 history to find my favorite among all the Thominho fanfic I read back in October and bring it to you.
Spoilers for the end of The Death Cure below the jump.
Minho grabbed his shoulders and shook him, and Thomas gasped because if they fought then they’d make him hurt them. “Go away,” gasp. “Go away,” gasp. “I’ll hurt you,” gasp.
His friend swore, and then arms were wrapping around his shoulders, gripping him tightly. Thomas waited for his body to start fighting back. Except then instead he relaxed, his hands grabbing Minho’s t-shirt, and slowly, eventually, he was back home.
He was weak. He was so shucking weak. He couldn’t even think about Newt without becoming a shucking baby. “I killed him. I killed Newt.” He was too weak to even look at Minho’s face, too weak to let go of him, too weak to walk away and give Minho space to accept the truth.
“I know,” and hands were grabbing his face, forcing Thomas to meet his eyes. “Damnit, Tommy, I’ve known for years.”
“And you don’t hate me?” I sound so weak, Thomas thought. He wasn’t allowed to be weak, except that was all he was. If he’d been stronger he could have saved Newt, and Chuck, and Teresa, and everybody.
“Hey,” Minho slapped him on the cheek, until Thomas looked him in the eyes again. “I could never hate you.”
He leaned his forehead against Thomas’ and closed his eyes, and Thomas felt his breath hitch and a tear run down his cheek, salty and cold. The rest of the world disappeared again, slowly and in waves, and it was still so painful, and dejected memories still beat at him like a drum, demanding to be remembered and relived. “I could never hate you,” Minho said again, hardly a whisper, and Thomas clung to him with hands that were too weak to shake, and it hurt.
My precious sons.
Envoi is set in Paradise, after what remains of the survivors have set up a settlement where they can live the rest of their lives in an approximation of peace. I love it for a variety of reasons. First of all, if you were to look at my Homestuck fanfic history, you’d notice I have a weakness for the “friendleaders come to terms with their feelings for each other in the happily-ever-after of the post-apocalypse” trope. (Is it prevalent enough to be a trope? This piece of Johnkat trash votes yes.) Furthermore, Thomas clearly suffers from PTSD from his experiences but his friendship and later romantic relationship with Minho don’t magically cure it. Rather, although Minho is more able to comfort and calm him because of their strong emotional bond, Thomas still struggles with nightmares and panic attacks long after the threat from WICKED has passed. Finally, it’s beautifully well-written, and the emotional build of Thomas pining after his best friend hits me right in my dramatic adoration for pining-after-your-best-friend romances in fanfic.
Basically what I’m saying is that this fanfic seems tailor-made to fit my personal preferences, and if you can relate to any of my opinions about these things I suspect you’ll love it too. At a relatively brief 5k, it’s not a particularly long diversion, but it is a totally worthwhile one. Read it here at the Archive of Our Own.
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