Chapter Text
Ping! Newt looked up from the papers on his desk at his phone and saw a notification on Snapchat from ThomasGreene19🥲. Newt smiled and opened the message. It was a video of a boy with raven black hair and dark chocolate eyes being lifted in the air by a group of teenage boys. They all wore a black jersey tank top and black shorts. Silver words sprawled across the backs of them all. Newt’s face brightened at the caption “First Place National Winners: The Maze Runners!” Just as Newt was typing a reply of Congratulations!, his Snapchat lit up with a phone call. He quickly answered the phone call and screamed, “Congratulations, slintheads” at the faces of his friends, his soulmates: Minho and Thomas. He laughed as the Asian flipped him off and ruffled the brunette’s hair. “So, how are you two shanks celebrating?” he asked them. Thomas, Minho, and Newt had met each other in middle school at summer camp. Newt and Minho had befriended each other over a game of tag. While playing, Minho being the tagger, he touched Newt as he was running, and they both fell down. There was a slight sting on their left pinky fingers. When they looked at their respective fingers, they saw a pink ring encircling their fingers, imprinting in the skin like a tattoo. They both gasped as they saw their matching marks, and vowed to be the best of friends. They eventually discovered that they were in the same cabin. Within the first week of eight, the two were inseparable buddies. They shared bunk beds (Minho quickly claiming the top) and sat with each other at mealtimes. It was during one of those mealtimes that the two saw Thomas. On their third week, the blonde Brit and raven haired Asian witnessed a small kid getting pushed against a cabin wall by someone much bigger. They didn’t know the name of the small kid, he wasn’t in their cabin and they didn’t notice him from mealtime. However, they knew the bigger kid: Gally Galilei. Gally has a history of picking on the younger kids, sometimes picking on others that are older. Everyone tends to stay back when he does, unfortunately Newt and Minho are also culprits of the bystanders. Even the ones getting bullied just sat on the sidelines until the bully walked away. However, this time was different. “You gonna apologize or what kid?” Gally snarled at the brunette boy. Newt and Minho finally saw the kid’s eyes when he looked up at Gally. They were a warm chocolate color. “Apologize? For what?” The boy’s voice was high pitched. “For what?” Gally almost screamed, “For slamming your juice into me, you dummy.” Gally pulled the kid back and hit him into the cabin wall again. Ouch. “Funny we how I didn’t do that. Maybe watch where you’re walking next time. Us small people can’t see giant loopas like you.” “Yeah, and who you calling a “loopa”?” Gally snarled back. His face turning red at the apparent insult. “You, ya loopa. It’s what we call people who can’t keep their heads attached to their bodies,” he was parroting this of course, “People who can’t seem to keep their wallets in their pockets.” At that moment, the boy held up a light blue wallet: Gally’s. Gally looked at it in shock before he dropped the boy in an attempt to grab it. The boy landed on the ground in an oof. Again, ouch. “Why you little…” Gally started before he took a swing at the boy. The boy dodged him before grabbing Gally’s arm and pulling it behind his back. Gally howled at the pull in his shoulder. The sudden shift in movement made it easy for Newt and Minho to see a splash of liquid covering Gally’s shirt. The boy held up the wallet and stuck it in Gally’s pocket, “I think you should go back to your friends. Don’t want them to see you like this, now do you?” The boy let Gally go. Gally dropped to the floor. He attempted to swing at the boy again, but Newt and Minho jumped forward, finally out of their daze. “I wouldn’t do that, mate,” Newt said. “Yeah, you wouldn’t want him to beat your butt again, now would you?” Minho continued. Gally and the boy looked at the two boys for a moment. Gally looked back and forth from the boy to Newt and Minho once before he huffed and walked away. Not without bumping into the boy’s shoulder one good time. When Gally was gone, the boy looked at the two again before saying Thanks. Then he was gone. It wasn’t for another three days before the duo saw him again. He was running on the field with a group of boys playing freeze tag. Ironic. Newt and Minho had been wanting to talk to him since that night with Gally. They saw something in the boy that they couldn’t explain. It was after they found themselves playing in the game that they understood why. They bumped into the boy as everyone was running and mid-freeze the boys felt a sting in both of their pinky fingers. They all looked. The boy had a pink ring on his left pinky and on his right was a purple one. Minho and Newt had the same markings. They all gasped as they looked at each other. The chocolate eyes looked back and forth between the two clutching his hands tightly together. Then, he extended his hand and said, “I’m Thomas.” Minho and Newt smiled as the reached for the hand. Boy… did they have stories for their parents after camp ended. Unfortunately, they couldn’t all stay together. Minho lived in Los Angeles Thomas lived in Denver. Newt lived across the ocean in Salisbury, New Kingdom. The ten year old Thomas and twelve year olds Newt and Minho would be separated until Thomas moved to Glade, California his freshman year of college. There he re-met college sophomore Minho with the pink and purple rings on his pinky fingers identical to Thomas’s pinkies. They were on the same varsity track team and have been ever since. It was on a SnapChat notification from issacsnewt19 in Thomas’s dms that Thomas and Minho found their other soulmate who lived in Salisbury, New Kingdom. It has been two years. Now, Thomas was in his third year of college earning his Bachelor’s in bioengineering and computer analysis. He’s been on the track team each year and is now captain in training. Minho has started his Master’s in Personal Training and Fitness and is now a co-captain on the Glader track team with Benjamin Smith as his co-captain. “There’s gonna be a party at Ben’s after the game,” Minho told little Newt on Thomas’s phone screen. “Ah, that wanker still comin after ya?” Newt asked the Asian. The young man laughed at the question before shaking his head, “Unfortunately, yes. It’s like the marks aren’t enough.” Thomas wrapped his arm around Minho’s waist and shook him. To others it would be a congratulatory shake, but to the boys it was a comfort. Newt shook his head, “I wish I was there with you two.” Thomas and Minho looked at the blonde beauty in front of them and sighed before saying in unison, “Us too.” What Minho and Thomas didn’t know was that Newt had a plan. What they all knew however was that Thomas’s undergraduate graduation was in four weeks “Hey, Newt,” Sonya barged into his room. Sonya was Newt’s little sister by seven minutes. He never let her down about it. Newt jumped at the intrusion, “Oi! Sonya, what do ya want?” “Ooh, is that Minho and Thomas? Hi, boys,” Sonya waved at the phone screen. Thomas and Minho laughed before waving back, “Hi, Son.” They chorused. “Ugh. Where can I get me a Thomas and Minho? But in one? I don’t think I could handle two… Too much drama. I don’t understand how you boys do it. Bloody hell, and over long distance too.” “Sonya,” Newt interrupted, “You came in here for a reason, no?” “Oh, yeah,” Sonya remembered, “Mum said dinner was ready. Bye, boys.” She waved at the screen again before leaving Newt’s room. Newt shook his head as Minho and Thomas said goodbye. “I swear, that girl is gonna be the bloody death of me. Guess I gotta go,” Newt told the two Americans. Sad pouts filled the faces of the two. Newt whined, “Don’t give me that look. I’ll talk to you too later. Have fun at Ben’s,” Newt started to hang up before stopping himself, “But not too much fun, alright?” Everyone’s face grew serious for a moment. Then, as one… again… Thomas and Minho lifted their right pinky in a small bend towards the screen. Newt parroted the motion with his right pinky having to switch phone hands. Their identical purple pinky rings in view as they promised to have fun but not too much fun. Then Newt hung up his phone and went to eat dinner with his mom and sister. Thomas and Minho sighed as they got off the phone and went to change from their track uniforms. The party at Ben’s house was already in full swing by the time Minho and Thomas arrived. When they entered the home, they were hit by dancing bodies and classic red solo cups. Alcohol filled the scents of the boys and promised pizza made their stomachs grumble. “I’ll go get us some drinks,” Thomas said to Minho squeezing his shoulder and walking away. Minho nodded and decided to walk a bit. There were plenty of unfamiliar faces in the crowd. Fortunately, he saw familiar faces in the crowd such as his personal trainer classmate Harriet and the nursing degree Teresa who was friends with Thomas. He walked up to them when Harriet waved. “‘Sup,” the young man said. Just as Teresa was about to respond, a girl jumped onto her back. Her bobcat hair was pulled up into a ponytail. She wore jeans, a tube top and a Jean jacket with converse on her feet. It was Brenda, Thomas’s sister, and Teresa’s soulmate. Sky Blue circles glinted off their left ring fingers. Brenda waved her hand at Minho as Teresa laughed. Minho gave a soft chuckle, “Hello, Brenda.” Brenda slid down Teresa’s back and grabbed onto her hand. Teresa pulled up their intertwined fingers and kissed the back of Brenda’s hand. Minho looked away. It was moments like these where the trio felt their hurt of being such distanced soulmates. For the first nine years before Thomas moved to Glade University, they all felt a sense of longing in their not so filled hearts. There was pain in the fingers and an ache in their chest. Of course, their parents would not budge at the mention of the soulmates’s feelings. Money is too tight for that drive. An airplane to AMERICA? One day, son, you’ll see. It wasn’t that their parents hated the idea of soulmates or even that their soulmates were boys, but it was that extra “s” that threw them all in shambles. While it wasn’t unheard of for there to be ties of three, it was extremely rare. Many thought it to be a fluke of the mind, or a trick of the system. Of course, proof was shaky and strong foundations were left in mud after much research. There was no innate answer to a trio of soulmates and it left the people worried at the implications. Even those who were the bearer of such marks were worried. The pain of separation was stronger. The ache of feeling lost left in actual heartbreak. Love was difficult to find in oneself without the testament of the others. It is thought that those with two soul rings can feel each other’s emotions and their pain. The boys definitely felt this. For one, the pain was so unbearable it lead to a devastating attempt. The other two felt a sharp pain in their left leg at the same time. This is a story for another time. Minho, Newt, and Thomas had an unspoken vow: Wait for us to be whole again. And they did. Even after Minho and Thomas were reunited, nothing beyond lingering touches surfaced. They never kissed. They never had sex. They never gave themselves away to other people. There was no thrill in their thoughts of others as there was when they thought of their soulmates. The longing only deepened at the mention of something so far away from their reality. Minho felt that longing now as he looked away from the happy couple. The intense longing of love that can’t be fulfilled until all three young men were together. When Thomas came into the tiny circle of friends, he handed Minho his classic red solo cup of beer. Thomas sipped from his own cup. Vodka, coke, and cherries: Minho knew his soulmates drink choices by heart. Thomas was the same. They even knew Newt’s from one drunken call on Snapchat that ended with him complaining about drinking too many strawberry martinis. Thomas encircled his arm around Minho’s bicep before letting go. The small gesture left Minho in silent relief and comfort but also pure anxiety and want. The three boys were not hard on the eyes. This was seen by many, and the fact that they were soulmated. Not only soulmated, but unavailable. There was desire from outsiders to take a piece of what they could. This is proven by one: Benjamin Smith. Ben sauntered over to the quintet and looked at them, (looked at Minho). “How’s everyone enjoying the party?” The sandy haired boy asked. The others shrugged and nodded words of encouragement and excitement saying how much they loved the party and were having loads of fun. Ben nodded im thanks and asked Minho for a dance. Minho really didn’t want to dance with the guy. It wasn’t that Ben wasn’t attractive, far from he was very handsome and a built figure, but he wasn’t Newt and Thomas. “Come on, Minho. Just one dance?” The boy pushed the Asian. Minho sighed. He knew that the only way to get Ben off of him for the night was if he danced with him. So after a giant chug of his red solo cup (now empty), he grabbed onto Ben’s outstretched hand and patted Thomas’s side with the other (the red solo cup now on the floor… don’t judge, he wasn’t cleaning it in the morning. He and Ben started dancing to a punk rock song. Minho keeping his distance. Thomas looked at the boys with a sturdy face. He wasn’t a jealous person, and especially not of Ben Smith. He just didn’t like watching one of his soulmates doing with someone else what he wished to be doing: like dancing. Sure, Thomas could dance with Minho, but the intimacy that they are trying to avoid would become unbearable and would leave the two more heartbroken. “Did you tell Newt about your big win today?” Teresa asked Thomas in curiosity, and to keep Thomas from doing something stupid. Thomas turned back to the girl and nodded. “Yeah, he told us congratulations over the phone, but he had to leave for dinner after a few minutes.” “Did you speak to Sonya?” Harriet asked nonchalantly. Thomas smirked. He knew Harriet had a slight crush on Sonya from the few phone calls the two have had over Snapchat themselves. The two had first met when Harriet overheard Thomas talking to Newt and Sonya. By the end of the fifteen minute call, Harriet and Sonya he exchanged Snaps and shy grins. Thomas, Minho and Newt were excited to see how that was going to go “She’s good. She badges into Newt’s room and whisked him away from us, but she seemed cheery, as usual,” he laughed. Harriet smiled at the information before taking a sip of her lemonade. Thomas took a sip of his drink too until he heard Teresa shriek an “Oh my God!” Thomas turned to see what Teresa was looking at and stopped in his tracks. His blood boiled. His heart pounded. His fist curled. His right pinky throbbed. His brain plotted thirteen ways to kill and hide a body undetected. Ben Smith was kissing Minho… on the mouth. That son of a bitch.