One ordinary afternoon on Earth in a city that was not specified whether it was Bangkok or not, there was a small hill with grass that was not too high but enough to see the city view.
A young man in a gray suit stood under the shade of a tree with a black umbrella in one hand, and a communication device attached to his ear in the other hand. He occasionally glanced at the city view in front of him and gazed up at the sky from time to time.
At first glance, he appeared to be an ordinary office worker who might be lost or took the wrong path. However, he was not an ordinary office worker; he was an alien from another planet named Chunn.
Chunn was an engineer from the Department of the Destruction of The intergalactic expressway authority who was sent to destroy Earth under the project "One Universe, One Belt," a mega-project that linked all parts of the universe together.
The real explosion of the Earth should happen five days ago.
But now it was the fifth day after the destruction day and Chunn was still on Earth.
Earth should no longer exist, but it was still there because Chunn was captivated by the cooking skills of Dan, the owner of a small restaurant in the apartment building.
Moreover, Dan was also Chunn's roommate at the moment.
Chunn made a deal with Dan that he would spare the Earth for one day at a time in exchange for Dan's delicious meal. The deal included a condition that if the food was not delicious or Chunn was bored, he would resume his mission to destroy the Earth.
Dan listened and mistook that Chunn was a regular salaried worker who was worn out from the daily grind to the point of creating a world in his imagination to escape reality.
That made Dan feel pity because he had been in that situation before the past. He intended to take care of and help Chunn heal emotionally, so he agreed to the agreement with Chunn.
They both understood each other in their own way, but the result was the same. That is, the two young men agreed to live together in a happy and harmonious life, with dinner made by Dan being anything but ordinary.
Every dish was full of various flavors, and even though the taste was diverse, it blended perfectly on one plate. That is, the taste did not clash with each other, but it made Chunn almost speechless every time he tried a new dish made by Dan.
And after four nights and four dinners, the food was still awesome.
At first, Chunn thought it would probably stretch out the life of this world for just another day or two. But it has been going on until today, even more, delicious and appetizing every time they ate.
Chunn began to realize that the battle between him and Dan's food would probably continue for a long time. The happiness of being able to eat delicious food every day was one thing, but the difficulty of having to find a way to extend the destruction of the world was another.
Now, Chunn was trying to contact the center section to submit a fake report about the difficulty of destroying the world to buy more time. This was just one of his daily duties.
"What's the situation?"
The voice on the other end was laconic, making Chunn wanted to hang up. He felt uneasy every time he had to talk to the project spectator. He couldn't tell what the other side was feeling. It might be better to talk to the automated system.
"It's still difficult."
He answered briefly and tried not to lie because his use of the word "difficult" did not mean it was difficult to destroy the world, but rather difficult to find reasons to delay the destruction.
"What's the cause?"
The voice on the other end was even more impatient than before.
"The technology of this world can resist solar storms."
Chunn rehearsed this reason since last night, repeating it over and over again to make it sound smooth so that it wouldn't sound like he was lying. He was afraid that if he stumbled, the other side would realize he was lying.
"That's unlikely."
Even though Chunn thought he had rehearsed well, the other side still sounded suspicious.
The other end was as silent as a tomb.
Chunn was twiddling his thumbs while silently praying to The goddess of the galaxy who created stars.
He hoped not to be caught with any allegations and he hoped the other end would believe what he said.
After a moment of silence, the end of the line responded, "Understood, so what will you do next?"
Chunn wanted to breathe a sigh of relief but held it back because he still had a question to answer. "May I ask for the construction project schedule first?"
"No need, just be informed that the construction site has not reached that area yet."
"Then may I know when the project is expected to arrive in this area?"
"I do not know."
"In that case..."
"End of communication."
Then the line went dead without any further goodbye.
Chun was furious at the end of the line, but he couldn't do anything.
It would have been better to have a short conversation since he wasn't good at lying. If the conversation had been any longer, he might have accidentally revealed some secrets.
"Shouldn't you keep the intergalactic communication equipment first? People passing by might see it, dumb."
Chun was startled and looked around, but he didn't see anyone. He was still the only one standing on top of the hill.
"Down here, you dumb"
Then Chunn bent down to take a look and found…
"Huh...a cat?"
It was a chubby cat with shiny milk-tea color fur, a face marked by scars from fights it had taken part in, and an overall cool and confident demeanor.
The cat stood so close to Chunn's leg that it almost touched him, then it looked up and blew air out of its nose before speaking.
"Who are you talking to? Look at me first," the cat said.
It took Chunn almost fifteen seconds to process the situation, then he blurted out,
"Uh...are you from the planet Maw?"
The chubby cat changed its posture from standing to sitting, then began grooming itself. It slowly licked its paw, as if it were bored by the question.
"It takes you that long to figure it out, huh? you dumb" the cat said.
"Okay, but how did you stay on this planet?" Chunn asked.
The cat stopped licking its paw and looked at Chunn from the corner of its eye.
"You should introduce yourself first before asking me questions like that," the cat said.
Chunn realized he had been rude to the cat by not introducing himself earlier.
"Oh, sorry about that. My name is Chunn, and I work for the intergalactic expressway authority."
The chubby cat switched from licking its front paws to washing its face. Its movements remained slow as ever.
"I see, came to destroy the world as announced in the declaration of the land return, huh?
"You know that?" the Chunnasked.
"Of course. Who doesn't know about the One Universe, One Belt project? It was all over the news. Unless you've been living under a rock."
"Then why are you still here?" Chunn asked.
"Well, why haven't you destroyed the world yet?" the cat retorted.
"Uh, well..." Chunn felt cornered.
"Hehehe, it seems like your secret is even more weighty than the reason why I'm here," the chubby cat chuckled triumphantly. "My name is Bilcaetolesth, but people on this planet call me Mimew."
"Alright then, can I call you Bilcaetolesth or Mimew?" Chunn asked.
Mimew wagged his tail and said, "You are on this planet, is there any reason for you to call me by the real intergalactic name? Of course! call me with my name on this planet, you dumb!!!"
Ouch... I was called dumb too many to count now, if it continued, do I have to change my name from Chunn to Dumb? He's curious.
"Would you explain to me first why you lied to people that this world has the technology to protect against solar storms?" Mimew changed to a crouch and leaned forward, keeping the voice of the person holding the card higher.
"But..." Chunn hesitated.
"I know your secret. First, you were sent to destroy this world. Second, but you abandoned the duty. And third, you lied to buy time to spare this world from destroying. That's all I definitely can report to your superiors." Mimew words left Chunn cold.
Chunn had heard that the Planet Maw's people were cute but cruel and intelligent. They were good at evil planning. If they were not a lazy tribe, they could have dominated the universe by now. Now that he had met one in person, he realized that everything he had heard was not an exaggeration.
"Anyway, how about telling me the reason? If you explain, and I understand, I'll help you keep it a secret. But if you choose to remain silent, then I guess I'll have to..." Mimew left the sentence unfinished.
"Okay, I'll tell you," Chunn agreed.
"That's all there is to it."
"But please don't laugh at me, OK?" Chunn said.
"Just tell me first, and I'll decide whether to laugh or not," Mimew replied.
Chunn had no choice but to tell the whole truth. Actually, it wasn't that bad. He had to find a way to vent this to someone, or else it would just be too weighty on his mind.
So, Chunn put his communication device in his pants pocket and sat down beside Mimew, and started telling Mimew about Khai-Luke-Khey and Lhon-Kathi, the first dishes on Earth, as well as ChonDan, a person who he lives with now
...