On an ordinary late afternoon on Earth, in a rural area that wasn't identified as Bangkok but wasn't specified as not Bangkok, there was a slightly elevated grassy hill that offered a view of the city.
If anyone had passed by at that time, they would have found a young man in a gray suit talking to a fat Siamese cat under a tree on top of the hill.
"That's why the world hasn't ended yet," Mimew said after listening to Chunn's story.
"Um... aren't you laughing, Mimew?" the young man asked, looking at the old, chubby cat.
"Not at all. I'm laughing a lot," Mimew replied.
"Well, I don't see you laughing," the young man said.
"Do I have to actual laugh for you? to see? You dumb" Mimew ask.
"Ouch.. you keep calling me dumb" Chunn wailed
"Because you keep being dumb" Mimew's reply contains no sympathy.
"And now you know all of my secret … well, I mean, will you …." Chunn left the last word out, but it seemed like Mimew understood without it.
"Am I going to expose you to your head office, you are about to asking me that question? No, I'm not." Mimew said, and then the fat cat blew air out of his nose annoyingly.
"Really?" Chunn asked
"Well, or do you want me to reveal it" Mimew asked back in annoyingly.
'No, thank you so much, Mimew.' Chunn said.
'Well, it's mutually beneficial then. I get to stay on this planet.' Mimew said.
This sentence made Chunn curious.
'Mimew, Can you tell me why you came to live on this planet? I've heard that the Planet Maw is one of the leading stars in the universe. Everything is ahead of the other stars. Why did you come to live on this backward planet?'
'You are here because you fell in love with the food, right?' Mimew asked.
'Yes, I assume.' Chunn replied.
'I'm on this planet because apromise'' Mimew said.
'Hmm? A promise?' Chunn asked.
.....
Down the hill on the other side of the apartment of Chunn and Dan. There was an old community along the river, with houses made of wood that had mostly been built for more than thirty years.
Although the area was an old community, it still looked beautiful and strong, like the elderly who were ready to tell the stories of this town to passers-by.
A chubby cat led a man in a suit through the small gate of the wooden house.
As soon as the gate opened, there was a greeting from inside the house. "Are you back home, Mimew?"
"Miaow."
"And who did you bring with you?"
"Mew."
Mimew, the chubby cat, turned to look at Chunn and although there were no words spoken, Chunn knew that the other party was telling him to go with the flow. He understood, but would he be able to handle it? The young man thought, he was not good at lying.
An old man with thick glasses slowly came out and sat on the porch in front of the house. Mimew climbed up to sit on his lap, and the man greeted Chunn, who had stopped at the gate.
"Young man, please come in"
"Oh... hello, Uncle."
"Are you Mimew's friend?"
"Well... I met Mimew at the hill."
"Oh... that's Mimew's favorite place."
"It's my favorite place too."
"Oh, sit down first, mister."
"Thank you."
The old man adjusted his glasses, smiled warmly, and slid a plate of pastries towards Chunn. "Do you want to eat some?"
"Um, can I?"
"Oh yeah, go ahead and eat. Or do you want me to let me try it first?"
"Thank you. What kind of pastry is this?"
"It's 'Kanom Phing', have you never seen it before?"
"No, I haven't."
"Well, then eat slowly. It's dry and might get stuck in your throat."
Chunn picked up a pastry and hesitated whether or not to eat it. Ever since he came to Earth, the food here had left him with an unexpected incredibly taste every day. Fortunately, he had learned to control his reactions,partly, and now he no longer falls back.
But this pastry looked untrustworthy, in his feeling.
Its round and cute shape was like a Slime he had seen on other planets, but in the middle, it was slightly cracked. When he brought it to his nose to smell it, he could detect a faint, sweet fragrance.
"It's the smells of pandan leaves, young man"
"Pandan leaves?"
"Have you ever eaten a Thai-style pastry before?"
"No, never," Chunn shook his head.
The old man laughed happily and handed Chunn a cup of hot tea from the teapot.
"New generation kids never eat traditional Thai pastries, huh? Try it with some bael tea, it's delicious."
Chunn gratefully accepted the pastry and thanked the old man.
"But why are you dressed like an officer? Don't you work anymore, or are you just off work in the afternoon?"
"Uh, actually, I'm working right now," Chunn replied.
"Working freelance, surveying people or something?"
"Hmm, sort of"
"Good, if you're not in a hurry, please stay as loog as you can" the old man said.
And while Chunn though to better leave, he caught a glimpse of Mimew's sharp eyes from above the old man's crutch, and hurriedly replied, "Um, sure, uncle."
"After my wife left, I hardly had anyone to talk to," the old man continued.
"So, uncle, do you live alone?" Chunn asked.
"There are three of us, me, Mimew, and my wifet's memories," the old man replied with both words and eyes.
With this answer, Chunn did not ask any further. He enjoyed the delicious puff pastry and sipped the warm bael tea while sitting as a companion to the old man. He thought the pastry was so good that he might have to buy a few to keep before pressing the doomsday button.
...
It was getting late, when Chunn say goodbye to the uncle. The old man also said Chunn can come back here to chilling with him whenever Chunn feel like.
Chunn walked out halfway and heard a cat meowing.
When he turned around, he saw Mimew walking towards him. Chunn waited until both of them walked out of the old city and climbed the hill before inviting the old cat to talk.
"I guess he's the reason why you are still here. Tell me if i'm wrong" Chunn started
"No, actually it's because the wife."
"Uncle's wife? the one that has passed away?"
"Yes, she is… no she was my partner," Mimew said.
"Huh...? Partner?"
"She and I were partners in the Space Patrol and we were as close as siblings," Mimew explained.
The space patrol, or SP, is a law enforcement agency established by the United Federation of Planets. They are responsible for controlling and fighting crime between planets. Only the highest-ranking officers are allowed to work there. It is similar to Interpol on Earth.
Chunn wasn't surprised that there were humans from the planet Maw working in the SP, as they were skilled and intelligent planners. But what surprised him was why SP officers would come to this planet.
"Oh, are you a space cop?"
"Why? Do you think I'm too old to handle criminals? Want to try me?"
"No, no, I give up," Chunn quickly responded.
"Both of us were assigned to work on this planet and we accidentally missed our chance to leave, so we're stuck here," Mimew's explanation was too short but still Chunn understood.
Now Chunn understood the reason behind their situation. As he had suspected, SP missions were between planets and galaxies, not an easy task. Criminals they faced were not ordinary criminals. Chunn had heard that SP officers sometimes missed their targets, giving criminals an opportunity to escape.
And the area where the criminals liked to hide was usually in this kind of outer space.
In fact, one of the reason why the intergalactic expressway cuts through this area might have been to making it harder for space fugitives to hide around this area.
"Well... I se. Seems tough," Chunn said.
"While we're here, She disguises herself as an Earth human, and I use a cat-like appearance to make people think I'm the cat that she keeps. The two of us have sent out the signal, hoping that the central authorities will come to our aid."
"And... have they come?" asked Chunn.
"By the time they arrived, she had fallen in love with an Earth human," said Mimew.
It wasn't that surprising. Compared to now,that time traveling to an outer space village like this, even at high speeds, would take years from the central SP office.
"Oh...you mean that uncle," said Chunn.
"Yes, after the two of them got married, I became a pet cat of that family."
"And what about the job?" asked Chunn.
"The two of us decided to retire," said the cat.
"And you don't want to go back to your planet?" asked Chunn.
"As I said, I'm attached to her like a little sister. I can't just leave her behind. Besides, I have on one left on my planet. No family ther, at all"
"So you settle down here, in this planet … I see"
"Actually, this world wasn't bad. Initially, I thought I would return to live out my remaining life on another planet,some planet, maybe a planet with big ocean. You know? I have a lot of retirement fund, but …"
Mimew didn't continue speaking, leaving the end of the sentence hanging without words, but it was filled with meaning.
"Oh, so you can't go after your buddy dies?"
"Before she died, she made me promise to take care of that uncle."
"Oh. I see."
"She stayed on this planet so long that she became one of its inhabitants. And even when it was time to die, she was still concerned about her loved ones."
Chun could hear the difference in Miew's voice when he talked about his deceased buddy.
He couldn't imagine how he would feel if he lost someone like a sister. He never had anything he would call a family, his closest relationships being coworkers, but he couldn't say that they were close.
However, when someone from us leaves, but we still keep our promises with them, for Chun, that is the highest level of commitment. He probably wouldn't understand that feeling, but there was one thing he could understand from Miew's tone of voice.
"Actually, do you love uncle just as much? Mimew?"
"Huh?"
The fat cat from another planet turned its face to the other side. Chun knew right away that he had hit a sore spot. Despite Mimew's elderly and grumpy appearance, he still retained a cute charming of planet Maw's people.
"You love your buddy like a sister. So that uncle is also like a brother to you, right?"
"Hmph, hmph, hmph. I don't need to answer questions from someone who came to destroy this planet."
"Come on, Mimew, I haven't destroyed anything yet," Chunn said.
"But you will, someday," Mimew replied.
And that's true...
Mimew was right. Chunn knew that someday he would have to destroy this planet. Even though he enjoyed the taste of the food and the vibe of the evening of the city, this world was already predetermined to be destroyed to make way for a space highway. What he was doing now was just delaying the inevitable, not preserving the life of this planet.
"Well... Mimew, if you already knew, why do you still..."
"Hey, Chunn. Let me ask you something. What is life from your perspective?"
"It's the work of various cells in the body that continue to function," Chunn replied.
"Ha ha ha! If that's your answer, then even if I explain the reason why I'm still here even though I know this world is going to be ended, you won't understand."
"Really..."
"Just go home. I know there is someone waiting for you, right?" Mimew said.
"Can you just tell me the answer before I leave?" Chunn asked.
"Listen to me. Life is not about short or long. Life only has meaning when it ends at the right time. I think my life will end with this planet and that old brother, uncle. That's what makes my life meaningful," Mimew explained.
Indeed... Chunn didn't understand.
In his perspective, life didn't have the same meaning as Mimew described. But it was possible that he was too naive to understand.
According to Chunn mentioned before, people of Planet Maw are too smart for their own good, and they speak in philosophy rather than practicality. Compared to Chunn, who thought so straightforwardly, it was like they were speaking different languages.
But Chunn was certain that even when this star explosion happened, he would not forget Mimew, and he liked this cat very much. He felt good about the friendship that had formed today, both with Mimew and with Uncle.
"Will we meet again tomorrow, Mimew?"
"Well, if you don't destroy the world first."
"I'll try not to. If the world doesn't explode, we'll see each other tomorrow."
"Anyway, I'm staying here. It's my favorite place."
Before Chunn turned around to descend the hill, he thought of something.
"Wait a minute, Mimew."
"What's up?"
"And if I decide to destroy this world... Would you consider again?"
"Consider? again...?" The old cat gave a annoyed meow before answering. "No. I still choose to die on this world anyway."
Chunn was disappointed by the answer. "What...? Why? You can leave this world with me. I'll take you."
Mimew replied, "No, I'm afraid."
"What are you afraid of?" Chunn asked.
"I'm afraid that the old man will get lost while walking to find his wife, my buddy, in the afterlife. If there's no one to take care of this couple, what will they do? I have to stay and take care of them." Mimew explained.
Chunn didn't understand, even though he tried, "I don't understand, sir…"
Mimew twitched his nose and his mouth curved into a smile "Some things don't need to be understood, but felt. And someday you will feel it, without understanding it. Now go home. I will go back too. If the world explodes tomorrow at noon, then so be it. It's up to you. Take care."
And then the old fat cat slowly moved down the hill. Only Chunn was left standing there, pondering about something that he couldn't understand nor feel.
...