Mina stared at the petite human from behind the bars of her cage. The girl was still sitting there, on the cold, wet ground. Her eyes flickered to the water bottle and food box placed on the opening of her cage. It's been a few days since she last had something to eat and she would kill for some water right now. But she didn't have enough strength for that, hell, she didn't think she could even walk now. The small human who put the water bottle there looked harmless but she's still a human. And the last time Mina drank something the master gave her, it was laced with drugs.

In her haze, she remembered feeling her limp body being dragged by the collar, which was already too small to be comfortable in. She couldn’t make out the words despite her owner’s loud voice, but the malice and sardonic, cynical laugh was evident. She’s too familiar with that, having to recognize it and try to be as good as she could be to avoid the pain that followed. Yet she rarely succeeded, in avoiding pain.

When she finally regained consciousness, she was already chained and locked in the small cage, her master was nowhere to be found. She was being left to rot here, by the very master who was supposed to care for her. Granted, the master never treated her kindly, but this was the worst thing she had experienced. After sniffing around, her hope was up when she discovered the key ring being dropped not far from her cage. Maybe the master didn’t want to kill her, they never did, right? They pull her back every time she’s on the brink of death. That must mean something, right?

But her hope slowly died as she tried to reach for the keys. However hard she tried to reach out with her hands, her tail, ignoring the sharp pain from where the collar cut into her neck, she could never reach the keys, her freedom. That’s when she finally succumbed to accept the truth that she had been abandoned to death. She curled back into the grimy cage, waiting for the inevitable fate, until that human girl showed up and started asking questions she didn’t want to answer.

Humans were the last species she would trust right now.

The girl didn't seem she's going to leave soon, and Mina didn't want to be in this cage anymore. If she died, she'd rather die on the grass, preferably further from here. With much caution and effort, she lifted herself from the ground and crawled out of the cage. Her head went dizzy from the movement and her legs wobbled from not being able to stand for a long time.

Chaeyoung wanted to jump from her seat when the feline finally got out of the cage, but she stayed still, afraid to scare the cat away. Her eyebrows furrow seeing the hybrid – Mina - staggered, it seemed like her legs were also hurt. She watched with rapt attention when Mina sniffed the water bottle, then the lunch box before looking at her and backed away from the food. The hybrid looked like she's holding herself back from eating the food and Chaeyoung might know the reason why. She rose from her seat and walked to the lunch box, the cat growled at her.

"Why are you still here?" The voice was thinner than Chaeyoung imagined, hoarse from dehydration. She wondered how long the cat had survived without water, and she didn't want to prolong that time.

"I just want to make sure you're okay." She uncapped the bottle and took a sip. "The water is safe. Don't worry."

"Why should I trust you?" Mina squinted her eyes at the girl, watching her gulp down the water. was drier than ever. "I don't even know you."

The girl looked fine. The water seemed to be safe. So when Chaeyoung put the bottle down and backed away from it, Mina inched forward and snatched the water bottle. She gulped down, almost choking in her haste.

"Calm down. No one’s gonna take