The Cat

He was born from nowhere, from no one. Appearing suddenly during a moonless night, he had to grow up alone. He was still young when a tall man, covered in dark clothes, wearing a tall and elegant hat, a mysterious smile on his lips, had reached out his beautiful hand with long fingers in his direction.

“Come with me, poor creature. From now on, you are Zhou Mi. From now on, you are my friend.”

The Mad Hatter had found him and taught him to talk. Like a friend, like a brother, like a father. That man had taught everything to him, given everything to him, been everything to him. Until that day.

“Mi. I’m leaving this world soon. You’ll take good care of Ryeowookie, okay?”

Confusion. Despair. Questions. No answers.

“But, Mad Hatter…”

“Just take care of him, okay? And take care of yourself too.”

“Mad Hatter! Please don’t go! Without you sir, how will we know?”

“Know what, Mi?”

“When the King decides to visit! If you’re not here, how will we know it?”

“You’ll learn to live by yourselves, and you’re here to help them escape if the King decides to come.”

“But…”

“Mi.”

The cat had stayed silent as the man had smiled sadly, his only visible eye full of strangely and surprisingly sane madness. Like he knew that what he was about to do would hurt everyone deeply. Not only them, but also himself.

“Take care, Mi.”

The last thing he had seen had been the Mad Hatter’s tailcoat floating, his elegant walking stick by his side, and his legendary hat flying away from him, taken by some wild wind that would never care to bring it back.