Noo-ri 「Webnovel Exclusive」

Mini Tale (I)—

Once upon a time, there was a little cat with soft white fur.

This creature knew little of the world he was born into but understood much more of the universe that he suddenly awoke in one day.

This cat's original name was Noo-ri. His original owner was a kind woman with warm eyes.

Her name was Da Hae! 

The little cat with white fur remained in a separate universe with his new owner, a young boy with an older demeanor.

Amidst the time Noo-ri spent in this 'other' universe, various qualities were altered.

For instance, his fur had mysteriously turned pitch black, and after encountering an oddly familiar individual while on a journey with Hoku, his name was replaced with 'Cheshire.' 

Cheshire continued to reminisce about his life with his first owner despite, equally acknowledging Hoku with high regard.

Cheshire constructed a plan. A cat has nine lives, and this particular cat had already traded three.

His first had been spent as Noo-ri, and so had his second after Da Hae left.

His third and current life was imparted with the title of a guide, deemed Cheshire.

Cheshire made a vow in secret that he would commit five of his lives toward assisting Hoku with his obligations in the timeless mantras of the new universe. 

On his last... he would return to Da Hae and conclude his fate as Noo-ri.

In this fashion, the little cat will have lived fulfilling his purpose with the one they call the navigator and concluded in the sequence of his original owner.

He would have lived happily ever after.

. . .

Once upon a time...There was a room.The room was bathed in sterile white.Loneliness permeated it, an incurable sickness more lethal than any known affliction.The wounds from his so-called 'family' burned, but that pain was shallow compared to the heaviness left in his soul.The thought of losing the only person he had ever called such was far worse.Fragments of a past he barely remembered. A family he never had the chance to know. Both were distant, yet the emptiness they left behind repeated itself, again and again, like an old wound torn open anew.The stillness stretched, more profound than the absence of the sole visitor who had never entered this empty room.But then, a box appeared. A peculiar object with holes in its sides and a bouquet of primroses atop.Beside it lay a card, its letters neatly penned. Words he had read on the last day he dreamed.

[Fei Yu,

If I had known sooner, I never would have taken you in, only to leave you behind like in a place like that. I should have done what was best for you instead of selfishly believing I could be the mother you deserved. I was wrong. I wasn't there when you needed me most, and no matter how many times I turn it over in my mind, there is no way to make it right.You don't have to see me as your mother. I wouldn't hold it against you if you never did. But you were my son. You will always have been my son. That was never something I gave you, it was something you became the moment I held you, and something you will be even after I am gone.I shouldn't ask you to remember me, but if you recall 'Noo-ri,' then please, let him be the one to reach you. You followed him everywhere as a child, always trailing just a step behind. If nothing else, let him take the burden of looking back so you don't have to carry it alone.I am sorry, Fei Yu. More than I will ever be able to say. More than I will ever be able to atone for.And if, one day, you ever wish to, please come home. I miss you both so much.

— "D.H."]