Present Day

“Well, it’s your first day of hard core training for your next comeback” Tao announces like an army general while pacing back and forth. Xiao Kai, Yuan Yuan, and Qian Xi are stiffly standing as straight as they can. Lay and Luhan are watching in amusement as the boys nervously listen to Tao’s instruction.

“Don’t be such a stickler Tao” Luhan shouts. “They’re still young. We’re only here to give them tips.

“Becoming a top idol group is not fun and games, Luhan” Tao replies annoyed that Luhan ruined the strict atmosphere.

“Oh, come on Tao. Singing and dancing is supposed to be passionate and fun,” Lay says.

“Yeah, says the perfectionist” Tao rolls his eyes.

“Here, why don’t we split up and give each of the boys our individual tips for being a successful idol” Luhan suggests.

“That sounds like a great idea.” Lay says. He turns to Qian Xi. “Ready to learn some awesome dance moves?” Qian Xi smiles and nods excitedly.

“Alright then!” Luhan exclaims while walking over to Xiao Kai to prepare to give him some good vocal tips.

“Hey! Xiao Kai is mine!” Tao shouts while running over to Luhan. Lay and Luhan both look at Tao in surprise. Even Tao was surprised at how quickly he reacted to call dibs on Xiao Kai.

Luhan smirks, knowing that Tao would want to do one on one training with Xiao Kai. “Of course, he’s all yours” Luhan says while making way for Tao. He then walks over to Yuan Yuan and puts his arm around Yuan Yuan’s shoulders. “I wanted Yuan Yuan anyways.” Luhan smiles with satisfaction.

Tao crosses his arms in annoyance with how Luhan just embarrassed him. Lay and Qian Xi just quietly laugh in the corner they were standing in.

“Alright guys, we’ll have our individual sessions and come back together in 1 hour.” Luhan announces.

Lay and Qian Xi start doing warm up stretches by the dance mirrors.

“So, uh…. you dance a lot right?” Qian Xi asks trying to start a conversation with Lay.

“Yeah, I try to dance as much as I can because the more you dance, the better you get.” Lay replies with a smile. “You’ve got to love what you do though. That way you can always continue to work hard.”

“Mmm” Qian Xi nods in agreement.

“You’re pretty good for your age. What inspired you to start dancing?” Lay continues.

“Well….” Qian Xi starts to think. He didn’t want to reveal too much. “I only started because I was scouted to be in TFboys.” He finally answers.

“Oh” Lay nods. “I think it would be best if you could find a true inspiration, something that motivates you to dance even when you are tired and frustrated. Is there a particular dancer that you look up to?”

Oh, here it comes. Would it be too soon to tell him? Qian Xi thinks to himself.

Lay starts practicing his dance moves before Qian Xi can answer. “There must be someone famous that you admire. Someone you look at and think to yourself, hey I want to be like that,” Lay continues. “ Or someone in your family that’s always supporting you from behind, always cheering you on and encouraging you to chase your dreams.”

There’s no way out of this is there? Qian Xi takes a deep breath. “You” Qian Xi finally says.

“Oh, that’s great.” Lay says while still dancing. “I was hoping you would say your parents really support your dreams, but that’s a start too.”

“Well, you are” Qian Xi replies, knowing that he hasn’t gotten his point across to Lay yet.

“Yeah, I know. I’m the famous person you look up to,” Lay says. “Although, I myself have a lot of training left to do to get better-”

“No, I meant, you’re the family member who supports and inspires me” Qian Xi finally bursts out, interrupting Lay in mid sentence.

Lay stops dancing and turns to face Qian Xi. “What did you say?” Lay asks confused.

“You’re my dad in the future of a different timeline.” Qian Xi explains.

Lay slowly walks over to Qian Xi and sits on the ground. It’s takes a while but after Qian Xi is done telling Lay the whole story of how he ended up in this timeline, Lay finally pieces it all together.

After a long silence, Lay finally asks: “Who’s your mother then?”

“The girl fan who was at the Moon Festival Concert, Yue.” Qian Xi replies.

In the corner where Luhan was doing vocal training with Yuan Yuan, they finally decide to take a break and have a little conversation.

“You’re doing really well, Yuan Yuan” Luhan comments. “At this rate, you’ll be main vocal material in no time.”

“Thanks, da-” Yuan Yuan catches himself before he accidentally calls Luhan dad. “I mean, *cough* thanks” He laughs nervously.

“Haha, no need to be shy. Call me whatever. I get all sorts of nicknames from Lulu to Marilyn Monroe.” Luhan laughs. “I have a feeling you’re going to grow up to be a heartthrob. You have really nice facial features. Tell me, do you get that from your mom or dad?” Luhan asks jokingly.

“Ummm, both I guess.” Yuan Yuan says relaxing a little.

“So your mom must be really beautiful then, haha” Luhan laughs again. “So is mine”

“My dad is really handsome too” Yuan Yuan adds. “He used to be called pretty all the time though” Yuan Yuan stops, realizing that he might’ve said too much.

“Really? Sounds like the story of my life” Luhan chuckles. “I’d like to meet him one day and ask him his secrets of how he went from being called pretty to handsome”

“Ummm, I” Yuan Yuan pauses, but he can’t hold it in any longer. “You kind of are my dad,” He finally says and squints his eyes shut in preparation for Luhan’s reaction.

Back in the third corner of the studio, Tao and Xiao Kai are still practicing rapping.

“You’ve got to get the rhythm right. Rapping is all about feeling the beat.” Tao says.

Xiao Kai tries the rap again.

“There we go, that’s much better” Tao holds his hands up for Xiao Kai to give him a high five. “With a little more practice you’ll be on your way to being as good as me” Tao grins in satisfaction. “I knew I would be a good rap teacher.”

“Thanks, uh…Tao” Xiao Kai says, feeling a little awkward calling his dad by his first name.

“Don’t mention it.” Tao says. “All in a days work of being an idol teacher.”

“I think our hour is almost up, the other two pairs seem to have stopped practicing already” Xiao Kai comments.

Tao looks up curiously. “Those lazy bums. I thought this was supposed to be an intense training session. Looks like Luhan just wanted an excuse to chat and play around with that Yuan Yuan kid. Oh well, I did my job.” Tao shrugs and starts walking towards the others with Xiao Kai following closely behind him.