Past Timeline

The 3 trainee boys were resting in their dorms after a long day of vocal training and dance practice. Their dorm room was on the 10th floor of an apartment complex with a large glass window that overlooked the entire city of Beijing. They would've gone outside to play after practice, but the weather looked a bit ominous. There was a 90% chance of rain, so the boys decided to stay inside and relax. Xiao Kai was reading a magazine, Yuan Yuan was writing his daily diary entry, and Qian Xi was watching TV. 

“Qian Xi, how long have you been dancing?” Xiao Kai asks, looking up from the magazine he was reading.

“Well, I never danced before I came to this company.” Qian Xi replies.

“But how is that possible? You’re so good. It must be natural talent” Yuan Yuan comments.

“Well…”Qian Xi debates whether or not he should tell them about his dad. “My dad was a really good dancer, so maybe that’s why?”

“Really? Is he famous?” Xiao Kai asks curiously.

“Sure is.” Qian Xi says with pride, forgetting that he should be keeping his family information on the down low.

“Well, what’s his name?” Yuan Yuan asks.

“La-“ Qian Xi catches himself before he says it. “Uh…he retired a long time ago” He lies.

“Oh well, that’s boring.” Xiao Kai responds disappointed. “Is your mom famous too?”

“Yeah, she invented the first ti-” Qian Xi catches himself again. Dang, I’ve got to stop blurting things out.

“She invented the first what?” Yuan Yuan asks suspiciously.

“Nothing, nothing” Qian Xi replies a little too quickly. But by now Xiao Kai and Yuan Yuan are already thinking Qian Xi is trying to hide something.

Yuan Yuan pauses. Qian Xi’s statement has reminded him of what his own mother has invented, but he can’t do that without revealing that he’s from the future.  He thinks about whether or not he should tell the two other boys his secret, and finally can’t hold it in anymore. 

“Well, you might not believe this, but my mom invented the first time machine” Yuan Yuan says with a serious look in his eyes.

“That’s not possible.” Xiao Kai replies. “Because MY mom invented the first time machine, and I’m actually from the future.”

“What?!?!” Yuan Yuan and Qian Xi shout at the same time. The three boys turn to look at each other.

“Wait hold on, let me get this straight.” Xiao Kai pauses. “All 3 of us are from the future, and all 3 of our moms invented the first time machine?”

“But there could only be one person who invented the first time machine” Yuan Yuan stops to think. “And I don’t have any brothers in the future.”

“Yeah, me neither” Qian Xi adds.

“Wait hold on, let’s first establish who our moms are” Xiao Kai says. “Don’t tell me both of your moms’ names is Yue too.”

Yuan Yuan and Qian Xi nods.

“How is that even possible?” Yuan Yuan says trying to wrap his mind around this new piece of information.

“And your dad’s Tao from the boy group EXO?” Xiao Kai says, expecting them to nod again thinking they all shared the same father as well.

“No, my dad’s name is Luhan” Yuan Yuan says confused.

“And mine is Lay” Qian Xi adds.

“Wait so, we have the same mom, but different fathers?” Xiao Kai says a little bit shocked.

“How does that work?” Yuan Yuan asks confused.

“Simple” Xiao Kai says feeling a little bit betrayed. “Our mom cheated on our 3 dads and secretly had 3 kids.”

“I would take you up on that offer, but my mom would never do that.” Qian Xi replies.

“And you are forgetting one important thing. There’s only one time machine, and we all had one to get here…” Yuan Yuan pauses.

“And we didn’t know each other…”Qian Xi continues. There is a flash of lightning outside.

“Oh, I think my mom explained this to me once. We must be from different timelines!” Xiao Kai finishes as thunder roars through the window. “That’s why we’ve never seen each other, and also why we have the same mom who invented the same time machine.”

“So in my timeline, neither of you exist?” Yuan Yuan asks trying to figure it all out.

“Yup, because in my timeline, my mom married Tao and not Luhan, so I was born instead of you.” Xiao Kai answers Yuan Yuan.

“Woa….” Qian Xi is speechless, still trying to make sense of it all, since he was too young for his mom to explain these things to him.

It finally begins to rain. Gently at first and then more water drops hit the glass window. 

“Then where are we now?” Yuan Yuan asks. “Since we are in the past before our mom gave birth to us, and our dad’s are still members of the boy group EXO…”

“I’m thinking we must be in a different timeline…”Xiao Kai trails off still deep in thought. “A timeline where we don’t know which one of us ends up being born….”

“That doesn’t matter though, right?” Yuan Yuan asks. “We can just secretly live in this one, and no one has to know we’re not from here.”

“I wish that were the case, but we can’t all exist in this timeline because only one path of events can happen. I think our only hope is to figure out how to get back to our separate timelines.” Xiao Kai replies.

“So how do we get back?” Qian Xi finally asks….

“I don’t know” Xiao Kai says.

Before Xiao Kai could finish answering Qian Xi’s question, there is a knock on the door. Their manager walks in soaking wet from the pouring rain.

“Good news boys! Tomorrow you kids are debuting as TFboys!”