the moment they felt the ground materializing underneath their feet, they immediately notice that they have moved elsewhere.

❝ what the — ❞ jeno's eyelids flutter, slowly regaining his sight. blinded by the lights, it is hard to decipher where they are at the moment.

❝ what just happened? ❞ jaemin's low voice creates fervent echoes. ❝ where are we? ❞

jisung twirls clockwise, observing his surroundings. ❝ this is.. a basketball court. ❞

❝ it is, ain't it? ❞ the boy called 'mark lee' hustles upon another sudden appearance. ❝ i was guessing for it to be some sort of a football court but i suppose you're right, jisung-ah. ❞ he sprints his way towards the window, feeling the gust of air from outside. ❝ hm, dark and itchy. smells like teen spirit. ❞

❝ yah, where are we, exactly? ❞ donghyuck asks, not amused. ❝ how did we leave the museum? well, not that i'm complaining... ❞

❝ we're at a local basketball court in seoul, around the early nineties. '92, judging by the smell. something 'bout it feels like the year of the monkey for me. ❞ the boy clasps his hands, startling the rest of them. ❝ so! now we're here, shall we start? ❞

❝ yah, you said you'd give us an explanation! ❞ jeno raises his voice in suspicion. ❝ you haven't gave us an introduction. ❞

❝ haven't i made myself clear? my name is mark lee. ❞

❝ great, like that explains everything. ❞ renjun scoffs. ❝ how did we even get here? what is this place? did you just say we're now at the year 1992 — 27 years away from the actual present time? how did we end up here? ❞

mark looks severely disappointed by their cluelessness. ❝ you really don't know, don't you... ❞

❝ we don't even know who you are. ❞ donghyuck spits out sharply.

mark scrambles down his feet, straight to the floor and sighs. he tries his best to keep his calm. ❝ hm, never thought i'll ever reach the stage where you don't notice me.. ❞

jaemin raises an eyebrow. ❝ excuse me? ❞

❝ well then, i suppose this is really the end. ❞ he gathers all the strength he has left and stands up. ❝ not for you all, by the way, but for me. this is my last stage. ❞

❝ yah, try to make some sense, will you? ❞ donghyuck grumbles.

❝ but what if he's telling the truth? ❞ jisung mumbles under his breath. ❝ maybe we do know him... ❞

❝ you will, jisung-ah. just not now. ❞ mark assures him.

❝ how exactly did you know my name? ❞

❝ you introduced yourself to me, not so long ago. 40 years ago, i think? i guess it is, looking at the cars and the ugly outfits.. ❞ mark snaps back into reality. ❝ anyway, that is not my story to tell. hm, okay. i better get used to this environment, now that you don't know me. ❞

❝ i'm sorry, but are we supposed to know you? ❞ jaemin asks out of pure curiosity. ❝ are you supposed to be in our dreams or something? i'm not familiar of anyone in my dream honestly, just random figures.. ❞

❝ it depends to you. maybe for some, you have saw me, ❞ chenle flinches hearing his statement, ❝ and maybe some of you don't. it's really just goes according to which part of the memory your brain wants to remember. ❞

❝ memories? ❞ renjun tilts his head. ❝ you mean, these dreams are from your past self? ❞

mark shakes his head. ❝ no. these dreams are who are you supposed to be. ❞

the boys exchange confused glances to each other.

❝ you still don't get it? hm, okay. ❞ mark hums. ❝ let me explain it from the top. let's try to sit down and relax, shall we? ❞

the boys hesitantly follow his order, sitting down at the unfamiliar court that is unusually empty. mark sits down whilst holding a basketball on his lap, playing it around with his fingers. he starts his explanation.

❝ would you believe me if i tell you you guys were born in the wrong generation? ❞

jeno purses his lips. ❝ i'll say you're crazy. ❞

jisung shrugs. ❝ honestly, i'm not sure.. ❞

❝ really? ❞ mark chuckles. ❝ how about you, hyuck? ❞

❝ me? ❞ donghyuck was startled by the sudden confrontation, but it's merely because he somehow has something to say regarding to the topic. ❝ i mean, it's not entirely impossible. ❞

❝ wait, so you believe me now? ❞

❝ no, i mean like.. ❞ he finds the best words, trying to make sure that it doesn't sound like he's 'agreeing' with the latter. ❝ i usually get those thoughts, being misplaced. i don't think that i belong here, like.. i'm supposed to be living a different life.. in a different, parallel universe. ❞

❝ is that what your dreams tell you? ❞ jaemin asks him in concern. he's not used to seeing his friend opening up about his feelings this much.

❝ i.. think so. ❞ he answers shortly.

❝ well i'm gonna break it to you that you are actually correct, you are of another period of time. ❞ mark lifts his head upwards. ❝ you ought to know first that you are children affected by a stretch in time. because of some sort of a mistake, you end up born in the 21st century, born in this period of time, where in reality you are supposed to be elsewhere. this isn't the life you are supposed to be living in. where you are supposed to be is pictured there in your dreams. ❞ he points at his head. ❝ footages of what should've happened, what you should've done, everything in between. ❞

❝ how did this stretch in time happen? ❞ as usual, renjun asks the real questions. ❝ what caused it? ❞

❝ that's.. unknown to the universe. ❞ mark answers sadly. ❝ unfortunately, i do not know everything. what i do know is that what we have to do now is to fix this problem by returning back artifacts of you to your respective time periods, as a replacement of you who had already been transferred into the 21st century. ❞

❝ sorry, can you please speak slowly and more clearly? ❞ jisung asks the boy politely. ❝ that really didn't sound like korean. ❞

❝ hm.. ❞ mark dives into deep thought, trying to find the best metaphor. ❝ do you guys know the butterfly effect?❞

❝ where our smallest decisions can cause ripples to the after effect?❞ jeno suggests a simple way to define it.

❝ exactly. now imagine that you are somehow erased from the universe. ❞ mark gives his explanation with dramatic gestures with his fingers. ❝ might not be a huge thing because you're just one out of billions of people in this planet, but if you zoom in a little bit, it may cause such tremendous effect. you are here in this world for a reason. you're here to cause those ripples in time. if you're gone, those small yet impactful decisions will also disappear. ❞

❝ this mission assures you that those decisions will not disappear, that your sudden migrant to the 21st century will not cause chaos to the place you have left. it assures you that we also made sure your crucial decisions are also implanted here. those crucial decisions are explained here, in your dreams. ❞

❝ you must do what your dreams tell you to do, just for the sake of the timeline. we must do our best to not mess up the timeline. so even with your disappearance, the world could still function properly. you could still live in the 21st century without any problems. ❞

❝ and how does this work, exactly? how do we get to our period of time and fix it? ❞ jaemin asks.

❝ this process will go periodically. every time someone completes a mission, we will be transferred into another period of time, then completing another mission. we will be going through this together, finishing it together. ❞ mark sighs. ❝ but you must know that my time jump might as well be different than yours. to me, this is already my fifth mission. to you.. it's just getting started. ❞

❝ fifth mission?? ❞ chenle's mouth opens wide. ❝ you mean you have witnessed four of us completing our missions? ❞

❝ yes. no spoilers though, that'll just ruin the timeline. ❞ mark smiles. ❝ what i could tell you though.. is that we all had fun. i enjoyed my time with you all, through our ups and downs. ❞

❝ we're all the misplaced boys in time, but what does that make you? ❞ jeno asks the latter. ❝ do you have the same case as us? ❞

mark sighs, clearly affected by the question. ❝ i am.. no one. just a traveler, that's all, i go where time takes me. ❞

renjun irks an eyebrow. ❝ what's that supposed to mean? ❞

❝ i unintentionally travel through time all the time. i do not know who i am, where i am supposed to be, how am i doing this. i just.. poof into different time periods, minding my own business, dangling around in the fourth dimension. ❞ he takes a deep breath. ❝ i don't know why i'm like this.. but that's not the case. the most important thing is to have you return back to 2019. now, whose mission shall we complete first? ❞

❝ yeah, whose time period is this? ❞ jaemin asks the group. ❝ who's having dreams about this place? ❞

❝ basketballs, confettis, lots of fun.❞ chenle raises his hand.  ❝it's my time. ❞

—

AAAAAA i hope it makes sense pls bc i'm rly bad at explaining stuff i'm so sorry, if you have any questions feel free to ask!!

so what did you think abt this chap? any idea what era are they in rn hehe

- yuehwa