Step: Chapter 1
Step: Chapter 1
chi-eng translated, 2334 words, luhan centric, all members involved, various pairings
"With each step, 15 years of your lives will deplete"
It's a room of about 20 square meters, an opened door right opposite it; outside, what seems to be an effulgent light coming from the cliff. To the left of the room a telescope is embedded into the wall, underneath is a screen, a small chalkboard with messy and chaotic scribbles hanging by the side.
"Luhan, thank you for your curiosity." The man gives him an auspicious smile and glides his hand across the chalkboard, the scribbles disappear without a trace.
"Where is this?" Luhan asks, trembling, " am I dead?"
"You aren't dead. The man gently replies, "if you want to ask where you are, it'll be very difficult for me to explain. You can think of it as a place that solely exists outside our accepted concept of a 3D universe, it only exists within your mind, you can also think of it as a dream." His smile looks amicable.
"You probably think you have traveled through time, returning to the past so abruptly then showing up in this strange place all of a sudden, and you certainly must not have a good impression of me. "He claps his hands together and observes luhan. "I understand you aren't irritated about this and to be honest, I hope my explanation would be a little helpful to you."
Luhan looks at him, then at the dazzling luminous light filled by open door, speechless.
"I don't have a name, you can call me anything you like; but of course if you can't think of anything, you can call me Clown." Says the man, even if he isn’t ugly*, Luhan thinks.
*(t/n): when directly translated, clown means “little ugly.”
"I bet you perceive time the same way as most people. You probably think time keeps moving forward at a flat rate infinitely, and even though mankind has made plenty of time traveling books and movies, that is actually nothing but the wishful thinking of humans.” He looks at Luhan and whips out a pen.
“In actual fact, the concept of time is a measurement created by humans, comparable to the U.S. dollar or the unit of weight. In order to make this concept precise and constant, people have used great amounts of the most authentic atoms to create a few stable time systems. Take note of all that I’m saying, because the time system you use in your everyday life is just one of those called UTC, humans dictated the location of UTC +0, which is also known as the Greenwich Mean time, and as a result of the Earth’s rotation, the different time zones were defined, the timing you see on your computer every day is the result of the UTC+ value, of course, I’ve missed out the time delay consumed by the hardwares and transmissions.
Luhan throttles his temples and continues to listen.
“In fact, the time system we defined was imperfect, even the most delicate atoms in our universe differ by the slightest, the x-axis represents the time system we’ve derived at while the y-axis depicts the best time atoms on Earth, apart from the offset at its start point, a pretty smooth-lined graph would be formed. Assuming a little difference at every instant between these two timings, the tiny gap would only accumulate and increase, however the accumulation speed would remain the same and therefore, the gradient of this time would change.” He lifts his eyebrows and looks at Luhan who squints, “I’m referring to the simplest smooth line because apart from this straight line, there is the slightest difference between the two, I won’t elaborate on this, I see you’re already having a little headache.” He smiles and tries to maintain Luhan’s patience.
“Actually, this straight line deviates from 1 and the slope can’t define the quality of this atomic clock, perhaps it precisely explains the lacks of our time system because it’s original definition of time similarly relies on a series of other atomic clocks. Therefore, there is no absolute predicament of time, everything is relative, the time you spend every day is in fact no rules, you just don’t feel it.” He erases the y-axis labels.
Scrutinizing Luhan’s depressed expressions, Clown laughs, “please forgive my nagging, you too, know that life is helpless at times, some who play truants in school now take physics class, some who were never good at speaking general principles now talk too much, God is fair.” He blinks.
"Really? So what is your forte?" Luhan laughs.
The man brushes his forehead, “perhaps I’m just like you" He reveals a smile and takes out a pen, "listen closely, maybe a day will come where you'll be desperately trying to recall my words."
“Now, let’s assume that the y-axis is a system of your senses.” He scribbles down some words, “Everyone has different senses, you might feel that an hour passes fast, but Yixing might think it’s too slow, this is because your slopes are different. I can be raising my hand now, but the speed whereby your eyes absorb my action maybe undeniably different, however because each of your senses are relatively stable, therefore you will never tell the difference.” As he speaks, he draws a blue straight line.
"You know Yixing?" Says Luhan, Clown ignores and continues his explanations.
“When you were hammering the nails on the mountains just now, your senses experienced a step.” As he speaks, he draws a green point on the blue line and overwrites the second half of it with red ink, maintaining its slope and length, using the red ink to extend the continuous line a little, “You are now in the present yet experiencing things from months before, we will now name this affected step as T1.” He looks at Luhan and draws a red mark, writing “X” below the red slope.
“I would say you are the pacesetter, X, because along your step, another person has taken a step too, let’s name him the successor, Y. He will await the number you give him upon your step or maybe a value of days, the time you take back to the start point in addition to this number of days would be the duration he travels back in time to, which is also the startpoint of T2.” He uses a yellow line to describe the step of your step will result in his step, your step will decide his step, changes the both of you make will influence the present, you both are, to an extent, partners who require the best coordination.
Luhan looks at the colored lines on the chalkboard, bobbing his head up and down to compare the figures, Clown turns his head and laughs at Luhan, hinting him to keep his patience.
"I know you still have many questions, for example how to get to this important number, or who you partner is, and most importantly," he holds out a finger, "why you're involved in this complicated procedure."
“Let us begin from the simplest question.” Clown looks at Luhan, “Your partner must be someone who hammers the nail into that stone wall the same time as you do, in this step, your partner isn’t around and you’ve gotten no explanation, therefore only you have experienced the step. But please bear in mind, the next time you would like to step, you have to find a partner to hammer the nail with, one of you being the pacesetter and only as the number generates, will the successor be able to step. If the number is 0, he will not experience the step and you will be taken straight back to the starting point which is also the time of which you hammer the nail. However, you will pay the price you’re required to pay, therefore try not to let the number be 0.
“How do I get to that number, and what is the price I have to pay for every step?” Luhan questions.
"Don't be impatient, I will impart all that you need to know." Clown assures, "The number has a relation between the doors, rectangular doors to be more specific. It is the amount of doors you tap within half an hour after your step. Tapping the same door twice doesn't count, car doors, cabinet doors and doors lower than your height don't count either. the maximum being 60, which also means the time difference between you and your partner can't be more than 60 days."
Luhan squints his eyes, trying to comprehend as much of this strange information as possible.
“You and your partner can decide:
1. the motive of each step
2. the time interval between the both of you
What isn’t in your decision scope is:
1. the point in time the pacesetter returns to
2. the duration of a step and
3. the roles of the pacesetter and successor”
Clown puts away his pen, “He will not know where you’ve stepped to and what you are doing and you too will not know what he is doing, only until the steps of both parties end and you return to the mountains, will you know what he did and only when you return to reality, will you realise the impact your changes had caused.” Clown smiles a little at him, “Therefore, not only must the both of you plan in advance and in detail, the both of you must have a higher understanding of everyone around you.”
Caught speechless, Luhan looks foolishly at the chalkboard and its messy lines, “And why does this damn step have to happen?”
"Your curiosity caused this current time travel, it wasn't inevitable." Says Clown, “The steps from now on will happen based on your wishes, but there's a price to pay. With each step, 15 years of your lives will deplete.”
"15 years!" Luhan’s mouth hangs open incomprehensibly.
"Of course. There's a price to pay for everything in this world, including regrets." Clown flickers his eyes, “but don't worry, you were brought here for an explanation and before this step, you existed in a passive state, hence there won’t be a price to pay. You can walk calmly out that door and return to the mountain waking up from this concentrated time. Basically meaning to say that through all the hustle you’ve been through today, in reality you’ve only been napping on Yixing’s shoulder for a couple of minutes. But the consequences of this step will not be cancelled, I’m sorry. Everyone will remember your embarrassing scenario zoning out on stage, apart from yourself in the real world who will experience short term amnesia, forgetting everything you did. In reality, he is just a replacement of you sleeping at the peak of the mountain.
“Then... how will the historically changed being of myself hammer the nail and return to the mountains at the same time to reunited with myself who has completed a step?” Luhan asks.
Clown laughs, “you don’t have to worry about this, logic, cause and effect are all rules of this universe, and as they create an extra game for you, it will naturally be within it’s rules.” He points towards the top.
“What happens if I hammer in more nails upon returning?” Luhan creases his eyebrows.
“If you hammer more nails, people around you will forget about the last round; their memories will return to their normal state, which is before any stepping happened, and await a new cycle of change without a memory disturbance. But speaking from experience, sometimes your personal items will follow you, not everything is perfectly under control, and you know it too.” Clown says, “ you’re already thinking about hammering more nails, are you really that conscious about the embarrassing incident?"
“What matters is how I will return back later.” Luhan gazes at the gleaming ray of light through the opened door in front and at the closed door to his back.
“That, do not worry, everything is simple and convenient.” Clown replies, “Later, you just have to walk through that opened door.”
“Before entering,” Luhan says, “there was a small door to my left, but no arrows were pointing towards it.”
“You are indeed an attentive person.” Clown says, “That door isn’t locked, if you had walk through that door then, you would’ve returned directly back to the mountain, you wouldn’t have received any explanations, the nail would changed back to it’s original nail and in the future, no matter how many nails you hammer, there would be no effect.” He says.
Clown surveys Luhan’s dazed face, “Friend, please always remember, no change is allowed once you’ve selected your partner, it is your obligation to inform him of all the rules and the cruciality of your subjective wishes while you step. Other than you and your partner, you are not allowed to tell anyone else about this, it is forbidden.”
“What happens if I do tell?” says Luhan.
“No one can live in a paradox, it will affect their existence.” Clown replies gently.
Luhan lifts his eyebrow, existence.
“So, that is all you need to know, thank you for your patience. There is no loss, you can pretend this was just a dream, and as for your brooding over the incident on stage, I can only apologize.” Clown says with a smile.
“That was pretty lame indeed.” says Luhan.
Clown chuckles, “No, you’re already considered calm for a first timer, it was better than me.”
Luhan turns his head to look at him, grasping the seeping but vanishing message from his words.
“You can leave now,” Clown turns to wipe off the writings on the chalkboard, “Don’t forget your way back.”
Luhan walks towards the door before pausing to turn his head, “Thank you for your explanation, but I don’t think I will be returning here again.” He laughs and takes a step out the door, disappearing into the illuminating light.
Clown doesn’t look at his shadow, he packs away his pen.
“You will.” He says as he cocks his head to the side.
Original fic
Translated by heecups and foundmypeaceofmind
Do not repost without permission!
chi-eng translated, 2334 words, luhan centric, all members involved, various pairings
"With each step, 15 years of your lives will deplete"
It's a room of about 20 square meters, an opened door right opposite it; outside, what seems to be an effulgent light coming from the cliff. To the left of the room a telescope is embedded into the wall, underneath is a screen, a small chalkboard with messy and chaotic scribbles hanging by the side.
"Luhan, thank you for your curiosity." The man gives him an auspicious smile and glides his hand across the chalkboard, the scribbles disappear without a trace.
"Where is this?" Luhan asks, trembling, " am I dead?"
"You aren't dead. The man gently replies, "if you want to ask where you are, it'll be very difficult for me to explain. You can think of it as a place that solely exists outside our accepted concept of a 3D universe, it only exists within your mind, you can also think of it as a dream." His smile looks amicable.
"You probably think you have traveled through time, returning to the past so abruptly then showing up in this strange place all of a sudden, and you certainly must not have a good impression of me. "He claps his hands together and observes luhan. "I understand you aren't irritated about this and to be honest, I hope my explanation would be a little helpful to you."
Luhan looks at him, then at the dazzling luminous light filled by open door, speechless.
"I don't have a name, you can call me anything you like; but of course if you can't think of anything, you can call me Clown." Says the man, even if he isn’t ugly*, Luhan thinks.
*(t/n): when directly translated, clown means “little ugly.”
"I bet you perceive time the same way as most people. You probably think time keeps moving forward at a flat rate infinitely, and even though mankind has made plenty of time traveling books and movies, that is actually nothing but the wishful thinking of humans.” He looks at Luhan and whips out a pen.
“In actual fact, the concept of time is a measurement created by humans, comparable to the U.S. dollar or the unit of weight. In order to make this concept precise and constant, people have used great amounts of the most authentic atoms to create a few stable time systems. Take note of all that I’m saying, because the time system you use in your everyday life is just one of those called UTC, humans dictated the location of UTC +0, which is also known as the Greenwich Mean time, and as a result of the Earth’s rotation, the different time zones were defined, the timing you see on your computer every day is the result of the UTC+ value, of course, I’ve missed out the time delay consumed by the hardwares and transmissions.
Luhan throttles his temples and continues to listen.
“In fact, the time system we defined was imperfect, even the most delicate atoms in our universe differ by the slightest, the x-axis represents the time system we’ve derived at while the y-axis depicts the best time atoms on Earth, apart from the offset at its start point, a pretty smooth-lined graph would be formed. Assuming a little difference at every instant between these two timings, the tiny gap would only accumulate and increase, however the accumulation speed would remain the same and therefore, the gradient of this time would change.” He lifts his eyebrows and looks at Luhan who squints, “I’m referring to the simplest smooth line because apart from this straight line, there is the slightest difference between the two, I won’t elaborate on this, I see you’re already having a little headache.” He smiles and tries to maintain Luhan’s patience.
“Actually, this straight line deviates from 1 and the slope can’t define the quality of this atomic clock, perhaps it precisely explains the lacks of our time system because it’s original definition of time similarly relies on a series of other atomic clocks. Therefore, there is no absolute predicament of time, everything is relative, the time you spend every day is in fact no rules, you just don’t feel it.” He erases the y-axis labels.
Scrutinizing Luhan’s depressed expressions, Clown laughs, “please forgive my nagging, you too, know that life is helpless at times, some who play truants in school now take physics class, some who were never good at speaking general principles now talk too much, God is fair.” He blinks.
"Really? So what is your forte?" Luhan laughs.
The man brushes his forehead, “perhaps I’m just like you" He reveals a smile and takes out a pen, "listen closely, maybe a day will come where you'll be desperately trying to recall my words."
“Now, let’s assume that the y-axis is a system of your senses.” He scribbles down some words, “Everyone has different senses, you might feel that an hour passes fast, but Yixing might think it’s too slow, this is because your slopes are different. I can be raising my hand now, but the speed whereby your eyes absorb my action maybe undeniably different, however because each of your senses are relatively stable, therefore you will never tell the difference.” As he speaks, he draws a blue straight line.
"You know Yixing?" Says Luhan, Clown ignores and continues his explanations.
“When you were hammering the nails on the mountains just now, your senses experienced a step.” As he speaks, he draws a green point on the blue line and overwrites the second half of it with red ink, maintaining its slope and length, using the red ink to extend the continuous line a little, “You are now in the present yet experiencing things from months before, we will now name this affected step as T1.” He looks at Luhan and draws a red mark, writing “X” below the red slope.
“I would say you are the pacesetter, X, because along your step, another person has taken a step too, let’s name him the successor, Y. He will await the number you give him upon your step or maybe a value of days, the time you take back to the start point in addition to this number of days would be the duration he travels back in time to, which is also the startpoint of T2.” He uses a yellow line to describe the step of your step will result in his step, your step will decide his step, changes the both of you make will influence the present, you both are, to an extent, partners who require the best coordination.
Luhan looks at the colored lines on the chalkboard, bobbing his head up and down to compare the figures, Clown turns his head and laughs at Luhan, hinting him to keep his patience.
"I know you still have many questions, for example how to get to this important number, or who you partner is, and most importantly," he holds out a finger, "why you're involved in this complicated procedure."
“Let us begin from the simplest question.” Clown looks at Luhan, “Your partner must be someone who hammers the nail into that stone wall the same time as you do, in this step, your partner isn’t around and you’ve gotten no explanation, therefore only you have experienced the step. But please bear in mind, the next time you would like to step, you have to find a partner to hammer the nail with, one of you being the pacesetter and only as the number generates, will the successor be able to step. If the number is 0, he will not experience the step and you will be taken straight back to the starting point which is also the time of which you hammer the nail. However, you will pay the price you’re required to pay, therefore try not to let the number be 0.
“How do I get to that number, and what is the price I have to pay for every step?” Luhan questions.
"Don't be impatient, I will impart all that you need to know." Clown assures, "The number has a relation between the doors, rectangular doors to be more specific. It is the amount of doors you tap within half an hour after your step. Tapping the same door twice doesn't count, car doors, cabinet doors and doors lower than your height don't count either. the maximum being 60, which also means the time difference between you and your partner can't be more than 60 days."
Luhan squints his eyes, trying to comprehend as much of this strange information as possible.
“You and your partner can decide:
1. the motive of each step
2. the time interval between the both of you
What isn’t in your decision scope is:
1. the point in time the pacesetter returns to
2. the duration of a step and
3. the roles of the pacesetter and successor”
Clown puts away his pen, “He will not know where you’ve stepped to and what you are doing and you too will not know what he is doing, only until the steps of both parties end and you return to the mountains, will you know what he did and only when you return to reality, will you realise the impact your changes had caused.” Clown smiles a little at him, “Therefore, not only must the both of you plan in advance and in detail, the both of you must have a higher understanding of everyone around you.”
Caught speechless, Luhan looks foolishly at the chalkboard and its messy lines, “And why does this damn step have to happen?”
"Your curiosity caused this current time travel, it wasn't inevitable." Says Clown, “The steps from now on will happen based on your wishes, but there's a price to pay. With each step, 15 years of your lives will deplete.”
"15 years!" Luhan’s mouth hangs open incomprehensibly.
"Of course. There's a price to pay for everything in this world, including regrets." Clown flickers his eyes, “but don't worry, you were brought here for an explanation and before this step, you existed in a passive state, hence there won’t be a price to pay. You can walk calmly out that door and return to the mountain waking up from this concentrated time. Basically meaning to say that through all the hustle you’ve been through today, in reality you’ve only been napping on Yixing’s shoulder for a couple of minutes. But the consequences of this step will not be cancelled, I’m sorry. Everyone will remember your embarrassing scenario zoning out on stage, apart from yourself in the real world who will experience short term amnesia, forgetting everything you did. In reality, he is just a replacement of you sleeping at the peak of the mountain.
“Then... how will the historically changed being of myself hammer the nail and return to the mountains at the same time to reunited with myself who has completed a step?” Luhan asks.
Clown laughs, “you don’t have to worry about this, logic, cause and effect are all rules of this universe, and as they create an extra game for you, it will naturally be within it’s rules.” He points towards the top.
“What happens if I hammer in more nails upon returning?” Luhan creases his eyebrows.
“If you hammer more nails, people around you will forget about the last round; their memories will return to their normal state, which is before any stepping happened, and await a new cycle of change without a memory disturbance. But speaking from experience, sometimes your personal items will follow you, not everything is perfectly under control, and you know it too.” Clown says, “ you’re already thinking about hammering more nails, are you really that conscious about the embarrassing incident?"
“What matters is how I will return back later.” Luhan gazes at the gleaming ray of light through the opened door in front and at the closed door to his back.
“That, do not worry, everything is simple and convenient.” Clown replies, “Later, you just have to walk through that opened door.”
“Before entering,” Luhan says, “there was a small door to my left, but no arrows were pointing towards it.”
“You are indeed an attentive person.” Clown says, “That door isn’t locked, if you had walk through that door then, you would’ve returned directly back to the mountain, you wouldn’t have received any explanations, the nail would changed back to it’s original nail and in the future, no matter how many nails you hammer, there would be no effect.” He says.
Clown surveys Luhan’s dazed face, “Friend, please always remember, no change is allowed once you’ve selected your partner, it is your obligation to inform him of all the rules and the cruciality of your subjective wishes while you step. Other than you and your partner, you are not allowed to tell anyone else about this, it is forbidden.”
“What happens if I do tell?” says Luhan.
“No one can live in a paradox, it will affect their existence.” Clown replies gently.
Luhan lifts his eyebrow, existence.
“So, that is all you need to know, thank you for your patience. There is no loss, you can pretend this was just a dream, and as for your brooding over the incident on stage, I can only apologize.” Clown says with a smile.
“That was pretty lame indeed.” says Luhan.
Clown chuckles, “No, you’re already considered calm for a first timer, it was better than me.”
Luhan turns his head to look at him, grasping the seeping but vanishing message from his words.
“You can leave now,” Clown turns to wipe off the writings on the chalkboard, “Don’t forget your way back.”
Luhan walks towards the door before pausing to turn his head, “Thank you for your explanation, but I don’t think I will be returning here again.” He laughs and takes a step out the door, disappearing into the illuminating light.
Clown doesn’t look at his shadow, he packs away his pen.
“You will.” He says as he cocks his head to the side.
Original fic
Translated by heecups and foundmypeaceofmind
Do not repost without permission!