Wide eyed and completely baffled, Jaejoong looked around the rest of the group as they were sequestered in what appeared to be the center of the natives’ village.  Junsu hadn’t been given his shirt back and they still had an audience, but a guard had been established around them; they were still trying to figure out if it was because they were considered a threat or if they were actually being protected from the rest of the village.  The general consensus among them was leaning towards the latter one…

                “They’re still looking at us,” Junsu whispered quietly, keeping his head ducked low as he focused on the provisions they’d been given before the rest of the village became very busy.  The flush on his cheeks had yet to let up and the other four were beginning to wonder if it was a sunburn or a permanent blush.

                Jaejoong glanced around quickly to confirm Junsu’s comment and then focused on the fresh water in their midst in the cored out hollow of what was probably a piece of a tree trunk.  “I didn’t know water could taste this good,” he mumbled around another mouthful from the coconut bowl they’d all been given, glad to finally have lost his headache and be at a point where he was relatively okay with their current situation.  None of them knew what the villagers were doing or anything they said but it appeared as if they weren’t going to hurt them.  Well, more than they had already.

                Changmin rubbed his forehead every now and then where a small knot was starting to form, but he seemed alright otherwise.  “At least they’re not being all handsy anymore,” he scowled, narrowing his eyes to look at the observing women who giggled at his response, pointing him out and talking quietly among themselves.

                “What do you suppose this stuff is?” Yoochun asked, poking at what they figured was supposed to be some sort of food in the middle of their circle, spread on a giant green leaf which acted as an improvised plate.  It was all white and smashed into a fine pulp, eliminating the possibility of it being potatoes.

                “Coconut,” Yunho grinned, grabbing another pinch and chewing on it contentedly.  “Try it,” he urged, taking a wary look around again.

                “Are you sure we should be eating that?” Yoochun asked, brows raised in concern.  “What if it’s got something else in it?”

                Jaejoong snorted at the question and shook his head.  “I don’t think they’re particularly dangerous.  If they wanted to do something to us, they probably would have already,” he shrugged, eyeing their guards.  Two of the four were males that had been with the strange young woman who had been attending him.  He was still baffled by her behavior, doubly so because after an animated discussion with the chief guy, she had disappeared and he hadn’t seen her since.

                “I wonder what all the fuss is about,” Yunho quirked his head to the side and watched as another group of villagers returned from the surrounding trees carrying a large basket among them, the container attached to parallel poles which rested on two of the men’s shoulders to split the weight.  When the lead male reached another older figure already in the village, it appeared they exchanged greetings by butting heads.

                “Us, probably,” Jaejoong shrugged, taking a sated breath.  It felt really good to eat and drink after the morning they’d all had.  Now, if only he had a cigarette and a drink, he’d be perfect.  “Why do you suppose they do that?” he asked, pointing to the two that had just head-butted each other.

                “Who knows?” Yoochun shrugged with a sympathetic look at Changmin.

                “Maybe it’s a greeting,” Yunho offered, his mouth twisted to the side thoughtfully.

                “That’s a pretty ty greeting,” Changmin muttered glumly, not at all pleased with the thought.

                “Aish.  It looked more like a challenge when that dude hit you earlier,” Jaejoong commented, searching for the chief figure.

                Unable to help himself, Changmin leaned over and poked Junsu in the cheek, watching the red flesh turn white for just a second before it flared back to brilliance.  “Yah!” the shorter male yelped, jerking away only to realize what had happened with a relieved laugh.  “You okay, hyung?” Changmin asked with a raised brow, glancing at the other three quickly.

                “Eh…” Junsu murmured, blinking nervously.  “Where are there clothes?” he whined, hunching in on himself again as he stuck his hands into the sand between his crossed legs and focused on the stretch of ground in front of him.

                Yoochun reached over to pat the pink shoulder in a comforting gesture, grinning at his friend’s discomfit while both Jaejoong and Changmin laughed.  Yunho just shook his head and shrugged helplessly.  “It’s certainly cooler,” he admitted, fanning himself with his hand.

                It was hot in the sun but the villagers seemed to be fairly used to it, which wasn’t exactly surprising.  Their skin was a tan color closer to bronze and their hair and eyes appeared to run the gamut of medium to darker shades.  No one present was a true blonde, which was probably why they’d been fascinated with Jaejoong’s hair to begin with.  All of them wore some sort of loincloth thing and while many wore additional accessories, none of them had any sort of top to speak of.  Amazingly enough, no one reacted as if it was anything out of the ordinary.  Though Jaejoong did notice a group of villagers inspecting Junsu’s shirt inquisitively…

                “Heads up,” Yoochun warned with a nod behind Yunho.  “Isn’t that the guy that head-butted you, Minnie?”

                “Huh?” the youngest perked up immediately, turning to see for himself and scooting back reactively when he saw who it was.

                Junsu shifted as if to hide behind the maknae with the comment, “He looks angry.”

                “I think that’s just the way his face is,” Yoochun assured him with a knowing nod, prompting a snicker from Jaejoong and Changmin.

                “Shh!” Junsu hissed in a panic, berating Yoochun.  “He’ll hear you.”

                “He can’t understand us anyway,” Jaejoong reminded him with an urging hand gesture towards Yunho.

                “What?” Yunho responded quizzically as he eyed the chief guy pause to regard them uncertainly.

                “You’re the leader,” Jaejoong stated as if it was obvious.

                “And?” Yunho grumbled with a mild glare at the blonde.  “The last time we met, this guy threw me to the ground in like two seconds.”

                “Aw, come on hyung,” Changmin chimed in, giving a bright, supportive grin as he scooched closer to Yoochun and Junsu, bruised forehead still evident for all to see.  “You got this!”  Junsu and Yoochun nodded emphatically behind him, giving Yunho no room for debate.

                He opened his mouth to try anyway and then jumped in surprise as the chief spoke first, drawing all of their attention.  Puzzled, the five watched as the older male spoke and tapped his chest and then gestured towards them, obviously asking a question.

                “Yunho,” Jaejoong urged again, reaching over to give him a nudge.

                “I don’t even know what he’s saying!” Yunho grumbled with a panicked gesture before he reluctantly got to his feet anyway.  The chief looked surprised and motioned at the standing male with an inquisitive look.  “Uh.  Hello,” Yunho wave awkwardly, the bright, nervous smile and fidgeting doing nothing to help his position.

                With a dubious look, the chief pointed at Yunho and then back at himself, as if trying to make some sort of connection.  When everyone continued to look confused, he grunted and tried again, smacking his chest hard with his open palm, startling Yunho.  “Tarik!”

                “Maybe it’s his name,” Changmin whispered quietly.

                “Try copying him,” Jaejoong suggested with a shrug at the rest of his companions.

                “If this guy tosses me again…” Yunho trailed off with a sidelong glance at his friends.  He didn’t finish the thought but took a breath and mimicked the chief guy.  “Tarik?” he asked, placing a hand to his own chest.

                The chief snorted in denial and smacked his chest again, apparently irritated.  “Tarik!”  Then he stepped forward and placed his hand firmly on Yunho’s chest, to the younger male’s alarm, and grunted.

                “…” Yoochun commented from the rear, hardly daring to breathe.

                Slightly alarmed, Yunho held his ground and tried again, pointing at the chief guy as he spoke, “Tarik.”  When the other male grunted with a small nod, Yunho smacked his own chest, “Yunho!”

                “Ono?” Tarik responded, tilting his head to the side.

                Yunho shook his head and enunciated more carefully, drawing out the syllables, “Yunho.”

                The response he got was laughable.  “Yoooo nooooo.”

                “Oh wow,” Changmin murmured as he face palmed.

                “Well he almost got it,” Junsu urged with an amused shrug.

                Frowning, Tarik pointed at Yunho and stated, “No.”

                Jaejoong laughed and grinned, “That’s a new one.”

                “Yunho,” Yunho reiterated intently.

                “No,” Tarik grinned with an emphatic nod, rather pleased with himself.

                “This is too good,” Changmin chuckled, the laughter dying off when they noticed Tarik step close to Yunho again.

                “No,” Tarik gestured at Yunho and placed his hands on both shoulders with a broad grin.

                When Tarik jerked on Yunho’s shoulders and tilted his head forward, the younger male yelped, “Yah!” and tensed up again with a startled expression.

                Tarik snorted at him and waved over one of the other males that was guarding them.  “Akek.”  That had to be one of the strangest names any of them had ever heard, but they watched intently as the two males squared off, hands on each other’s shoulders, and promptly butted heads.  The pair chuckled at the exchange and pushed away, unharmed by the encounter, but Yunho blanched.

                “Really?” he groaned, looking back at his friends imploringly.

                Changmin gave him two thumbs up and added, “At least you have a hard head.”

                “You’re no help,” Yunho muttered, turning to nod at Tarik.  The chief grunted back at him and they grabbed each other’s shoulders, squaring off.  “This is gonna ,” Yunho complained through gritted teeth as he winced and rammed his head forward.

                The other four cringed with him when they heard the skulls meet and then Yunho groaned in pain as he stepped back with his hands clasped over his head.  They could see tears forming at the corner of his eyes as he danced in place and tried to get through the pain while Tarik laughed at him.  Akek laughed too, as did the rest of their guard, and the crowd beyond them that had been allowed to linger joined in the merriment.

                Tarik followed after Yunho’s weaving body and said something that ended with, “No.”  He then proceeded to pat Yunho firmly on the back and started to babble at him like he was wholly intent upon carrying on the conversation by himself.

                Jaejoong would have felt worse for him, and he opened his mouth to say something to his group mates, but all that came out was a startled croak when someone landed in the sand beside him and grabbed his shoulder firmly in their hands.  Whipping his head around to see who it was, he came face to face with bare s only partially obscured by necklaces.  “Jesus Christ!” he growled and looked away to compose himself, aware of Junsu squeaking nearby and covering his face with both hands in total embarrassment.

                “Someone’s got a fan,” Changmin drawled suggestively, expression falling flat when Yoochun countered him.

                “You’re the one that has a fan club,” he chuckled, careful not to look at Jaejoong’s new friend.

                The young woman leaned around to catch Jaejoong’s gaze and he realized it was the same one from before; the one that had been more interested in his clothes than him.  “Well hello again,” he spoke, looking up at her face, noticing the way the sunlight practically sparkled in her hazel eyes, the green overtones striking in comparison to the brown blend around the outer rim of her iris.

                She immediately smiled and started speaking rapidly, shoving what appeared to be a torn piece of clothing at him.  It sounded like she was asking him a question, or several, but he had no idea what she was saying.  Animatedly, she pulled the fabric taught and then gestured wide with her hands, still looking at him for a response.

                Jaejoong scrunched his face up in confusion and shook his head.  “I have no idea what you’re asking me, you know,” he told her, staring at the fabric.  It wasn’t anything that she had taken from one of them, so far as he was aware, but it didn’t look like they had much cloth anything so where had she gotten it from?  Her question became more insistent and when she reached for the fabric of his pants, he yelped, “Yah!  No!” he frowned, pointing at her with his finger.

                She blew a gust of air into her bangs in annoyance and they both looked over as Tarik interrupted with, “Yaim.”  His gesture seemed to indicate Jaejoong’s nuisance.

                The young woman rolled her eyes and looked at Tarik with an obvious question.

                “No,” Tarik pointed at Yunho and then back at the woman.  “Yaim.”

                Yaim held the scrap of cloth up between her hands and ranted at Tarik.  He just laughed at her and then gestured for the guards to disperse.  “Tarik…!” she whined, standing up with an aggrieved air.  She sighed and looked down, gasping in surprise as her focus diverted to Jaejoong’s hair.

                “Now what…?” he grumbled, looking at Changmin, Yoochun, and Junsu who were trying very hard not to laugh at his predicament, sitting in the sand, slouched over like a child as Yaim pawed at his hair.

                “I think she sees your roots,” Yoochun laughed, flinching with a startled cry when the trio was suddenly mobbed by a small group of women with one or two men keeping an eye on things.

                “Hah!” Jaejoong pointed at their misfortune, glaring at Yunho next since it seemed as if he was getting along with Tarik, even though he doubted neither understood a of what they were saying.

                “I’m sitting right here!” Changmin affirmed, refusing to budge when they were motioned to stand up.

                “Yah!” Junsu wailed, keeping his hands plastered over his face, the red flush extending to his ears and the entirety of his upper chest.

                “Hey!  You already took Su’s shirt.  You can’t have mine too,” Yoochun determined, keeping a tight hold on the fabric as a couple people tugged at it curiously while the rest tried to get them to their feet.

                “Yaim!” another feminine voice called aloud, suddenly appearing on Jaejoong’s other side.

                “Ayah!”  Looking to his left, Jaejoong saw it was Yaim’s friend from earlier.  She was just a touch shorter with straight hair that cascaded over her shoulders loosely, dark copper strands partially covering her top.  In rapid fire succession, she spoke at Yaim and handed over a collection of adornments, hastily slinging one over Jaejoong’s head so that he was abruptly wearing a necklace of feathers and woven beads.  Or maybe they were gems…

                He didn’t have time to inspect it further before a commotion with the guys and their admirers drew his attention.  “Jae!  Yunho!” Yoochun and Changmin cried in mild alarm.

                Amidst the chatter of the crowd, all eyes were on Junsu, which was doing nothing to help his situation.  Several women were talking over him in concern, touching his forehead with the backs of their hands as another pulled his hands away, revealing the scarlet expression.

                “Stop blushing, Su,” Jaejoong urged, getting to his feet and hurrying over, shadowed immediately by Yaim and her friend.

                “I can’t!” he groaned with his eyes shut tight.

                Tarik commanded something abrupt and one of the women rushed off in a hurry.  “I think they think he’s sick,” Yoochun explained, vainly trying to wave their concerned hands off.  “He’s alright.  Shoo!” he urged, trying to help give him some room to breathe.  It didn’t work…

                “Give him some room!” Changmin growled, pushing the nearest pair away with his hand, using his greater reach to his advantage.

                With Yunho running over from the side, Jaejoong wedged himself in front of Junsu, trying to help as best he could, but then he was displaced by another woman with the aid of Akek, maybe.  It was hard to say, but the middle aged woman placed a sopping wet clump of moss on top of Junsu’s head so that the water trickled over him, sending cooling rivulets down his heated flesh.

                “Cold!” he yelped, flailing in place awkwardly.

                As he was still recovering from being doused, and while his friends were attempting to help him in any way they could, another young woman hurried over with a coconut cup and handed it off to the first woman that had doused Junsu.  She mimed drinking and then offered it to Junsu who was not paying any attention with his eyes closed.

                “Wait, wait, wait!” the other four urged as the older, determined woman put the cup to his lips and tilted.

                “Wha-” Junsu started to say, eyes flying open at the same time that some of the liquid sloshed into his mouth.  Reflexively, he swallowed and then coughed harshly, his face impossibly turning an even deeper shade of red.

                “Su!” the other four cried in concern, finally bullying their way in to surround the choking member.  They patted him on the back and kept the space around him clear until he was able to take a breath.

                With tears streaming down his face and the flush slowly subsiding, Junsu groaned, “That tasted terrible…”

                “What was it?” Yunho asked, tilting Junsu’s head so he could get a better look at his face.

                He shook his head in confusion and grumbled some more.  Jaejoong pivoted to find the woman with the cup and then reached for it himself.  She shrugged and handed it off so he could inspect it, taking an experimental sniff.  “Whoa,” he flinched, laughing once at the vapors.  He took a tiny sip and grinned, chuckling to himself, “It’s alcohol.”

                “Eh?” Yoochun responded, giving him a perplexed look.

                “Let me see,” Changmin demanded, taking the bowl from his hands.  “Aish…” he exhaled at the taste, blinking rapidly.

                “Something fermented,” Jaejoong explained with a nod, peering at Junsu a bit closer.  “You okay, Su?”

                He wiped at both eyes with his hands and took another deep breath, laughing once.  “I still think they need to put on clothes but I’m okay!” he urged, keeping his gaze locked on his friends.  If he didn’t focus on the villagers, he could manage.

                After his coughing fit and the mild dousing, his flush subsided to an acceptable level, merely pink instead of the bright red it had been.  The result was an enthusiastic cheer all the way around, surprising the group of five.

                “Do you think they like us?” Yoochun asked, meeting the curious looks of his band mates.

                “I’m beginning to believe so,” Jaejoong nodded with Yunho echoing him.

                “A little less might be nice,” Changmin commented, dragging his arm away from one of his ‘fan members’.

                “So what n-”

                Tarik interrupted him in a booming voice with his arms held wide, grinning broadly.  All eyes turned to the chief and said something that made everyone else cheer too.  Before the group knew it, Yaim and her friend tossed additional necklaces over their heads and they were collectively hauled to their feet with what had to be happy chattering.

                “Now what?” Jaejoong asked, jumping when someone goosed him from behind.  At least he wasn’t the only one, as another yelp from Changmin told him as much.

                His question was answered soon after as additional villagers swarmed into the square bearing all manner of foods, placemats, and materials for what was likely a fire.  “Are they celebrating?” Yunho asked, fidgeting in place.

                “No!” Tarik called, gesturing for Yunho to join him.

                “Ah crap,” he muttered, rubbing his forehead preemptively as he half-walked and was half-pushed to the front.

                When he got up to Tarik, the chief clapped him on the shoulder and addressed the gathering with a booming voice and in good spirits.  Again, none of the members knew what he was saying, but it felt okay.  He finished up with something that ended in, “No!” and the crowd cheered again, laughing as the following head- made Yunho hold his forehead with a pained grimace.

                “Yeah!” he cheered with teary eyes, raising his other hand in the air.

                 “Go Yunho!” Jaejoong cheered, joined shortly by Changmin and Yoochun, while Junsu hollered loudly.  Jaejoong leaned over to Yoochun who was closest to him and grinned, “I could get used to this.”

                “You would,” Yoochun chuckled with a shake of his head, waving at Yunho who took a bow for their pleasure.  “Oh, thank you,” he responded quickly when some sort of food and drink was pressed into his hands.

                It wasn’t long before everyone had something in their hands and they were clustered together, bombarded by questions, and engaged in long, rather complicated games of gestures.  And while they had made absolutely no headway in figuring out what had happened to the boat or how they were going to get off the island, at least they were no longer ‘captives’ and seemed to be on good terms with the villagers.  Now, if they could just play the game long enough to get the freedom to wander around, they might have more success in finding a way to be rescued.  Though was it really rescue when you weren’t exactly in trouble?

(a/n: Yes, I'm having fun with this.  hehe  I hope you're enjoying it too.  ;)  I've definitely got plans for the next update though and we'll see where this thing goes!  Huzzah!  lol)