One side of the sky was still cloaked in the deep velvet of night, while the other was waking with the rosy pink whisps of a slow, quiet dawn. Jongin rolled his neck from side to side, the joints grinding and cracking with satisfyingly loud pops. The morning air was still and chilled, so he was thankful that his mother had given him the sweatshirt he had always kept in the back of the car before she and his father had left. That had been ten minutes ago, and since then several more families had driven up to the dock and dropped their sons off. He and four other boys stood scattered about the deck of the small boat, each of them too shy or too nervous or too wrapped up in his own thoughts to introduce himself yet. There will be plenty of time for that later. Jongin was no good at things like meeting people or making new friends, and he wasn't looking forward to having to do so soon. One, two, three, four. He counted his luggage for the hundreth time, making extra-super-double-sure that he hadn't left a bag behind at home or in the car.

"Bye! Love you! Bye! See you later!" The farewell cries of the particularly tall boy who stood on the dock, waving exuberantly at the car pulling away from the shore, echoed across the empty beach. He had more bags than he could properly manage, so his short journey from the dock to the deck was a dance of awkward shuffling and waddling. After the minute long struggle, he plopped his bags down with a satisfied sigh. To Jongin's horror, the other boy began striding in his direction with an outstretched hand.

"Hi! Nice to meet you! I'm Chanyeol," he said, a goofy grin lighting up his already charming face. Jongin gulped and shook Chanyeol's hand limply.

"Jongin," he croaked, "ahem, um, nice to meet you too." Smooth.    

"Jongin! I like that name," Chanyeol replied. He gave Jongin a final nod before moving to introduce himself to the other boys on the boat. Slightly embarassed by his awkward introduction, Jongin decided to look at the view. The dock was sort of in the middle of nowhere, so there wasn't much to see in that direction but some sand and grass and a winding dirt road.

"My name's Jongdae!" came a chirping voice from the other side of the deck. Jongin turned and looked out at the ocean and the faint outline of Noksaek Island on the horizon. It's home, now he reminded himself. Glancing across the way, he saw that Jongdae had joined Chanyeol in greeting everyone one the boat. Jongin couldn't help but crack a smile. He envied their confidence, really, and wished that he could be as comfortable around new people as they were.

The sound of tires on gravel told him that another car or two had arrived. He checked his watch. Only fifteen more minutes until the boat was scheduled to depart.

"Nice to meet you, Sehun!" Chanyeol and Jongdae chorused. Car doors opened and closed, bags were dropped and dragged across the ground. Jongin's stomach began to turn nervously. Fourteen minutes. 

"Dao? Oh, Tao! Sorry, sorry. You'd think with ears like mine I'd be able to hear better. Good to meet you!" the tall boy's voice drifted over the noise on the dock below. More cars rolled up. I guess I was earlier than I thought. 

"Hey, man. Name's Yixing." Jongin glanced across the way to put the face with the name. So, that's Chanyeol, that's Jongdae, that's...Sehun, Tao (not Dao), and Yixing. He turned at the sound of a rolling bag clacking along the wooden planks of the dock. The boy who pulled it was tall, slender, and graceful. The air around him practically glowed with a sophisticated aura. Some of the others looked over to watch the newcomer stride cooly to the center of the deck. Jongin could've sworn he saw Tao raise a single eyebrow, but he was too far away to tell for sure. Two more boys boarded the boat, and while one of them immediately set off to join the gaggle near the cabin, the other started in Jongin's direction. He braced himself for another painfully bumbling introduction, but the other boy stopped about ten feet away and dropped his bags there. Phew. 

"Hello there! I'm Minseok! And you are?" The others introduced themselves to the boy eagerly, shaking hands and bowing in turn. As the next person walked on deck, Jongin realized that the University must be co-ed. It wasn't until a few moments later that he re-realized that the newest arrival was, in fact, a boy (albiet the prettiest boy Jongin had ever seen). The aforementioned beauty paused confusedly near the ramp for a moment before being ushered over to the group by the cutely grinning Minseok. 

"I thought he was a girl too," mumbled the dark haired boy standing furthur down the railing, "don't worry." Jongin smiled and chuckled softly. He tried to work up the courage to ask for the boy's name, but his greeting died in his throat as the other boy looked away. 

"Ah, I'm Luhan," the pretty boy announced, a dainty grin adorning his sweet lips. Jongin looked over his shoulder at the beach. Two cars were driving away, two remained, and none were coming up the road. One of the remaining cars was far fancier than any of the others that had pulled up that day, and Jongin couldn't help but admire it for a few more moments before checking to see how many boys remained on the beach. There were two, one with platinum blond hair and an expensive looking suit and the other with auburn locks and an apparent inability to stand still. Wonder which one came in which car. Jongin watched as they hugged their families goodbye and began walking towards the boat. They ran into each other at the start of the dock, awkwardly shifted their luggage to properly greet one another, and set off again. The tall elegant boy still stood alone at the center of the deck, absorbed in his phone, and the dark haired one was staring off at the sea. As soon as they walked aboard, the two new boys were absorbed into the big group. Jongin checked his watch. Four minutes now. 

The sun had risen up beyond the horizon now, and only a small quarter of the sky clung to the inky night. It felt less cold, but Jongin couldn't tell if that was an actual change in temperature or just his nerves. His musings on this, however, were soon interrupted. 

"And that's Jongin. Jongin!" Chanyeol called. Jongin looked up to see him waving, beckoning him to come over, "Jongin, come here and meet the others!" In that moment, there was nothing Jongin wanted less. Just it up and smile, he told himself. And that's just what he did. Plastering what he hoped look like an at-ease smile on his face, Jongin abandoned his bags and went to 'meet the others'. 

"Hi, Jongin," the dark haired boy murmured as he walked past. It was so quiet that Jongin wasn't even sure it really happened, so he opted to just keep walking. 

"Jongin, meet Junmyeon," Jongdae warbled, pointing to the blond boy in the nice suit, "and Baekhyun." Baekhyun vigorously shook Jongin's hand while simultaneously babbling to Chanyeol about something. Junmyeon nodded politely at Jongin, who had just enough time to return it before being whirled around to formally greet Luhan, Minseok, Yixing, and the rest. In all of the handshakes and bowing and nodding and laughing, Jongin didn't have time to be nervous or awkward, for which he was very grateful.

"Hey! You! Yeah, in the middle. Hi. I'm Chanyeol. What's your name?" The boy on his phone glanced up for a moment before replying.

"Yifan," he called, giving them a wave of his hand before returning his gaze to his palm.

"Aaaaaalrighty then," Chanyeol mumbled.

"And you! What about you, railing guy?" Jongdae cried. The black haired boy looked at them with large, pretty eyes. After a moment's hesitation, he began walking towards the group. 

"Kyungsoo." 

"Well, Kyungsoo, welcome to the fold," Chanyeol said, spreading his arms wide. It was at that moment that the horn atop the cabin of the boat sounded, and with a slight lurch the boat began moving away from the shore and out into the sea. 

"Here we go," Kyungsoo said, in his breath. Jongin's eyes met his for just a moment before the group descended into excited chaos.