"Welcome to your new life."

Those five words hung in the air, thick and weighty as a ton of bricks. And then abruptly Taemin turned, pushing through the crowd of boys and striding in the opposite direction towards the nearest tree, where he promptly slid down to the ground to cradle his head in his hands.

“Where am I?” he whispered, his mind swirling with confusion and fear. “What am I doing here?”

He heard footsteps approaching, and then they stopped as Jonghyun knelt down in front of him. “Hey,” Taemin heard him say, in a surprisingly gentle voice. “Don’t you want some answers?”

Taemin squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out Jonghyun’s voice. There was a silence as Taemin waited for the other boy to give up and leave him alone, but when this failed to happen, he slowly lifted his head. “Please,” he mumbled, hints of both desperation and panic lacing his voice.

Jonghyun’s eyes softened, and he stood, holding a hand out to Taemin. Taemin hesitated, then took it, allowing Jonghyun to lead him back to the group of boys. Taemin avoided anyone’s gaze, feeling slightly embarrassed at his mini-breakdown. He looked up only when Jonghyun started speaking again.

“This is the Island,” the other said, gesturing around at the sand and leafy trees behind them. “Don’t ask what island, because we don’t know. In fact, none of us here remember anything more about ourselves than our first names.”

Taemin felt a little jolt of shock, and opened his mouth to ask something—but Jonghyun held up a hand. “No questions till I’m done explaining,” he commanded. Taemin hesitated, biting his lip in frustration, but did not protest.

“Good,” Jonghyun said with a small smile. “Looks like you’ll get along just fine around here.

“These,” he continued, nodding toward a group of guys who stood a little apart from the rest, “are Jinki, Kibum, and Minho. We were the first to show up on this Island. We didn’t wash up on a raft like the rest of you—we just woke up here one day, about a year and a half ago, with no memory of how we got here. Then, once every month on the same day at the same time, a raft bearing another boy would wash up onto the beach. You’re the seventeenth arrival,” he finished.

Taemin’s head hurt. He was itching to ask a million questions, but remembering what Jonghyun had said, he restrained himself.

Jonghyun placed his hands on Taemin’s shoulders and swiveled him around to face the sea. “Do you see that little strip of land in the distance?” he asked. Taemin squinted, and could just barely make out the sliver of green against an otherwise endless ocean of blue. He nodded, and Jonghyun continued, “That’s the mainland. Or, at least, what we think is the mainland. Our goal is to figure out a way to get to it; but so far, we’ve had little luck.”

Taemin couldn’t hold himself back anymore. “Why are we trying to get there?” he burst out. Jonghyun raised his eyebrows at the interruption, but after a brief pause replied simply, “Because we have nowhere else to go.”

With that he turned and walked back towards the group of three he’d introduced earlier, calling out as he did so,

 “Jongin, look after the newbie.”

Taemin heard voices breaking out into murmured conversation as, gradually, the gaggle of boys around him began to disperse. He stared at Jonghyun’s retreating back with slight reproach, wondering if the elder really thought his job was done. I’m even more confused now than I was when I got here, he thought.

“Hey,” came a shy voice from behind him. Taemin turned to see a boy who looked about 15 standing a couple of feet away, his eyes averted towards the ground. “I-I’m, um, Jongin,” the boy said, stumbling a little over his words. Taemin stared at him, and all at once felt a surprising rush of affection.

“Hi,” he said, trying his best to inject some warmth into his voice. It must have worked, for Jongin looked up from his feet hopefully, and Taemin got his first full look at the other’s face.

He inhaled sharply, without meaning to. Jongin’s eyes were dark and round, his skin tanned and his lips full and pouty. But—more than anything—he was…familiar. “Have we, um, met?” Taemin blurted, before he could stop himself.

Jongin’s eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to reply but no words came out. Taemin hastily said, “Nevermind. It was stupid to think…nevermind.”

There was an awkward silence, and then Jongin spoke up again. “Well…welcome to the Island,” he said uncertainly, sweeping his arm out in the direction of the leafy trees behind them. “I’ll do my best to show you around.”

“How long have you been here, then?” Taemin asked, as they began walking along the beach.

“Only a month,” Jongin answered. “I was the new guy before you came along.”

“Guess you’re glad to see me then, right?”

Jongin let out a surprised laugh, and Taemin’s breath caught. It was the first time he had seen the other boy smile.

“So, Jongin, how old would you say I am?” he asked casually. Jongin stopped walking and looked him critically up and down.

“I’d say about sixteen,” he said finally, “a bit older than me.”

“Looks like you’ll have to call me hyung, then,” Taemin teased, and to his pleasure, Jongin blushed.

 “Okay, Taemin…hyung,” he murmured quietly, making the elder’s heart skip a beat.

They stopped walking, and Taemin looked up. In front of the trees was a circle of canvas tents surrounding what looked like the remains of a bonfire. Most of the guys from earlier milled about, sitting on wooden logs and talking. As Taemin looked around, he realized that the group of three which Jonghyun had introduced him to, as well as Jonghyun himself, was missing.

“Where’re Jonghyun and the others?” he wondered aloud.

“The Four? They’ve probably gone back into the jungle by now,” Jongin said. Taemin turned to him quizzically.

“The Four?”

“The Committee of Four, or just the Four, as the rest of us call them. Jinki, Jonghyun, Kibum, and Minho.” Jongin ticked them off one by one on his fingers, looking eager to be able to explain something to Taemin. “They were the original Four who woke up on this Island, before the rest of us started to arrive. Since they’ve been here the longest, they’re in charge.”

Taemin digested this information in silence, his mind filled with questions. “But why are they in the jungle?” he asked finally.

“They go in there every day from sunrise till sunset in order to map out the Island,” Jongin explained. “We figure if we can understand the place as much as possible, then we’ll be able to find a way to escape it.”

Taemin peered into the depths of the trees, trying to see beyond the green foliage. “It’s not…dangerous, is it?” he asked hesitantly. Jongin’s eyes darkened for a fraction of a second, their warm brown color becoming a stormy grey—and then that second was over. “Of course not, hyung,” he chirped cheerfully, turning away from the trees. “Now let’s get you some lunch.”

He started back towards the circle of tents, and Taemin made to follow. But, before he could stop himself, he turned back to look at the dark, foreboding line of trees behind them. He thought about the expression that had briefly flitted across Jongin’s face when he had asked about the dangers of the jungle, and an involuntary shudder passed through him. Then he tore his gaze away and hurried after his new friend, the ominous thoughts almost fading from his mind.

Almost.

A/N: First chapter is up! Hope you enjoyed it. Comments are much appreciated :)