It was a warm summer evening and it was already getting dark when there was suddenly someone at the front door and rang the doorbell.

"Would you please go and look who is at the door, Hyukjae?" Mrs. Lee said and looked cautiously over the shoulder at her seven-year-old son, who sat on the garden bench under a tree and was reading his new Finding Nemo book.

Eunhyuk nodded wordlessly, closed his book and went into the house and to the front door, opened it cautiously. "Hello?"

"Hello Hyukie." Donghae grinned beaming and wrapped, laughing, his arms around the surprised-looking Eunhyuk, hugged him tight in greeting. "Say, can you still get out? I want to show you something!"

Eunhyuk thought for a moment and glanced at the large grandfather clock in the living room. The pointers hadn't yet been reached the numbers of his bedtime and it also wasn't yet quite dark outside.

"UMMA! I AM OUT WITH DONGHAE!" he cried out loudly into the direction of the garden, before he carelessly placed his book on the stairs, slipped in his shoes and followed Donghae out of the house.

"Shall we go to the playground again?" Eunhyuk asked curiously as they walked along the street, but Donghae shook his head and took him by the hand, swinging their hands happily between them. "No... not now..."

A wide grin graced the face of the six-year-old Donghae when he dragged his best friend in the direction of major fields and one of the many dirt roads. "As I said, I have a surprise for you!"

"Hu?" surprised, Eunhyuk eyed Donghae from the side and followed him along without resistance, when the latter at once left the dirt track, drew a small flashlight from his pocket and led him in one of the large flower fields.

"Is it still a long way?" Eunhyuk finally asked, after they had walked silently a little while and looked with a worried look over his shoulder and into heaven.

Their street and his home were on the edge of the field and were now hardly recognizable, just some dancing points of light in the far, and the sky was already completely dark and actually he had promised his parents to always be at home before it is dark. "Umma is certainly angry that I'm not at home..."

Donghae stopped and squeezed Eunhyuk's hand. "My Umma has promised to call your Umma, and to tell her what we are doing and that we are not long away." Again, a beaming smile spread across his face and Eunhyuk could not help but to nod laughing. "And besides, we are here!"

"But here is nothing..." little Eunhyuk said while he looked around, but couldn't see anything except of the flowers around them.

"Not yet!" Donghae grinned mysteriously and simply sat down on the dry ground, turned off the flashlight at the same moment. "Come on, sit down Hyukie."

"Wha- dark!" scared, Eunhyuk's eyes widened and he tried to see something. But as his eyes hadn't yet adjusted to the darkness and he saw nothing but a few shadowy outlines and dark silouettes. He walked carefully into the squat and d in the dark after his friend's shoulder and after he found it, sat slowly down next to him, and promptly on a big stone.

"Stupid Stone." grumbling, Eunhyuk pulled him out from under him and glared at him for a moment, as far as it was possible in the dark and threw it carelessly further into the field, could hear Donghae chuckle softly beside him.

"So, what do you want to show me now?" He looked questionningly at him, rejoiced happily that his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and he was able to see more of Donghae.

"You will see it!" Eunhyuk could hear the grin in Donghae's voice and was surprised when the latter suddenly took his face in his hands and turned his head towards the sky. "There!"

It took a moment before the elder of the two children understood what there was shown to him, but from the moment the way he did, his eyes widened with excitement.

"Woah! That's just awesome!" Eunhyuk said loudly and was completely fascinated by the wide starry sky that greeted him. "This... this must indeed be thousands!"

Even if he could see the stars every evening from his window, it were never that much like now.

"I don't know..." Donghae also looked up. "I've never counted them."

"Shall we do it?" with a questioning look the younger suddenly turned to Eunhyuk. "Oh and I have something to eat for us! My umma gave it to me."

Now it was at Hyukie to watch in wonder, as Donghae, seemingly out of nowhere conjured a big lunchbox. "Where did you get that?"

"I have carried it the whole time, silly!" Hae laughed and pulled up the lid, an tasty scent filled Eunhyuk's senses. "Something special from Umma!" and with these words he showed Eunhyuk a can full of little strawberries.

Immediately caught by the addicting smell of the fruit, he took the can with thanks and scooted a little closer to his best friend, placed the box carefully on one of their legs. "So, for both of us!"

Chuckling and giggling, they looked up again and started to count every single star.

But they didn't got very far, because even if they were already big boys, after all, they were only six and seven years old and couldn't count yet further than hundred. And even if they counted with the fingers as well, they finally gave up. There were just too many.

"Do you think that someone sits there every night and counts the stars?" Donghae asked eagerly and was gleefully munching on a further strawberry. They had lying down, were holding each others hand and still looking at the starry sky.

Eunhyuk shrugged cluelessly. "I think so... After all, someone must have take care of it, that all the stars are always there when it gets dark."

"Yeah..." Donghae nodded and leaned his head on Hyuk's shoulder, yawned softly and closed his eyes. "This will definitely have fun... to sit there every night and watch the stars..."

Eunhyuk also couldn't suppress a yawn and sat up all of a sudden. "Let's go home." he said, pulling a sleepy Donghae to his feet, took him by the hand and led him in his turn back to the dirt road and to return home, where they fell asleep cuddling together in Eunhyuk's bed and dreamt about how they count the stars.

~

"I said no!" Donghae raised his son to his arms and shook his head. "I won't let Sungmin go out with Kyuhyun to watch the stars!"

"Why not?" Eunhyuk asked bewildered, astonished about his husband's sudden behavior. "You know very well that Sungmin and Kyuhyunnie always play together! And they're old enough!" He stopped for a moment. "We were at the same age, when you dragged me into the fields to watch the stars."

"And that's the problem!" Donghae muttered, when Eunhyuk walked over to him and took Sungmin from his arms that his son could walk over to where Kyuhyun was waiting at the front door. "They'll end like us... my innocent little Sungminnie..."

"That doesn't matter." Eunhyuk whispered softly smiling and wrapped an arm around Donghae's waist, leaned his head at his shoulder. "As long as he's happy, it's the only thing that matters."

With a sigh, Donghae watched after Kyuhyun and Sungmin and how happy his son smiled, when Kyhuyn took his hand and lead him into the direction of the fields.

~END~