My Shining Light

Chapter 1

It was a beautiful spring day. Although the air was cool, the skies were a clear blue. Lucy looked up at the sky and took in a deep breath. She'd had a rough couple of months, but today she hoped to do something new and start fresh.

One of her closest friends, Aera, had asked to her come on board with a charity project where she could help to support and inspire young music students.

She stepped inside the training school hall and caught Aera's eye across the room full of students and idols.

Aera had shiny black shoulder length hair and a petite frame. She blended in amongst the idols, looking as beautiful as one of the female idol members, but she was on the management team and organised the group Astro's special events schedule.

"Unnie!" she called as she waved Lucy over towards her. Although Lucy was older and had always been there for Aera, it had been Aera who had been her closest friend and shoulder to cry on this year.

Lucy cautiously walked over to her, aware that there were now many eyes on her. She stood out amongst the crowd, a foreigner, with her long blonde wavy hair, big bright blue eyes, and curvy build. She was used to the stares so she tried her best to ignore them and embraced Aera.

"I made it!" She exclaimed, "Looks like things are happening! Can I do anything? Just tell me what to do!"

"So eager to get to work when working for free? That's my Lucy." She smiled and pointed to some boxes. "Just clear that stuff for me because we need to make room on these tables. Put them in that room back there. I'll get the boys to help."

"Got it," Lucy said and started carrying the boxes down the hallway.

The storage room was packed so full of boxes that there wasn't much room to move or put her box. She noticed some space on one of the corner shelves but it looked wobbly.

Dropping her box, she got down low on the ground to adjust the jammed knobs. Frustrated, she pulled harder.

All of a sudden, the shelf began to wobble and she heard a big crack!

"Ahh!" She cried, putting her hands up over her head. The shelf started to fall on top of her but suddenly, it stopped.

She looked up and saw a boy with straight black hair holding it up. He had kind eyes and a dimple on his left cheek. She recognised him but seeing him in person was stunning. She couldn't help but think that he was extremely cute.

"Are you okay?!" He asked as he pushed the shelf back against the wall and held out a hand to help her up.

Lucy took a moment to answer and realised that she was still staring at him.

"Oh... umm, I'm okay thanks to you".

He was looking intently at her too and it made her nervous so she gave him a little smile. He smiled back, making his dimple pop and his eyes turn into little moons. "Wow, wow, wow" she thought.

As she took his warm hand, her heart raced inside her chest. She hadn't had this kind of reaction to a guy in a long time!

When he helped her stand, she stood up taller than him. Then she noticed another boy standing beside him holding another box.

"Hi, I'm Kim Myung-jun, are you really ok?" He asked as he energetically bowed to her.

"And I'm Park Jin-woo", said the boy holding her hand, which he quickly dropped as his cheeks went a little red.

"Yes I'm fine. I'm Lucy, Collins Lucy", she said, bowing politely to them both. "It's such a pleasure to meet you, MJ, I'm a fan. You have a lovely voice..."

MJ's eyes went wide and he grinned broadly. "Thank you very much", he replied happily.

"And Jinjin too," she added, bowing. They both seemed surprised that she knew their stage names and could speak Korean fluently.

Suddenly another boy came around the corner with another box and dropped it suddenly at her feet.

"Lucy!!" He yelled without any honorifics. He grabbed her in a big hug and swung her around. "It's been forever!!" This handsome boy she certainly recognised.

"Dongmin, oh my gosh", she said, switching to English. "I didn't know you'd be here".

"Why? I'm part of Astro."

"Yeah, but your schedule..."

"It got changed, I can't believe we're working together after all these years." He grinned and patted her arm affectionately.

"Yeah, it's been so long. How's your mum?" She enquired.

"Fine, everyone is good. How's your sister?"

"She's really good, thanks."

"And how've you been?" He asked, looking into her eyes in a way that made her heart drop.

She wanted to hide. She hesitated and swallowed. She didn't have the words. She couldn't lie to Dongmin, he'd known her too long.

"I don't know," she said non-committally and shrugged.

"Oh... Lucy," he looked a little concerned but as they were in front of the others, he quickly changed tack and addressed the boys in Korean.

"So you guys met Luce, she's an old friend from music school back when we were kids. She's got the best voice you'll ever hear and..."

"Stop it Dongmin," she shoved him playfully.

"I'd better keep working or Aera will fire me," she said quickly. "It was nice to meet you!" She added, bowing to the boys and escaping out the door to grab more boxes.