My Shining Light

Chapter 54

In the split second before discovery, the moment between the door swinging open and the lights turning on, Jinwoo let his thoughts run wild and free. He imagined that he and Lucy were somewhere far far away, where nobody could reach them. His mind was drawn to one special place.

The lake house.

He always preferred to be by the water. It calmed him and rejuvenated his soul. That's why he bought the small property a year ago. No one knew about it. Not his members. Not even his family.

It was an impulsive purchase; the result of the sudden urge to disappear. He bought it on the day he decided to break up with Soojin.

She was supposed to attend their meeting with the lawyers. He checked his watch several times as a particularly ruthless article about their scandal was being read aloud. The head lawyer noticed and sniggered at him across the table. She tapped her finger on the computer screen, not bothering to hide her contempt while she scrolled through the comments section.

"So, you two wore matching... jewellery?" she said, looking down her nose at him.

He nodded, answering yet another question without a word. Yes, he did all those cheesy things like wear matching bracelets, shoes, and pyjamas with her. He bought Soojin little gifts all the time. Sometimes, he did it to make up for not being there, but honestly, he liked doing it because it was fun, a way to show her how much he cherished her.

"Please state your answer clearly for the recording," said the lawyer, irritated.

He opened his mouth to answer, but his mouth went completely dry. Soojin wasn't coming, was she? He just couldn't believe it. He struggled to understand. How could she leave him to face the wolves alone?

The cold-hearted lawyer was right to sneer at him. He'd risked it all and for what? Matching girlfriend and boyfriend items? What a joke.

Soojin didn't love him. She'd ditched him on the hardest day of his life.

He walked out of that meeting as though lost in a daze. He got behind the wheel of his car and began to drive, hardly knowing where he was going. He just knew that he couldn't go home. His thoughts were a mess, but it felt good to focus on only one thing - steering his car along the endless road. He drove on and on until he needed to pull over and rest. That was when he stumbled upon the lake house 'For Sale' sign. By the end of the day he put in an offer and found himself the owner of a property in the middle of nowhere.

He hadn't envisioned taking anyone there before. Looking into Lucy's blue eyes suddenly made him picture her there - sitting snuggled up under a blanket, looking out over the lake with her hand in his... What would it be like to kiss and love her in the privacy of a place where they couldn't be found?

He longed for it with all his heart.

As he came face to face with his enraged manager, he kept these thoughts at the back of his mind. Because now was not the time to run and hide, it was the time to make a stand. He grit his teeth and, gripping possessively onto Lucy's waist, mustered up his courage.

"Manager Min," he addressed him boldly with a respectful bow.

"Park Jinwoo." Manager Min's eyes flashed at his open defiance. He tilted his head to the side as he looked Lucy up and down, "And Lucy... this is unexpected! Especially after a very public declaration made by Cha Eunwoo moments ago."

Jinwoo felt Lucy's body go tense. Was she scared? Manager Min was angry but she wasn't in danger. Nevertheless, he knew how she tended to respond to acts of aggression. He instinctively brought his arm protectively up around her shoulders. "Please let Lucy go," he said, "she didn't ask for Eunwoo to do that. It's not her fault."