Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

While Damien was on the counter of the cafe, Katherine, Alianna, and Caroline played with their phones. Katherine was texting with Emma, planning about when they'd see each other next. As she held her phone with her right hand, it suddenly shook uncontrollably. The more she tightly held her phone, the more her hand trembled.

This wasn't the first time that she'd experience this, so although she was surprised, she hid her panic well by transferring the phone to her left hand. The trembling stopped. There was a tiny current buzzing within her, mostly at the base of her spine and then her right hand. It started while she was recovering after the whole Shadow fiasco. But she associated the tremors as side effects from Adrifin, the drug that was administered to her when she was rescued last month.

However, it had already been a month since, and she was still experiencing random episodes of tremors. Katherine couldn't tell if it was still the drug that was causing this. Even while she was sitting now, she could feel the buzzing somewhere at the bottom of her spine. 

"You okay, Kath?" Alianna asked.

Katherine realized that she was staring at her empty right hand, and she must have looked odd. She curled her lips into a smile and nodded. "I was just thinking about something."

Just then, her phone rang. It was her childhood friend, Matthew Jeong, attempting a video call.

"Oh?" Katherine leaned towards Alianna to show her screen. She hadn't heard from him in a while, but she'd heard about him from news everywhere online.

"Answer it!" Alianna exclaimed, but she didn't wait for Katherine and swiped the answer button herself anyway.

"Matty!!!" Katherine greeted at the same time that Alianna said, "MJ!!!" Katherine extended her hand a little further away so the frame could fit both of their faces. They waved to the camera as Matthew's handsome face appeared. He was wearing a thick white shirt and looked like he was in a set of one of his shoots.

"Hey, pretty ladies!" he greeted, flashing his killer smile at them.

The last time they saw each other was around Christmas when Katherine and Damien hosted a small gathering for their friends—and Matthew was invited. Damien was no longer as 'jealous' as he was before—which was progress. 

The two women had grins on their faces as they heard him and Alianna shrieked, "Congratulations, MJ! Oh, my god! You totally deserved it!" 

"I'm proud of you, Matty!" Katherine chimed in. 

Matthew Jeong was nominated in the Oscars as Best Actor in his recent film. The nominations were just announced recently, and a lot of his fans freaked out from the news.

"Thank you! The ceremony will be in a few weeks from now. Wish me luck!" he laughed, looking so carefree as he walked around the set. He casually introduced a couple of actors he was currently working with.

Caroline realized who the two women were talking to, and she immediately got up from her seat and ran towards their back so she could see the screen. Katherine slightly tilted the screen up when she noticed her cousin so her face was included. Caroline began to blabber, "OMG. OMG! That's Matthew Jeong! I saw him at your welcome party, but I didn't get the chance to say hi. You two are really friends?"

Katherine nodded, a small smile forming on her lips. "Matty, this is my cousin, Caroline."

He raised a hand as if to wave and once again flashed his killer smile. "Hi."

"Oh, my friggin' god! Matthew just talked to me!" Caroline fanned her flushed face. "Prissy's gonna faint that you're talking to me. Can I get your autograph? Your phone number? Can you come to my birthday bash?"

Katherine and Alianna laughed at Caroline panicking. It was such a funny sight, especially that Matthew began to blush at the attention given to him by this grown woman who was fangirling over him. A few patrons looked their way.

"Who's this?" Damien returned to the table and peered over Katherine's shoulder to check the man on her phone. 

"It's Matthew. Come say, hi. He got an Oscar nomination," said Katherine as she hooked her arm with Damien's and pulled him closer.

"Hey, man." Matthew nodded at the other.

Damien nodded back and simply said, "Hey. Good luck."

"Thanks!" Matthew briefly turned his head to the side as if someone was talking to him, and when he turned back to face the screen, he told them, "I gotta go. Ali told me earlier that you two were out, so I just thought I'd say hi. I'll be back in Esmea after the ceremony. I'll see you all then."

Everyone said their goodbyes as the phone call ended. They got back to their seats, and Damien told them that he had booked a restaurant for dinner. Caleb, Jeffrey, and William would be joining them too.

While they talked about their dinner plans, a male's voice called across the room, "Hey, Park!"

Damien looked up and saw a familiar face approaching their table. He wore a blue custom-tailored suit, and his blonde hair was neatly brushed backward. An arrogant smile painted his face as he reached his side. 

"Didn't think I'd see you here," said the man, casually placing his hands in his pockets.

Damien only nodded, his face devoid of any emotion.

"Wanna introduce me to these beautiful women? I'm sure you don't mind. There's three of them." The man chuckled. "Ah, this is Alianna, right? Damn, girl, I see your posters everywhere."

Alianna just rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to her phone.

"Hi, I'm Caroline," said Katherine's cousin, offering her hand to the stranger who just came. They shook hands, and he kissed the back of her hand before letting go. She blushed.

"Nice," he said. Then he looked at Katherine, tilting his head to the side. "And you are?"

Damien's deep and cold voice responded, "My fiancée." He purposely didn't introduce Katherine's name.

Katherine had been observing Damien the entire time, and she noticed the change in his demeanor, telling her that he didn't like whoever this man was. It seemed like Alianna was also aware of who he was that she openly gave him an eye-roll and ignored him. So she wore her icy persona and unabashedly gave the man a once over, her expression impassive.

The man whistled. "Lovely. I'm Harvey Larson. Damien and I go way back in high school." He offered his hand but Katherine didn't receive it. He cooly retracted his hand like nothing and faced Damien again. "You gonna bring her to the party? I'm sure the team would love to meet her."

"What party?" she calmly asked Damien.

"Oh, Park didn't tell you?" Harvey gladly responded before Damien could. "We have a class reunion. You should come. It'll be lots of fun."

"Baby!" a female in an extremely short red dress called Harvey from the counter. 

He waved and smiled at her before turning back to the table. "I have to go. I'll see you soon. Yeah? Bye, ladies."

Once he was out of earshot, Katherine reached for Damien's hand and probed, "What was that all about?"

"Some sleazebag from high school. We were in the soccer team together but he made a pass at Ali at one of the house parties where we brought her with us a long time ago. Caleb and I came at him. We almost got expelled."

Katherine's brows instantly drew together. She exchanged looks with Ali who just shrugged. "Were you going to attend that class reunion?" she asked Damien.

"I was going to ask you if you wanted to go with me. Now, I changed my mind about going." He shook his head and took a sip of his coffee. As much as possible, Damien wanted to avoid drama.

Although he said that, she made a mental note about this man who approached their table. She had a feeling that it wouldn't be the last time she was going to see him.