Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress 262 No Matter What 1

Katherine had the hugest crush on him. She was an only child and so was Matthew. He had looked out for her ever since. 

Matthew used to go home with Katherine and spend a couple of hours in her house while waiting for his mother to pick him up. They would do homework—he would help her with Math and she would help him with whatever project he needed to do. Until one time, he stopped going home with her and gave excuses. 

At first, Katherine didn't mind because it was only a couple of days that he had something else to do. But then she felt that something was off when the third day came and he had another excuse. She actually thought that she had done something to make him angry and got really sad that he didn't spend time with her anymore.

After one week of not seeing Matthew—even at school, she decided to talk to him. Just when she was about to leave her house and go over to his, he came over.

"Matty… I was going to visit you," she said.

"Hi, Katherine. Can we talk?" he said.

The way that he said the words made her instantly feel that something was wrong. She got so nervous, especially when she saw the expression on Matthew's face; he wasn't smiling like he usually did and he even looked sad.

Nodding, she led him to her bedroom where they could talk privately, leaving the door ajar as per house rules.

Matthew looked anxious and he was pacing in the bedroom while Katherine waited for him to say something.

"Matty, is something wrong? You're scaring me." She fidgeted with her hands seeing that he was having difficulty saying what he needed to say.

He stopped in his tracks, turned to Katherine and saw the worried look on her face. Letting out a big sigh, he pulled her down to sit on the bed next to him. "I have something to tell you…"

"What is it?"

He looked down on his hands and his eyes became misty. "I'm leaving… We're flying to California."

His grandmother lived in California which was nearly five thousand kilometers away from Esmea, and he would often visit her at least once a year. Katherine didn't understand why he got so flighty about telling her this. "Okay, when are you leaving?" she asked.

Matthew swallowed and faced her. "Tomorrow."

"Oh… I see. When are you coming back?"

He looked away and didn't answer. Katherine's breathing hitched and her lips started to tremble. "You're… coming back, right?"

"Matty?" she called his name when he remained quiet for a while.

Her tears began to fall, realizing that he wasn't only going to travel for a short period of time but rather, he was moving to California. She sniffed and started to panic. "Why?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I didn't know how to tell you when my mom told me. Grandma's been sick for months now and my mom needs to be with her. She couldn't let me stay here by myself. I tried to tell her I will be okay since the helpers are going to be at home anyway but she wouldn't allow me…"

"But what about school?"

"Mom already made the transfers. So when we get there, I'll be attending a new one."

"Is that why you were avoiding me?" When he didn't answer, she wiped her eyes and continued, "I thought you were mad at something that I did. I got so worried. Why would you avoid me like that? And now you come here and tell me you're leaving tomorrow just like that? That's so unfair."

Feeling extremely guilty, he reached out and pulled her for a hug to comfort her. "I'm really sorry, Kathy… I was scared. I didn't know what to do."

"But you're going to leave me." Her voice was small and weak, feeling pained that she wouldn't see him again.

"I'll still come and visit you, I promise."

"But who am I going to study with? Who will teach me Math now and scold me for not doing it right?!"

At this point, Matthew laughed. He was definitely going to miss her.

"You're laughing at me now!" She cried exaggeratedly.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry… I'm crying, see?" He blew his nose jokingly and the two of them laughed.

Wiping her tears with the long sleeves of his shirt, he placed his hands on her shoulders and promised her, "Look, we're still going to talk even while I'm away. We could write to each other or even chat online everyday. I could also call you or you can call me. Although you will be three hours ahead than me… but that would still work. We don't have to stop talking just because I'm moving, you know?"

"That sucks."

"I know… but your mom gave us permission so you can use your computer anytime as long as you sleep on time."

"You already talked to my mom about this and you're just telling me now?" She frowned. "You're the worst."

Exhaling a sigh, he responded, "I know… I suck. You don't love me anymore huh?"

"I won't marry you anymore, Matthew Jeong. I'll find myself an extremely rich, tall, and very handsome man instead!" She huffed.

Matthew laughed at her response. Over the years, she was still dead set on telling him she was going to marry him. With his knuckles, he knocked on her head causing her to whimper. "Instead of thinking about that stuff, you should study Math instead."

Katherine rubbed her the spot on her head that he hit and laughed.

When their laughter died down and it became quiet again, she started, "Are you really not coming back here anymore?"

"We will. But I'm not sure when. It all depends on my mom…"

"Will you promise me that we will always be there for each other no matter what?"

Katherine's question made Matthew smile. Even if she didn't ask for it, he would make sure that they would keep in touch. She was a huge part of his life and very important to him. 

He was going through puberty and he had never looked at any girl like he did with her. She was popular in school and his classmates even harbored a crush on her. She was a little taller than her classmates and she had always been pretty, smart and active on some extracurricular activities so Matthew was the envy of his classmates since he got to hang out with her all the time.

While he always scolded her playfully whenever she mentions that she would marry him one day, he didn't know when but he actually started looking forward to it. But because they were always together, he never told her and sort of just kept it to himself. He thought that maybe one day when they were a little older—maybe in high school—or in a few more years, he might tell her.

Matthew thought they still had a lot of time in the future for this kind of thing. So for now, as long as they could still talk to each other all the time, it was going to be fine.

"I promise. No matter what," he said.

"Me too. I promise. No matter what."

Later, Katherine saw him to the driveway. She was sad but there wasn't anything she could do except accept it.

Matthew promised to call her and they said their goodbyes but when he turned around, she suddenly grabbed his arm and wanted to kiss him on the cheek.

However, it was too sudden that when she tiptoed and leaned forward, he turned his head and her kiss landed on his lips.

Their eyes widened in surprise as they stared at each other, both very shocked at what was happening. She pulled away and gasped.

There was a long silence and their faces became red, realizing that they just had their very first kiss.

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Chapter end