Chapter 700 The Deciever

Chapter 700 The Deciever

"A-Adrien...?!"

The calm smile that the teenage boy in front of Justin had caused chills to permeate through his bones. The sole touch on his shoulder nearly caused his body to grow numb.

Still, Justin maintained his sanity and consciousness.

"What did I say about calling out my name so flippantly?"

"A-ah... my apologies." Justin found himself taking a few steps back to create some distance between him and Adrien before bowing his head in apology.

Before he could even leak out another word, a silhouette appeared right behind Justin, where he now stood. It belonged to none other than the same young man that he had tried to avoid proximity with.

"It's fine..."

Justin froze in place, and Adrien smiled as he touched him from behind this time.

"Why are you looking so tense? You haven't done anything wrong... have you?" He coiled closer to Justin, their faces mere inches apart from each other.

At this point, the lad's heart was racing rapidly.

Was this due to fear? How about natural subservience? It was both.

Justin had no choice but to tremble before Adrien, despite the both of them being supposedly peers. Perhaps this was just the inevitable reaction his body had to make when in the presence of the one who made it this way.

Either way, he had no choice but to keep his head lowered.

"N-nothing wrong. I've done what you asked me to. I was also about to call you, per our scheduled meeting period, but—"

"I wasn't available... right?"

Justin nodded as he heard those words of confirmation from Adrien.

"Forgive me for that. I just wanted a more physical interaction for once. Surely, you don't mind..." At this point, Adrien stood in front of Justin, finally keeping a small distance between them both.

No silly jokes or fun games could distract him from that fact.

"How touching..." A voice—different from the one he had been hearing all of this time—echoed in the air. This one also felt familiar, but for another reason entirely.

As Justin lifted his eyes and focused on the entity before him, he realized it wasn't Adrien.

It never was.

The crimson hair of the ebony man danced with the wind as his red eyes warbled with fascination. He had a cruel smile plastered on his face, and he was garbed in an all-black suit, with polished shoes, and an overall pristine image.

As the image burned into Justin's mind, he found his lips unconsciously moving to let out the name that pounded in his head.

"A-Ater... y-you're..."

"Indeed, Justin. Nice deductive skills you have there." The response was sarcastic, but Justin had no opportunity to feel slighted by those words.

He was dancing on the edge of confusion and fear.

'What's happening here? Did he transform into Adrien to fool me? D-does that mean he knows about my deal with him? I-if that's the case, then everyone... everyone will know!'

Beads of sweat fell from Justin's face as he stared widely at Ater.

"Tsk, tsk... you never listen, do you?" Ater clicked his tongue as he slowly approached Justin.

Normally, the boy would have taken a few steps back—even if out of reflex—but this time he found himself unable to move in the slightest.

He just watched as the being of darkness approached with the force of malevolence.

"I told you to relax." Ater placed both hands on Justin's shoulder this time, staring down at him with his devilish smile.

"... Enjoy the weather."

Justin found himself gulping, feeling himself get crushed under the overwhelming presence that Ater exuded.

There was no escape for him—none at all.