Sissy Room

Suspense! 😄

Chapter Forty: Nothing is Wrong The afternoon flew by. Between the dense conversation after lunch and the incredible pace at which Little Boja received upgrades, Adam’s mind was spinning and paying little attention to the passage of time. Joomi used a combination of micro-bots and nanites to enhance Little Boja’s eyes and nose, preserving their appearance while turning them into touch sensors, recording Adam’s fingerprint so that only he could activate the features. This also made it unnecessary for the eyes to be turned into compressible buttons, and there were no visual indications of him adjusting features, because all of the menu and response indicators occurred in his ear. Not only were the changes invisible on Little Boja, but the process was like a slow-burning magic. Joomi programmed the tasks for the microscopic bots, injected them into a transparent, goopy substance that she lathered onto his eyes and nose, and that was it. Within an hour(ish), the changes were made without any fanfare or visual cue; just an alert on a screen that said it was complete. Adam subtly pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming (he wasn’t). While she prototyped various computing options, trying to figure out how to best keep Little Boja squishy but maximize his capabilities, Adam and Boja fine-tuned the translation software from the tablet. Boja convinced him to keep known words in for now, such as Eomma, until they could distinguish it from in the middle of a sentence, versus as a standalone use. That caused them to pivot towards context awareness, and they started by asking for translations. The translator would listen for cues such as “how do you say” or “what’s the word for”, and it would know not to translate the response. This took a fair amount of trial and error, and Boja‘s slick addition was a failsafe in case someone gave a wrong answer. “How do you say fish?” Adam asked in their fourth round of testing. 『 Banana, 』Boja replied. “Yes! It worked! You said banana!” the blonde cheered, and the tiger’s head bobbed happily. There was an excitement in the air and a change in energy amongst the three of them that Adam keenly felt and only began to observe at the end of the day as Joomi began to clean up. He hadn’t necessarily noticed friction or a thickness between them before, but the difference he felt now highlighted it in hindsight. Joomi was happier, more relaxed, and he felt much the same; less guarded, less anxious. It wasn’t that everything was magically fixed… his kibun was still only just beginning. She was still far from accepting and loving herself, and Kang was still hardened and wounded. But he felt more optimistic about his odds now. Though as his eyes trailed to the diaper bag, that did remind him of his predicament. He bit his lower lip, recalling that any attempts to bring Joomi out of isolation meant diminishing, even risking, what little autonomy he had. Whenever outsiders were brought into the mix, he had noticed that Joomi fell more into the performative motherly role. Others defaulted to treating him like a brainless toddler, and she seemed to find that charming, or humorous… or at least, his irritation with it made her smile. “Uh oh,” Joomi stated as she knelt, closing the cover of the tablet and sliding it into a pocket of the diaper bag. “That’s quite a contemplative look.” “Yeah,” he blushed as he dropped his face, angling it to the floor. “Are you worried about going home?” she asked as she inspected the drained sippy cup, giving him an approving nod, and tucked it away. “Sort of,” he sighed as he pulled Little Boja in. Despite the high of feeling closer to her than ever before, he wasn’t sure he was ready to bring her into his plan yet. He’d rather speak with Boja on it first… plus, today had already been a dense day. He didn’t want to add to it, not especially ahead of dinner. “But I don’t imagine they’re going to talk about any of it.” “No,” she chuckled and nodded. “We should be prepared for them to act like nothing is wrong.” “Does that ever bother you?” he blurted out the question before thinking it through, though he didn’t immediately regret it as he often did. “Sometimes,” she replied thoughtfully, staring forward in consideration. “It can be especially difficult when it is at your own expense. But –” she paused, looking at him, and ran her fingers down his arm to take his hand. “In those moments, I remind myself that others have preserved harmony for my benefit, at their expense. It is what family does for each other.” Adam’s mouth dropped open slightly as he stared at her. He felt his heart race, wondering if he was reading too much into it… “I do it all the time,” Boja replied dryly, and both Adam and Joomi broke eye contact, snorting and chuckling as they released hands. “That you do,” Joomi acknowledged warmly, running her hand up his snout and rubbing his ear. He gave a deep noise in his chest, and she smiled widely, then gave a last scan of the area and hooked her hands under Adam’s armpits, hoisting him up. “Shall we dine and talk about how nothing is wrong?” “Sounds like a plan,” he grinned. As expected, dinner consisted of Chana and Joomi making small talk and avoiding discussing anything touchy or remotely interesting. Despite Kang’s impassivity, Mung was distinctly off, or at least Adam thought so, compared to his last visit and not at all like how he was the day of the ceremony. That day, Mung was vigilant, often appearing like a bodyguard or security agent more than a family member at a party. Now, he was quiet as he always was, but his eyes often looked distant, and he was not at all engaged by conversation or company. There was a weight on him that made Adam sad to see, especially given how cheerful he had been upon arrival, and how relaxed and happy he had been during his last visit. Pursing his lips as he swung his legs from his high chair, he grabbed a chunk of cut-up carrot with his training chopsticks and stared at it for a moment. His eyes flickered over to Mung, and he decided to try to lighten the man’s mood. “Uncle Mung, can Jae-yung visit again soon?” he asked just as he popped the carrot in his mouth. Blinking out of his thoughts, the large man looked over at Adam and, for the first time during dinner, smiled. “He would like that,” Mung replied warmly, a bit of joy showing on his face. “I have been talking to Uncle Bak about it,” Joomi added with a nod to Adam. “We are hoping to make it weekly. We just need to figure out and commit to a day.” “Awesome,” Adam chirped, quite satisfied that his goal was rather quickly achieved. He gasped in thought as a reminder of his request popped into his head. “Oh! Have you been able to check on Jeong?” “Jeong?” Kang interrupted before Mung could even think, arching an eyebrow at Adam. “The boy who brought you here?” “Yeah,” the blonde smiled and nodded, briefly looking at his grandfather before pinching his chopsticks together for more food. Kang looked at Joomi, silently giving a questioning look, and she hummed in response as she ran her fingers through Adam’s hair. “Adam has a big heart,” she observed softly, and Adam flushed, keeping his eyes down. 『 Zhang’s boy now, isn’t he? 』Kang confirmed, and Mung nodded, causing the elder brother’s upper lip to twitch. He clearly was not thrilled either with the idea, or perhaps it was Zhang in particular.『 I wouldn’t encourage that, Joomi. 』 『 He won’t give it up easily, 』she mused with a slight shrug, and Adam chewed his food vigorously to have something to focus on.『 And the more negative reactions he gets about Zhang, the more worried he will become for his friend. 』 『 I wasn’t aware he considered him a friend, 』Kang deadpanned as he stared at Joomi, and Adam grabbed his sippy cup, drinking from it quickly as he glanced between them, giving his best ignorant, but curious, expression. 『 Why shouldn’t he? 』she asked innocently, somewhat gasping in offense, and Mung’s mouth twitched in a subtle grin. 『 I think it’s a good idea, 』Chana chimed in as she pushed a bowl of peas towards Adam, pointing to it forcefully as she glanced at Joomi, who nodded and spooned them onto his plate.『 He needs friends to play with. Plus, it gives him more language practice. 』 Kang slowly blinked as he raised his eyebrows, shaking his head slightly in disbelief, but didn’t press the issue. When he and Mung made eye contact, he gave an approving, albeit displeased, nod. Joomi smiled at her mother in gratitude, who winked in reply. “I will soon,” Mung finally replied to Adam, now that he had the permission. “Thank you!” Adam bubbled brightly, perhaps a little more than he should have, but it got another smile out of his great uncle, so he had no regrets. “Wait… what?” Adam puzzled as he craned his neck at the cards laid out in front of Kang, his upper lip curled in confusion. Grandma had convinced everyone (more like demanded) to play one of her favorite board games, which was turning out to be far more complicated than the blonde had anticipated. Kang grinned as he took a sip of his whisky, having just advanced beyond him and Joomi, who were functioning as a team while he was learning. “The result is 200,” Kang explained after his sip, pointing to the first card that was an equation, and Adam nodded in agreement. “Reduced by 10,” he continued, pointing to the card that was just a ten. “Makes 190, divided by 2, which is the result of this one,” he continued, pointing to the next card, another equation. Adam squinted and nodded. “Is 95. Subtract 50 —” he pointed to the next card, which was the whole number. “Is 45, divided by 9, which is the result of this one,” he continued, pointing to the last card, which was an equation, and Adam nodded as he took the time to verify. Kang finished as he pointed to the number his game piece had landed on. “Results in 5.” “Wow,” Adam breathed as he leaned back and nodded, seeing it now. “Your grandfather is, unfortunately, very good at this game,” Joomi chuckled as she ran her fingers through his hair. “Ruthless, even,” Mung lamented playfully, who was taking being in last place with a good amount of grace. “Yes,” Chana nodded, pointing to Mung as she pursed her lips and rolled the dice next. “I didn’t pick it,” Kang excused as he set the glass down, sharing a silent, teasing exchange with his wife. Adam shifted on his mother’s lap and rested his face against his fists, staring intently at it. The game consisted of what he considered traditional board game rules, such as miniature pieces that moved along various paths, but many of the squares had symbols or numbers associated with them. When landing on numbers, the player had to shuffle and draw from a deck of cards that contained whole numbers or equations. The player had one minute to make a logical sequence of the drawn cards, ending in the number on the square, or be knocked back from where they started. If the player landed on a symbol, they likewise had to draw cards from a deck of symbols, and had only thirty seconds to tell a story using the cards, ending on the symbol they landed on. The symbol part was more fun and interactive because the other players drummed their hands on the table throughout the story, shouting when each aspect was included. Adam enjoyed that part the most, as it served both as a means to take part in the player’s story, but also to try to distract them or fluster them with noise. Kang was particularly good at those because his voice was commanding, and he didn’t get flustered at the shouts, and could even yell over them. Meanwhile, Chana, Joomi, and Mung would get distracted by Kang’s yelling, so Adam took over the symbol versions, as his grandfather (thankfully) took it easy on him. The numbers part was blowing his mind, however. He understood the rules, but the speed at which some of the equations needed to be solved was baffling. A player always had one minute, but the number of cards drawn depended on the path a player chose. They could take shortcuts, which caused more cards to be drawn, or stick to the longer path and keep to an “easy” 4 cards drawn. Joomi and Kang had chosen the more difficult paths (which Adam was not at all surprised about), while Mung and Chana took the slow and steady approach. But even his great uncle, who claimed to be bad at this game, was managing the equations at a speed that was surprising. As they proceeded, Joomi had pulled 6 cards, and all of them had equations on them, yet she completed the challenge before Adam was done calculating the equation results. Which… he had to remind himself was at least expected from her. He had been nominally aware that Amazon brains were better attuned to numbers, but this was the first time he was witnessing and experiencing it, and it was rather unsettling. He had a penchant for this kind of stuff and still found it difficult… for a moment, he frowned as he wondered if this contributed to why Amazons saw Littles as they did… physically as small as toddlers, unable to keep up in a family board game… Thankfully, there wasn’t much time to let those thoughts linger. Stories and drumming were had, Mung failing several times throughout as Chana continued forward at a steady pace, but it became clear the contest was firmly Kang versus Team Adoomi (name courtesy of Adam). The table gasped when Kang reached the end first, but to officially win, he had to beat one final contest, determined by the table. “Maybe numbers?” Mung suggested, but Adam shook his head. “No, story!” he exclaimed. “That’s a more fun way to end!” “Agreed!” Chana bubbled in delight at her grandson. “It doesn’t matter either way,” Kang grinned as his eyes tracked the conversation, sitting back, confident in his victory. “You haven’t won yet, Father,” Joomi warned playfully, wagging a finger at him that only made him grin wider. “I agree. A contest of symbols.” “Very well,” Kang nodded in acceptance of the challenge, setting his hand upon the symbol deck. “What is the ending symbol?” All eyes went to Adam, who blinked in surprise but quickly accepted the responsibility as he tapped a finger on his lower lip, considering. He wanted it to be difficult, something that wouldn’t naturally fit as the climax of a story… he smiled mischievously at Kang, who arched an eyebrow. “Balloons,” he challenged, hoping a more childish option might be difficult for him to use. “Balloons?” Kang echoed, smirking at him in approval, and looked up in thought. “Okay.” He pulled out the five cards required to win, and he laid them out one at a time for everyone to see: a phone, a ghost, a snowflake, a book, and a monkey. Kang’s eyes searched over the cards, flittering back and forth as he moved them around to set an order in the ten seconds he was given before Chana yelled, “Start!” Everyone began drumming at the edge of the table. Kang took a few additional seconds to gather his thoughts and nodded as he looked up dramatically, lifting the snowflake card. “One snowy night –” “SNOW!” everyone shouted. “A monkey –” “MONKEY!” “Made prank phone calls –” “PHONE!” “But when a ghost –” “GHOST!” “Answered one of the calls, he became frightened and hung up. He decided it was best to have a quiet night instead by reading a book –” “BOOK!” “About his favorite topic,” Kang said in a leading tone as he made eye contact with Adam, and grinning, he pointed to him for the grand finale. “Balloons!” Adam groaned, lifting his hands to cover his face as Kang laughed, lifting the remainder of his whisky in a toast while everyone clapped for his victory. “Well done!” Chana giggled as she clapped for her husband. “It was a good choice,” Joomi complimented Adam as he kissed the top of his head. “He got lucky with book.” “Lucky!” Kang scoffed with a laugh, pointing to his daughter as he looked at Adam. “And she claims I’m the sore loser.” Adam snickered up Joomi, who gaped at her father as Chana laughed, waving her hand as if to dismiss any conflict in the air as if it were smoke, and she began to clean up and put away the pieces. Mung stepped away to take a call to say goodnight to Jae-yung, and Kang moved to the kitchen, setting his glass down and checking his watch. 『 Another, dear? 』Chana asked as she looked over her shoulder, pointing to his glass, and he nodded as he stretched his neck, heaving a heavy sigh. Joomi paused her cleaning of the table, her eyes darting over to her father. She shifted to her left and gently slid Adam off her lap and down onto the floor. “Why don’t you pick out a book for your grandmother to read to you for bedtime?” she suggested quietly, giving him a gentle pat on his bottom. His shoulders tensed as his face flushed, taking a few steps as he absently nodded, feeling a bit of… he paused, looking up in thought, trying to figure out the best term for it. Maturity whiplash? Eh, it would suffice for now. He blew air out of his nose in a silent laugh as he built the dictionary definition of this new term in his head as he approached Boja: maturity whiplash (noun) the disorienting and/or dissonant feeling caused by being treated as an adult and a toddler in rapid succession “What’s funny?” Boja asked suspiciously as Adam stepped up to him, reaching out and grabbing Little Boja, who sat between the massive paws. “My life,” Adam snorted, hugging Little Boja and bowing his head in gratitude before turning off and waddling down the hall towards his jungle-themed nursery. Once in, he immediately walked to his right towards the bookshelf, but before he could get involved in the selection process, he heard the strained whispering of people who didn’t want to be overheard. Curious, he stepped a little closer to the open door. 『 Joomi, leave your father in peace, 』Chana chided, but the end of her sentence was clipped. 『 It’s all right, 』Kang sighed.『 Your brother will be arriving shortly, as will Bom and Shik, but they won’t be coming here. I’ll handle everything in the communal house, away from you and Adam. 』 There was a weight to the pause, and Adam held his breath. 『 What does that mean? 』she asked hesitantly, which was followed by another pause, but much shorter than the previous. 『 Geon will be handling government calls starting tomorrow, 』Kang replied vaguely, yet Adam felt the implications all the same. His instinct was to jump to the worst-case scenario, but that felt extreme, even for Kang. At minimum, it meant Shik had been removed from the prestigious work with the government, replaced by Kang’s son… but perhaps more importantly, Joomi’s younger brother. Adam was only given a moment to smile at that news as he felt the approaching footsteps before seeing the shadow in the hall, and he quickly jumped backwards towards the bookshelf. Unsure of just who it was that approached, he quickly grabbed the pacifier dangling against his torso and shoved it in his mouth, stepping up to the bookshelf to begin scanning the books, hoping to appear innocently busy. “Did you find book?” his grandmother asked warmly as she stepped in, and he looked up at her, gripping Little Boja tightly and shaking his head. She knelt beside him as she hummed, assessing their options, and gasped as she reached a hand out. She pulled a book out and showed him the cover, and he smiled; it was, of course, a cooking book. There was a drawing of a young girl and, presumably, her mother behind a pot of soup, surrounded by chopped vegetables. “How about this?” He nodded again and pointed to that title, then looked at her. She pointed and slowly articulated the Goryeoan words, slowly enough that the translator didn’t kick in until she repeated them faster. 『 Help Mommy Cook, 』she repeated. “Okhay,” he said as he nodded again just as Joomi entered the room, smiling at them. “Shall we get you in jammies?” she asked softly, bending over and putting her arms out for him. He quickly approached, assessing her face for a moment, but he looked down at Little Boja as she spoke to her mother.『 Father and Mung are heading out. Are you staying? 』 『 Of course! I have a book to read to my grandson, 』Chana giggled excitedly, placing a hand on the back of Adam’s head for a moment, then placed it on Joomi’s forearm and gave it a supportive squeeze.『 But I will see them out. 』 Joomi nodded as Chana left, and she silently moved toward the dresser to pick out his pajamas. Adam pointed to the navy blue set with stars on it and a crescent moon on the butt; he hated that part, but it was the most comfortable set he had. Most of his clothes were more comfortable than anything he had previously owned, but she had a love for footie pajamas, and most got very warm throughout the night, and the night sky set was the most breathable. He made a mental note to ask Uncle Bak about his pajama preferences the next time he visited; he was bound to have not insanely sweat-inducing options that were also more reserved in their design. She beamed at him, pulling out to inspect it, dangling it a bit before turning it around to giggle at the crescent moon butt. “Eommaaaa,” he groaned behind the pacifier, planting his forehead on her shoulder. “What? It’s cute!” she tittered, kissing the top of his head and hugging him. On her way to the changing table, she slowed her pace and lingered in the middle of the room, taking in a deep breath and then letting it out. It was one of those sighs that many could recognize and understand just by its sound. A sigh that signaled the release of a long-held burden, or the relief at finally feeling seen. Perhaps both in her case. Adam smiled as he pressed his ear against her chest, hearing the calming of her heart, and he closed his eyes, letting her own diminishing anxiety soothe him as the soft sounds of the jungle nursery faded into the background.

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These silly little sissy babies thinking they could EVER win a game against real adults   Fun story. And a true one you say?