diaper dimension The Third Pillar (Chapter Eighteen, 12/12/25)

[cipher12]

I'd like to thank the person who reached out and provided the idea/scenario. 💕 I hope to do it justice!

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Prologue

“Are you insane?!”

Adam rolled his eyes playfully, tossing a casual grin to the table. He had gathered his friends and family to celebrate his 24th birthday, but used the opportunity to inform them of his plan and had braced for this sort of reaction.

“Please don’t,” his mother begged, her eyes wide from panic. “It’s too risky. A Little traveling alone, that close to Yamatoa. Please —”

“Look, I’ve done my research,” he calmly replied, putting his hands out to ask for calm at the table. His friends granted it, but his family was muttering and shaking their heads. “Goryeo is a safe place for tourists. It is the height of dishonor to kidnap someone visiting in good faith.”

“That’s what the Amazons say,” his best friend John muttered darkly, following up his comment by chugging the remainder of his beer.

“And it’s illegal,” Adam countered with a stern look at John, who rolled his eyes as he stood.

“When has that ever stopped an Amazon?” blurted John, throwing his hands out wildly as he approached the fridge and grabbed the entire six-pack of beers to bring to the table.

“What if Yamatoa invades?” his mother gasped, her mind racing with all of the possibilities of how this could go wrong. “What if your plane makes a landing there? What if –”

“I’ve charted my trip to avoid flying over Yamatoa,” Adam interrupted with a pleading look to his father, hoping he would jump in to calm her down. Unfortunately, his father only grimaced at him. “Hanseong has bunkers in case of an attack, which mirror the city above. Since I’ll be staying in a Little-friendly section of the city, the bunker will be just as Little-friendly.”

“Fine, you’ve got it all figured out,” his sister Lilith snapped in irritation, leaning forward on the table and glaring at him. She knew this tone – he was already committed; he didn’t make announcements without having the answers thoroughly prepared. He smiled at her despite her irritation, grateful she was skipping to the best part. “Here’s my question: why?”

“Joomi Ma is the genius of our generation,” he eagerly started, unable to hide the excitement on his face when answering. “She doubled the range of wireless power charging at the age of eleven! She invented tangible holograms by twenty! She’s been hidden away and producing for Goryeo for the last two decades – and Hanseong has exploded as a technological marvel and world superpower – that’s not a coincidence!”

“So?” Lilith snidely added, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest. “What do you think meeting her will accomplish? You’ll magically get as smart as her?”

“Nooo,” Adam sighed as he looked up to the ceiling in frustration. “But she’s been hinting at wanting an apprentice for years now.”

“You really think she’ll take you in?” his sister asked aghast, shocked by his ego. “You?”

“I want to try,” Adam replied as his throat tightened, irritated at the implication, and shot a glare at her. But as he took in a calming breath, he took control of his emotions again and smiled, “And I’ll make her an offer she can’t refuse.”

“So you – you want to move there?” his mother stammered, and the room winced, hearing her heart breaking.

“No, no,” Adam reassured her quickly. “I just need to make contact with her. Their tech would easily let me work remotely.”

“Is she an Amazon?” his father cut in lowly, his face tilted down, making his furrowed eyebrows appear to overtake his eyes.

There was a silence at the table. His friends looked uncomfortable, his mother’s face oozing with concern, and his father staring through him.

Adam swallowed.

“Yes."

 

Chapter One: Arrival at Hanseong

 

Ever since he was young, Adam had been a big dreamer and adventurous soul. By age 3, he wanted to become an astronaut and explore the vastness of space. By age 6, he had accepted that the technology didn’t exist for Littles to travel to space and decided it was his new goal to invent it. By 10, he wanted to be a scientist, engineer, or both. And by 18, he decided he didn’t need to risk going to college (aka a shopping mall for amazons looking to adopt) to achieve any of these goals.

Instead, he became a self-taught know-it-all (his words). The internet was a glorious resource where he could not only learn everything he needed, but hide that he was Little to those willing to give him advice online. He had learned how to build computers, how to speak several languages (poorly), how to cook a decent meal, and enough physics, mathematics, and chemistry to reasonably shift into rocket science. He hadn’t fully given up on his first dream of going to space, but had accepted his role in that might be supportive, rather than actionable. He could accept that he might help the first Little into space, even if it couldn’t be him.

He was easily excitable by new technology, and his wheels were always turning as to how to make it beneficial to the small folk of this world. Where his family grumbled about how Amazons were ‘at it again’, using technology to baby them, Adam wanted to use that same advancement for good. But once in a while, he was inspired to create as a destructive method towards Amazon cruelty. Two years before he schemed to become Joomi’s apprentice, he had spent 8 months creating a small enough contraption that could fit into a fake tooth to pierce an inflated pacifier. It took only 2 months to create the mechanism itself, having made a large version of it roughly baseball size, and then continued to perfect it down to size. The more difficult parts were making sure it could pierce every type of inflatable material (some were thicker than others) and how to activate the mechanism.

He had to order an inflatable pacifier to test, which had deeply upset his parents (he hadn’t caught the package in time, and they saw where he ordered from). This nearly got him expelled from the house for ordering such an offensive object to their home. But when he explained and laid out his plan, they reluctantly agreed under the arrangement that he would make them each one if he got it working. With the pacifier in hand, he quickly realized it pinned down his tongue, so a manual trigger wouldn’t work. Four months of testing sensors led him to realize the tooth would need to be removable to change the battery, and finally, he had an epiphany.

It wasn’t his favorite solution, but it was the most reliable: the tooth is inert until it is introduced to electricity, and the electricity would be supplied by a ring (or anything electric, if one was desperate enough). His rechargeable ring provided the minimal amount of voltage to activate the tooth, and needed only to touch the lips – which, yes, he conceded might be tricky with the wide guards of a pacifier, but Amazons often ignored Littles grabbing at the pacifier once inflated, so sticking a finger underneath wouldn’t draw unwanted attention. Regardless of the inflated material, the cheek would pass the voltage throughout the mouth, and the sensor on the outer edge of the tooth would activate the small spear and pierce the inflated teat. Of course, if you lost the ring or it was pulled off your hand, you were out of luck – but it was better than nothing.

He had spent most of the last year sharing these schematics very carefully online, doing his best not to get this on the wrong radar, and working with a local Little dentist to install said tooth. As promised, he, his parents, and his sister all sported the Anti-Gag Tooth.

Adam was certainly proud of this, but he yearned for an uplifting invention. He couldn’t keep up with Amazon technology without proper resources, nor would he find it very satisfying. So when he began his deep dive into the life of Joomi Ma (well, technically Ma Joomi in her culture, but all Albionic translations swapped the name order), a celebrated Goryeoan inventor who shared a similar view, he became obsessed. None of what she had worked on or invented in her lifetime was aimed at infantilizing Littles, and in one of the public interview letters from her, she had admitted her favorite TV show was Star Trekking, which had inspired her love of technology and space.

She was brilliant, humble, and kind (or so Adam perceived from her writing), though perhaps a touch odd. She had never shown her face on camera before as an adult, and would only accept interviews by letter or email. There were wild speculations as to why, many suspecting her of being Little or a Tweener, but the prevailing theory was that she was scarred and disfigured by an accident from a backfired test. Whatever the case, when Adam read her latest interviews where she lamented about working alone, he had attempted to reach her by email multiple times, but never received a response.

So, naturally, he decided to go to her.

And that’s how Adam Sharpe found himself on his fourth plane, after 32 hours of traveling in complicated paths to avoid flying directly over Yamatoa, and learning Goryeoan from the PoliGlot app on his phone. He had spent the last two months assuring his family he knew what he was doing, researching cultural practices of Goryeo, his legal rights under his tourist visa, and the language to the best of his ability. He brought blueprints of past and future inventions and ideas of his, and his favorite Star Trekking episodes.

 

---

 

“Adam … Sharpie?” The tweener customs agent raised an eyebrow at the passport, proficient in Albionic, but understandably found names difficult.

“Sharpe, sir,” Adam smiled politely to the customs agent and, after a brief moment, bowed his head. He winced as he tried to recall the proper word for ‘sir’, but there were many options that varied by context, and he thought it best to stick to the simple, foreign option rather than risk offending the agent in his native tongue.

The customs agent nodded to the correction and lifted up the passport to examine the photo against the live person before him, as well as the printed data:

Adam Sharpe

Little, Male

24 Years

5’10” (rounded up)

170 lbs (now more like 180)

Blonde Hair

Blue eyes

Mouth slightly shrugging and feeling satisfied, the agent scanned the passport, then the visa. He placed the passport on the counter wide open, but as Adam reached for it, the agent shook his head. A small cylindrical device mounted to the top of the divider between them booted up and emitted two lights: one blue that generated a small, nondescript figure and a green light that branded his passport.

“Hello, Mr. Adam Sharpe,” the small figure bowed, speaking in an artificial and slightly choppy manner. “Welcome to Goryeo. We are honored by your visit to Hanseong.”

Adam looked in awe at the figure, mouthing a ‘wow’ as he leaned in to watch, listening intently. When the figure stopped speaking, there was an awkward pause, and the customs agent raised his eyebrows.

“Oh, uh,” Adam cleared his throat, not realizing he needed to interact with the hologram. “Thank you?”

The agent nodded as he swapped the passport with the visa, and the green light once more began branding it.

“Before you enter the country, we must confirm full comprehension of the following:

As a foreign Little, you are protected by Goryeoan law from a diagnosis of Maturosis, excepting two conditions:

- One: You acknowledge the condition of your own free will and request asylum and repatriation.

- Two: You are a danger to yourself and/or others as a result of your condition.

You may ask any questions. Otherwise, to continue, you must state clearly your full name and acknowledge comprehension.”

There was another significant pause as Adam continued to marvel at the technological brilliance before him, and he couldn’t help but wonder if any of this was due to Joomi. But once again, the customs agent made impatient eye contact, and he grimaced in an apology.

“Right, uh, sorry,” he stammered as he looked down in thought. “What constitutes being a danger to myself or others?”

“An excellent question,” the figure complimented with a bow. “The primary definition of danger in this instance is physical, meaning if you were to cause, or attempt to cause, physical harm that would result in assault or battery, attempted murder, or murder charges. Emotional danger is more difficult to measure legally; although it is not impossible for a visiting Little to be considered an emotional danger to themselves or others, it has yet to occur, and is therefore improbable.”

“So, if I were to… trip down a flight of stairs?”

“A single instance of accidental harm would not be sufficient,” the figure explained calmly as the customs agent audibly sighed, leaning back in his chair and pulling out his phone, having heard these questions and answers hundreds of times before. “For your stay of ten days, you would have to fall ten flights of stairs to be considered for qualification.”

Adam nodded, gratified that his research on the protections of foreign Littles had not been for naught; too bad native Littles didn’t have the same protections. He took in a deep breath as he considered a lingering question… he swallowed, wondering if this would be suspicious, but he had to risk it.

“What happens if I overstay? Miss my flight or need to extend my visa?”

He was gratified that the customs agent had buried himself in his phone and either didn’t hear, didn’t care, or both. As usual, the figure bowed after complimenting his question.

“All airport personnel will assist in any circumstances in which a visa expires due to missed, cancelled, or otherwise terminated flights. If you find you must extend your stay, please visit your local embassy, and all protections will be awarded to you as they process your request. If, however, you remain in Goryeo beyond your entitled stay with no recorded attempts to remain here legally, you will be stripped of your protections and be subject to Goryeo‘s unlawful immigration laws.”

Adam kept his face as neutral as possible and nodded, forcing a polite smile.

“Thank you. I, Adam Sharpe, fully comprehend my legal protection as a foreign Little.”

“Very good, Mr. Sharpe,” the figure bowed again. “If you need to revisit your rights, you may visit any public terminal and scan the code printed on your visa. This entitles you to review and ask any questions of your protections, as well as answers to any questions regarding Goryeoan law. Welcome to Goryeo, Mr. Adam Sharpe. We hope you have a wonderful time.”

The figure bowed once more, and he mirrored it. After a beat, he looked up to see that the projection was gone and the customs agent had folded up the visa within the passport and was holding it out. He smiled and took it with both hands, as he had read somewhere to do so with anything handed to him, and he bowed his head in appreciation. The customs agent pointed him through the doorway, and as he passed through, he grinned; despite his exhaustion over the long journey, a surge of adrenaline spiked. He was thrilled to get started.

[Guilend]

Very interesting start. I’m almost as excited as he is, except I have the perspective of an outsider of the universe itself and understand that things will go wrong in a bad way. 
 

Now for my prediction. I have two theories. First one is that woman is an adopted Little, uses a pen name either because they don’t want someone to discover who they are or also because their mommy/daddy doesn’t know what she’s been up to. 
 

My second theory is that she’s an Amazon, but lives the life of an adopted Little and probably uses a version of Nanny Bot as a caretaker, either one similar to the one Greg and Charlie use in Different or similar to other DD stories where it’s an android/robot in human shape. 

[cipher12]

Hehehe I love the theories!! 💕 Thank you for the comment!! Chapter 2 will be up soon-ish!!

[cipher12]

Chapter Two: Little Accommodations

Goryeo has a rich culture steeped in traditional ways dating back thousands of years that embraces the modernity of our technological age. There are three fundamental pillars to Goryeoan culture: Respect, Piety, and Kibun.

Adam adjusted the wireless headphone in his ear with one hand as he held onto a handrail for stability while watching the train burst from the airport and make all haste towards the center of the capital city. The audio file had been a free download from the kiosk outside of the bullet train, and he thought it best to hear from their perspective about themselves, rather than what the internet had summarized.

Pillar One: Respect. Hierarchy has played a vital role in Goryeoan society since its inception, but one’s status is not strictly measured by a single marker. Status denotations may be one’s age, physical stature classification, experience, position within one’s family, or expertise. Goryeoans use these measures of hierarchy to establish honorifics, the depth of their bow, and the correct pronouns and verb conjugations.

He nodded along as he watched the landscape zip by, the towering structures of the incredible city of Hanseong growing larger by the minute. His eyes flashed to his left as he saw a Tweener who looked like she could be Goryeoan gesture to the seat in front of him and tap a button on her own seat. Blinking, he leaned closer to the button, and, likely, a proximity sensor went off, lighting up the screen that said ‘Big Configuration’. Curious, he tapped the button, and it changed to ‘Mid Configuration’, and the seat adjusted itself. He tapped the button again, the screen changing to ‘Little Configuration’, and the seat made a final change. There were still two arrows to make further customizations, but his eyes grew wide at the chair — yes, just a normal chair — that had been adjusted to his size. He dipped his head in gratitude to the woman, who smiled and nodded in return, and he sat down in the comfortable seat, leaning to his right to look out the window.

Pillar Two: Piety. While the word translation into Albionic is technically correct, many scholars would prefer to use the word ‘Obedience’. Goryeoan society boasts some of the lowest crime rates in the world, has some of the cleanest cities, and the highest happiness ratings. This stems from a deep cultural understanding that those of higher status must be obeyed. Laws are not to be broken, and rules exist for the happiness and safety of all.

Adam gasped slightly as his eyes landed on Daemoon Stadium, a large entertainment center capable of transforming into three separate configurations depending on the event. The smooth silver panels shimmered as they turned into a massive screen to televise the sports game within.

Pillar Three: Kibun. This is the native word in Goryeoan, as there is no proper Albionic equivalent, though the closest word we may use to ‘Collectivism’. The needs of the group are prioritized over the needs of the individual, and Goryeoans take great pride in the care of their community. It is a great honor to take in the sick and the needy. If you find yourself lost, hurt, sick, or otherwise in need of help, do not hesitate to ask the nearest Goryeoan — it will be their honor to help you.

He flashed a grin at the ‘sick and the needy’ comment. While maturosis was an invention of the West, Goryeo’s tense relations with Yamatoa had caused them to ally with Western countries and adopt some of their practices. The protection of foreign Littles, for example, was seen as a direct response to the Yamatoan Emperor’s strictness on diapering any Littles, for any reason, within his borders. The adoption of maturosis was hailed as a ‘beacon of progress in the east’ and applauded by allied countries, while Adam’s research had revealed a more complex layer beneath.

Goryeo protected foreign Littles as a matter of diplomacy, but their implementation of maturosis as a diagnosable condition was all for show. The strict regulations applied to foreign Littles only; natives were still free game. The Western diagnosis rendered any Little ‘sick’ and ‘needy’, and thus the Amazon who took them in was practicing their kibun duty, which also elevated their status in society.

He paused the file and scrolled through the topics; none looked enlightening or interesting at the moment, so he pulled up his audiobook Goryeoan for Western Beginners.

He mouthed a few words he had already memorized, such as hello, goodbye, please, and help, but otherwise the book playing was rendered white noise; his brain was in awe as the bullet train slowed as it entered the city limits, and he was able to make out details of the cityscape. Miles of short structures were well organized, well lit, and even color-coded by their roofs. Advertisements were evenly spread out, rather than bunched together in clusters, and all signs were electronic to shift between a variety of ads. His smile faltered when his eyes landed on a diaper advertisement; a large Goryeoan woman was cradling two diapered figures, one was a real baby, and the other was a Little, and both were wearing the advertised brand. He couldn’t read the words, but he could guess them from context. He instinctively ran his tongue over his Anti-Gag Tooth and spun the ring on his index finger.

He pulled his attention into the train and glanced up at the ceiling of the car. Instead of the usual plastered advertisements he’d see on a normal train, a sleek digital display showed a live map: every requested stop, the number of passengers getting off at each one, and a countdown to arrival. Adam shook his head, a tired grin tugging at his lips. He’d been in Goryeo for barely an hour and was already this impressed; the country really was light-years ahead.

As the train hit his stop, he noted only two other passengers were getting off here, and he knew he was the only one in this section, because all eyes turned to him. It was ‘Little Town’, a section of Hanseong that catered to Littles and was the place recommended by professional and personal reviews alike. Smiling at those he accidentally made eye contact with, they all waved or nodded affectionately to him as he departed.

He looked both ways on the departure platform and saw the other two: a pair of women, who looked like friends, pointing and speaking animatedly in a language he didn’t recognize. He shrugged it off; it would have been nice to make friends early on, but he wasn’t worried about it. A few steps away from the train, and one of the glowing boards near him dinged; his eyes were caught by the ‘Hello, Mr. Sharpe!’.

“Whoa, what?” he gaped at the sign as he approached, looking for a camera, scanner, or nearby operator.

“Hello, Mr. Sharpe,” the board greeted him upon his approach in a familiar, feminine voice. “Are you in need of assistance?”

“Hey, you’re from customs!” he gushed, gesturing to the glowing board despite there being no humanoid form like before.

“Yes, Mr. Sharpe, I am your guide and assistant for the duration of your stay,” she explained monotonously. “Are you in need of a ride to your hotel?”

“Yeah, that’d be great,” Adam beamed.

“Confirmed,” the voice replied, and a slight ding accompanied a shift in the projection. A picture of a black vehicle and its license plate number appeared. “You will find this vehicle here.”

The screen projected out a map of his current location, and a thick red line showing where to walk; it projected that it would take him two minutes.

“Please place your bags in the trunk, and enter the vehicle in any seat to your liking. It will drive you automatically to your destination.”

Once again, the map shifted to show where the vehicle would drive to and a picture of his destination. He whistled as he shook his head, adjusting his luggage for the short walk.

“Damn, this place is amazing,” he commented to himself as he bowed to the screen and made his way to the car. The vehicle was precisely where the picture had shown it. Its trunk was unlocked, and it began the drive to the hotel as soon as he was buckled and ready. He ran his hands over the seats, which were perfect for his size — everything was! The knobs, the belts, even the cup holders were sized for a normal-sized cup. As the car backed out of the parking lot, he noted it was heading for the road to join the traffic with the Amazon-sized cars. Curious, he thought to ask out loud (and really, if it didn’t answer, no one was around for him to feel stupid), “Uh, car … are there separate roads for Little vehicles?”

Like the outdoor screen before it, the car chimed a familiar tune and the same female voice replied, “No, Mr. Sharpe, every Little vehicle is fitted with a projection technology to present as a normal-sized vehicle. This prevents accidents due to blind spot issues and keeps all vehicles appropriately distanced.”

“Wow,” he gasped as the emitters on the hood sputtered to life and the projection shot out around him. “Is it transparent for the other drivers?”

“No, Mr. Sharpe,” the voice replied. “It is transparent for you so that you may see your surroundings.”

Adam ran his hands through his shaggy blonde hair, feeling the stupid grin on his face was starting to make his face hurt, but he couldn’t help it. This journey had already been a dream come true: technology galore, advancement for the betterment and comfort of society, and didn’t sacrifice the comfort of any one group — Amazons, Tweeners, Littles … there was an option for everyone!

“Hey car — or — shoot, what should I call you?” he asked out loud, glancing about the car for something to look at.

“You may call me Gill, or Gilly as many other tourists have suggested,” the feminine voice replied.

“Gill?” he wondered curiously. “Does that stand for something?”

“Yes, Mr. Sharpe. It is an acronym that roughly translates in Albionic to ‘Guide on the Open Path,’” she explained robotically.

“Great! So Gilly, how would I go about finding a specific person?” he queried while attempting (and failing) to suppress a yawn; the comfort of the car was letting his excitement adrenaline drop, and the weight of such a long journey was starting to kick in.

“Individuals must be contacted through official channels of their choosing, or have provided a means to contact them before your arrival, Mr. Sharpe.”

“Mm, okay,” he frowned with a nod and yawned again.

---

 

The hotel check-in had been as frictionless as everything else here, completed by a mix of Gilly and a smiling, petite Goryeoan Little attendant who spoke decent Albionic. Adam was ushered into a room that was exactly as advertised: everything from the light switches to the bathroom fixtures was sized perfectly for him, and best of all, the bed was huge. But not Amazon huge; it was decided Little sized, but massive. He crawled into the bed after stripping down to nothing and wrapped himself in the blankets, falling asleep before he could even process his next steps.

As communicated the night before, the room’s wake-up system kicked in at 7 am sharp with a very subtle musical tone. The lights all turned a deep, dark orange and began to lighten as the music grew louder over the course of ten minutes, ending with the drapes automatically opening to let in the sun. By the third minute of this complex alarm system, he was awake but decided to remain in bed to experience the full process. When the music swelled and then faded away, he burst from the bed, eager to get his day started.

Three sets of suggested itineraries were detailed out on the mirror as he showered and groomed in preparation for the day, each with a suggested focus of either Goryeoan history, modern culture, or experiential (aka fun). Adam gawked at each, highly tempted by each one, and sent them to his phone, but ultimately planned to wing it. Once on the ground floor, he was directed by the staff towards the breakfast room for the day’s complimentary savory breakfast, which was a presentation of local food with some foreign-friendly options.

“Hey, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” Adam asked the attendant as he handed over his tray.

“Yes, sir,” Ji-won replied with an accent, his name presented on a silver name tag on his left side. He bowed his head in appreciation as he took the tray and began unloading the dishes.

“I’m looking to sort of mingle while I’m here,” he began as he pulled out his phone, pulling up the itineraries. “I love the museums and all, but I’d like to get to know the people.”

“Ah, yes, yes,” Ji-won nodded a few times in understanding and leaned over to look at the phone. Adam was amused at the confusion over how to navigate his phone, which led to Ji-won pulling out his own far more advanced device. He tapped his thumb on the bottom edge and spoke a command in Goryeoan, which then projected a 3D map of Little Town. He spoke a second command, and several locations were highlighted while the rest dimmed. “These are good places to meet people. I can send to phone.”

“I would appreciate that, thank you,” Adam smiled as he stared at the map, wondering if he could purchase this model and if he could make it work with his carrier.

It was only the second day of his visa, though he did lament wasting his first day on travel and falling asleep early. That meant that rather than using his first day as a typical tourist, he would have to truncate his must-dos to the second day and begin his hunt for Joomi Ma later in the same day. He knocked the Daemoon Stadium off his list since he saw it on the train ride in, and although he did appreciate historical sites, he struck them off the list to keep his focus on the high-tech marvels he could only find in Hanseong.

The public transit was much the same as the train from the airport, but he hadn’t been prepared for that customization to extend elsewhere. Everywhere he went, whether it was a cafe, restaurant, or even a bench, there was a configuration option to match the size of the sitter, and all dishware was set to his size. Vending machines had touch screens that spanned its full height, automatically presenting the menu at Adam’s height. The sidewalks had built-in lights that flashed as figures neared each other to prevent collisions. On and on it went.

It was so close to paradise … but for the Adopted Littles everywhere. Because the city catered to folks of all sizes, there was no need to take a more obscure path or avoid an Amazon-trafficked area like Adam was used to. This meant at home, he could navigate the area while avoiding meeting adults in diapers, but that wasn’t the case here. Everyone was intermingled so that as he walked down the street, he spent nearly 20 steps side by side with a Goryeoan Little, slightly shorter than him, who crinkled at every step while holding his mommy’s hand. Swallowing, he stepped to the side of traffic and bent down to pretend he needed to tie his shoe.

By dinner time, he was grateful to have a different goal in mind. The shine of integration had worn off, replaced by the discomfort of his proximity to the infantilized. Choosing a restaurant and bar that Ji-won had suggested, called the Blue Dragon (in the translation), Adam opted to dine in the bar area in hopes of mingling.

This proved a little more difficult than he anticipated. Most locals were in groups or couples, on dates or outings with friends, and he didn’t think it would be appropriate or well-received to inject himself. The waitress was kind but didn’t know enough Albionic to carry on a conversation, and using the app on her phone to translate felt like an imposition (though it did drive him to want to purchase a phone here even more). After dinner, he moved to the bar where he tried to strike up three conversations to no avail, before finally meeting a man named Seojun.

“Please, let me,” Adam offered to pay for their second round, and Seojun grinned, nodding his head in appreciation.

“How long are you here?” Seojun asked as he lifted the new beer to his lips.

“8 more days,” he replied as he did the same, both tapping their cans in a cheer before taking a sip. “I’m hoping to find someone to help me make contact with an idol of mine.”

“Ohh?” the native intoned curiously, raising his eyebrows to silently ask the follow-up question.

“Ma Joomi,” Adam answered, his smile faltering when Seojun looked shocked. The native leaned forward as he muttered in Goryeoan and dropped his voice to a whisper.

“Inventor?” he inquired, verifying he had the correct person, to which Adam nodded. Again, Seojun muttered something that sounded like a curse word in Goryeoan and shook his head, leaning back. “I would not.”

“Why not?” Adam blurted out, shocked. “She’s, like, the best inventor in your country.”

“Yes,” the native conceded, nodding with a bit of exaggeration as he lifted a hand to stroke his stubbled chin. “But she is Chang-gui.”

“What’s that?” he asked warily.

“Servant of demon,” Seojun explained in a serious tone, his eyes widening a bit as he took a large swig of beer before continuing. “To be free, she must find new servant.”

Having never heard of this, Adam resorted to using his phone to look up what Seojun was talking about, who eagerly assisted him in finding the correct explanation. The blonde grimaced as he read about a demon that took the shape of a tiger that enslaved humans to do its bidding, integrating into society but under its command. He was surprised to find a superstitious Goryeoan, given the modernity of the city and country, but in the spirit of respect, he thought it best to pretend to heed Seojun’s warning. They spent another hour chatting about Adam’s homeland, his plans for the next day, and lightly touched on recent political tensions between Goryeo and Yamatoa.

By the time his new friend needed to bid him a farewell, the tourist was in no shape to try and make another friend. Eight days left, and the one person he managed to communicate with thought Joomi belonged to a tiger demon. He chuckled to himself the entire taxi ride back to his hotel.

[codsterc10@msn.com]

48 minutes ago, cipher12 said:

Hehehe I love the theories!! 💕 Thank you for the comment!! Chapter 2 will be up soon-ish!!

Amazing job I like it so far. I love diaper dimension stories sometimes i wish there was a world like that. In this story i smell trouble coming. 

Amazing job again 

[Guilend]

18 minutes ago, cipher12 said:

Joomi belonged to a tiger demon

Okay, did not see this coming. Now, technically this could refer to Joomi having a mommy/daddy, no matter what her actual size is. Something is smelling and it’s not my diapers this time. 

[cipher12]

Chapter Three: Honor and Status

Awakening on day three of his visa, Adam didn’t wait for the completion of the alarm. Within two minutes, he shot out of bed and was a tornado through his room, hoping to hit the ground running on his search. He hesitated at the door as he looked back at his portfolio of inventions and ideas, biting at the inside of his cheek as he considered taking it with him… but after his interaction with Seojun the night before, he had a feeling he wasn’t going to meet Joomi today. Plus, he wasn’t quite comfortable walking around the city with his tooth schematics in hand.

On the way down to breakfast, he pulled up the download he received from the airport, skimming the chapter titles for chang-gui or anything about folklore, but there was nothing. Which made sense to him – if he were in charge of educating a tourist on his home, he wouldn’t include local folklore or gossip. Instead, he selected The Art of Masked Dances, hoping there might be some folklore referenced.

Talchoom is the ancient Goryeoan art of the masked dance. The performers are accompanied by instruments and singers, and wear a wide range of decorative masks throughout the performance. This was the first acceptable means of public discourse that permitted criticism, airing of grievances, or mockery of superiors without fear of repercussion. Therefore, the masks both serve as a means to convey a character or concept and shield the performer from recognition.

Adam hummed to himself as he took his tray to the table, recalling a few vendors he had passed by the day before that were selling masks. At the time, he had thought they were for decoration on the walls, which was still a possibility, but he was now connecting the dots.

In the early years of the Talchoom, anyone could don a mask and perform to give life to their opinions; however, this resulted in several notable events that led to the professionalization of the performers, rendering the writers as the anonymous party, though the masks remained integral to the art form. Please note, Talchoom masks are illegal within the borders of Yamatoa and will be confiscated.

He grimaced as he set his half-eaten rice bowl down, pausing the recording to search for a chapter about relations with Yamatoa. He snorted when there wasn’t one. Instead, he popped on some music and tried several variants of ‘contact Joomi’ to see if any options rendered now that he was within the country. Alas, nothing. Steeling himself for a day of awkward attempts to speak the language and ask if they knew Albionic, he smiled to Ji-won as he handed over his tray with a bow that was returned (though deeper) and set forth from the hotel.

Venturing by foot, he wandered down a fresh market street within a few blocks with stall after stall of fruit, vegetables, and a variety of seafood. He spent about two hours casually investigating each stall, stumbling his way through accidentally purchasing way too many apples, and making contact with two people who spoke enough Albionic to tell him they did not know where to find Joomi. The first earnestly seemed not to know, though the second had the countenance of someone who also believed in the superstitious tale of her.

He spent the rest of the morning trying to share the apples as a means of starting a conversation, which he did accomplish with an old Little woman who was so thrilled, she invited him into her home… or so he figured by her beckoning, but she didn’t speak a word of Albionic. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, and it was so rare to see a grey-haired Little in normal adult diapers that he followed her in. She proceeded to guide him through her small home, jabbering in Goryeoan the entire time. She brought him over to a countertop where a beautiful, wooden carved cabinet looked from the outside like a miniature ancient temple. She handed him the apple he gave her, bowed to the small temple, and reached her hands out to delicately open the double doors.

Within was a collection of photos of Goryeoans spanning in age. The youngest looked to be in their teens, the oldest perhaps in his forties. None of them had the wrinkles or greys that she did. She handed him a knife, gestured to each photo, slowly counting them, then she repeated the counting at the same slow pace while gesturing to cut the apple.

“Ahh,” he smiled with a nod in understanding and began cutting the apple into small pieces. She counted as he did, and he repeated her in Goryeoan (his best attempt), which made her beam like a proud grandmother. When the pieces were cut, she proceeded to point out each photo, apparently name them, and gesture; he set the slice of apple down in front of the photo, and she nodded encouragingly.

Seven photos, seven names, seven slices. When he was done, she clapped her hands together and bowed deeply to the shrine, which he repeated. Upon standing to her full, though shortened, height, she had tears in her eyes as she finally said something he recognized: “Thank you.”

He bowed in response, and she proceeded to make him tea, continuing to gab at him despite his not understanding any of it. As she shuffled over to the table, setting down the teapot, Adam finally thought to pull out his phone and use a translation service. He typed out: ‘Are those pictures of your family?’

“Yes, yes,” she nodded with a smile, the app translating for him, though it was one of the few times he didn’t need it. She followed up as she poured his tea, “Offers to keep them peaceful.”

“Thank you for letting me honor your dead,” he smiled, bowing his head before he took a sip of tea. The old lady blinked down at the application, and she chuckled, shaking her head as she waved a finger at him and responded. He leaned forward to read the translation:

‘They are not dead. They are the honored adopted.’

Adam froze, staring at the phone for an uncomfortable amount of time before he leaned back. The old woman was hopelessly oblivious, nodding to him with a wide smile on her face as she drank her tea. He swallowed as he finally nodded in response to her, drank his tea as fast as politely possible, and made all haste back into the street, not looking back and stopping his fast walk until he was at least three blocks away from her.

Leaning against a brick wall, he let out a heavy sigh and lifted his hands to his face. He felt his cheeks burning, and his throat was dry. As the words honored adopted echoed in his mind, he barked out an awkward laugh of disbelief, which turned into a burst of laughter. A few Goryeoans glanced his way, and he put up a hand in apology, doubling over to catch his breath and calm down. He released the nervous energy in a final sigh as he pulled himself upright again, chucked the rest of his apples in the trash, and approached the nearest advertisement screen.

“Gilly?” he asked sheepishly, his eyes flickering around to look for anyone staring.

“Greetings, Mr. Sharpe,” the familiar voice spoke, and he eased his posture. “How may I help you?”

“Can you point me to the nearest bar, please?”

---

 

After indulging at lunch, Adam was feeling bold following an epiphany: he needed to be talking to the bigger folk. He made all haste to a taxi and asked Gilly to take him to a “not touristy” area of the city. The car took him to a shopping mall near a popular old-world alleyway that was stocked with small restaurants and bars that catered mostly to the local population.

He started with the shopping mall, where the reactions were far more controlled than what he experienced in Little Town. No one panicked at her name, though he did see the concerned looks of Amazons who thought he was a confused toddler. Nearly everyone knew her name, but most parroted the same conspiracy theories about her isolating herself due to a hideous accident that left her scarred.

He declared the mall more or less a bust and decided to check out the old world alleyway. Upon approach, he was surprised to see it was indeed a thin alleyway between two old buildings whose front-facing facades had been updated, but their decades-old skeletons were exposed on the sides. There were copious amounts of hanging wires, balconies, and neon signs that were reminiscent of a big city back home. Once he stepped beyond the threshold, he felt like he was transported back in time.

Starting at the first bar, he began his task once more. The bartender there was cordial, but parroted the superstitious belief that she was a chang-gui. The second, the third, and the fourth also yielded very little. As he took in a deep breath, trying to fight off the dejection that was starting to creep in, he was blocked from entering the fifth hole in the wall establishment. Blinking, he looked up to see a Goryeoan Tweener, dressed in a business suit that looked well-worn; he had most of his black hair slicked to the side and wore dark sunglasses.

“You tourist asking for Ma Joomi?” he asked quietly but confidently, standing firmly in Adam’s way. Raising an eyebrow and stiffening to his full height, which put his eye level to about the man’s navel, he gave a single nod.

“I can get you to her,” the Tweener sniffed as he removed a hand from his pant pocket and flicked his sunglasses up to rest in his hair; this action caused his sleeve to recede and reveal a golden watch.

“Really?” Adam asked cautiously, desperately trying to control his reaction despite the flutter of excitement in his chest. The Tweener nodded and gestured to step away from the door, pulling out a toothpick and offering the box downward. Adam shook his head and mumbled a ‘no thanks’.

“She is private,” the Tweener explained as he chewed on the toothpick. “Many believe she is chang-gui.”

“I know,” Adam grimaced as he watched those who passed them by, looking for signs that anyone feared or disliked this man, but no one seemed to spare either of them a second glance.

“She has big home on mountain path,” he went on as he placed his foot up against the wall and slipped his hands back into his suit pockets. “I can take you there.”

“Okay,” the blonde Little nodded in acceptance of this, but raised an eyebrow. “And… what do you want in exchange?”

The Tweener grinned down at him, causing the hairs on the back of Adam’s neck to stand up.

“I have lunch with client tomorrow,” he began to explain in a casual tone, but it was forced; he knew he was about to drop something that wasn’t going to be well received. “You be my Adopted.”

“No,” Adam blurted out immediately, barely needing to register the demand. He shook his head as he took a massive step back, and the Tweener pushed his foot off the wall, putting his hands out.

“Wait – listen,” he tried to interrupt, tossing the toothpick aside, but Adam firmly repeated himself and turned around, walking into the small bar. He pulled himself up into an Amazon-sized stool, grimacing at the Tweener who followed him in, and sharply repeated, “I said no.”

“I know,” the Tweener replied as he took the seat next to Adam, easily grabbing the bartender’s attention and ordering two beers for them both. Adam’s nostrils flared. “Look, you are protected –”

“Damn right I am,” he stiffly spat a little louder than he meant, causing both the bartender and other customers to gawk; he swallowed, inclining his head towards them. “Sorry.”

“I can’t afford Adopted,” the Tweener muttered sharply but quietly, lowering his head in shame. “Tomorrow is a big chance for me. Having Adopted will help close the deal.”

The bartender nodded to both of them as he set down two glasses of varying sizes filled to the brim with beer. Adam reached out, pulling his in to him and stared at the surface as he watched the liquid settle down enough to see his reflection. He furrowed his eyebrows, glaring at himself, watching the Tweener chug about half of his beer in the long silence.

“I don’t even know your name,” the blonde scoffed as he took a big swig from his glass.

“Sok Jeong,” he introduced himself as he crossed his left hand over and offered it to shake. Adam sighed as he took his hand and shook it, introducing himself in return.

“So… how do I know you’re telling the truth?” the Little asked cautiously, wary of giving this deal any consideration, yet this was the first person willing to help, even if the cost was absurd. “That you know where she is, let alone will take me to her?”

“I swear my word to you,” Jeong replied solemnly as he placed an open palm on his chest and bowed his head.

“I’d need more than that,” Adam muttered. The pair made eye contact, and for one painful beat, it appeared like the discussion was over. The Tweener’s nostrils flared before he chugged the remainder of his beer and ordered his second. Adam knew deep down he shouldn’t have insulted his honor, but this was too important to go on a stranger’s word.

“Look,” Jeong huffed, grabbing his suit jacket at the lapels and firmly tugging it down. He leaned to the side as he fished out a phone from his pocket. “This is a risk for me, not you. If they find out, or police catch this, I am the one going down.”

Adam clenched his jaw, knowing full well he was speaking the truth, but wasn’t inclined to feel sorry for the man asking him to parade himself around like an infant. Lifting the beer, he began taking another huge gulp when Jeong’s phone slid his way. Swallowing, he looked down to see a photo of a closed gate surrounded by foliage, which looked wild at first glance, but as he zoomed in, he could tell it was particularly manicured to keep it from looking overgrown but still natural. The Tweener pointed to the Goryeoan character at the gate, then swiped to a closer photo where it was more legible; Adam’s eyebrows lifted as even he, a novice that he was, recognized it.

“Ma,” he whispered.

“Yep,” Jeong confirmed with a sniff, rubbing under his nose before taking another drink of his beer. “This is where she lives and works.”

Adam scrutinized the photo; the date was within the last three years, there were no signs of alteration to the photo, and it was digitally signed by the camera on the phone to confirm its authenticity. He looked to Jeong, who gave a nod, made a flick motion, and the photo was copied to his phone.

“What…” Adam gulped, his fingers pressing hard against the glass as he did everything he could to avoid sneering. “…would I need to do?”

The man sniffed, lifting his hand and scratching at his chin with his thumb as he considered.

“Dress the part,” he shrugged, as if that part was obvious. “Call me Appa. Be good ba – Adopted.”

“Another, please,” he ordered quickly after tossing a glare to the man, who looked away; he closed his blue eyes as he felt his skin prickle with goosebumps, and he chugged the remainder of the beer before the new one arrived, causing the Tweener to snort. He nearly slammed the glass down, but his eyes briefly shot to the other customers and hesitated before setting the glass down gently. He gave an appreciative nod as the bartender slid him another.

“I will buy everything,” he explained, his confidence starting to emerge and an assertive presence taking over. “I will rent car to drive to her after lunch. We meet here –” he paused, pulling up a location on his phone, and once again flicking it to Adam’s phone. “To prepare. Then we go and eat here –” Once more, he pulled up a nearby location to the rendezvous point and sent it to the old tech phone. “It will take two hours, at most.”

Adam closed his eyes, cursing to himself. He was more than tempted to walk away. He now had the photo and could likely either ask around to see if anyone recognized the area or trace its location from context clues. But the problem was timing. He was near the halfway point of his visa, and in a best-case scenario, he could get started tonight and have the location by morning. But there were a lot of unknown variables; meanwhile, Jeong’s offer to be taken directly there by tomorrow afternoon was a guarantee. Presuming he wasn’t lying.

He ran his tongue over his invented tooth and opened his eyes, feeling a sense of dread overcome him. He finished the rest of his beer before releasing a heavy sigh, feeling a burst of nausea as he looked to Jeong and… he nodded.

“One more thing,” Jeong added as he tucked his phone into his jacket pocket, flashing a grin now that his plan was in motion. “Ma complex requires code. If you don’t have code, you must pass test.”

“Test?” he blurted out, tossing the man an incredulous look, immediately followed by a glare. “What kind of test?”

“I always had code,” the Tweener shrugged as he slapped down cash for the bartender.

“Hold on a minute,” Adam protested as he looked to the cash, which looked like enough to cover both of their drinks, and then to the man getting up to leave. “You can’t dump that and leave –”

“That part isn’t my fault,” Jeong deadpanned as he straightened his suit jacket and brushed off his pants. “Show up and be good, then maybe I tell you the rest.”

 

[Daymare]

I'm willing to bet that Joomi is either in the Korean mafia or is the "daughter" of the syndicate boss. Either way, she's definitely in diapers and it explains the "tiger" terminology to a certain extent. 

[Guilend]

Very interesting. I am enjoying the bits of lore that’s been sprinkled in every chapter. 
 

Now let’s discuss my inner thoughts on where this might be heading. 
 

Let’s say for arguments sake that this Tweener is on the up and up. My feeling says things will not go as planned during the meeting the Tweener is going to. My guess is that it’s discovered that his Little isn’t even his and is actually a free Little. I feel that even an Amazon attempting this kind of farce would at least spend a few months in diapers and a very sore bottom. This kind of farce is lying, doing so for status and money, I could see this country viewing it as very dishonorable and would bring shame upon your family sort of way. 
 

My gut tells me that the Tweener isn’t on the up and up. Not that he’s a bad guy, but he’s not being completely honest about something. He’s either holding something back about the meeting or who Adam is looking for. My bet is on the meeting as his anxiety appears to stem from that. 
 

Another likely possibility is that the Tweener was paid to bring Adam (or more likely anyone asking about the inventor) to that house or to this meeting, using the knowledge about this so called house as bait. To what ends I do not know. But I could see someone as influential as the inventor (or whoever is controlling them) to have paid people in several key locations to keep an eye out for people asking too many questions. 
 

In any case, just like in a horror film. 
 

“ADAM, DON’T GO!”

Just now, Daymare said:

I'm willing to bet that Joomi is either in the Korean mafia or is the "daughter" of the syndicate boss. Either way, she's definitely in diapers and it explains the "tiger" terminology to a certain extent. 

I never thought of that. And she probably is in diapers, regardless of size. But I already predicted she’d be in diapers regardless of anything else 😂 

[cipher12]

On 11/20/2025 at 7:19 PM, Daymare said:

I'm willing to bet that Joomi is either in the Korean mafia or is the "daughter" of the syndicate boss. Either way, she's definitely in diapers and it explains the "tiger" terminology to a certain extent. 

💜 Interesting theory!! 🤭 my goodness it's not hard to respond!

On 11/20/2025 at 7:20 PM, Guilend said:

Very interesting. I am enjoying the bits of lore that’s been sprinkled in every chapter. 

Thank you!! 💕

On 11/20/2025 at 7:20 PM, Guilend said:

In any case, just like in a horror film. 
 

“ADAM, DON’T GO!”

HAHAHA omg yesss 😂

Chapter Four: The Price

Adam stared at the ceiling throughout the entire wake-up routine in his hotel room. He had not slept well due to his mind racing between whatever test was required to gain access to the compound and the impending dread of the deal with Jeong. He brought his hands to his face as the music crescendoed, and he groaned, feeling nauseous with regret.

… Or maybe more than just regret.

He shot straight up in bed as he felt his stomach turn, and his face drained of color… Sprinting out of bed, he barely made it to the toilet as he projectile vomited into the bowl, grimacing in the aftermath at the taste of beer and the chips he had eaten from a vending machine. It took about three rounds of purging for his stomach to feel satisfied. He braced his head over the rim, gripping at the hair at his temples and sitting as still as possible. Perhaps he had drunk a little too much to numb himself from the reality of what he had agreed to, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t that much more than what he was used to. Curling his nose up as he spat saliva that was pooling in his mouth in the toilet, he let out a long, self-pitying moan.

Maybe he could drink before lunch and just let everyone think his drunkenness was – he shook his head. He couldn’t be mentally compromised before going to Joomi, not especially considering he might be tested to even be let in. Likewise, he considered taking some sort of medication to sleep through the lunch, but then he had no guarantee of waking when he needed to … plus, a sleeping Adopted likely wouldn’t appease Jeong and his prospective clients – they needed to see him acting properly and calling him appa. Adam groaned again.

He spent about half an hour on the ground of the bathroom, stewing in misery, occasionally spitting out his acidic saliva and drinking water from the faucet. What stung worse was that he would have expected to be overjoyed at the prospect of making contact with Joomi today. He should have been able to be overjoyed. He grimaced, finally hitting his threshold for self-pity (for the moment), and started getting ready for the day. He made sure to shave his face as close as possible, running the blade over his jaw and neck three separate times. As he set the razor down in the sink on his final pass through, he stared at himself in the mirror for a long minute.

Okay. This was happening. This was the price he was going to pay, and it was going to be humiliating and degrading, but it was only two hours out of an entire lifetime. Less than 0.0001% of his life. Two hours, in a foreign city, surrounded by strangers that he had no reason to think he would ever see again. He lifted and pointed an index finger at his reflection, pushing the tip of his finger forward until it landed on the mirror.

“And this stays between us,” he grumbled to himself in the mirror. No matter what else happened on this trip, this was going with him to his grave. He muscled through the rest of his routine by collecting his portfolio to bring to Joomi, flashing himself a smile as he let himself enjoy the idea that he would meet her today, even if just for a moment. Dressed in his best slacks, button-down shirt, and vest, he took in a deep breath and made his way to breakfast.

Putting in his earbuds, Adam put on music to avoid interacting with anyone. Despite having no reason to think anyone knew about his plans, anxiety gripped his chest, convincing him that everyone knew. Every look, glance, passing comment… logically, he understood it wasn’t the case, but he felt so exposed and uncomfortable. He ate breakfast as quickly as possible, made his usual polite greeting to Ji-won, and booked it out of the hotel.

He didn’t know where he’d go or what he’d do. He had three hours before he needed to meet up. Pulling up his phone, he eyeballed the area… sucking his teeth, rubbing the tip of his tongue on the bottom of a canine, he initially thought to explore the city to get as far from his doom as possible. But, as he stared at the meet-up and lunch points, he had the sensation that he was surveying a future crime scene, and that’s when it dawned on him – he should know the area. Just in case. Stepping over to a sleek screen board, he took in a breath and mustered as much positive energy as he could to greet, “Hiya, Gilly!”

“Hello, Mr. Sharpe,” Gilly responded coolly. “How can I help you today?”

“I’d like a car to - uh - here, please,” he said as he turned the phone to the screen, realizing too late he wasn’t sure she could see it. He scanned for a camera, but a car pulled up before he could finish surveying it.

“Thanks!” he chirped and crawled into the driver’s seat, setting his backpack on the passenger’s seat. He pointed on the map on the dashboard to a location he wished to be dropped off, and after a click of his seatbelt, the car began the journey. Within a few seconds, he looked at the screen.

“Gilly?”

“Yes, Mr. Sharpe?”

He stared forward, unsure of what he was hoping to get out of her or what he could say to make sure he was covered. He flickered between worrying she would report this and prevent him from getting Jeong’s help, or that she would report him as Goryeo’s first case of being an ‘emotional danger to himself’.

‘Will you report me as a missing if I don’t make it back to the hotel?’

‘Hey, so if I get kidnapped, how long until you send the police to find me?’

‘Is pretending to have maturosis a part of those exceptions to my legal protection?’

“Mr. Sharpe?” Gilly asked, interrupting his stream of nerve-inducing questions.

“I met someone yesterday,” he blurted out, his eyebrow pinching together as his gaze fell to his lap. “An old woman… she had a shrine, with photos of seven adopted family members.”

He paused, expecting Gilly to say something.

“Is that … normal?”

“Yes, Mr. Sharpe,” the robotic female voice monotoned. “Goryeoan culture upholds the provision of care and support as a central pillar of society known as kibun. It is considered a great honor for a family to Adopt those in need and for the Adopted to find care in a loving home, capable of tending to their needs. Many Little families pray for the Adopted as a means of providing where they could not.”

“Okay,” Adam nodded quietly. “Thanks.”

The rest of the ride was silent. Gilly offered to play music, but Adam politely declined, instead preferring to run through every possible scenario he could as to how this lunch might go and plan his responses. Once the car reached its destination, he thanked her and began his survey of the area. All three hours were spent roaming all but the two locations; he didn’t want to be recognized by any staff at either site, which would be fairly easy considering he was a blonde man amongst a sea of black hair. But he did his best to memorize possible escape routes and the nearest Gilly-accessible board at every possible point before the timer ran out on his phone and he went to the meet-up point.

Upon arrival, he was surprised to see it was near a dumpster outside of a restaurant. He sniffed, looking at his phone’s clock, and looked around. After only a minute of waiting, he jumped slightly from a car’s horn, and he looked behind him; a black car, slightly larger in form than the one he rode in, was sitting in the alleyway. The driver’s side door opened, and the smiling face of Jeong appeared over the window as he waved Adam over.

“Get in,” he instructed as he gestured towards the back seat, and the passenger side back door opened automatically. Adam waved to him as he passed by the first door and hesitated at the second, wide-open one. He blinked, staring at the booster seat clearly meant for him to sit in. Jeong sat in the driver’s seat and looked over his shoulder, motioning with his head to the seat and repeated, “Come on, get in.”

Grimacing, he set his backpack down on the floor in front of the booster and climbed up into it as the door to his right shut automatically. Jeong beamed at him as he extended his arm back, presenting a small black box. “Put your passport and visa in here.”

“Why?” Adam asked without thinking as he took the metallic box.

“It blocks city scanners,” he explained as he pointed up and made a circle, apparently trying to communicate ‘everywhere’. Adam made a gasp of revelation – the branding by Gilly at the customs desk must have implanted nanites or something similar. That was how Gilly was always present and responsive to him!

“Everything is in there,” Jeong went on as he gestured to the bag on the seat behind him as Adam slipped his passport and visa into the box and shut it. The Tweener nodded with a grin, then scanned the dashboard of the car and hit a button, causing the windows to darken to a near black opaque. “Go ahead.”

“Go … ahead?” Adam stammered, confused.

“Get changed,” Jeong stated with a wave of his hand, and he pulled out his phone and looked down. “I won’t look.”

Adam squinted at the back of his head, then the windows, and then to the back.

“…In here?”

“Yeah,” Jeong replied impatiently, waving a stiff hand in the air while not looking up from his phone, as promised. Grumbling, Adam swiveled to face the bag and stood up on the seat, pulling at the top to peer in. His eyebrows raised as he surveyed the contents:

·      A pair of elastic waist jeans with shallow pockets

·      A navy and white striped t-shirt with a diapered elephant holding onto balloons with its snout

·      Velcro sneakers and white socks

·      A plain blue pacifier with a sky blue clip

·      A package of elephant-decorated pull-ups

·      An elephant stuffed animal backpack

·      An elephant-branded sippy cup and matching bib

“Pull-ups?” Adam wondered out loud, causing Jeong to snort, “Do I look I could put you on changing table?”

“Fair,” the blonde conceded with a bob of his head, and the corners of his mouth twitched, realizing this may not be as bad as he had expected. He thought to comment that everything being from the same store might look a little weird, but he bit his tongue; he didn’t want to sound like he cared about how to properly dress like a toddler. He took in a deep breath as if he were about to go for a dive, and then released it as he began undressing.

He started with the top half, taking off his shirt and vest, neatly rolling them up and tucking them into his backpack. He ripped off the tags of the striped shirt and pulled it on, tugging it down to smooth out the folded wrinkle. Trying his best to do this quickly so he didn’t think about it too hard, he moved onto his pants and underwear, rolling them up and laying them on top of his shirt. Adam reached in, ripping open the pull-up package, and pulled one out, frowning. He had been glad of it being a pull-up, rather than a taped diaper, but the manufacturer hadn’t skimped on the padding; it was just as puffy all over, as any taped diaper he had seen. His eyebrows pinched as he opened it up, stepped in, and with another deep breath, he pulled it on. The waistband snapped high above his navel, and the leg cuffs gripped mid-thigh; he looked down at the cartoon elephant beaming up at him from right over his bulge.

“Ugh,” he burst out into a sigh, and Jeong laughed, but his eyes remained glued to his phone. It was so … thick. He felt the padding between his legs fold, but even then, there was resistance to his closing his legs. ‘No wonder they always waddled,’ he thought, grimacing. ‘And this is when it’s dry.’

With the worst of it done, the rest was downhill: the toddler jeans, socks, shoes, and the pacifier clip. He stuffed the sippy cup and bib into the elephant backpack, ripping off all tags in the process and tossing them into the bag. True to his word, Jeong didn’t look up from his phone once. Adam looked down at him as he sucked on his teeth before deadpanning, “Ta da.”

Jeong lifted his head and turned around to look; his face lit up.

“Damn, you look great,” he marveled and bowed his head apologetically when he received a glare. “You know what I mean.”

“Do I?” the blonde sighed as he crawled into the booster seat.

“Oh, remove ring,” the Tweener gestured to Adam’s hand, who immediately became defensive.

“Why?” he snapped, and Jeong reared his head back in surprise.

“Adopted don’t wear rings?” he replied uncertainly, despite being certain about the fact. They stared for a moment, and Adam finally grimaced, ripping the ring off dramatically and dropping it into his backpack. Jeong nodded after a beat.

“Ah, one more thing,” Jeong noted as he grabbed a tube wrapped in a towel from the front passenger seat and handed it to him. “This remove hair on your arms and face.”

“What?” Adam baulked as he glared at the package in his hand, then at the Tweener. “You didn’t say anything about that!”

“It’s not permanent,” Jeong scoffed as he pulled up the item description on his phone and projected the translation. “Adopted don’t have body hair.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Adam grumbled as he glared at the translation; he did know that, which was why he had shaved so diligently, but he hadn’t even considered his arm hair. As his eyes flicked to Jeong, he added, “Could have bought long sleeves.”

“Not cold enough,” he excused with a shrug and looked over his shoulder. “You can leave legs.”

“Gee, thanks,” he mumbled sarcastically as he began lathering the stuff on his arm, turning his nose up at the smell. Immediately, he felt a prickle as the hair follicles were being murdered rather quickly, and he wiped off the goop within a minute. If having hair on the face wasn’t a societal requirement by Littles as a feeble attempt to avoid adoption, he would consider using this stuff to shave rather than a razor. Jeong had started up the car and began the drive to the lunch location as Adam lathered the stuff on his face and chin, cringing at the smell and prickling, and wiped it off as quickly as possible.

The car ride was silent, save for Jeong tapping on the steering wheel. Adam stared out the window, noting all the locations they passed that he was familiar with from his reconnaissance. He gripped and adjusted the pull-up a few times, trying to move it around to make it less stiff. The car made its final turn into the restaurant’s parking lot, and Adam swallowed.

“Gwa-so,” Jeong released the equivalent of an ‘okay’ in a nervous sigh, turning off the car and looking back. “Ready?”

“No,” Adam answered honestly, and the two stared at each other for a moment before they both shared a grin. Jeong nodded and stepped out of the car. Looking down at the pacifier, the blonde realized he wouldn’t have to talk if he kept it in. He didn’t want to have to fake a baby voice. Just before the door opened, he stuck it in his mouth, blinking in surprise at how big the teat was; he jerked slightly when the door opened, having been distracted by that, and Jeong’s face lit up. Adam shot him a brief glare.

“Let’s go!” the Tweener put on his best parenting voice, though truthfully, it wasn’t very good. He unbuckled Adam and helped him down to the ground, put the elephant backpack on him, and gripped his hand like his life was on the line. Adam raised an eyebrow at him, noting his hand was a bit clammy, and resisted the urge to ask why the hell he was the nervous one. It took a few stops and starts for Adam to get the hang of walking in the pull-up, none of which Jeong was patient about, causing a few silent glares.

The walk from the parking lot was not very far, yet Adam received no less than three Goryeoan gushes and one ruffling of his hair. Of course, he was drawing attention… a blonde baby was bound to be a rarity here. Jeong was on top of the world at each interaction, but clearly trying to rush through it, excusing himself as they pressed on. The two of them walked through a semi-busy restaurant where nearly every head was turning to look at him, and he blushed, tensing his grip on Jeong’s hand. They walked into a private room where Adam was greeted by an interesting scene.

There was a large, round table at the center of the room, and it was already nearly full of large, imposing Amazon men. All of them were wearing suits, but far more luxurious and clean than Jeong’s. A few were smoking something, but as their eyes landed on Adam, they each began to put it out. The two largest men at the table, both in size and presence, looked to Adam. One was taller and had a prominent scar from his ear to the corner of his mouth. He had a heavy brow and wide, frowning lips, and he wore a suit jacket that looked ever so slightly too small to purposefully show off his muscles. The other was heavier set, sporting a reasonable-sized gut, way too many rings, and had meticulously trimmed hair. Despite not having the physical intimidation that the other did, there was something about his presence that commanded the room. As he lifted an arm to scratch at the side of his face, his eyes moving to Jeong, who was bowing and speaking rapidly in their native tongue, Adam noted a flash of tattoos on his wrist. He looked up at the nervous Tweener, whose hand he was still holding, and had a bad feeling this wasn’t a sales meeting.

Jeong gestured to a corner of the room as he suggested something, but the commander of the room denied him and pushed his chair slightly. He patted his leg as he nodded to Adam, his eyes moving expectantly to the Tweener.

“Go on,” Jeong stated as he released Adam’s hand, putting an open palm forward towards the man. “Mr. Hyun wants you to sit with him.”

Adam blinked up at Jeong as he was suddenly extremely grateful for the pacifier, for his tongue nervously ran over it back and forth as he tried to find a way out of this. He looked to the large man, then back to Jeong, remembering the word and quietly saying, “Appa?”

“It’s okay,” he encouraged with a nervous smile.

“Albionic?” the man named Mr. Hyun asked as he raised his eyes, and Adam looked over, nodding. “Come here, boy,” he spoke again, with a slightly rougher accent than Jeong’s, patting his leg.

Adam cursed to himself every slow step of the way, tossing another nervous glance at Jeong, who made a demonstration of a bow. Nodding, he approached the suited monstrosity and nervously gave a bow.

“Good job!” Mr. Hyun laughed as he clapped his hands together, then reached down and grabbed Adam, quickly pulling him into his lap. He didn’t even have time to wince or resist – it happened very quickly. The Amazon’s hand caressed Adam’s stomach to keep him steady, and to avoid anyone noticing the discomfort on his face, he angled it down to pretend to look at the man’s rings.

Mr. Hyun called out to a waitress who entered; her eyes fell to Adam, she smiled, nodded, and disappeared beyond the curtain. There was something both insanely disassociating about losing so much autonomy so rapidly, but also, for his purposes, a strange kind of comforting. He didn’t want to have to act the part or do much of anything to prove he fit the clothes, so as long as everyone was doing it for him, he could just coast.

But then he felt two sausage-like fingers dip into the back of his pants and pull back the waist of the pull-up to peer in, Adam instantly regretted considering any part of this a comfort; he swore he felt his penis and balls shrivel up and die.

Mr. Hyun made some sort of comment that caused the table to chuckle, and he gestured to a glass of water. Jeong, now seated at the table, replied as he pointed to Adam, who felt a tug on his back. Looking at his shoulder, he saw the largest man at the table was pulling at the elephant backpack, unzipping it. The Little blonde looked up as his eyes fell on the scar, and the man looked down at him with a stern and piercing look in his eye. Adam looked back down at Mr. Hyun’s rings and even touched a few.

The waitress returned with a kid’s menu and crayons, placing them down in front of Adam with a wide smile. The mountain of a man to Mr. Hyun’s left handed her the elephant sippy cup, and she filled it with water, setting it down next to the crayons. The Amazon, whose lap he occupied, scooted his chair closer to the table, and Adam grabbed the crayons, immediately setting to task at ignoring the table and hoping he could go into a meditative state to make this lunch go by faster.

It sort of worked. It was easy to ignore the conversation when he couldn’t understand it, but Mr. Hyun didn’t make it easy. Within ten minutes of coloring in a dragon, the leg upon which he was sitting began bouncing. Adam couldn’t help but toss a glare up at the man, which caused him to burst out a laugh, and explain to the table, who all also chuckled. He blushed at the laughter as he looked back down at the dragon, rubbing his tongue against the pacifier teat; he hadn’t been annoyed that the coloring was ruined (which it sort of was), but that the movement had forced him back into the reality of the moment. He tried once again to zone out into the coloring, but again, Mr. Hyun had other plans.

Less than five minutes after the leg-bouncing incident, the waitress returned with a tray of clearly alcoholic drinks. Adam flashed his blue eyes up only once, recognizing the glasses as highballs, and glued his eyes back down to the mat. As the woman set down Mr. Hyun’s glass, he had an exchange with her. Something in her giggling made him freeze, his red crayon pressing into the scaled body of the dragon, and just as he started turning his head towards her…

“Ora-ora-ora!” she squealed in delight as her fingers burst forth to dig into his sides. He exploded into helpless laughter as he collapsed on his back (crushing the elephant backpack) in Mr. Hyun’s lap, flailing wildly, barely registering the rounds of laughter this elicited from around the table. Slapping the table with glee, Mr. Hyun called off the assault, and the waitress bowed in appreciation to him as she retreated, beaming the entire way out of the room.

Adam stared up at the ceiling as he breathed heavily, his face beet red, first from the tickling, quickly followed by raw embarrassment. He hadn’t been tickled since he was five, and even then, it didn’t come close to the level of overwhelming pressure caused by Amazon strength. His vacant stare seemed to amuse Mr. Hyun, who took a large gulp of his drink before grinning down at him. He picked up the pacifier that had fallen from his mouth and slipped it back in, which Adam immediately sucked on; then the Amazon effortlessly readjusted him upright so he could go back to coloring. The red crayon that had gone flying in the exchange was back on the menu, and he tossed a glance to the large Amazon to his left before tentatively picking it up; he shared a brief look with Jeong before returning to his meditative work and was finally allowed to zone out for another twenty minutes, this time disrupted by the arrival of food.

Adam’s eyes went wide as he took in a huge whiff of the dishes nearest him, which were Mr. Hyun’s and the large man’s. He sat up as much as he could to get a good look at them. The one directly in front of him was a red stew of some sort, with a center of bright greens. It smelled spicy but looked amazing. Craning his neck at the one to his left, he was not surprised to see a plate full of meat; they were nearly steak-sized cuts (Little-sized steaks, that is) glazed in a dark sauce with small scatterings of greens across them. That dish was difficult to smell over the powerful aura of the spicy stew, but Adam recoiled in embarrassment when he realized everyone had been watching him with stupid grins on their faces, like they were watching a baby smell food for the first time.

Mr. Hyun chuckled, pulling his dish to the side to leave room to continue coloring, but the larger man gestured to the sippy cup and said something in Goryeoan. It took Mr. Hyun tapping Adam’s stomach for him to realize the words had been for him; blinking up at Mr. Hyun, who gestured to the other, then to the larger man who once more gestured to the sippy cup. Adam swallowed. He had intended to go the entire lunch without drinking anything, lest he find himself stuck in a situation where he needed to use the pull-up, but this beast wasn’t relenting. He saw Jeong staring at him in his peripheral vision, and he took in a breath as he reached out for the cup. He pushed the pacifier out with his tongue and leaned back against Mr. Hyun’s bulging stomach, staring up at the man as he began to drink as slowly as humanly possible. The persistent Amazon flashed a smile and began to eat his meat, leaving Adam to really take in this dude’s appearance.

There was something different about him. Besides the scar, the muscles, and the height, of course. Something in his eye shape was different than the others. His nose, too, looked uncommon.

“This is Mr. Zhang,” Mr. Hyun explained to Adam, who craned his neck up at the man, then made eye contact with the beast known as Mr. Zhang, who inclined his head. The blonde felt a shiver run up his spine as his eyes widened in realization…

He was Yamatoan.

Adam tried to recover, blinking through the panic and digging deep within to do the one thing he had hoped to avoid: act the part. He flashed a smile and released the cup with one hand to wave. Mr. Zhang grinned down at him, and Adam’s heart skipped a beat. Did he know? Did he see that familiar Little fear in his eyes? Or was this man genetically unsatisfied until a Little acted like a baby instead of just dressing like one?

He didn’t know why it mattered. He had been convinced to do the one thing he never wanted to do by a Goryeoan, so why encountering a Yamatoan meant anything to him, he wasn’t sure. But he suddenly felt extremely vulnerable in a way that was beyond words. He felt the urgent need to get away from these two, and Jeong wasn’t even glancing at him; the bastard was too engaged in animated conversation with those around him. He felt the sippy cup tilt upwards suddenly, and, of course, Mr. Zhang was at it again; he put a finger on the bottom of the cup and angled it upwards, staring down at Adam as he chewed.

“Sok,” the deep voice resonated out, and the Yamatoan looked across the table and followed up with a question of some sort. Glancing towards the Tweener, who flushed and stuttered a response. The Yamatoan nodded knowingly… Adam had a bad feeling about whatever exchange just happened, but he focused on drinking the water. Finally, Mr. Zhang removed his hand from the cup and picked up his chopsticks.

‘Do it, man, just fucking do it,’ Adam both chided and encouraged himself as he swallowed his pride and kicked the attitude into high gear. He looked up at the friendly Amazon and held up the half-empty sippy cup to him.

“Done?” Mr. Hyun asked, and the blonde nodded and mustered a proud smile. As soon as the cup was out of his hands, he reached for the coloring menu and crayons. He was hoping to shimmy down off the man’s lap and continue his toddler masterpiece on the floor, but the Yamatoan thwarted him with an offer of food. A smaller cut-up piece of the dark, glazed meat was suddenly in front of him, held up by chopsticks, and he inadvertently licked his lips; now he could smell it, and it smelled amazing. Briefly glancing at Mr. Zhang, who nodded encouragingly, he opened his mouth, and thus Adam Sharpe, a fully functional adult wearing an elephant pull-up diaper, was fed by a Yamatoan Amazon… and it was delicious.

He accidentally let out a moan from the foodgasm, which was so good that even the condescending laughter at his expense went ignored. It was savory, rich, and the meat was a perfect cut and cooked to perfection, as it melted in his mouth like butter. He savored it as much as he could, unsure if there would be more, but Mr. Zhang delivered a second piece. Adam melted against Mr. Hyun’s stomach. All in all, he was fed six pieces of Mr. Zhang’s meal, for which he decided it was best to practice his Goryeoan.

“Thank you,” Adam piped up in his best Goryeoan, and Mr. Zhang raised his eyebrows in surprise. He inclined his head, likely about to reply, but Mr. Hyun took the moment away through his gushing. He drew the table’s attention to Adam, who felt his face redden as all eyes turned to him, and the Amazon grinned down at him. Nervously looking up and back to the table, he repeated the words. The table broke out into applause, the two nearby men patting Jeong on the shoulder as if he had anything to do with it. He wanted to sigh; he had thanked many people on his trip already and received similar looks of approval, but put on a diaper first, and suddenly, everything you do is the most amazing thing you’ve ever accomplished.

Nervous at the prospect of this getting out of control, he grabbed the pacifier and slipped it back in his mouth. He didn’t feel like entertaining a room full of men by poorly imitating their language to condescending applause. He leaned forward to continue coloring as the table was cleared, resigned to being stuck on Mr. Hyun’s lap until they left. He was able to color the river below the dragon before, but without warning, he was lifted from the leg and set down on the ground between the two. He looked up as Mr. Zhang was sticking the sippy cup, menu, and crayon in the elephant backpack, and Mr. Hyun smiled down at him, waving. He waved in response to him, looked to Mr. Zhang, and waved to him, then heard Jeong call out to him. He took a step back, almost walking around the table, but thought better of it and darted underneath the table, to the chuckles of the Amazons. It also gave him the freedom to roll his eyes before popping out the other side, where Jeong held his hand out, beaming down at him.

“Say bye-bye,” Jeong instructed as Adam took his hand, and he turned, waving to the table.

“Bye-bye,” he said, careful to keep the pacifier in his mouth. Most of the table gushed in response, but just before losing sight of them, he saw Mr. Zhang lean to his right to whisper to Mr. Hyun.

The reversing journey from that hellish room was not much different, as all within the restaurant and immediately outside of it marveled at his blonde hair, touching it and pointing out his blue eyes. Unfortunately, Jeong had not been in the same hurry to leave as arrive, and basked in the attention, only speeding things up when Adam dug his fingernail into the Tweener’s palm. Once outside the car, Jeong lifted him into the booster seat, and his eyes fell to Little’s crotch, looking tempted to check it.

Adam ripped the pacifier out of his mouth and hissed, “You don’t fucking dare.”

Jeong jumped slightly and nodded a bit too many times as he buckled him in and shut the door. The blonde let out a massive sigh of relief, slamming his head on the back of the seat. The Tweener burst out into a victory laugh as soon as the door shut.

“We did it!” he cheered, slamming his palm on the steering wheel.

“Please drive,” Adam deadpanned, looking around the parking lot nervously. “I’d like to get out of these clothes.”

“Yeah, yeah!” the Tweener grinned, starting the car and quickly whipping out of the parking lot. “You did great!”

“No encores,” the blonde grumbled as he began removing the velcro shoes.

The hour-and-a-half car ride was rather quiet, despite Jeong’s excited energy. He was grinning the entire time, while Adam struggled to undress and redress within the confines of the booster seat. The last twenty minutes of the car ride were outside of the main city and amongst more open roads and greenery. Adam was gratified to see that the scenery matched what he had studied in the photo, but as he reflected on the lunch, he glanced at Jeong.

He wanted to warn him about Zhang, but he also wanted to put him on blast for lying to him about the nature of the meeting. All of the subtle lies or “missed” details, waiting until it was too late to tell Adam about certain things … either Jeong was a masterful manipulator or an inexperienced one who had gotten lucky. Hoping it was the latter, he looked back out the window.

“Hey, Jeong,” he spoke up after a long consideration. “Have you ever seen Joomi?”

“No,” the Tweener shook his head.

“And… how do you know where she lives?”

“I made deliveries,” he replied casually, glancing down at his phone.

“What kind of deliveries?”

“Eh, whatever the boss said to do,” he shrugged, tossing her a curious look over his shoulder at him.

“Who’s that? Mr. Hyun?”

“Yeah, or whoever beneath him who give order,” he explained as he made a turn onto a dirt path.

“Mm,” Adam nodded as he let that thought linger before he took in a sharp breath and sighed, “You don’t have any more info on this code or test thing, do you?”

Silence.

“No,” Jeong admitted after a long pause, keeping his head straight forward and his body stiff.

“I … hate you,” Adam growled as he crossed his arms over his chest. The Tweener laughed awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“I’m sorry,” the Tweener sheepishly responded as he slowed the car down. “I wanted to make sure you’d show up.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“But… hey,” Jeong swallowed as he stopped the car and sheepishly smiled back at him. “We’re here.”

[Guilend]

Mmm I still wonder what that meeting was really about. However it does sound like some sort of criminal organization. One that’s originated from the neighboring country. 
 

Since it’s reasonably assumed that it’s a criminal organization and that the Tweener was a delivery man for them. Then I am curious what this inventor would want from those groups that she couldn’t legally get her hands on. Is it drugs because she’s an addicted? Could it be special drugs to help her with a rare condition that she’s either keeping on the down low or the drugs that help the most are illegal. Or it could be different things needed for her inventions. Could also be a combination of everything. 
 

Fine, there’s too many possibilities and variables to really predict what’s going to happen 😂 

[cipher12]

8 hours ago, Guilend said:

Mmm I still wonder what that meeting was really about. 

Heheh yeah, it's such a wonderful cheat code having the POV character not know the language. 😂 

9 hours ago, Guilend said:

Fine, there’s too many possibilities and variables to really predict what’s going to happen 😂 

TEEHEE!!! 🤭

[Guilend]

32 minutes ago, cipher12 said:

Heheh yeah, it's such a wonderful cheat code having the POV character not know the language. 😂 

😂 I was thinking something similar when I was reading it. I was like, this probably has no bearing on the plot, at least what the topic of the meeting is, or even who the people are. And other than some interactions and things, no one would ever know and the author doesn’t even have to make something up 😂 

[cipher12]

2 minutes ago, Guilend said:

😂 I was thinking something similar when I was reading it. I was like, this probably has no bearing on the plot, at least what the topic of the meeting is, or even who the people are. And other than some interactions and things, no one would ever know and the author doesn’t even have to make something up 😂 

Right?! But -- does it help to know that I do explain it elsewhere? 😁 I have a one-shot that revisits what happens in this latest chapter that I'll be posting as soon as it's reasonable to. Just gotta get a little deeper in this story first.

[Guilend]

5 minutes ago, cipher12 said:

Right?! But -- does it help to know that I do explain it elsewhere? 😁 I have a one-shot that revisits what happens in this latest chapter that I'll be posting as soon as it's reasonable to. Just gotta get a little deeper in this story first.

It definitely is exciting to know it. I’m looking forward to you posting it when it’s reasonable to do so. 

[codsterc10@msn.com]

Amazing job 

[Princessamaryllis]

I really enjoy both of your stories on here 

[cipher12]

48 minutes ago, codsterc10@msn.com said:

Amazing job 

Thank you!! 💜

40 minutes ago, Princessamaryllis said:

I really enjoy both of your stories on here 

Oh thank you!! 💕 that just made my day!!! 🥰

[BabySofia]

This is an interesting start, curious to see if this is actually the woman or not... Sounds like the other guy was trying to gain access to a company or a gang...? Look forward to reading more as you post!

[cipher12]

14 hours ago, BabySofia said:

This is an interesting start, curious to see if this is actually the woman or not... Sounds like the other guy was trying to gain access to a company or a gang...? Look forward to reading more as you post!

Thank you so much!! 💕

Chapter Five: Chang-gui

At the south end base of the Angsan Mountains, facing the capital city of Hanseong, is an old complex heavily obscured by the surrounding foliage. The walls, so old that they were completely covered by crawling vines, rivaled some trees in height. The place would be easy to miss, if not for the distinct giwa-tiled roof that was poking out from the greenery and the wooden gate marked by the Ma family name.

Adam stood a respectful distance from this ancient-looking gate, his (normal) backpack slung over one shoulder and his hands in his pockets. He stood there silently, listening to the mountain breeze and the gentle sounds it created as it blew through the leaves. He took in a slow, relaxing breath and released it in a contented sigh.

He had made it.

“Hey,” Jeong called from the car, ruining the peaceful moment. Adam looked back towards the parked car to see the elephant-branded bag lifted over the open car door. “Do you want to keep anything?”

Adam narrowed his eyes.

“Right,” the Tweener laughed awkwardly, mumbling something indistinct as he tossed it back into the car and shut the door. He, too, took in the clean mountain air, flashing a smile to the scene before them as he stepped up side by side with the foreign Little. “Know what you are gonna do?”

“No,” he responded honestly as he stared forward. “I like to improvise, if you hadn’t figured that out.”

“Heh,” Jeong grinned in response and nodded knowingly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, and made a flick motion, which was followed by a ding on Adam’s phone. “That is last code I had. I don’t think it will work, but …”

“It’s something,” the blonde finished with a twitch at his lips. He took in another breath and turned to look up at Jeong; he stared up at the man for a beat, once more considering saying more … but he instead bowed at his waist. “Thank you, Sok Jeong, for getting me this far.”

Jeong’s eyebrows rose in surprise, but his expression softened as he placed his arms at his sides and bowed in return.

“Thank you, Sharpe Adam, for … you know,” he flashed a smile as he stood, and the pair nodded to each other. That sufficed as their goodbye. Jeong retreated to the car, giving a final wave before entering the driver’s side and starting up the quiet car. Adam waved back, put his hands in his pockets, and watched in silence as the car shrank in the distance.

Once the car was out of sight, he turned to face the complex once more. His heightened heartbeat suddenly seemed much louder amongst the silence, interrupted only by flashes of the lunch. Grimacing, he put a hand on his rib cage, hearing the waitress’s taunting chants as he thought she was going to tickle him to death. He took a step forward, a flash of the elephant grinning up at him over his junk giving him pause.

Maybe he should have asked to wait a day … he could have used some distance from the most humiliating two hours of his life. He still felt a phantom diaper between his legs and ran his tongue over the roof of his mouth, where not long before he had felt a pacifier. He had hoped that by going immediately to Joomi, he could override the demeaning experience with a positive one, but as doubt flooded his mind, he wondered how practical that choice had been.

Goryeo was proving a far more vicious country to Littles than anticipated, and to a degree, he had expected that. He knew to assume that from any narrative controlled by Amazons, yet he had dared to hope their fierce protection of foreign Littles had meant some kind of internal reflection. He thought of the smiling old woman and her shrine, and frowned.

Honor. Obedience. Kibun. Three pillars of society that rigidly confined Littles to accept and even admire their position in this world. Was that really much better than Yamatoa?

Adam sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair, closing his eyes. Just over a day ago, he wouldn’t have thought twice. He would have been overjoyed at standing here and made all haste to the gate. But now facing the choice to follow through with his plan or turn back and enjoy the rest of his trip, he found himself paralyzed.

He clenched his jaw as a surge of anger boiled within. At Jeong, at that old woman, Hyun, Zhang, that grinning waitress … Gilly … Joomi. He didn’t know where to put it, and it burst out at everyone who had contributed to this being so difficult. That a simple prospect like this couldn’t have been handled by email, or a formal request made upon arrival to meet her. That the only opportunity he had been given to get to this point had required him to debase himself in a way that would have him rejected and hated by his peers if anyone had ever found out.

And there it was. He landed the true source of his rage: himself.

Turning around to turn his back on the gate, he let out an anguished yell that echoed up the mountain path. He squatted down as he rested his forehead against the palms of his hands. He had been so focused on his goal that he had compromised himself in the process. And for what? For an overly ambitious goal of trying to convince an Amazon that a foreign Little could be her apprentice? What the hell had he been thinking?

After a few minutes, he felt his lower abdomen give a dull throb – too much water, and too much stress. He curled his nose up as he realized the squatting motion was putting excess pressure on his bladder. Damn Zhang. No doubt he had intended to force him to drink all that water to make him use the diaper during lunch. The Yamatoan’s grinning face flashed before him, but Adam smirked defiantly in response as he crossed the dirt road to find a place to piss. Positioning himself behind a tree, he rested his left forearm against the trunk as he fished out his penis, briefly chuckling as he recalled feeling like it had shriveled up and was grateful that it had only been in his mind.

This had given him the necessary break to rally his thoughts. He had come this far … he had already paid the price of entry, it made no sense to walk away now. He had to try. Even if Joomi proved to be like Goryeo and every other Amazon on this forsaken planet, he still had his legal rights. And he would never forgive himself for getting this far, only to abandon it now.

Zipping up his pants, he nodded as he committed the next steps to himself, and with a self-encouraging grunt, he pulled his vest down and made a beeline for the gate. Once he was within five feet of it, a wooden panel shifted aside to reveal a metallic keypad. Impressed at how well blended it had been, he pulled out his phone and opened the code Jeong had given him… it was worth a shot. He plugged in the six digits and held his breath as he pressed the green enter button.

The screen went blank.

Adam stared at it intently, waiting for some kind of sign. An error, or denial, or ideally acceptance. He blinked when nothing happened, and he looked up, to the left and right, and down at the ground for any changes. He swallowed as he wondered if this was the test Jeong had mentioned … he looked back to his phone, running through the code again, and confirmed he had put that code in correctly.

His heart leapt up into his throat when the gate made a swooshing sound, and he immediately took three large steps back. Some mechanism within the gate had been activated, and the left door of the gate slowly creaked open. He blinked and stared. There was no announcement, no chime or noise, and after waiting a few painfully long minutes, it didn’t seem like anyone was exiting to greet him. This was an invitation.

“Ooookay,” Adam quivered, gripping the strap of his backpack tightly and pushing himself to step forward. With every step, he paused ever so slightly to listen for any clues or signs of a trap. Once he was near enough to peer through, he saw a stone path starting from the gate and a well-manicured lawn beyond it. Beyond that, more foliage. Swallowing, he stepped through the angled door and over the threshold.

The compound was shadowed due to massive trees that acted like a canopy over the grounds, but ancient Goryeoan-themed lanterns were along the stone path that led forward to a curved bridge over a thin river. On the other side of the bridge was a pagoda near the river surrounded by a beautiful, well-tended garden. The garden sat between the bridge and the massive traditional house of the same curved tiles as the front gate.

It was a beautiful sight, if not for the absolute silence and emptiness that rendered it unsettling.

“H-hello?” he called out uncomfortably, unable to muster enough confidence to not sound scared, and he remained still as he continued to grip tightly at his backpack strap.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a light flicker and his head snapped to the left – but there was nothing. His nostrils flared, and his breathing increased.

‘Is this the test?’ he asked himself, recalling Jeong’s warning. When he pictured a test from Joomi Ma, he thought perhaps a mathematical or scientific test or puzzle to prove himself worthy. Whatever this was, it was completely unfamiliar to him… he made a hiss sound as he sucked in air through his teeth, realizing it might be a cultural one.

He put his hand on the phone in his pocket, tempted to pull it out and check the download from the airport for cultural lessons, but he thought that might be considered cheating. He bit at his lower lip as he considered something he had seen in a Goryeoan drama he watched when trying to learn the language back home … he briefly wondered if that moment, or the entire show, was over-dramatized, but it was the only thing he could think of. Sliding the backpack off his shoulder, he set it down on the ground and went down to his knees. He then closed his eyes and bent down, putting his flat hands on the stone path and resting his forehead on top of his hands.

It was the greeting a character had done upon entering a palace. He replayed that scene in his mind, trying to recall if the character stayed in the position until told to stand, or if a few seconds was enough.

THUD.

Adam’s eyes flew open, and his entire body jerked as he felt the vibrations of something landing in front of him on the stone path. He winced as dust was kicked up towards him from the impact, and he let out a cough, lifting his head to see a –

“TIGER?!” he bleated in a panic, the force of his body’s fear instinct rocking him back and nearly up to his feet, but he tripped and fell back. A massive tiger moved a paw easily the size of his head toward him, its eyes staring intently at him; one eye was a dark brown, and the other a light blue, but this fact was temporarily lost on the panicking Little. Flabbergasted, he started crawling backwards and felt his back hit the suddenly shut gate door. He turned around and pounded his fists against it, letting out a terrified cry for help.

“Identification,” a masculine voice ordered, and Adam spun around, ready to beg for help from whoever was here, but he was greeted by only the tiger … which was now sitting. His eyes desperately looked around for the source, but the tiger moved its head down, and when the voice came again, it was clearly originating from the tiger, “Identification.”

“What the fu –” he started to say, but stopped himself when his brain caught up – the tiger’s mouth hadn’t opened, but the voice did come from it; it also had the telltale signs of coming from a speaker. Taking in a few breaths, he nodded, “Y-yeah, I .. I have it.”

The tiger blinked – no, the eyes flashed. A familiar blue and Adam gasped.

“Are you a …” he started to ask, but the tiger emitted a low growl as its upper lip lifted to reveal very real-looking teeth.

“Identification,” the voice repeated coldly, its tone indicating it would not ask again.

“It’s in there,” Adam nodded as he lifted a shaking hand to point to the backpack on the ground. The tiger looked, then dipped its head in a nod. The blonde gulped as he took a step closer to it and reached a hand out, grabbing the backpack and pulling it to him. He fumbled with unzipping the middle compartment and realized the issue – his passport and visa were still in the box Jeong had provided to block scanners. Quickly, shaking, he snapped open the container and pulled them out, lifting them to his eye level. “S-see?”

The tiger’s eyes flashed that same blue, reminiscent of Gilly, confirming to him this was not a flesh-and-blood tiger … though that didn’t make him feel any safer.

“Unauthorized,” the voice confirmed, and the hind legs of the tiger brought it to standing, its face shifting into a clear predatory look.

“N-no, WAIT –”

“Boja!” snapped a booming voice, and the tiger froze unnaturally. The feminine voice spoke again in Goryeoan, which sounded like a command, and the tiger returned to its neutral expression and sat. Adam stared, wide-eyed at the tiger, his life having just flashed before his eyes … which shifted when he saw an approaching figure.

A Goryeoan woman, the tallest Amazon he had ever seen, calmly walked up beside the tiger, letting a gentle hand glide across its neck and land on its head. She gave it a single pat, though her eyes – also mismatched brown and blue – never left Adam. Nor his from hers. She was wearing a long, pale blue flowing dress that was a modern interpretation of the Goryeoan hanbok, with a black and golden embroidered belt sitting slightly above her natural waist. She had incredibly long, shining black hair that she had left down and flowing. She gathered the front of her skirt with massive hands and knelt — slowly, regally — until she loomed over him like a living mountain. He gulped as he felt that phantom diaper again, estimating he was the size of a small baby compared to her, a thought that was in direct conflict with the rising heat throughout his body.

“Who are you?” she marveled as her eyes studied his hair, his face, then dropped to his clothes. He swallowed as he saw her scrutinize his lower half the longest, for one absurd second, wondering if she knew what he had been wearing but an hour ago.

“My… my name is Adam Sharpe,” he replied shakily, lifting his passport that was still firmly clutched in his white-knuckled hand. “I, uh… was h-hoping to meet Ma Joomi.”

The woman blinked a few times in genuine surprise, and then, slowly, a wide smile spread across her lips.

“And so you have, Mr. Sharpe.”

[BabySofia]

Given that was relatively too easy... I have a feeling he's going to regret meeting her. Also a little concerned for him that he urinated in public like that... some countries that could be a major offense! 

I love the robotic tiger guard! We all need one of those! 🙂

[Guilend]

First, urinated in public, I wouldn’t be surprised if you did that in some countries you’d get corporal punishment for it even as an adult. 
 

Love the tiger. Absolutely amazing. 
 

I think she’s a robot or something. I agree with Sofia, this seems too easy. Something is wrong, like it’s not really her. Whoever she is, I believe she’s another layer of security or the test. 

[cipher12]

2 hours ago, BabySofia said:

Given that was relatively too easy... I have a feeling he's going to regret meeting her. Also a little concerned for him that he urinated in public like that... some countries that could be a major offense! 

I love the robotic tiger guard! We all need one of those! 🙂

40 minutes ago, Guilend said:

First, urinated in public, I wouldn’t be surprised if you did that in some countries you’d get corporal punishment for it even as an adult. 
 

Love the tiger. Absolutely amazing. 
 

I think she’s a robot or something. I agree with Sofia, this seems too easy. Something is wrong, like it’s not really her. Whoever she is, I believe she’s another layer of security or the test. 

Hehehe I can hear Adam yelling "EASY?!" 😂 Thank you both!! 💕 I'm glad the tiger's going over well 🥰

[Guilend]

14 minutes ago, cipher12 said:

Hehehe I can hear Adam yelling "EASY?!"

I mean, he did get beat up, spanked and diapered, injected with drugs or given this grueling test we all expected. So I say easy 😂 

 

15 minutes ago, cipher12 said:

'm glad the tiger's going over well

It was my favorite part 😂 

[codsterc10@msn.com]

Love it amazing job.