Return Of The Cosmic God

The door swung open, and we stepped inside. The familiar scent of home greeted me, but the atmosphere felt... tense...

There she was…Maki, standing in the living room, her arms crossed and with an unreadable expression on her face… Her foot tapped rhythmically against the wooden floor, and her gaze locked on me with the precision of a sniper rifle.

Joseph snickered quietly behind me, clearly enjoying the show.

"Maki…" I began, my voice a bit nervous. "I…."

Before I could finish, Maki's eyes narrowed, and she pointed to my phone.

"Look at your phone. How many times did I message you??!!...."

I swallowed hard and glanced down at the wall of notifications. I knew better than to lie at this point. "Uh... a lot?"

"A lot…" Maki repeated flatly, her tone icy.

Abdul, ever the supportive friend, gave me another gentle pat on the back. "Stay strong, man…" he whispered.

I forced a sheepish smile. "I'm... really sorry, Maki... I got, uh, caught up in everything, you know? The trip was busy, and... I didn't mean to ignore you..."

Joseph coughed behind me, muttering, "He means he forgot…."

"Shut up, Joseph…" I hissed under my breath.

I turned back to Maki and quickly reached into my bag, pulling out the souvenirs and treats I'd bought for her. "Here, look!!! I got you these..."

Maki's sharp gaze softened slightly as she inspected the silver necklace, perfume, and hand-carved lantern. For a brief moment, I thought the coast was clear… she forgave me….

She gave a small nod, her arms uncrossing. "Apologies accepted. But…"

I exhaled in relief, ready to finally relax.

But then... Joseph made his move.

Just as I was about to relax, I caught a glimpse of Joseph's movement from the corner of my eye... I saw Joseph putting his hand inside his pocket…

Joseph was still standing by the door, digging into his pocket with the smug grin of a man who was about to unleash chaos….

The moment I saw Joseph's hand slide into his pocket I instantly realized what he was planning to do…

I glanced over at Abdul, who had already noticed it too. His eyes widened in horror, and he gave me the kind of look you give a man just before he walks off a cliff…

"Oh no!!!...." Abdul whispered under his breath, "he's doing it…."

The sudden evil smile that spread across Joseph's face confirmed my worst fears. The video. He was going to show Maki the video…

I locked eyes with Abdul in sheer panic, and without a word, we both sprang into action.

"JOSEPH, NO!!!" I shouted, lunging toward him.

Abdul and I launched ourselves across the room at the same time, moving as if our lives depended on it…. in a way which they did…

Joseph let out a menacing laugh, dodging us like a quarterback avoiding a tackle. He danced away just in time, pulling his phone triumphantly from his pocket.

"You can't stop the inevitable, Takamiya!!!" he crowed, grinning ear to ear. "Caught in 4K!!!..."

Abdul made a desperate dive, his fingers grazing the edge of Joseph's phone, but Joseph twisted away….

"Oh, come on!!!" Abdul groaned with his face down on the floor. "Why are you like this??!!"

I scrambled back to my feet this time launching an attack from behind. We wrestled awkwardly in the living room, knocking over pillows and tripping over the coffee table.

"Give me that phone!" I growled, trying to pry it from his hand.

Joseph cackled like a madman. "Never!!!"

Just as I managed to grab Joseph's wrist, Abdul tackled him from the other side. We had him pinned…. Just as we thought victory was so close. I could feel the phone slipping from his fingers, and for a moment, I thought we might actually be able to stop him…

But Joseph, always ten steps ahead, made one last desperate move…

With a wicked grin on his face, he twisted his body and threw the phone into the air, directly toward Maki…

"No!!!" I yelled, reaching out in vain.

Maki caught the phone with ease. She was blinking in confusion as she looked down at the screen…

"No, no, no, no, NO!!!" Abdul whispered frantically, scrambling to his feet…

I dove toward Maki, trying to grab the phone back, but it was already too late…

Her thumb pressed the play button…

The room filled with the sound of Joseph's triumphant commentary…

"Here we are in Russia," the video began, showing the bartender leaning in and giving me a friendly kiss on the cheek.

"Look at Shin!" Joseph's voice crackled through the phone. "Caught in 4K! Look at that blush—priceless!!!...."

The video cuts to the belly dancer scene in Egypt. There I was, wide-eyed and blushing as the dancer swayed in front of me, with Abdul dying of embarrassment beside me…

"Oh, and there's Abdul!!!" Joseph's voice narrated gleefully. "Absolutely hating his life. And look at Shin… he's absolutely loving every second of it!!!"

I stood frozen in place, my heart getting faster with every passing moment, watching as Maki silently replayed the video in her head. Her expression remained neutral…. It was too neutral. Too dangerous….

She slowly lowered the phone, her lips pressed into a tight, exaggerated pout…

"So…" she said softly, her voice dangerously calm. "You were having fun with bartenders and belly dancers, huh?!..."

I held up my hands defensively. "Maki, I swear… It isn't what it looked like... Joseph just—he... it's all his fault!!!..."

Abdul chimed in quickly. "Yeah, totally Joseph's fault. 100 percent..."

Joseph, the absolute evil that he was, grinned ear to ear and gave Maki a little mock bow. "It was my honor…"

Maki's pout deepened as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Hmm..."

I stared at her, desperate for a sign of forgiveness. "Maki...?"

She didn't yell. She didn't scold me. She just gave me a side-eye so sharp it cut through me straight…

She didn't say anything. She just... pouted harder.

"Oh no…" Abdul whispered beside me. "She's not mad. She's pouting. That's way worse…."

I nodded grimly. "I know that man..."

For a brief moment, it seemed like the storm had passed. Maki gave the Phone to Joseph and gave me one last disappointed glance. "I'll forgive you... eventually…"

"See?" I said, grinning nervously. "It's not so bad, right?!..."

But Joseph wasn't done. He clapped his hands dramatically, smirking at Maki. "Alright, Maki, our job here is done. We'll leave you two lovebirds to... talk."

Abdul rolled his eyes. "Let's go before Shin kills you…."

"Good luck, Takamiya," Joseph said with a wink, and with that, the two of them slipped out the door—leaving me alone with an eerily silent Maki.

As soon as Joseph and Abdul left, the apartment fell into an uncomfortable silence. Maki stood there for a moment, arms crossed, lips still in a pout. I gave her my best apologetic smile, hoping the worst was over….

"Hey, Maki... Come on," I said cautiously, trying to break the tension. "You know Joseph made it seem way worse than it was, right? It was just… umm…"

She cut me off with a sharp look. "I don't want to talk to you right now…"

And with that, she turned her back on me and went straight into the bedroom and slammed the door shut. Her cold attitude sent chills down my spine…

For a second, I just stood there in the living room, blinking. "Okay... this is not looking great..."

I rubbed my forehead and muttered to myself, "I am so dead…."

Over the next few hours, I discovered that being ignored by Maki was a form of punishment I never knew existed. She didn't yell. She didn't argue. She just... acted like I didn't exist…

Whenever I tried to get her attention, she'd either walk right past me or give me the coldest side-eye I have ever received. It was like I'd been erased from the house…

I followed her into the kitchen while she made tea.

"Hey, Maki, you want to talk? I can explain the whole thing…"

She opened the fridge, grabbed the milk, and poured it into her cup. She didn't even look in my direction. Then she turned around and walked right through me as if I were a ghost…

A literal ghost.

I stared after her in disbelief. "Wow. She didn't even blink…"

Determined to make things right, I tried everything…

First, I followed her around the apartment, acting overly sweet.

"Come on, Maki. I brought you souvenirs, remember? I got the necklace you liked... And perfume... And the lantern! That was a good one, right?"

No reaction.

She just sat on the couch, scrolling through her phone like I didn't even exist…

I sighed and plopped down beside her. "Maki... I'm sorry, okay? Don't do this to me."

Her only response was to scoot further away from me on the couch, putting a pillow between us like a barrier. Then she pulled her blanket over her legs and crossed her arms, her pout deepening…

It felt like someone had pressed the mute button on my entire existence. I groaned inwardly. "I didn't know being invisible was this painful…"

At one point, I decided to cook dinner and try and earn some points back. I spent an hour cooking her favorite curry, hoping the smell would lure her into at least talking to me…

When it was done, I plated it carefully and placed it on the table with a flower vase to enhance the mood…

"Tada! Curry night!! Come on, Maki, I know you love my cooking…"

She glanced briefly at the curry, then turned back to her phone without a word. She didn't even taste it…. she just grabbed a bag of chips and started eating those instead…

I stared at her in disbelief. "She chose chips over my curry. I'm doomed..."

The apartment was dark and silent. There was only the soft ticking of the wall clock… I stared at the bedroom door for a moment, summoning every ounce of courage I had left…

"This is it, Shin," I whispered to myself. "Time to fix this…"

I slowly opened the bedroom door. Maki was already lying in bed, bundled under the blanket with her back facing me. The moonlight streaming through the window illuminated her form, making her look small and distant. Too distant…

I knew I had messed up. But maybe if I could just hold her things would feel right again.

I slipped quietly into the room and tiptoed toward the bed, trying to make as little noise as possible. Maki didn't move, just lying silent and still. For a moment, I wondered if she'd already fallen asleep, but I knew better…

She wasn't sleeping. She was waiting… waiting for me to say something, to make up for the time I had stolen from her…

I swallowed hard and slipped under the same blanket as her, trying to get closer…

I slowly wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her closer toward me. I buried my face into her shoulder, the familiar scent of her shampoo stirring memories of every moment I had missed during the trip…

"Maki!!!" I whispered softly, pressing a kiss against her shoulder. "I missed you..."

For a brief second, there was no response. Then, like a switch flipped…

"Don't touch me!!!..." Maki's voice came out sharp and cold. She jerked away from my touch, twisting out of my grasp, and pulled the blanket tightly around herself….

"I froze, stunned by the sudden rejection.

"Maki…"

She sat up slightly, her voice shaking. It was filled with both anger and sadness. "Do you have any idea what I went through, Shin?!..."

The knot in my stomach tightened as I stayed quiet, realizing she wasn't done.

"A whole month…" Her voice wavered, and I could hear the tears building behind her words. "I was sitting here, waiting for you. Every single day. Alone. While you were out there, laughing with your friends, getting kissed by bartenders, and watching dancers..."

She let out a bitter laugh, but it was tinged with pain. "And here I was, wearing your stupid t-shirts, missing you so much I couldn't sleep." Her breath hitched, and she paused as if trying to hold back the flood of emotions. "I thought you'd at least call. Or text. Anything… But... you didn't even care..."

I wanted to say something… anything… but the words got stuck in my throat. How could I even begin to explain myself when I had no excuse? She was right. I had left her behind…

Emotionally, not just physically… and now… I was watching the damage before me…

Maki wiped her eyes, her voice becoming even more fragile. "I waited for you, Shin. Every single day. Checking my phone. Waiting for a message. Do you know how lonely I felt?!..."

I stayed silent, guilt crashing over me...

"I didn't care about the souvenirs, Shin," she whispered. "I just wanted you. But you didn't care. You were too busy... with them..."

I felt my heart ache as I watched her wipe away the tears that spilled over her lashes. I wanted to hold her, tell her I was sorry, tell her that I would never leave her like that again…. but it felt like every word would just make things worse….

Maki's shoulders trembled slightly, and she sniffled softly. "You have no idea how hard it was... waking up every morning and realizing that you weren't coming home that day. And then scrolling through Instagram and seeing you smile with everyone else. It was like... like I didn't even exist to you…"

Her voice cracked…

"And now you come home and think you can just... slip into bed and everything will be fine?" She shook her head slowly. "It doesn't work like that, Shin..."

She curled back under the blanket, turning her back to me once again, her voice small and broken. "Just... go to sleep… There's nothing left to say…"

I lay there beside her, completely frozen. My heart felt heavy with the weight of everything she had just said and she was right…

I hadn't even realized how much that would hurt her. How much she had needed me. And now, no souvenir in the world could fix the emotional wounds I had caused…

All I could do was lie there in silence, knowing that I had let her down in the worst possible way…

Maki didn't say anything else after that. Her breathing eventually became slow and steady, and I knew she had finally fallen asleep… or at least pretended to….

I stayed awake, staring up at the ceiling while feeling like the worst person in the world. The bed felt colder, even though she was lying right beside me…

I wanted to pull her close, to whisper that I was sorry a thousand times over, but I knew it wouldn't make a difference. The damage was already done. And tomorrow, I would have to figure out how to make things right…

But for now, all I could do was lie awake and curse Joseph under my breath.

"I swear to God, Joseph... I'll get you for this..."

But for now, survival was the only priority...

I closed my eyes, letting out a long, frustrated sigh. Tomorrow would be damage control day.

But for now, I just had to survive the night.

TO BE CONTINUED