Hongbin stood up immediately and held Youngji in his arms. He knew in the back of his mind that creating Youngji's new body would bring consequences, and he had faith that noboyd would notice or even track him, but unfortunately he just had to be wrong.

However, he doesn't regret rebuilding Youngji, or even meeting her in his human life before turning into a cyborg himself.

Because they were able to meet again; Hongbin just didn't want to end this way.

The men in black were strong enough to rip Youngji from his arms, and as Hongbin struggled, he witnessed one of them stabbing a cord into her back. She had a pained expression in her eyes as the glowed blue, and the machine that was hooked to the cord revealed that Youngji was an illegally made cyborg. The men in black stared at each other for a minute, but that was plenty of time for Hongbin to be free from the grasp of one of the men and pushing the other two into the walls of the lab. Without thinking, Hongbin pulled Youngji into the operating room where the couple's fates changed.

Hongbin pressed a red button near the entrance, and as fast as lightning, a metal door protected them from the men in black. He could hear them banging into the door helplessly and Hongbin knew that they would be safe for a long time before the metal door would soon fail and break open.

"We're safe, Youngji..." Hongbin whispered, still gripping onto her hand. "We'll be okay."

"You're...happy," Youngji spoke for the first time as a cyborg, which was more than enough for Hongbin. "I am too. Is that weird?"

"Not at all," Hongbin replied as he cupped his bionic girlfriend's face with both hands. "...I love you."

With that, Hongbin kissed Youngji on the forehead even though her bangs blocked his lips, and he smelled vanilla. Youngji just naturally smelled that way: Fresh, sweet, delicious.

"I love you, too, Hongbin," Youngji paused before saying, "I always will, no matter where I am. I mean it."

Hongbin heard the metal door being banged on and he realized that the heavy iron was denting. They didn't have much time left.

"Oppa, what're we going to do?" Youngji asked, a frightened tone in her soft voice. "Are we going to fight? I'm a cyborg now, so I can probably-"

"No," Hongbin answered with a stern tone to his voice. "Youngji, you're not the only cyborg in here..."

"Wait, does that mean-"

"Yes. I'm a cyborg also."

That's when Hongbin remembered...

Hongbin sat on cold, concrete stairs as he cried heavily in the operating room. He remembered Youngji's sweet smile, hair laugh, the softness in her hair. Her beautiful, long black hair. Hongbin also remembered when Youngji got angry at him for making fun of her favorite book: Romeo and Juliet. She always told him that even though the young couple died together, they would meet again, if they believed in love and life. But Hongbin only made fun of the book, saying that it was a child's tale and that love ended when a person's life ended. You just fall in oblivion; forgetfulness. You die and you start over with memories wiped away like a computer protection system that clears a virus when detected; the virus is forgotten and nobody cares.

But Hongbin's theory was proven wrong when Youngji laid on the hospital bed, looking sickly and pale. He realized that love isn't easy to forget; someone dear to you remembers your love, and with it, memories. When Youngji's hand slipped away from his fingers, Hongbin begged and begged for her to wake up, hoping that she was merely sleeping from exhaustion. When the doctors stated that Youngji was officially dead, he drove back to his lab, blinded by tears.

That's when he screamed with clenched teeth, feeling angry, sadness, and mostly regret. Before Youngji's final minutes, Hongbin only pciked on her playfully, andhe didn't truly express love to her before she died. Turning to the operating table, Hongbin took off his white shirt, showing toned muscle. He slowly walked up the cold concrete steps with bare feet and programmed a nearby machine to replace the inside of his body and make him new. To make him a completely different being.

Make me into a cyborg.

And so with an overload of anesthesia, Hongbin couldn't feel his remaining human parts inside him being torn away and being replaced with wires and artificial parts. His eyes were slightly parted as his brain was being programmed anew with no memory of Youngji or any known human emotion.

Hongbin's final thought as a human was, Now look at me forgetting you with your eyes wide open. Don't ever forget me.

"I'm sorry," Youngji whispered, shock in her eyes. "In the end, my memory still existed somewhere, didn't it?"

"Yes, and I'm grateful that we could finally be together, right at the very end."

"But we could fight together since we're both cyborgs," Youngji's voice was filled with a clear hope and Hongbin smiled inside. "We can beat them, my love."

"No," he shook his head in defeat. They couldn't win; they were outnumbered, or they would be soon. Who knows how many people are waiting outisde of that metal door? "We can't win. We will die anyways, so why don't we die together as our final act of true love?"

"You think we should sacrifice ourselves?" Youngji's voice was being increasingly high pitched. "In the short amount of time we had reunited as cyborgs, you think we should end ourselves already?"

Hongbin was silent for a second, but then he played scenarios in his mind: What if they both died fighting off enemy forces? What if one of them died and the other would be contained for eternity? What if Youngji died in front of him again and he would start the recreation process over again without any true memory or even kill himself without being beside her?

He wasn't taking that chance, so his only answer was, "Yes."

___

(Youngji's POV)

When the men in black appeared, Hongbin hugged me tightly, but the warm feeling of love and care didn't last long when I was ripped away from him. One of the men held Hongbin and the other two stuck a cord into my spine, causing me to feel pain, and I heard the machine that the cord was attached to blink as I was immobilized. Hongbin waas finally free and pushed the two men that separated me from him into walls on oppiosite sides. He grabbed my arm and pulled me into an operating room. Hongbin pushed a red button near the entrance, causing a heavy iron door to block it, stopping the men in black in their tracks.

"We're safe, Youngji..." Hongbin whispered, still gripping onto my hand. "We'll be okay."

"You're...happy," I spoke for the first time as a cyborg, and my systems showed that my boyfriend was feeling happiness, a human emotion. Though we weren't the same anymore, I now had the ability of feeling human emotions and had a free will of my own. "I am too. Is that weird?" Even so, cyborgs shouldn't feel complete human emotions since they were half human and half machine. Maybe Hongbin remade me to be different from other cyborgs, to feel how we did when I was human. Everything was coming together now.

"Not at all," Hongbin replied as he cupped my face with both of his hands. His hands felt warm and muscular, causing me to feel protected by his touch. "...I love you."

Hongbin kissed me on the forehead, though my bangs were blocking the way. As he leaned closer, I smelled oil and metal on his clothes, as if he were working with machines since I've been gone.

"I love you, too, Hongbin," I revealed my true feelings to him and I paused before saying, "I always will, no matter where I am. I mean it."

I heard the metal door being banged on, and I looked up to Hongbin, who had a worried look on his face. There were going to be okay, right?

"Oppa, what're we going to do?" I asked, frightened, but tried to act more human. "Are we going to fight? I'm a cyborg now, so I can probably-"

"No," Hongbin cut me off with a stern tone to his voice. From what my systems told me, he was a but frightened but overprotective. "Youngji, you're not the only cyborg in here..."

"Wait," I became excited, hoping that my wish to spend eternity with my boyfriend would come true. "Does that mean-"

"Yes," that was the answer I was looking her. "I'm a cyborg also."

That's when Hongbin revealed to me what happened after my uman body passed away. He cried nonstop, and only thought of the regret he felt when he made fun of my favorite book: Romeo and Juliet. I also remembered when I got angry with him because he didn't believe in an ending like that could truly exist. I again remembered my death: My body going limp. Me dying in front of my own boyfriend.

Hongbin couldn't cope with the harsh reality of my death, so he turned himself into a machine and left behind only his broken heart so he couldn't deal with such pain again. But even so, my memory still existed somewhere and I was still inside his heart. Now that I found out we were both cyborgs, Honbgin and I can live forever and I'll even fight for him so that wish can come true. I couldn't just let our love die here. I wouldn't.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, feeling shock and regret. "In the end, my memory still existed somewhere, didn't it?"

"Yes," he replied, "and I'm grateful that we could finally be together, right at the very end."

"But we could fight together since we're both cyborgs," my hope was speaking for me, and my systems revealed that Hongbin felt a light happiness inside. "We can beat them, my love."

"No," my hope was crushed when he shook his head. "We can't win. We will die anyways, so why don't why die together as our final act of true love?"

"You think we should sacrifice ourselves?" my voice rose with every second with surprise and anger. "In the short amount of time we had reunited as cyborgs, you think we should end ourselves already?"

I couldn't believe it. When Hongbin remained silent, I thought of how ridiculous he sounded. He created me so we could be together again, and he wanted to end us already? I might as well remained dead...

No, I shouldn't think that way. I should think from Hongbin's perspective: He spoke of defeat. We would be outnumbered anyway. I realized that Hongbin didn't want us to be separated or for one of us to forget the other. He didn't want to take that chance.

So I wasn't sad or angry, only sympathetic, as he answered with one word, "Yes."