Hongbin froze at the sight of Youngji. Her big and beautiful eyes staring back at him. As Hongbin stood, gaping at her, he held out his hand and her cheek. “It’s really you…” he exhaled. Taekwoon walked over to them. “Hongbin…there’s still one thing missing…” he interrupted. Hongbin still watched as Youngji continued to stare blankly at him, not moving at all. “What…what’s wrong with her…why won’t she say anything?” he demanded. Then he figured it out. Hongbin brushed her hair behind her shoulders and saw it.

A single rectangular slot remained empty, placed on the side of her neck.

“She doesn’t have…”

“A memory chip. Or in this case, any memory at all”

Hongbin looked to Taekwoon. “Why? Why did I have my memory, but she doesn’t?” he asked.

Taekwoon sighed. “Hongbin, when a human dies, so does their memory. Their heart freezes in time and their brain eternally shuts off. Youngji faced that. Now she has no recollection of anything…not even you”

Hongbin took his hand away from her as Youngji continued to stare blankly at him. “What do we do?” Hongbin asked, looking to Taekwoon. Taekwoon dug into his pocket and held out a small gadget, another memory chip. “This is an empty chip. Completely clean. And this…this will hold all of her new memories” he explained and put it into the empty slot. Youngji, who watched emotionless the whole time, blinked and her eyes finally started to wander. Taekwoon walked over to his desk and picked up some sort of helmet, but it wasn’t a normal helmet. It was a large circular dome big enough to hold someone’s entire head. Taekwoon held out the massive device and placed it on Youngji. Hongbin looked puzzled. “What are you doing?” he asked, stepping back. Taekwoon pressed a button on the massive device and it immediately responded by releasing a dim glow. Taekwoon held out his hand to Hongbin. “All we have to do is render her memory, and you can help. By using your memory chip” he said. Hongbin instinctively touched his memory chip on his neck, protectively. “I thought it was dangerous to take it out…” he said. Taekwoon shook his head. “Your memory will not be altered at all, just transferred to another. As long as it remains in this device and the rendering is complete, everything will be fine.” He assured and held out his hand again. Hongbin was hesitant. It didn’t feel right, but he complied. He placed three fingers on his memory chip and shut his eyes. In one swipe, he took it out. And once he did, he regretted it. He felt physically drained, like his life started slowly slipping away. Taekwoon took the chip and quickly placed it in the correct slot on the rendering device. Right as he placed it in, Hongbin regained himself, but he felt immobile, unable to fully live in the present and stuck in the time in-between. Taekwoon pulled Hongbin over to the computers with him and Hongbin watched as he started endlessly typing, until the rendering device started up by flashing multiple lights. Hongbin watched one of the monitors which showed an image of Youngji inside the device, watching image after image go by showing her and Hongbin together. Hongbin looked over to another monitor which showed the progress of the rendering.

“Rendering 52%”

“There’s a built in camera inside so we can watch as the rendering happens. She seems to be responding well…”

Hongbin stared at the monitor, watching as his memories drifted into hers. Then his memory of the car accident showed up and Hongbin had to look away. He didn’t see Youngji’s reaction, but he didn’t need to. It was a dark memory for him and he did not want to relive it.

“Rendering 74%”

Taekwoon looked to Hongbin. “So what happens next?” he asked. Hongbin looked at him puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…what happens next? You don’t have a job, Youngji will only remember her times with you and nothing else…what are you going to do?” Taekwoon insisted.

Hongbin pondered the thought. He had been so focused of saving Youngji, he had completely forgotten that he had no job anymore. What would he do?

“Rendering 95%”

Anything. He would do anything to maintain her happiness and his. As long as they were together, nothing else really mattered. Now he could devote everything into their relationship. He wouldn’t have to watch her suffer because of him or spent long amounts of time apart. They could be together for eternity…

“Rendering Complete”

Hongbin stood up straight and walked over to Youngji. He slowly took off the helmet and placed it on the ground, steam coming out of it as he did so. When he looked back to Youngji again, her eyes changed. Instead of an emotionless glare she exerted a compassionate look. Hongbin cleared his throat. “Youngji-ah…It’s me…” he said.

Youngji didn’t respond, but she got off the stand and threw her arms around Hongbin and embraced him.