He woke up to a group of people, well robots and humans, hovering over him with worry in their eyes. He took a good look at his surroundings and found himself in a lab and on top of an operating table. 

"N..." a little boy called to him, "N! You're awake! We got you back to my lab as soon as possible and luckily none of us got injured. I repaired your head so things are normal again!" 

"Who..." he squinted his eyes and asked, "Who are you? I don't know any of you."

The others looked at each other silently. 

"N hyung!" a cute monotone voice exclaimed, "You shouldn't be joking at a time like this!"

"Is that my name?" he asked as he couldn't recall anything at all.

"That shot to the head was more lethal than I thought," the little boy said, "Let me examine you again and-"

"Wait Hongbin," a little girl pleaded, "I know how to get his memory back but the process is time-consuming."

"Alright Youngji," Hongbin said, "I trust you. Bring back our friend."

"Shoot..." a robot with a shaved head muttered, "First Leo and now N...I wonder who else is next..."

"Ravi hyung..." the cute monotoned robot murmured beside him, "It's going to be alright as long as we trust Youngji to bring N's memories back. At least we didn't lose Leo."

"You know what Hyuk?" Ravi turned to the shorter robot and said, "You're right. Our big brother will come back to us."

"Okay N," Youngji said, "I'm going to flip you over to examine you more carefully."

Youngji flipped N over and he felt her go deeper into his head than required. Then she said, "His memory chip is broken. No wonder he can't recall anything."

"I know how to fix that problem," Hongbin said before he walked over to a giant computer and pressed a few buttons. Though N was far away, he saw what was on the screen:

CHA HAKYEON. CODENAME: N. MALFUNCTIONS?

Hongbin typed a little and the screen read this time:

TRANSFERRING MEMORY TO MEMORY CHIP. PROCESS 25% COMPLETE...50% COMPLETE...75% COMPLETE...100% COMPLETE. MEMORY CHIP READY.

Hongbin walked towards N with a blue chip in hand and handed it to Youngji.

"Hongbin," a robot with black hair asked, "Our memory chips are green."

"I know. But the replacement blue memory chips are stronger so they won't break easily."

I'm sorry N," Youngji said as N felt her hands deep in his head again, "You'll black out again, but when you wake up, you'll remember everything."

As N's broken memory chip was ripped from his head, N out again, the darkness enveloping him and making him "dead" once again.

______

"N? N!" 

N jolted up from the surface he was laying on as he heard the shrill cry of Youngji in front of him. 

"N," Hongbin asked, "Tell me the names of everyone in this room."

"Hongbin, Youngji, Leo, Ken, Ravi, Hyuk..." N recalled names in just a couple seconds but stopped when he noticed that some people were missing. "Where are you parents Hongbin?"

"N!" Hongbin hugged him tightly. "I knew it would work, I knew it!"

"Huh?" N was confused.

"You lost your memory when you got shot in the head," Hongbin explained. "But now your memory's back and I'm so happy..."

"Hongbin, I'm sorry I forgot."

"It wasn't your fault. None of us saw it coming and now that we're safe and sound, we'll have time to figure out where to go next."

Suddenly a bedroom door opened and Hongbin's father said hastily, "We need to go, now. They're coming back!"