IMMORTAL CYBORG || LEE HONGBIN

CHAPTER 35

Heeyoung stared at them in disbelieved. Hakyeon told her to sit at the chair before they joined her. She quickly grabbed Hakyeon's hand. "Please. Tell me it's not true. Oppaaa" She bursts into tears and bit her lips to control her voice. This is not what she wanted to know and hear.

"We basically live depending on Hongbin. Without him, we are dead, we are already dead to be very honest.. All these-" Taekwoon stared at his own body and sighed "-its all machines and the memories were all created and selected to be part of us." She shut her eyes and shook her head a few times. She doesn't want to hear all that. It's impossible.

"The pictures that you held earlier." Hakyeon stopped when she turned to look at him. "-its Hongbin's parents. His first test. We are all not humans, Heeyoung-ah." She gasped and widened her eyes.

"E-even his..own parents? W-w-why- why did he do all these??" She let her tears wet her cheeks for the numerous times. She suddenly thought of Eunwoo. He knew this. He knew something is wrong with Lee Hongbin. She shook her head, she shouldn't have ignored Eunwoo's words and warning at the first place.

"He's afraid of losing us. Do you remember the robot competition? He almost- no all of us almost- so he doesn't want to repeat the same mistake twice." Taekwoon cut his own words and lazily replied her while looking at Hongbin's works and experiments in the lab.

She frowned "What's wrong with the competition?? You won right?"

"With cheating." She widened her eyes for the thousand times. How much more that he hid from her? She stroked her own hairs and tried to absorb everything. That's when something hit her into the reality. Her life.

"And me being able to see again?" She carefully stared at the computers. She squinted her eyes and familiar with one of the pictures there. The tree at the outside of the cafe that she used to work at. Yes he always took pictures there and it was for the cyborg's memories. Woah. She sighed and back to her question "-did..did he used these kind of things too?" She shut her eyes, waiting for their reply, hoping that she can hear something else instead of the same thing they have been saying for a while.

Taekwoon and Hakyeon looked at each other and sighed. Yes she needs to know. "Everyone in this house is a cyborg- except Lee Hongbin." Hakyeon carefully replied and stared at her expression. Blank. Lost. And betrayed. 

She stood up and shook her head. "No no no no impossible. I CAN'T BE ONE! I can't-" She fell to the floor and Taekwoon quickly calmed her down, stroked her back while she cried out loud. "Why.." She let her mouth opened but no words came out. She stared at her reflection at the shining table in front of her.

"I look like a human why am I a cyborg?" She went closer to the reflection and looked at her own eyes. It is indeed different. "How come I didn't recognize my own eyes has been replaced?" She held the table and cried. "I should have known."

Hakyeon helped Taekwoon to help her sit properly at the chair back. He held her shoulder and wiped her tears. She looked miserable and her eyes were swollen. "Heeyoung-ah listen to me." He forced her to face him and she did, lifelessly.

"Oppa..what- how do you- I'm.-" She wanted to say and ask a lot but she can't control herself yet. He nodded and signed her that she needs to listen to him first.

"We are not humans Heeyoung-ah. It's already happened. We are illegal now and it is just a matter of time that people will find us. And before that, you have to know that you are the only that can help us now."

She tried to breath properly and calmed down. She knew that it's the end of her life but she just don't want to admit it, not yet. "Wh-what do you- mean oppa?" She tried to look at him. But now its different, she now noticed how they looked insanely perfect, like they were polished from time to time to look and stay good looking. They looked the same as she last saw them, in 2015.

"We were regret. All of us." Taekwoon took a sit beside her and started to tell her the story of VIXX. "We found out that Hongbin cheated at that time, he malfunctioned our opponent's robot, and Hakyeon tried to be responsible for that. Our teacher were disappointed but he can't do anything either, we brought the trophy back to Korea and the whole world knew about it. Giving up and admitting that it's our fault, just bring a total shame to our school, our country, our own names and families so we just kept the secret until we are all dead."

Hakyeon nodded and continued his story "Hongbin locked himself at his house, feeling guilty to everyone and feeling thankful to me. I believed he felt that if he can creates a new life for everyone that he loves, we wouldn't feel guilty for a mistake that he made by himself." He took a deep breath "Which is why he turned his parents into cyborgs. Believing that robots can live forever as long as the creator or people keep them functioning."

"But it's his own parents. How can-" She cried again and held her head, probably a headache as she cried a lot today.

"He controlled his father's work and manipulated the bank account so that he can used it to buy this house and all these-" He looked at the room and pointed at the equipment. "-all these things. I believed I did search for him here and asked what happened. And the next thing I know was I felt like a baby."

"What?" Heeyoung frowned in confusion.

"I woke up, with a new life. I changed into a cyborg the day I searched for him. I don't know the reason i forgot about that, maybe he deleted that part of memory." Heeyoung suddenly thought of Eunwoo, again.

"His cousin.. disappeared.." She just realized the truth as one by one was exposed. Eunwoo knew something since before she said about her interest on Hongbin years ago. She realized that all these times were him being cautious and protected her and the fact she became a cyborg was because Eunwoo was not there to take care of her.

"Who's cousin is disappeared?" Hakyeon asked and Heeyoung stared at him. He didn't remember his own cousin, which means Hongbin deleted his family memories.

"Your cousin. Cha Eunwoo. My best friend. He knew about all of these things. He told me about you went missing when-" She stopped "he came here two days ago. I should have just showed him to you. Oh my." She closed her mouth and she's in need to seek help. Yes she needs Cha Eunwoo, her savior.

"It's okay Jang Heeyoung, we also kept this for a long time because that's what Hongbin wanted us to. But, we realized that this is not the life that you wished for, unlike us, we know that we are going to be cyborgs." Hakyeon stared at her swollen eyes. "But not you. Even though it seems like it is too late, it's better for you to know the truth about him."

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