LUA: I just mention the idea and of a sudden Lucy’s bouncing up and down on couch next to me, figure-skating forgotten, like I just told her tomorrow had been declared an extra Christmas. "So you're really going to do it?" she squeals. "I said I'm thinking about it," I say. "That's a yes! That's a yes!" she starts clapping her hands excitedly. OK, now I’m just confused. "I just don't see why you're so excited about this. I mean, I see what I'd get out of it. What do you get out of this?" "I already told you, silly," she says. "I want us to be an OT8. For that to happen I've got to" — she puts on an uncanny impression of Yoojung — "break the chains of monogamy wherever I find them." I ponder this for a moment. "You do realize," I ask carefully, "that Rina and Elly actually like the 'chains of monogamy," don't you?" She sighs, then starts to pout. I swear, this girl’s emotions are enough to give you whiplash. "Yeah, they're going to be the big problem. That's why I'm saving them to later, taking the easier wins first." I can’t help laughing. "So in other words you've got no idea and you're hoping for inspiration." "Something like that," Lucy agrees, and then all of a sudden she’s untroubled again. "But I've got time to worry about that later. Right now I've got work to do before dinner." I lean in and kiss her. "You do?" I ask. "What's that?" She turns to sit cross-legged on the couch facing me and folds her hands in her lap. She looks the way she does when we’re helping her with her homework and she has to recite something. "Well, right now we all look like we got up super early and went to the Olympics and watched a hockey game and just generally have had a big day and are kind of tired. So I've got to do your makeup so that you don't look tired. We want you to look perky and bright when you sit down next to Suyeon at dinner." Lucy’s run-down of everything we did today makes me twice as tired as I already had been. I yawn, just barely getting my hand up in time to cover my mouth. "I don't think a whole factory full of makeup could make me feel perky and bright." "Just you wait 'til I'm done with you," she says with a grin. "But first, I'm going to run down to the coffee shop on the corner to buy you a cafe Americano." I can’t help laughing at Lucy’s excitement over her plan. "Remind me to never have you conspiring against me!" "You wouldn't stand a chance," she says with a wink as she jumps up to go get her shoes on. RINA: Elly and I walk by the pond, talking everything over and working it out. "So we're cool?" she asks. "We understand that we've here for each other and no matter what kind of drama the others get into, we won't let it touch us?" I not — that’s exactly what I’d wanted to hear from her. "We're cool. Um... what time is it?" She pulls out her phone and checks the time. "Almost dinnertime - we'd better be heading back." "Especially since it's your turn to fix dinner," I say. Apparently she’d forgotten that. She freezes, her hand covering , then starts panicking. "It is, isn't it? Oh no oh no oh no! What am I gonna do?" I thin for a moment — apparently it’s my turn to be the one who’s holding everything together. I put on my most decisive face. "You and I are going to run back to the apartment as fast as we can. I'll help you with the chopping and you should be able to get bibimbap done in time." "Sounds good," she says as she takes off for the apartment at a run, leaving me scrambling to catch up. It takes us a surprisingly short time to get back to the Fantagio dorms — I’ve never gone running with Elly before, so I had no idea how fast she is. On the way up the stairs I almost run into Lucy, who’s walking carefully, carrying a coffee. I do run into Doyeon, who’s sitting at the top of the stairs, but after a quick apology I’m running again, hot on Elly’s heels. We dash into the apartment, kick off our shoes, and skid to a stop in kitchen. I glanced at the clock — I think we’ve got just enough time. We wash our hands and put on aprons, I start chopping vegetables. Out of the corner of my eye I see Elly checking the rice cooker — thank God she remembered to set the timer before we left for the Olympics this morning. As I finish the veggies, she gets to chopping and frying beef and then frying eggs. I’m amazing at how quickly we’re able to pull it together, arranging the beef and vegetables on top of bowls of rice and topping each with a fried egg. I look at the clock again as Elly’s calling the members to dinner and I see that we’re actually a couple of minutes early. Damn, me and Elly are