“Stop cheering for the other team!” Mina yells at me every time Leah and I high-five each other during a game or cheer each other on. Just because I want to win doesn’t mean I can’t hype up Leah while I’m at it. MC Yang smiles at our display of sisterhood, shouting, “Go, Kim sisters! You two could form your own two-person team!” The cameras also love it. They zoom in on every interaction between me and Leah. It’s been so long since we’ve had the chance to spend any time together. I’m sure joy is radiating on my face each time we pass each other in a relay race, or make eye contact during a game. When it’s time for the durian-eating contest, we try to stop ourselves from gagging as they present the slices of fruit. MC Yang explains that the smell is so strong, and so notoriously bad, that it’s actually banned on the MRT, Singapore’s mass-transit system. I catch Leah making a grossed-out face behind MC Yang’s back and throw a hand over my own face to hide my giggle, but I’m sure the cameras catch it anyway.

The cameras are eating up Mina’s competitiveness, too. I’m pretty sure they think she’s exaggerating for television, but I know Mina. That’s 100 percent real. She hates losing more than anything, no matter how small the stakes are. It must be in her blood. When Ari falls behind in the egg-and-spoon race because she can’t run fast enough in her four-inch wedge espadrilles, Mina shouts at her to just take them off, saying, “Come on, Choos don’t lose!” before blushing and correcting herself—“I mean Girls Forever. Girls Forever doesn’t lose. Come on, Ari, just go barefoot!”

By the time we get to the beach volleyball competition, our fire is at an all-time high. We may not be nearly as good as the people I saw playing on the beach earlier, but we move like a well-oiled machine. I pass the ball to Mina, who’s perfectly positioned to bump it over to Jiyoon, who spikes it over the net with a loud, satisfying slap! The ball bounces from Ari to Sumin to Youngeun, never once touching the sand. What we lack in athleticism, we make up for in synchronization. Just like photo ops on the red carpet, we know exactly where to position ourselves relative to the rest of the group—shifting our formations seamlessly just like we do in our choreography. The other groups don’t stand a chance against us. Maybe we can get on each other’s nerves sometimes, but we’re always able to come together when there’s something on the line, even if it is just a silly game show.