Finally, after a full day of nonstop challenges, and a big show of tallying up the points, the judges officially declare Girls Forever the winner of 1, 2, 3, Win. There’s star-shaped confetti and party music, and MC Yang hands us a big trophy with a number one on it. The whole thing is kind of ridiculous, but I swear it feels almost as sweet as the first time Girls Forever won Artist of the Year at RARA. With filming complete, we decide to celebrate our victory with drinks in our suite at the Capella Hotel, which has a private outdoor Jacuzzi with views of the water. Our managers tell us we have the rest of the day off here in Sentosa, and then tonight, we’ll be heading back into the city and spending one last night in Singapore before flying home to Seoul tomorrow morning.

TeenValentine is heading for the airport now, loading their shuttle van with dejected faces. I watch Akari go, guilt and sadness pressing against my chest. Today’s shoot was such a whirlwind—constantly moving between filming locations, crew members shouting instructions at us every time the cameras stopped rolling—that we never did get a chance to connect. I feel the pang of another lost opportunity as their van pulls out of the hotel parking lot. I guess there will be no apologies today.

“I could sit here forever,” Eunji sighs, sinking deeper in the water. The hot tub is surrounded by lush greenery with a mini waterfall flowing down one of the stone walls. It really feels like we’ve found a little corner of paradise.

“Same,” Sumin says blissfully. “Ugh. Just leave me here. I don’t want to get back on the plane tomorrow. It’s so cold at home.” She makes a face. “I can’t wait for the day when technology is advanced enough to make teleportation a thing. No more flying.”

“How are you going to backpack around the world one day if you hate airplanes so much?” Ari teases.

“I told you, teleportation,” Sumin says pointedly.

Lizzie plucks a piece of pineapple off the edge of her glass and pops it into her mouth, raising an eyebrow. “Since when did you want to backpack around the world, Soom?”

“Um, since always,” Sumin says. “It’s been on my bucket list since I was a kid.”

I had never taken Sumin for a world-traveler type since she hates flying so much, but now that she mentions it, I can totally picture her trekking around the globe with nothing but a big backpack on her shoulders. “I can see that,” I say.

“My bucket-list item is performing on Broadway or in the West End,” Ari says wistfully.

“Really?” Youngeun says from underneath the waterfall, the water massaging her shoulders. “But you always tell the fans that you never want to do anything other than K-pop.”