In just a few days, BTS will be celebrating theirs 9th anniversary and entering their10th year. Over the past 9 years, BTS has experienced many milestones in their career, including difficult times and prominent peaks that few people have.

Looking back at the production of the first album in a garage, we can see how hard BTS has worked to get to where it is today. Let's go back to 2013 to see the perseverance of the boys who did not give up no matter how difficult it was.

BTS from a small rookie has become one of the most successful musical artists of all time. They went up from the darkest times until they saw the bright light of the peak of glory.

Therefore, in the series of photos to celebrate the 9th anniversary of Family Portrait 2, BTS evoked memories of each particularly important milestone in their career. And we can't help but mention the first milestone - the early days of BTS's debut.

At the time of BTS's debut, the Kpop market was dominated by Big3 including SM, JYP, and YG. These are all the famous and big companies training top Kpop idols, so debuting under the management of a small company like Big Hit Music easily puts BTS under a lot of pressure.

Not only that, when Big Hit Entertainment was about to debut, BTS had to shoulder a huge debt of up to 6 billion KRW. Big Hit was forced to sell the company in the form of convertible bonds to get funding for the launch of BTS.

Even Bang Si Hyuk (CEO of Big Hit at the time) bet both his career and his brainchild on the success of BTS. If they cannot pay the principal and interest in full, he will lose the 10-year inheritance to someone else and leave empty-handed.

Fortunately, Bang PDnim's "gamble of a lifetime" brought him a sweeter victory. Who would have thought that a corporation that influenced the structure of the Korean economy would now come up from the bottom of society?

In an interview with Pitchfork, BTS once told the story of how meaningful they made their first album and couldn't forget that time. The story behind the album shows the hard work the boys went through, but their love of music and passion helped them get the results they deserved.

BTS released their first album, Dark & ​​Wild on August 20, 2014. Recording started in Korea, then moved to the United States - where BTS filmed the reality show American Hustle Life.

BTS just produced this album while filming for the reality show American Hustle Life in the US. They had to film for the reality show, record the title track "Danger" and practice choreography even without sleep.

Jimin said,  "This is one of the songs with the most difficult choreography so it's very memorable. We recorded the album in the US with a very tight schedule."

With Jungkook, he still clearly remembered the white practice room they used to spend hours in and barely sleep in. Due to severe lack of sleep, the members had to sneak… into the bathroom to take a nap until the instructor kicked them out.

BTS's golden maknae shared, "We were all so sleepy that we had to go to the toilet to sleep. Then the instructor would say 'Hey! Get out!'".

Although looking back on that time was hard, the boys always consider this a good memory. It's just like what j-hope said: "That time is where our best stories begin".

Not only that but much of the filming of Dark & ​​Wild took place in Los Angeles, California, in a studio with a modest garage that belonged to a friend of Big Hit Entertainment CEO Bang Si Hyuk. It didn't have all the modern and exxpensive equipments, but it was the starting place of the Billboard top 1 songs later.

The period from the first days was really tough and even BTS couldn't know where their future would be. But now when they sit back and talk about those old hardships, they can smile and know that all their hard work, effort, and perseverance have paid off.

From “Danger” to “Dynamite”, these humble kings were born to shine!