Since the logo symbol of BTS’s fifth full-length studio album was unveiled toward the end of last year, the global ARMY community has devoted countless hours and a great deal of pαѕѕion to uncovering the many layers of hidden meaning behind its design. Given BTS’s long-standing tradition of embedding elaborate “theories,” fans were convinced that the logo served as a clue pointing to the concept or even the title of the album scheduled for release on March 20.
One of the most widely discussed and enthusiastically supported theories from the very beginning suggested that the album might be titled “Hello.” Fans analyzed the gradually revealed red logo, claiming that it increasingly resembled the word “Hello.” Some went even further, proposing that the circular symbol was in fact a bilingual pun between English and кσяєαn. Additional pieces of “evidence” were also brought forward to reinforce this line of reasoning.
However, all theories surrounding “Hello” were completely overturned on January 16, when BigHit Music officially announced that the album’s title would be “ARIRANG.” What left ARMY even more “traumatized” than the υиєχρє¢тє∂ title itself was the revelation that BTS had been fully aware of the “Hello” theories fans had been circulating all along. The members even went so far as to openly mock this misunderstanding during a live broadcast, leaving millions of fans around the world indescribably embarrαѕѕed.
During the January 16 livestream, leader RM explained why BTS chose the title “ARIRANG” and revealed that Jungkook was the designer behind the logo, which originated from stylizing the word “ARIRANG” using кσяєαn characters. Once this explanation was shared, the members promptly switched gears and began teasing fans for overanalyzing the logo.
RM bluntly remarked, “No one was able to predict the meaning of the logo” with Jimin chiming in agreement: "At first, the fans were making predictions". Meanwhile, j-hope directly brought up the now-infamous “Hello” theory that ARMY had firmly believed in for months, mentioning, “Jin hyung said “Hello.”". Then, Jimin added, “We were live in the U.S., right?”
Looking back on the incident, Jin could only laugh helplessly at the sheer imagination of ARMY. Still chuckling, he defended himself by saying, “I was just saying hello.” V did not miss the chance to twist the knife further into fans’ already bleeding hearts of embarrαѕѕment, adding, “People said “hello” felt strange, so it must have some meaning." RM then delivered the final blow with a matter-of-fact conclusion: "Hyung was just greeting everyone.”
The situation the members were referring to was a seven-member BTS livestream on a beach in mid-August, held after they had completed work on the new album at a songwriting camp in Los Angeles, prior to returning to кσяєα. Fans had highlighted the moment when Jin repeatedly opened the broadcast by enthusiastically saying “Hello” as what they believed to be solid evidence supporting the theory that the album title was “Hello.” Some even analyzed Jin and V’s facial expressions during that moment to further strengthen the credibility of the theory.
And now, the idols themselves have laid bare the harsh truth: fans had simply overthought everything, while the members were merely greeting viewers in the most ordinary way possible!
Not stopping at playful teasing, Jin went on to make ARMY even more mortified by delivering a signature “uncle joke” wordplay to reenact the situation. In кσяєαn, the word isanghae (“strange” or “odd”) sounds similar to a phrase meaning “toothache.” Jin casually joked, “If it’s strange("=If your tooth hurts" in кσяєαn), shouldn’t you go to the dentist?”
This joke sent the rest of the members into fits of laughter. RM burst out laughing and reacted, “Looks like hyung’s sense of humor is still alive” and "Your sense is still sharp" while youngest member Jungkook praised him, “This is genuinely funny!”
At this point, the overwhelming emotion among ARMY was sheer embarrαѕѕment. While fans had been busy writing lengthy analyses—sometimes spanning dozens of pages—about the supposed connection between the red logo and the word “Hello,” BTS had apparently been watching from afar, quietly amused. Being caught red-handed by their own idols over these far-fetched theories left fans laughing and crying at the same time. Even more unsettling was the realization that BTS knows everything their fans are doing.
Millions of fans who were publicly called out during yesterday’s livestream have since taken to social media, dramatically “crying” over being teased by their idols: "Bangtan stop mocking us guys", "They're mocking us", "I just know they love seeing what we’re theorizing but lowkey judging too", "Fr clowning us as usual", "Why are they вυℓℓуing us like this", "the concept of bts making up song names to mock us- and me reading one of these names "eternal sunshine" to clown even more",...
