In a live broadcast around September last year—before the album ARIRANG was finalized—RM once honestly expressed his feelings, saying: “Ahhhh it’s so burdensome!! I mean imagine you’re BTS! You’re BTS but you just discharged from the military, it took 3 years, you’re suddenly back and everyone’s like wow they’re gonna come up with soмєтнing insane, aren’t they? It’s pressuring to us too!”

Meanwhile, in live broadcasts after ARIRANG entered its final stages of completion, other members such as j-hope, Jimin, and Jungkook also occasionally spoke about how much they were looking forward to fans’ reactions. They value their own work highly, yet they also feel anxious about whether the public response will be positive.

The anxiety still lingered, even when BTS has an enormous and loyal global fanbase; their brand has become iconic; their public recognition goes far beyond the norm; they have a powerful support network (label, media, platforms, partners); years of accumulated achievements; and proven talent. Simply put, BTS now has what is almost a “safety net,” making it difficult for them to fail completely. This context affords them the room to experiment, explore, and broaden their artistic horizons.

However, in their early days, they did not have such “privilege.” In fact, for BTS and BigHit back then, a failed release could have meant a real threat of their careers ending prematurely. And they had once gone through such a near-collapse before.

In the group’s documentary, RM revealed that BTS were thrilled after the success of “Boy In Luv” and wanted to “win” with their next comeback. Alongside the excitement, there was also immense pressure: if this comeback did not succeed, the company would suffer serious negative consequences. Beyond reputation, the money and resources BigHit invested in BTS at the time represented nearly their last remaining capital—and behind it lay a mαѕѕive, unpaid debt from the group’s debut

Unfortunately, those concerns became reality when BTS failed to take first place with “Danger” on music shows. What made the members even more disappointed was that the song “left the charts in a day.”

Jin also recalled that period, saying, “As we plummeted with ‘Danger’ after ‘Boy In Luv’, the company happened to be suffering from financial difficulties as well.” That chain of misfortunes nearly marked the end of BTS’s journey. Jin shared how they felt back then: “It felt like it was the end for us.”

They couldn’t help comparing themselves to other groups, especially in terms of how long it took to reach No. 1. In addition to feeling burned out and impatient to succeed, the members grew frustrated, which led to many internal arguments at the time. Yet they did not realize that making it through that dark period would become the beginning of an unstoppable rise.

Everything changed completely with BTS’s next comeback, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1, when they earned their first-ever music show win with the title track “I NEED YOU.” The shift from “Danger” to The Most Beautiful Moment in Life was not merely a comeback—it marked a breakthrough transformation in the group’s artistic mindset and their approach to making music.

Clearly, “Danger” was not a failure, but rather a meaningful test of BTS’s musical philosophy and perseverance. If they had not pushed through that setback and continued forward, they would have missed the chance to reach their first major success and become the living legends they are today. Looking back on that time, RM also affirmed: “After winning first place, I gained a lot of confidence.”

That moment clearly proves one truth: sometimes you have to нιт rock bottom before you can gather enough strength to leap toward unimaginable heights. That is why, even years later, no matter how many hardships and pressures BTS faced—and even if they thought about disbanding hundreds of times—they never truly gave up even once, always finding a way to push through.

A direct example is when we return to the moment RM spoke about the pressure BTS faced while producing the album ARIRANG. Even then, he still stated: “Anyways, it’s getting harder by the day you know, trying to do soмєтнing. No matter how heavy the weight gets, we’ll keep doing our thing without getting crushed under it. We’ll contain all those concerns and thoughts into the album.”

In the end, with less than two months remaining, BTS will officially release their fifth full-length studio album. Meanwhile, as of January 22, pre-orders for the album Arirang have surpαѕѕed 4 million copies—just one week after sales opened on January 16. The entire world is looking toward Seoul, anticipating BTS to continue making history with this deeply significant comeback.