First released in 2016, Spring Day has become one of the longest-charting songs in the Top 100 on the MelOn Weekly Chart — staying there for 447 consecutive weeks. It was also the first song in MelOn’s history to reach 1 billion accumulated streams and has received numerous major domestic awards. BTS’s ballad is regarded by кσяєαn listeners as a “national anthem” with healing energy.

According to Pdogg and the BTS members who directly participated in the production of this touching track, the song was based on the personal stories of RM and SUGA. Like any writer, poet, or artist, a songwriter often draws inspiration from real life and personal experiences to put into their music — so this revelation was not surprising.

However, behind this simple statement lies a much deeper and more emotional story, pieced together by fans through SUGA’s own words over the years. ARMYs realized that Spring Day expresses SUGA’s heartfelt emotions toward “an old friend” — the very person who became the main inspiration for the song’s moving lyrics.

In BTS’s official book BEYOND THE STORY: 10-YEAR RECORD OF BTS, SUGA revealed that when he wrote Spring Day, he was thinking of a dear friend he once cherished deeply. He said, “I once resented my friend. I missed him so much, but I couldn’t see him.”

That’s why he wrote lyrics such as: “Yes, I resent you/ You’re gone but I haven’t forgotten you for a single day/ I honestly miss you/ But I’ll let you go/ That hurts less than hating you.” 

The friend SUGA once spent so much time with is no longer part of his life. Even so, he had to learn to accept that and move forward. The song reflects the feelings of someone slowly coming to terms with loss — as if breaking free from a cold, wintry heart to find peace again. But despite trying to move on, that person still cannot — and perhaps does not want to — completely let go of those memories.

This same friend also served as SUGA’s inspiration for the track “Dear My Friend” from his mixtape D-2. He once shared details about this person, saying: “When I was going through a hard time, that friend was the only one I could lean on … When I was a trainee, we’d talk together, ‘Hey, you think I can really debut?’ and break into sobs, and then make resolutions together like, ‘Let’s conquer the whole world!’ But now I wonder how that friend is doing … That’s why I resented them.”

Although they once went through the toughest times together, a number of things happened between them, and they slowly grew apart and never met again. At one point, when the longing became unbearable, SUGA even tried to reach out through mutual acquaintances to reconnect — but the reunion never happened.

That left a deep sense of regret in SUGA’s heart, and Spring Day became his purest form of comfort — a way for him to face and accept the lingering emotions that had burned quietly inside him for years. SUGA admitted how healing the birth of Spring Day was for him: “Even back then, I didn’t remember the last time I was uplifted by listening to music … it had been a really long time. So at the time, I didn’t know. I do know now, though.”

That's why in the final part of Spring Day, he wrote: “Cherry blossoms are blooming. This winter is coming to an end. I miss you. I miss you.” The end of winter symbolizes leaving past memories behind. 

No one can stay trapped in the past forever — Spring Day encourages people to keep moving toward the future, even while carrying the sorrow of what once was. SUGA came to understand this while redefining his emotions. He may still miss those old memories, long to meet that friend again, or feel a lingering ache — but he knows that he can never return to the past, only cherish the present and keep moving forward.

Fans completely empathized with his feelings, because everyone, at some point in life, has had a friend like that. They expressed deep emotion after learning the true inspiration behind SUGA’s Spring Day:

- that’s why these songs make me sob without end. losing your best friend, your soulmate like that. and the fact that yoongi had to experience this and carries this pain with him. makes me cry instantly

- As an army whose seen yoongi through both of these releases I always had a crazy conspiracy theory that Yoongi, in a way, up until a couple years back, always wrote for this friend. The Han, in his songs, spoke of love. And this 'friend' could've possibly been more than a friend.

- Friendship breakups are so draining man, like you never really recover from them

- Everytime i read more about yoongi i realise we've had similar experiences in life. It just solidifies the fact that he's the person i relate to the most and find comfort in.

- Oh, i didn't know about "the only one he could lean on" bit. I thought he was just sad that a friend has taken a wrong path in life. That just made it нιт harder.

- I know, i know his pain and regret into someone… it’s нєαятвяєαкιиg yet Spring Day heals us

- You can really feel the weight of his emotions in every word. It’s not just a song — it’s a piece of his soul

- He missed someone so deeply but chose to let them go with love. I always thought Spring Day was a tribute to those who ℓσѕт their lives in the Sewol Ferry tragedy, but its meaning is much broader — it’s also about friendship

- Now I understand why Spring Day never gets old. It’s filled with real human emotions — loss, longing, love, acceptance

- Reading this made me cry… SUGA’s honesty reminds me of people I’ve ℓσѕт too. Thank you for sharing your pain with us, Yoongi