BTS’ ARIRANG, released in March 2026, has continued to maintain significant buzz nearly six months after its release. On the Billboard 200, the album has remained on the chart for 25 consecutive weeks and spent its first three weeks at No. 1, while also setting a record as the longest-charting album by a кσяєαn artist in the Top 10, with a total of 13 weeks.

In the U.S., its net sales (CDs, vinyl, and album downloads) surpαѕѕed one million copies in just six months — the fastest such achievement for an album released in 2026. The album also recently won Album of the Year at the SPOTV K-Pop Awards and Best Album at the K-World Dream Awards.

With the buzz around ARIRANG showing no signs of slowing down, rumors have recently emerged that BTS may be preparing to release another musical project toward the end of the year. Considering the BTS members’ history of working consistently and their steady music release schedule, along with several new signs, fans feel that this rumor has never seemed more convincing.

One of the latest clues came from V. On September 24, the idol υиєχρє¢тє∂ly changed his Instagram bio (@thv) to “안녕하세요?” — a familiar кσяєαn expression that can be understood as “Hello?” with a casual tone. The change immediately drew attention, as V is known for changing his Instagram bio during previous promotional periods, having previously used phrases such as “LAMRON” and “NORMAL.”

For ARMYs, even such a seemingly simple bio change was enough to become a “clue” and send the entire fandom into speculation mode. Some believe V was simply bored and wanted to “troll” fans, while others suspect it could be a sign of a new solo project. Some ARMYs even joked that “안녕하세요?” might be a hint at the title of an upcoming song.

Notably, V’s move came just days after RM made an equally suspicious change. The idol removed his Instagram profile picture (@rkive), leaving the account temporarily displaying the default gray silhouette alongside 37 posts. At the time, fans were already considering the possibility that a “new era” could be approaching — perhaps involving a new project or a major BTS activity.

Rumors about BTS preparing to release a new music project had actually started gaining traction earlier this month. After BTS returned to South кσяєα following the North αмєяι¢αn leg of their ARIRANG World Tour, a series of updates from producers who had previously worked on ARIRANG made fans believe there could be more to the situation than mere coincidence.

Specifically, Picard Brothers, along with producers Nitti, Beau Nox, and Kaien Cruz, each posted stories showing that they are currently in Seoul, кσяєα, while also appearing in studios and meeting with several other producers who previously worked on ARIRANG. More notably, some of the posts contained direct BTS-related details: Nitti used “One More Night” in a studio post from Seoul, while Picard Brothers even posted a Bearbrick featuring BTS.

Most notably, the photos show multiple ARIRANG collaborators gathering in Seoul, working with electronic equipment and recording for some kind of project. Fans even noticed that the studio interiors in some of the photos bore similarities to the interior of the HYBE building.

Based on these clues, ARMYs could not help but exclaim, “What are they cooking?” Some fans even brought Zara Larsson into the theory after noticing that the singer had also left her Twitter/X profile picture blank, similar to RM’s recent move, leading to speculation that she could be one of the artists involved in BTS’ next project.

On social media, fans are now having a lively discussion around the possibility: "YES NEW MUSIC INCOMING", "V changing his bio and RM removing his profile picture… They just give hints", "Omg what that means! ARIRANG pt2 is coming?", "We are so close", "NEW ERA IS COMING?", "RM is matching with Zara my twins. I'm so excited for the collab", "The fact that V chose ‘안녕하세요?’ of all things… I’m already suspicious", "Yeah, soмєтнing is definitely coming. But I'm not ready boys", "All these suspicious updates is making this theory even crazier",...