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“We lost our direction,” BTS to suspend group activities and start solo schedules

BTS to suspend group activities after the anthology album “Proof”.

BTS released the video “Real BTS dinner” on BTS’s official YouTube “BANGTANTV” channel at 9 p.m. on Jun 14th.

In the 1-hour-long video, BTS introduced the meaning of their album “Proof” released on Jun 10th and told fans directly that they would suspend their group activities for the time being, expressing their thoughts on the past nine years since their debut.

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Leader RM said, “Many were curious about the reason why we release an anthology album on our 9th anniversary,” he said. “To tell you the truth, season 1 of BTS was originally only until ‘ON’.”

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RM said, “After the ‘ON’ activity, we were going to do a big world tour. We were also planning to go to India and Australia, where we haven’t gone to, but it got postponed because the pandemic began during the activities for ‘ON’. We also did a single plan that we didn’t usually do, as a breakthrough, and we wanted to make a clear impact on the charts and topics.”

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Suga said, “I was so frustrated because I haven’t been able to talk properly for two years. I didn’t have the chance to talk about it, and the regrets that left when I made some choices. We were nominated for the ‘Grammy Awards’, but as we wanted to try it once and failed, we tried it again but it just didn’t work. I think we are exhausted as it didn’t work out,’ he said. “Even though I shouldn’t regret choosing something, but…”

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RM said, “Honestly, there were a lot of things that were frustrating and unfair. Our plan has been messed up more than six times,” he said. Jin said, “We always had to change depending on the situation,” and Jungkook said, “To make it short, there were many variables that happened.”

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They also confessed about their recent worries. RM said, “We started because we wanted to talk to the world, but now, we don’t know what to do after the ‘ON’ activity. There was the pandemic as an excuse, and I felt that our team has definitely changed while working since then. We have to admit it,” he said.

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RM said, “I felt like our team was still on top of my hand until Dynamite, but after that, we did ‘Butter’ and ‘Permission to Dance’, and I don’t know what kind of team we are anymore. I always do the same when writing lyrics, as in I think about what story to talk about and what message to throw in, and it’s important to me, but now that’s gone. I don’t know what to talk about anymore.”

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RM said, “K-pop and the idol system itself don’t seem to let people ripen. We have to keep filming something. Then there is no time for us to mature as a human. We are supposed to have time to think a lot and spend time in order to become ripe,” he said. “I could do that in the past, but now that I’ve been doing BTS for 10 years, I just can’t become ripe.”

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“I think we should function in some way in this world, at a time when we are in the forefront, but I don’t know what it is and it doesn’t give me time to think. I don’t know what kind of person I am, what kind of team BTS is, why I am here, and how I should move forward, I don’t know what to do or how my team should move forward,” he said honestly.

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RM said, “From some point on, I’ve only been playing the role of rap adaptation alongside friends who are so good at performing, so I’ve been asking around moderately and this team is going around, but I felt like I couldn’t get out of this. I want to get rid of this for a while, leave it alone, think about how to do it, and come back, but I continued to extend it,” he said.

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“Still, I think it’d be fun to practice dance with my team. I want to practice dance hard and show you a good performance. After watching the college festival videos, we wished we could perform there for the audience as well. But I think it’s rude to talk about this, and I think it’s against the expectations of our fans, and we’ve grown our fandom, but we can’t repay them,” he added.

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Jimin said, “I think we’re having a hard time now because we just know what kind of singers we each want to stay to our fans,” adding, “I think we’re trying to have an identity now, and maybe that’s why we’re a little tired. I have a lot of things I want to say to my fans, but I can’t be honest about everything. I want to talk comfortably, but I can’t, so I think I was tired and I’m trying to solve it little by little,” he said.

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At Jimin’s words, RM confessed about the responsibility which leads to BTS’s journey, saying, “I feel like it’s a sin to say that I’m tired.”

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Suga talked about the pressure of being creative, saying, “The most difficult thing is writing lyrics. I can’t get the words out. I want to talk about what I want to say, but I’m squeezing it out. It hurts, but that’s how it works. Since 2013, I’ve never worked on lyrics thinking it was so much fun. It has always been hard and I always squeeze things out. But squeezing it now and squeezing it 8 years ago is very different. At the time, I had something to say, but I was squeezing it out because I lacked skills, while now, I have nothing to say.” 

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RM also mentioned the psychological burden he had as a leader who has always been taking the lead in English interviews. He said, “I often do interviews (representing the team), but it’s actually my opinion, so I thought, is this the idea of ​​our team? From some point on, I felt a lot of guilt about these things. I have a lot to say by myself, but I have nothing to say as a team. In the end, I think I need time to come back on my own and be myself.”

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In the future, BTS plans to meet fans through solo promotions. RM said, “Solo mixtapes will be converted into solo albums. What it should be called depends, but ‘solo debut’ sounds too grandiose, and in fact, what I had prepared as a mixtape in the meantime took more input than most albums.” He added, “Actually, we (doing solo activities) are late. It seems natural to mention here that there will be a change in the tone. From now on, it will be an official album rather than a mixtape. That means it’s getting released on Korean music sites, too.”

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J-Hope, who will become the first soloist of BTS, said, “I hope the accessibility will improve. Mixtapes are not available on Korean streaming platforms.” RM agreed and said, “I hope that our previously released songs will also be uploaded to Korean music sites.” J-Hope said, “I am the first one, but each of us is preparing for a solo album. I think that starting point is important.”

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BTS recently ended their dorm life. RM said, “I think there might be people who will feel sad, but to be honest, we lived together for a long time. As you know, it doesn’t really make sense for 7 guys to live together.” J-Hope said, “We became closer because we have our own spaces now.” V agreed, “I’m not lying, but I think we’ve gotten closer now that we’re a little far apart.”

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RM said, “We are more like family than friends. It’s good to keep a little physical distance and respect each other’s privacy. We’re all almost 30 now.” Jimin said, “Now that the dorm contract is about to expire, I came to clean up the dorm again. And we’ve prepared a meeting to talk about this, but it feels like a shame to be here again.”

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RM said, “Actually, it’s not a shame. We had a fun time living together anyway. I think I learned that it was fun because I live alone now. What I felt while visiting the members’ houses was that they were so different.”

Jimin said, “The seven of us are really different. We have different personalities, different tastes, and there are more things that don’t match than those that match.” Suga laughed, saying, “It’s a miracle that we lived together”, and Jungkook trembled softly, saying, “We’ve come this far because we lived together.”

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At the end of the live broadcast, all seven BTS members candidly conveyed what they wanted to say to their fans. Suga said, “I really have a lot of fun moments while doing this job, but there are also many really painful moments. I just don’t want the members to be bothered while promoting. How can you be happy every moment? It’s not just us, it’s everyone in life. Anyway, considering why we started this job and why we chose it, we started to do what we want to do and what makes us happy.”

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Suga continued, “We don’t know when we’ll end and when we’ll die, but I hope we’ll be really happy until then. I am looking for happiness hard these days. I think it’s good that we can do things freely now. Do what we really want to do. I’m going to die by the time we are 100 years old. Will we still be BTS until we’re 100? I don’t think it’s going to be easy. Until then, I hope we can be truly happy and have fun with our activities.”

Jin said, “At first, I wanted to become an actor. The reason why I wanted to be an actor is that I can learn different things through various roles. That’s what I wanted to do, but as I became an idol, I was able to experience more than that. I don’t have any regrets about acting because I’ve done a lot of things. But since I am not sure about life, I may or may not do it again. I just don’t feel like it right now.”

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Jin continued, “It was so much fun because I had so many experiences being an idol, and I plan to have more in the future. I met a good team, so I hope that we can have many more enjoyable experiences in the future. We are able to do this thanks to our ARMYs who support us.”

Jungkook addressed the timing of the members’ upcoming solo activities, saying, “Everyone has a timeline that’s right for them. I’m sure ARMYs have their own motivations and time as well. This timing should’ve come to us earlier but I guess we held it off. You guys have been with us for the past 10 years. It’s not that we want you to understand but it’d be nice if you could.”

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Jungkook continued, “We’re going to take some time to have fun and experience lots of things. We promise we will return someday even more mature than we are now. So I just hope that you could give us your blessings. I’ll do my best. 7 members will become a better version of us now. I hope you wouldn’t worry and look forward to us”

V confessed, “Honestly, I want to do many things. I hope this will be an opportunity for me to show my music to the world. And not just music, I’ve wanted to show the things that are inside me since a long time ago. At some times, having these thoughts started to feel wrong. 

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He added, “I became cautious in even mentioning the things I’ve wanted to try and it was hard to say that I am going to try this and that. I want to show you my new image that is different from the V you’ve known when I have the chance. I won’t be just resting and doing nothing. I will try to show you a lot, so please show me your support.”

Revealing that he did not have any chance to thank the members and fans, J-Hope said, “I’ve talked about this with the members. I think we should spend some time apart to learn how to be one again. I believe that timing is really important right now. This is a very important time for us and for BTS’s second chapter”. He continued, “I hope ARMYs who have been with us for 9-10 years will understand and the members to stay healthy while doing their own things.”

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Jimin said, “‘Whenever we say ‘Our ARMYs’, what does that mean to you?’ I’ve always wondered how fans would answer that question. I hope the meaning behind the words ‘fan’ and ‘ARMYs’ don’t change when you hear them. All this time, when we had conflicts, fought and talked, our fans were at the heart of everything.”

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Jimin added “How would we talk about us without fans? It’s all thanks to our fans. I was just said that we couldn’t tell you everything directly” and then began to shed tears.

RM said, “After making our debut as singers, we somehow ended up carrying this heavy responsibility in society and even in the world. I don’t know if it’s suitable for us or not. Still, we’ve always tried to move forward with our sincere hearts. BTS always talks about ARMYs. I was afraid that people will hate me if I say I want to rest. It feels like a sinful thing…I’m sure the members all feel the same”.

He added, “We were just lucky. We started from a small place in Nohyeon-dong and then went all the way to the White House. The whole story is all in the lyrics of ‘Yet To Come’. The thing I want to do and the thing I wish to continue is that we’ll be together and be sincere when we perform on stage and when we gather and talk like this that we could talk happily without thinking about the rules of the world.” As soon as RM confessed, J-Hope, Jungkook and Jimin also shed tears.

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RM continued, “I just want BTS to go on for a long time. And for BTS to last long, I think I have to retain who I am. Because I’m not BTS, I’m just part of BTS. So we couldn’t fulfill all of your expectations. There were many things we couldn’t tell you directly but we are always sincere. We made lots of mistakes because we are not perfect. Maybe I was lucky enough to speak at the UN and meet the President. But I know we were able to do so thanks to you all. We never know how long we’ll be together but I hope we do last long.”

Jimin added, “We’re kind of unique. We can’t share everything with fans. I think it was the hardest and saddest thing.” Suga expressed his faith in fans, saying “I think our fans will understand what we want to say.”

Youngest member Jungkook made the last toast. Jungkook said, “Everybody (to the members), and our ARMYs, there’s so much more to come in your lives. For each of our lives and for us, let’s make a toast. Apo Bango (ARMY FOREVER BTS FOREVER)”, and BTS finished their dinner with happy smiles. 

Source: Nate

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