What was expected to be a fun Festa dinner for BTS members for their fans, the ARMYS, turned into an extremely emotional occasion as the K-pop superstars announced they are going on a hiatus as a band. The band members Jin, Jimin, RM, J-Hope, Suga, V and Jungkook gathered for a pre-recorded dinner that was premiered live on YouTube a day after their 9th anniversary. The hour-long discussion started with them reminiscing their past, and ended with talk about the direction they are going to take as a band now.
The dinner was organised at BTS’ old house where they stayed together as a band, before starting to live individually. The contract for the house is now up, so the members gathered there one last time to talk about the good memories they have of the place. Talking about the number of years they have spent sharing the same home, Suga aka Min Yoongi said, “7 boys living together isn’t easy.” Kim Taehyung aka V said that they have become closer ever since they started living apart.
Kim Seokjin (Jin) mentioned a funny anecdote that Jungkook has sawed off his bunk bed mattress when it didn’t fit. “You could have just returned it,” said Yoongi, but Jungkook insisted, “No that was too much work”, making all the members laugh.
The members also talked about the aesthetics of their current homes, and how it reflects their individual personalities. “Namjoon’s house looks like a museum, it’s just like his Instagram profile,” said J-Hope.
The fun and laughter-filled dinner soon turned serious when Yoongi, as the second oldest member, said that they should talk about their hiatus. As the team leader, Namjoon (RM) started off describing that he as a member has been feeling lost and directionless for a while now. “I feel lost. After releasing Butter and Permission to Dance, I started feeling that I don’t know what kind of a band we are anymore. What kind of music do we want to make? What do we want to say? I believe we should have taken this break long ago, but we kept putting it off.”
Min Yoongi said, “Writing lyrics is the hardest. What message do we want to give? Nothing comes out anymore.”
The band insisted they need to take a break to find their voice and direction again. They will also be working on their individual projects from now on, starting with J-Hope, who is all set to perform at the Lollapalooza music festival as a solo act. “This is also a new direction for us as a company, the attitude towards solo projects has changed,” he said. While BTS as a band will be on a break, all the members will be releasing their individual music at this time.
The members took turns to share a parting note at the end of the dinner. Jungkook, despite being the youngest member, got a lot of compliments from his hyungs for summing up their message simply, “I promise we will return some day, more mature than now. Till then, we ask for your blessing.”
Jimin, J-Hope, RM – all were seen wiping tears by the end of it. RM recounted all their recent achievements – speech at the UN, visiting the White House, and said he was grateful for those experiences. He said at the end, “This new chapter of BTS, that is yet to come, will be the best, I hope.”
