BTS rejects hiatus claims, RM says ‘I wonder if I shouldn’t have been brave enough to share’

“It is not like we were hoping they (media persons) would watch our show… till the end to write their opinions… Only the screenshots of me crying became viral… I wonder if I shouldn’t have been brave enough to share…” wrote in a post on fan platform Weverse.

During a televised dinner on Tuesday celebrating their 9th debut anniversary, one of the BTS members reportedly said that the group is going on ‘hiatus’ – a word later disputed by the band and its talent agency Hybe which said it was mistranslated from Korean to English subtitles. In those few hours of confusion, BTS’s fanbase, known as ARMY, took to social media to express their sorrow and the share value of Hybe fell dramatically.

Later, Hybe clarified: “To be clear, [BTS] are not on hiatus but will take time to explore some solo projects at this time and remain active in different formats.”

During the broadcast, the band members expressed the need to reconsider BTS’ future because of burn-out and lack of inspiration. “I always thought that BTS was different from other groups, but the problem with K-pop and the whole idol system is that they don’t give you time to mature,” said RM, adding that the pressure of constantly producing music was tiring.

“I think that’s why we’re going through a rough patch right now. We’re trying to find our identity and that’s an exhausting and long process,” said another member Jimin.

The band’s vocalist, V, added that the group was not splitting and would reunite in the future with “synergy like no other”.

After the clarification, fans took to social media to condemn the way the media had represented the band’s announcement without watching the entire broadcast.

“I respect all of BTS’ decisions and honestly, it’s so brave of them to take a step back and admit so openly that they are trying to find meaning to their artistry instead of just churning out music for the sake of it, and they were just being open about it with their fans like they always do,” said Preetika Ravidas (22), a long-time fan of BTS from Siliguri.

There was so much conviction in Namjoon’s post, so much emotion and silent rage it was like “I know it’s not new but how DARE you twist this special moment ONLY for BTS and ARMYs” Namjoon was NOT going to let this pass bcs those articles were aimed to hurt us.

— ❄️ snow PROOF ❄️ (@diminniepjm) June 15, 2022

It’s upsetting to read him thinking that he shared too much. If that was needed to be out there then I’m glad it was and I hope him and the others can always continue to have the courage to share. Especially bc articles/etc will always try and put out things as gray as possible +

— Waxing Moonchild🌒 (@WaxingMoonchild) June 16, 2022

exactly like how did everyone jump onto silly conclusions when like nothing that was said in the video. i bet they didn’t even watch it full smh

— deva⁷ (@_dskth7_) June 15, 2022

That is why we shuld watch the whole festa dinner im so pissed he needs to explain himself like this nd is so uncomfortable. I saw some armys overreacting cuz they thought bts is hiatus or disbanding but if u watched the whole festa dinner u would know that even if there was a++

— n̶i̶x̶ᴾʳᵒᵒᶠ (@kthfelicity) June 15, 2022

“The video that the ‘hiatus’ news was taken from is an annual release where the band has open interactions about the year that went by and what’s to come, and it was made out to be such a big deal that the members feel like they shouldn’t have opened up so much,” she added.

“It will always be an incredibly confusing thing to me how people are so quick to listen that they actually miss listening,” said an 18-year-old fan, defending RM’s post online. “I hope you find whatever you need while you rest. You’ve all worked beyond hard,” she added, addressing the band on social media.