Before the stadiums, the records, and the global frenzy, BTS had moments where even staying felt uncertain.
In a recent appearance on composer Jung Jae-hyung’s YouTube channel, V (Kim Taehyung) opened up about the kind of beginnings that don’t look like destiny at all—just small rooms, small crowds, and quiet doubts.
He recalled their first fan meeting, where only around 25 to 30 people showed up. But instead of disappointment, what stayed with him was something else entirely. There were more fans than members—and at the time, that alone felt overwhelming. It wasn’t about numbers yet. It was about being seen.
That sense of building things slowly defined their early years. With limited chances on broadcast, the group turned to platforms they could control—uploading content, experimenting, showing sides of themselves that couldn’t fit into a single stage. It wasn’t strategy as much as it was persistence.
V also revisited his trainee days, arriving in Seoul at 17 and adjusting to a life that felt both unfamiliar and all-consuming. Living with members like RM (Kim Namjoon), J-Hope (Jung Hoseok), Suga (Min Yoongi), and Jungkook (Jeon Jungkook), he described simply becoming a trainee as already feeling like a victory—long before success was even part of the conversation.
There were also moments that could have quietly changed everything. As a child, when he said he wanted to become a singer, his grandmother pointed to Kang Dong-won on a banner and told him that only people like that could become celebrities. And for a while, he believed it. The dream didn’t disappear—but it dimmed, just enough to make giving up feel reasonable.
Even within the group, growth came with its own kind of pressure. V pointed to J-Hope as the one who kept everyone aligned—someone who could shift the entire atmosphere the moment he stepped forward, even when exhaustion hit.
Looking back now, those early fragments—uncertainty, small wins, near detours—feel far removed from where BTS stands today. But they also explain it.
Because for V, the story didn’t begin with believing he would make it. It began with continuing, even when it didn’t seem likely.
Meanwhile, BTS are currently promoting their fifth studio album ‘Arirang,’ marking their first full-group comeback in three years and nine months.