October 17, 2022
A day many remember. A stoppage in the song.
March 20, 2026
Spring. Waves. Meeting at Shore.
I found BTS at a perfect moment in my life; some might even say I found the group when I needed it the most. I know this story is not unusual for many, a vivid connection formed between the music (and the artist) that made itself present in the form of light at a turning point in your life. Perhaps this is why, when the hiatus was announced, there was a global sentiment of distress. For myself, specifically, there were contradicting feelings within. Sadness and anger. Worry and courage.
I was sad that this group that meant so much and had, unknowingly, helped me through so much had to take this hiatus. But at the same time, what right did I have to feel distressed or sad when I was simply a fan watching from afar? Anger or sadness would have done nothing, I couldn’t change reality. I wasn’t the one subjected to patriotic duty in South Korea, to a mandatory enlistment in the military. I felt the pain of artists I loved being separated from their craft but I kept thinking: “If I feel like this, what must they feel?” Sure, this duty for many is an honour, but I couldn’t imagine these people, who breathed and lived art in its purest form, having to renounce it for almost two years for something they had no choice in or power against.
Three years, nine months, and some change. That’s what BTS and ARMY had to endure to meet again. I remember talking to people during the hiatus, before they even completed their service, and becoming a little too invested, too emotional. The time of their return was like a morphing cloud following me everywhere. Sometimes it rained, sometimes it offered reprieve from the sun, sometimes it was just there. Looming and waiting. Close. So close. But out of reach.
When Kim Seokjin, the oldest member of the group and first to enlist, was finally discharged, I watched the video with tears in my eyes. A little hope within my heart and the promise of spring in the corners of my eyes — it was summer then, but I could swear the flowers around me ached and coloured themselves in spring. It was a promise, as the months passed and other members gradually finished their service, a promise of endurance and patience. Of meeting again.
Of a moment, the best moment, Yet to Come.
When a comeback was announced at the start of 2026, a sigh of relief came out of me. Their hiatus was not a quiet time; there were solo promotions and comebacks, a bit too much media meddling, and a few check-ins from the members here and there. But a palpable, official announcement of the group’s comeback was the start of a meadow, the end of the dark. Hope.
Arirang, a fourteen-track-long album, marked the beginning of a new era. The comeback from one of the biggest acts in the world, the ‘bulletproof boys’, BTS. It created waves even before the album dropped. Of course, when artists with global range are coming back after so long, it’s inevitable that the whole world will tune in to watch. I’m sure the pressure was immense, after all, the BTS that went on hiatus in 2022 are surely not who we are listening to in 2026. How would they showcase these newfound identities that they perhaps formed as individuals while away from the big spotlight as a group?
By being the same but different in many ways, perhaps.
Here’s what I thought and felt while enjoying their comeback album, Arirang:
The album opens with “Body to Body,” a song that blends into a rendition of the Korean Folk song “Arirang” by the end. Something that symbolises their identity as Koreans, but makes it universal — like they shared a part of themselves, and their history, and told us to embrace it too. “Arirang” is culturally important for Koreans, and its use on BTS’ album does not only elevate the cultural importance of the song, but the history that surrounds it. The concept of the album, something tied to their roots and Korean history not only in the country but abroad, follows the story of seven Korean men who traveled to Washington D.C. where they recorded the first Korean songs at Howard University (HBCU), which included a rendition of “Arirang.”
The first half of the album feels very different from the rest, the songs are almost an ode to what BTS is. Success, energetic music, and performances; a blend of all we know of them as artists. A return to their hip-hop roots. For me, it was “Here we are, we know you expected us.” It seemed, frankly, like moment after moment of addressing things we were aware have surrounded them for the longest time, or an ode to performing as a whole. With lyrics such as: “I need the whole stadium to jump. Put your phone down, let’s get all the fun.”(“Body to Body”), “This that K, gotta get a better pop here”(“Hooligan”), “Are you still cursing us? You thought we’d flop, but look at us go” (Aliens), “See, they don’t stand a chance against the 10 years we’ve built” (2.0).
However, after “No. 29,” a song which once again symbolises their Korean identities — it is the sound of the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok — the album becomes more mellow, emotional, and retrospective. “SWIM”, the title track, marks the new chapter of BTS in an emotional way. For some, it’s a love song, for others it’s about waiting. For Jimin, it talks about where they are right now, “Like a current that never stops flowing, we are still moving forward,” he said. For me, the meaning is along those lines, but as an ARMY who waited patiently for this moment, “SWIM” felt like a conversation between the group and the waiting fans. The challenge the past years brought upon them, the vulnerability 2022 exposed, the hiatus, the slow progression of their military service, and finally their comeback. It felt like giving life to these struggles. Showing that, like wave after wave, these events felt like something to conquer but that both ARMY and BTS had no control over.
We could do nothing but swim until the release of control brought us upon the shore, March 20, 2026.
Of course, this second half of the album continues its more heart-wrenching introspection. Following “SWIM,” the tone is set. It’s an array of emotions, of life. “Merry Go Round” with its lyrics “Though I feel like I’ve become an adult, the worries in me are the same,” something many of us can resonate with. “Questions without answers, sprinting within a labyrinth.” Accepting the reality of growing up, but still feeling the same in many ways — life being repetitive day after day, the struggle of living itself. “NORMAL” is a very charged song, even with its slightly upbeat melody, I believe it tells the story of BTS and what the spotlight means for them. The constant scrutiny and dissection of their every move: “Show me hate, show me love, make me bulletproof. Yeah, we call this sh*t normal.”
The same tone can be felt in the remaining songs of the album, “None of us are tameable” (“Like Animals”), “Everybody hears the story that they wanna” (“they don’t know ‘bout us”). Even “One More Night,” which seems like a groovy club song — sexy and romantic — brings us down to a more yearning aspect of our feelings. However, it speaks on the possibility of pain, even through this romantic haze: “Someday because of you, I’ll end up crying a long time.” It’s the perfect love story, embracing both the love and suffering of it. “Please” also has a more lovelike, or rather devotion, sentiment to it “I’m on my knees…all i want is you.”
Both of these songs are a gradual move away from hesitation, and pain, to fear and love, to loving despite the fear; which serves as a beautiful path into the end of the album. “Into the Sun,” I believe, was the perfect way to end this album. I can already imagine it at concerts, BTS & ARMY, who have weathered so much, singing this together: “No one like you, if you wanna go there, I’m ready to be with you.” This song perfectly encompasses the bond BTS themselves have, and what they have shown us the group means to them. For me, it’s easy to imagine this can also be something to describe the bond between BTS & ARMY. The song starts slow, then turns into a beautiful upbeat melody by the end, picking up and up until you can’t help but rise with it: “I want to go home—to where you are.” Perhaps, just maybe, home is the stage — the stage where ARMY waits.
There is no question on whether fans, or the world, were waiting for BTS to finally come back. If the excitement for the upcoming tour isn’t proof enough, then let the Billboard all-kill be or, of course, the achievement of them becoming the first act to ever occupy the Top Ten spots in Billboard’s 200 Global chart.
Three years, nine months, and some change. But this comeback and Arirang proved time is something both scary and beautifully ephemeral, and it shall pass. We meet again, spring comes. Hiatus comes and goes, and we are back at the beginning, where BTS is still that soothing comfort and I’m still that girl looking for lyrics and words to connect with.
And as we plan to meet again, whether listening to the album at home, or soon at a concert as BTS kick-starts their tour, we can safely say we will continue to follow. To walk this path together.
“I don’t care how far, just wait. Dawn. I’ll follow you into the sun.”
Three years, nine months, and some change.
BTS is back. Darkness was only temporary.