KUALA LUMPUR: In the lead up to K-Pop supergroup BTS’ comeback with its latest album, Map Of The Soul: Persona dropping on April 12, fans have been digging up old videos and information that feature the characteristics and experiences of the seven members.
According to Koreaboo, one such video showed BTS member V talking about being bullied when he was younger and how he dealt with the vagaries of friendship.
The old 3-minute-plus video clip was apparently made to comfort a fan who was going through a rough time with her friends. In it, a younger V was seen sharing his own heartbreaking childhood experience.
“I also once almost lost all my friends because of this one friend I had. My friend was good at school and good at sports and did everything well, while I was just average. We were close, but then I started to feel like he didn’t think of me as his friend, but rather as someone inferior to him. I had noticed that, but we remained friends anyway,” he said.
One hurtful event happened during his friend’s birthday party where V was purposely lied to about the actual venue for the event.
The 23-year-old singer-songwriter and actor said: “I didn’t know where to go, so I waited outside for three hours with the gift certificate while trying to figure out where I should go. When I saw him I said, ‘It’s time for me to go home now, so I’m going to leave.’ and left. I remember crying so hard as I walked home.”
But V explained that sometimes the communication process was a key factor in resolving difficult friendship issues.
According to him, it later came to light that the young friend was extremely jealous of V.
He said: “After some time had passed, he confessed that he was jealous, because I got along so well with our friends. Honestly, it was something that happened in elementary school, and we were still young. He sincerely apologised to me around two years later. We had been awkward for a while because of that incident, but because his apology was sincere, I thanked him.”
Fans responded by praising V, whose real name is Kim Tae Hyung, for being gracious and forgiving despite being humiliated. Some added that it was because of his humble beginnings having been raised by a family of farmers in Daegu.
According to Koreaboo, V grew up with hardly any money but had the dream of pursuing music as a career. What’s more interesting was that his big break that catapulted him to stardom was due in part to serendipity.
Apparently, he had followed a friend to a Big Hit Entertainment audition just to show support for his buddy. But a representative from the rookie development team there noticed V and encouraged him to audition as well.
After getting permission from his father, the youngster went for the tryout session on the spot and nailed it. Apparently, V was the only person to pass the audition session in Daegu that day.