4 YEARS
Dear Bangtan,
I really don't know what to say. I know there are several other fans, all loving you! After all there are only 7 of you, and millions upon millions of fans.
You know I used to hate BTS, and generally resent K-pop. Anything from K-pop to K-drama I hated.
I hated that whenever I tried to tell my own ethnicity, people would think about K-pop. And that just because I am Korean, doesn't mean I'm into K-pop. But then it was the boy band SS501 that got me into my own culture. I used to live in CA, USA where people idolize K-pop to the point that they would set their phones in Korean, just to be cool.
After asking my mom a million times why she likes K-drama, it finally clicked. It's a fantasy that could never happen, but is made to seem possible.
And then slowly I began to get more and more drawn to modern K-pop. It showed me that even though Korea is small, the impact is greater than its size. The wonders it's gotten for me is incredible too, it took my decent Korean and turned it nearly fluent when I speak. And even the dance took me for a ride. I was always the smart "nerd", but I will always remember the day I had a dance fight against some cheerleader. It was supposed to be tik tok dances, but more than half my moves came from BTS dances.
My brother is also soon getting drafted for the Korean military, and I'm honestly scared. That even though we're Citizens of the USA, he still has to be sent away to a military where he will never truly be accepted in. But now I think I'm beginning to realize that Korea is much more than what people see. It's taken me 4 years to see that.
Everything BTS has done for me is a lot, and an opportunity to say thanks would be wonderful. I can't even begin to think about what BTS could have done to help other people. Each and every member is truly different, while working together to create the BTS you are now.
And your hard work, the effort, the hour everything you put in to make BTS no matter how small or large, pays off.
So thank you, for everything that you've done for not only myself, but for others too.
-A fan!