K-pop group BTS have just released their 10th anniversary memoir named Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS which gives a brand new look at their lives and careers. Soon after the release, snippets and peeks at the book started to appear online.

One specific post received unusual attention when J-Hope described a bizarre incident which pushed the members to succeed.

“Back when we promoted with it was really hard for us. When we released the album, DARK&WILD and came back with ‘Danger,’ we had done a pre-recording about 20 times for a music broadcast program, but we also had to go on another show because they said we were one of the nominees for the first place. It was something that we had to attend so we went on stage even through all the chaos. But after getting on stage, we realized that we weren’t a nominee for first place that day. This came to us as a huge shock.”

Although it wasn’t just the fact that they had not been nominated for first place that was such a shock to the members, as Taehyung explained in more detail.

“Having another team as a nominee for first place is fine. We just have to work harder. But at the broadcast, we always greeted our seniors and juniors regardless, but that day there were people that ignored our greeting. There were those that scoffed that we weren’t runner-ups for first place too.”

He added that they were so shocked by the situation that some of the members were left crying. “After the broadcast, we all got into one car. Some members were crying, some were angry, and some not saying a word at all. There was a sense of sadness that was just too much to express in words.

This is when we thought, ‘Let’s really make it big. So that no one can ignore us. Thinking back on it now, I sometimes think at least we set our minds straight at that time. Haha. Because we were able to set out minds straight, we were able to give it our all and come together with one heart and one mind to become a really amazing group.”