K-Drama Rewind, BTS HYYH Era: Rage, loss, and Jin's desperate fight to save his six brothers

BTS has many eras—a span of time that can be as long as a year, and some can be as short as a month. And yet, no ‘era’ has spawned so many theories, discussions as the HYYH era, or 'HwaYangYeonHwa', which completes 10 years, this April. It covered the albums The Most Beautiful Parts 1, 2, and 3. It’s the era ARMY hopes to see revived—perhaps because of its angst and a labyrinthine storyline with so many endings that only those deeply involved in BTS lore could untangle all the threads.

What was the HYYH era? 

Well, turn back time to 2015—when BTS, the band, was almost on the verge of disbanding. Their last seemingly ditch effort to break through, came with the song I Need You, which not only raged through the charts, but somehow made a mark with its storytelling. The story appeared to be about seven boys, living on the edge of town—who were once friends, and had gone their different paths, each facing complex issues connected to mental health, ranging from depression to loneliness.

Suga is in a fit of rage, burning down his motel room, while J-Hope suffers from narcolepsy, Jungkook is on the streets picking fights with thugs and savouring the moments of being pummelled, while V takes extreme steps to rescue his sister from their step-father. In another part of town, Jimin breaks down in a bathtub. RM works at a petrol pump, weighed down by routine and isolation. 

And there’s Jin, lost in the memories of his friends. 

There’s a jarring juxtaposition of several scenes: The anguish of the present, versus the good times of the past. The boys sit down around a fire, while in the present, their worlds are between fire and water.  The video ends on a bittersweet note, with the seven standing by the river, and yet there’s a sense of apprehension.

Run and Butterfly, and the BTS universe

This beginning of what would become the HYYH era was a turn from the other Korean bands at the time, as it veered from glossy upbeat love stories, to the burgeoning problems of youth. The storyline continued with Run, the next in the series: We still only had bits and pieces to go by, but we put what we had together. The angst was less pronounced this time, but still looming, with V falling into water, presumably drowning himself. There’s a painful exchange between Suga and Jungkook—in probably one of J-Hope’s best verses— where Jungkook tries to reach and comfort him, but is instead, pushed away.

The cinematography is striking: After Suga flings a chair into glass, smashing it everywhere, the camera zooms out and a rather dazed Jungkook is sitting on the floor, with his eyes misty—and still he doesn’t cry. 

It’s these themes that are carried forward into the criminally underrated Butterfly, especially the prologue mix, that is slower in melody with more haunting instrumentals. The boys' fleeting happiness is framed like a memory already fading.

That was the power of HYYH: It went beyond music. It created this world, in fact the BTS universe, where the members played characters trapped in trauma and grief. It had stories, and instead of telling it in a straightforward manner, it was layered in cryptic music videos, short films and hidden clues that ARMYs would later gather and edit into an hour long video for YouTube.

The HYYH theories

The mystery around HYYH kept building. ARMY still doesn’t have answers, but at this point, they might not even need it. Their theories, including one fantastical one about Jin and the magical flower, have kept the storyline going, one particularly famous one being, that Jin is trapped in a time loop and has to keep returning to the past and trying to save his friends from themselves and tragic fates, which include arrest, death and accidents. Some argue that Jin has ‘survivor’s guilt’ and is trapped in a time warp, of constantly trying to ‘fix’ the past. 

And, as he keeps failing every time, the universe has to reset. However, he can’t save one, without another being suffering.

This thread of thought was confirmed in the release of Big Hit’s Save Me webtoon, which gave more insight into the HYYH storyline, and still enough space for more interpretation. What fans finally understood about the story is: Jin realising that he had to allow his friends to save themselves, and couldn’t keep rescuing them without another being struck by tragedy.

The essence of HYYH: Pain is inevitable. Grief will exist. You can’t be ‘saved’ from all by just rewinding time. It needs growth. Comfort. Healing. And just being there for another. 

Perhaps why HYYH is also so raw, is the sheer realism of the videos, especially Run, perhaps more than I Need You. There’s the rush of camaraderie between the boys, the sweetness of friendship, be it Jimin anxiously waiting for J-Hope to wake up at the hospital, or RM and V getting arrested for vandalism: It’s only a mini-second, but V’s look at RM, just before the scene switches, is one mixed with hope and wistfulness.  It’s a pity that we haven’t seen most of them as actors, as yet barring V. 

HYYH might not be a K-Drama in the conventional sense—but owing to its themes, acting range, and the fact that it still creates discussion ten years from now—it deserves to be one. And, with the seven starring in it, this time.