BTS's Jungkook Reflects On The Ordinary Life He Missed Out On And Pandemic Life

BTS‘s youngest member, Jungkook, grew up in the spotlight, but he doesn’t regret trading an ordinary life for a life with BTS.

In a new solo interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Jungkook talked about meeting his “wonderful” members. He joined Big Hit Music (then Big Hit Entertainment) in his early teens and debuted at age 15.

I started my trainee years when I was growing up, and one thing I think is a real blessing for me is I got to meet these wonderful, nice, good six members. I think I matured into a really good person that can be loved by a lot of people.

— Jungkook

“I’m really grateful for the fact that other members, the older members, have given me a lot of feedback, positive or negative,” he said. “I’m really grateful to have met them.”

Having joined BTS at such an early age, Jungkook’s teen and adult years have been much different from that of other people’s. When asked what he missed out on from an “ordinary life,” Jungkook mentioned his school days.

It’s true I couldn’t spend a lot of days at school, but I think I gained more than I lost. I sometimes felt envious of all my friends hanging out or going on a trip.

— Jungkook

Although he traded one way of life for another, Jungkook does not regret his choice. “Maybe those are the things that I missed,” he said. “But again, I think I gained more than I’ve lost.”

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has forced BTS to change their plans for concerts and album promotions. This means spending more time at home. Even so, according to Jungkook, BTS haven’t been living the same way non-celebrities are.

The members are still “cautious” about their behavior, and they are still hard at work behind the scenes practicing, learning, and creating.

Just because we didn’t have a lot of work compared to before, or just because we couldn’t go outside, it really didn’t mean we had ordinary life. We still had to be cautious of our behavior. And just because we couldn’t go on tours, it didn’t mean we could stop improving. So I tried to discover new things and I think I spent a relatively busy time inside.

— Jungkook

Jungkook has used this time to grow as a person. “But I did have some time to really rearrange my emotions,” he said. “and I think I grew up as a person as well.”