[with ARMY ㉖] "We're Basically Family": How BTS Turned Strangers Into Lifelong Friends

CHICAGO — Emily, Sharon and Jennifer did not grow up together, work together or even come from the same part of the country. Some first met on a hotel shuttle, while others were introduced through mutual friends. The connection that eventually brought them all together was BTS.

When K-POPIT met the group ahead of BTS' "ARIRANG" World Tour concert at Soldier Field, they had traveled from different parts of the United States for a show they said they had been talking about for years. Emily and Sharon came from Charlotte, North Carolina, while Jennifer traveled from California.

Their friendship began through a series of encounters that might never have happened without BTS. Two of the women first crossed paths while riding a shuttle from the airport to their hotel for a concert and quickly became close enough to later share hotel rooms. Others joined the group through fellow ARMYs who thought they should meet. "We met because of BTS," Sharon said.

That connection has since grown into a friendship that stretches well beyond a single concert. They keep in touch, travel for shows and make plans together whenever another opportunity comes up. By the time they arrived in Chicago, getting together for BTS had begun to feel less like meeting fellow fans and more like seeing relatives again. "It's like a reunion," Sharon said. "We're basically family."

Their paths into the fandom were just as varied. For Emily, it began with her son asking to listen to BTS. Friends encouraged her to watch more of the group's content, and before long, she had gone much further into the fandom than the son who introduced her. "I ended up in the rabbit hole that turned into a black hole," she said with a laugh. "My son is like, 'I'm over K-POP,' and I'm still here."

Another member of the group discovered BTS during the pandemic through her nephew, though their music was not initially what caught her attention. Her nephew showed her videos of the members traveling in New Zealand, and she found herself watching episode after episode before realizing they were singers. It was only after he sent her the music video for "Spring Day" that she began listening to their music. "I was like, 'Oh, they're good,'" she recalled. "That was it. The rest is history."

Over time, BTS also became a source of comfort in their everyday lives. Emily said the group's music and the friendships she formed through the fandom gave her a space where she could step away from the pressures of work and enjoy herself without feeling guilty. "When I'm with them, I'm always going to come out happy," she said of her fellow ARMY friends.

Sharon similarly described BTS as uplifting and inspiring, pointing to the group's journey from underdogs to global stars as something she even uses as an example for her children. The fandom has also given her more freedom to simply be herself. "It makes me want to be myself," she said. "No judgment. Just wear what you want, do what you want."

By the time BTS returned to Chicago, seeing the group together had become a plan years in the making. What once felt like a distant possibility became real when the friends coordinated during ticketing, staying on FaceTime as they each tried to secure seats. They ultimately all got tickets, along with access to the VIP soundcheck.

"At first, it was just a dream," Sharon said. "We didn't know if we were ever going to get one." When they succeeded, the excitement went beyond simply getting into the concert. "Just to get soundcheck, this is like a dream," she added.

Not everyone in their wider friend group had arrived when K-POPIT met them, with more still on their way to Chicago. For those already there, however, the trip had become as much a reunion with one another as a chance to see BTS.

Jennifier pointed out how unlikely any of it would have been without the group. Two strangers riding the same shuttle might ordinarily never speak, much less end up traveling and sharing hotel rooms together years later. "If not for BTS, we would probably meet in the streets and wouldn't say hi," she said.

Instead, a shared interest gave them a reason to start talking. Years later, it brought them back together in Chicago, no longer as strangers who happened to like the same group, but as friends who now consider one another family.