As 2013 was drawing to a close, the members of Bangtan Sonyeondan were deep into promotions for O!RUL8,2? and preparing for their first Christmas together and with ARMY. BTS had been putting in long hours in the music and dance studios, and their steady rise in popularity wasn’t going unnoticed by the industry.

With the whirlwind of Debut behind them, it would have been understandable if BTS decided to take a moment to stop and bask in the glow of what they accomplished. Instead, they continued running and released O!RUL8,2?.