BTS stepped back into the spotlight with the return of one of the group’s most beloved variety series, but the celebratory mood around the new episode arrived under an uneasy cloud. As fans welcomed the launch of Run BTS 2.0, fresh allegations surrounding RM were already beginning to stir online, creating a sharp contrast between the group’s playful on-screen energy and the controversy now attached to its leader.

The new episode of Run BTS 2.0 was released on the evening of April 23 through BTS’s official channel and Weverse, marking the comeback of the group’s signature original variety content. The series first began in 2015 and had been on pause since special content released in 2023, so its return after roughly three years carried clear excitement for fans who have long associated the show with the group’s funniest and most chaotic chemistry.

And the episode immediately leaned into exactly that appeal.

After arriving late at their lodging, the members launched into a room-selection game that quickly spiraled into noisy, comic disorder. Four members squeezed into a room meant for two, shouting and scrambling, while Jungkook managed to land the most comfortable three-person room for himself, creating the kind of petty victory and exaggerated outrage that has always fueled the group’s best variety moments. What followed only pushed the mood further into full-scale chaos.

Later, after dinner, the members played a “Zombie Game” to decide who would be stuck handling cleanup. The setup turned ridiculous almost instantly. Those cast as zombies wore blindfolds, stumbled around awkwardly, and tried to catch the “citizens” without being able to see. Instead of any real strategic brilliance, the game collapsed into desperate lunging, confused collisions, and eventually an entangled mess that even led to a pillow fight. By the end, the members were laughing so hard they could barely contain themselves, joking that their faces hurt from how funny everything had become. It was the kind of carefree, almost childlike chaos that reminded viewers why Run BTS became such a defining part of the group’s off-stage identity in the first place.

But while the new episode pushed a bright, disorderly kind of fun, the article places that return beside a far more uncomfortable development involving RM.

According to the report, RM recently became the subject of allegations tied to an incident in Tokyo. Japanese local media reportedly claimed on April 22 that he was seen smoking multiple times in a no-smoking zone while drinking with acquaintances in Shibuya. The report went further, alleging that the establishment had no separate smoking area and that RM smoked in shared spaces such as building hallways. It also claimed he discarded cigarette butts on the ground, that a female employee ended up picking them up, and that even after a security guard managing the building warned him, he continued smoking.

That combination of claims is exactly what has made the issue so volatile. It is not framed merely as a question of smoking, but as an accusation involving disregard for a no-smoking policy, littering, and ignoring a warning. The article does not present any direct response from RM himself, and it states that neither RM nor his agency, HYBE’s Big Hit Music, had issued a separate statement on the matter at the time of publication. That absence of response leaves the story suspended in a tense place, where the allegation has already circulated widely but no official clarification had yet arrived.

The timing makes the contrast even more striking. On one side, BTS are reviving a flagship series that helped shape their bond with fans for years. On the other, RM is facing a burst of negative attention just as that promotional momentum begins building again. The article almost treats those two realities as colliding at once: a group still capable of generating huge laughter and effortless chemistry on screen, and a leader now pulled into controversy off it.

For fans, that tension may become part of the conversation surrounding the show’s return itself. Run BTS has always thrived on spontaneity, humor, and the sense that viewers are watching the members at their most unguarded. But when outside allegations suddenly enter the frame, even a lighthearted release can start to feel weighed down by something much heavier. Instead of the comeback being discussed only for its games, its chaos, and the familiar energy fans missed, it is now also being shadowed by questions surrounding RM’s conduct in Japan.

Still, the rollout of the show itself is continuing. The article notes that new episodes of Run BTS are set to be released every Thursday at 9 p.m. through BTS’s official channel and Weverse, signaling that the group’s variety revival is moving forward regardless of the controversy swirling around it. That may be the sharpest image the article leaves behind: BTS laughing, shouting, and turning a simple room game into a spectacle, while outside the episode, a separate story threatens to keep pulling attention back toward allegation, silence, and scrutiny.