In a recent behind-the-scenes video, Taehyun of Tomorrow x Together looked back on the recording process for their early releases. Back then, he and his bandmates didn’t have much input when it came to their music.

“When we debuted, we didn’t know much. So I was just happy about the fact that we had our own songs,” he says.

No one in Tomorrow x Together had producing or writing credits on their first mini album, The Dream Chapter: STAR. But that changed when they released their first studio album, The Dream Chapter: MAGIC. Maknae Hueningkai helped write the track “Roller Coaster.”

On their second mini album, The Dream Chapter: ETERNITY, mat-hyung Yeonjun wrote his own rap verse for their cover of “Fairy of Shampoo.” Taehyun himself joined forces with Beomgyu and Soobin on “Maze in the Mirror.”

Tomorrow x Together also had input on their third mini album Minisode 1: Blue Hour, as well as on their second studio album, The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE. The boys have been writings songs more often these days, but they don’t always make the cut.

“For them to be accepted, they have to be of good quality,” Taehyun says of their efforts. “It’s not enough that we wrote them ourselves; in order for them to be included on an album, we have to make sure they’re better than the songs professional composers and lyricists write.”

Taehyun and his bandmates are learning to take control in other aspects of their career as well. They’ve been speaking up more in meetings with their agency, BigHit Music, and making suggestions when it comes to the group’s concept photos, costumes, and more.

“We’re participating in more areas than before,” says Taehyun proudly.