TREASURE gave a soft English-language B-side a full sentimental film for the group’s 2,000th day, then put Jihoon in the middle of a romantic crisis while the members who actually sing the jealous punch line watched from the edges. I like the song. I also understand why some listeners hear a Backstreet Boys time capsule with very expensive lighting. Both things can be true.

Watch the special film

What the song means

BETTER THAN ME is jealousy after the shouting is over. The narrator has already lost the relationship, or believes he has, and keeps circling one miserable question: is the new man actually better? He says he wants her to be happy. His pride immediately interrupts the blessing.

That contradiction is the song. He is trying to sound mature while emotionally checking the other man’s résumé. Does he know her better? Does he love her better? Can he give her something the narrator could not? The hook is less a threat than a bruised little challenge tossed into an empty room.

I appreciate that the song does not turn jealousy into macho revenge. Nobody is promising to win her back by force. Nobody is calling the woman disloyal because she moved on. The pain stays with the person feeling it. That makes the song gentler and, honestly, more believable.

The full-English lyric is direct enough to understand on one listen. That helps the emotional hook travel. It also creates the main criticism. Some lines are broad enough to fit almost any breakup playlist. Fans who prefer TREASURE’s member-written rap verses may miss the weird little details that make a song feel specifically theirs.

The sound: somebody reopened the boy-band vault

The production sits in the soft-pop lane with a very obvious late-1990s and early-2000s glow. Fans compared it to Westlife and the Backstreet Boys, and I understand exactly why. The arrangement favors voices over impact. There is no giant beat switch waiting to kick the furniture over. The drama comes from stacked vocals, the steady pulse, and the chorus returning like the narrator has thought of one more argument in the shower.

That restraint works for me because TREASURE can become enormous very quickly. Here, the group has to sell hurt without a stadium-sized drop doing the crying for them. The stronger vocal moments feel warm rather than athletic. Nobody needs to hold a note until the fire department arrives.

The counterargument is fair. If you do not enjoy polished boy-band balladry, the song can feel familiar on arrival. One fan called the lyrics generic. Another ranked it last on LOVE PULSE because soft songs are not their thing. That is not hate. BETTER THAN ME knows exactly which emotional aisle it lives in, and not everybody shops there.

My answer is that familiar does not automatically mean lazy. The melody lands. The chorus is easy to remember. The vocals carry the mood. I would rather have a clean, sincere soft-pop song than a track that adds six production tricks because it is frightened of being called simple.

The writing-credit conversation

Jared Lee holds the lyric credit, with Jared Lee, P.K, DEE.P, and Rodrick Kerr credited for composition. DEE.P and P.K arranged the track. TREASURE’s members are not listed as writers on this song.

That matters because member involvement is part of how fans read TREASURE, especially the rap line. In the LOVE PULSE discussion, listeners were surprised that Haruto had no writing credit because the central line sounded like something he would write or say. Others wished the members had been more involved because the imported English-pop construction made the song feel less personal.

I do not think an outside-written song is automatically less real when performers sing it well. Acting is still interpretation. Singing is still interpretation. The question is whether the song reveals something distinctive about the group. BETTER THAN ME succeeds vocally, but the criticism identifies its limit. Several groups could record this lyric. TREASURE’s voices are what make this version theirs.

Then the special film changed the assignment

The song originally closed LOVE PULSE in September 2025. The film arrived months later, on January 27, 2026, as a surprise for TREASURE’s 2,000th day. That context changes the video. It is still a romantic story, but it is also a gift built around time passing.

YG’s official description points to the contrast between sunny spring and snowy winter. That is the film’s clearest visual idea. Relationships are remembered through seasons because memory is rude like that. A park in warm light becomes evidence. A cold street becomes another version of the same absence. The locations include streets, parks, a stadium, an art gallery, and a record shop. They feel like places someone revisits after the person attached to them is gone.

Jihoon leads the narrative. His performance is quiet and controlled, which fits the song. He does not turn heartbreak into a facial-expression Olympics. The camera lets him sit with it.

Fans still had a reasonable question. Haruto, Yoshi, and Hyunsuk are strongly associated with the line about the other man not being better, so some expected one of them to anchor the film. Jihoon is not a bad choice. The choice simply shifts the story away from the lyric’s swagger and toward the vocal line’s sadness.

Easter eggs and small surprises

• The release date is part of the message. January 27 marked 2,000 days since debut. This was not random leftover footage being rescued from a hard drive.
• The changing seasons mirror the group’s timeline. Spring and winter make the film feel like a memory album instead of one continuous breakup scene.
• The record shop is almost too perfect. A song about comparing yourself to a replacement places the members among physical records, objects people keep, replay, and rank.
• The stadium reads differently because TREASURE was touring. A huge public space is filmed as somewhere lonely. Fame does not stop the song from feeling private.
• The styling avoids obvious idol spectacle. Classic clothes and subdued colors help the film age like a sentimental drama instead of a comeback teaser.
• Jihoon’s casting softens the title. In another member’s hands, BETTER THAN ME could sound cockier. His version feels more like a question he is afraid to have answered.

What fans got right

The positive response makes sense. Listeners heard the yearning, the vocals, and the throwback boy-band comfort. Some wanted the group to sing it live immediately. One fan described LOVE PULSE as moving through decades and placed BETTER THAN ME in the 1990s. Accurate. Put them in coordinated white shirts near a wind machine and the time portal is complete.

The criticism also makes sense. The lyric is broad. Member writing is absent. Rap takes a back seat. The English-language approach can feel designed for easy international access. None of that ruins the song, but it explains why somebody might admire the performance without calling it TREASURE’s most personal record.

RaeRae verdict

I like BETTER THAN ME more than I expected to. It is gentle, embarrassing in the correct romantic way, and refreshingly uninterested in punching the listener with production. The special film gives the song more identity than the lyric manages alone.

Would I call it TREASURE’s boldest song? No. Would I replay it while inventing a breakup that never happened? Unfortunately, yes.

Best part: the chorus and the warm vocal blend.
Biggest complaint: the lyric could use one oddly specific detail that belongs only to this relationship.
Replay danger: high if you have ever stared at an old message longer than dignity recommends.
Final rating: 8.1/10. Soft, familiar, and emotionally competent. The film earns the extra decimal.

Receipts

• YG Life: 2,000-day special film announcement
• Korea JoongAng Daily: TREASURE marks 2,000 days
• YG Entertainment: LOVE PULSE tracklist and album context
• TREASURE MAKER album discussion and fan counterarguments
• Fan discussion after the special film release

Keep digging: Meet TREASURE, then read the “IF I” review.