August 14th 2015

Leo walked into the rehearsal room with Ravi, ready to practice for their first live.

Earlier in the month, Jellyfish announced that the two of them would be debuting as VIXX's first subunit, under the name of VIXX LR.

Ravi and Leo spent the past three months writing and composing songs for their album, and they could not wait any longer to let everyone listen to them.

They were practicing their title track Beautiful Liar and some of the other songs for the nth time already. They practiced for about two hours before finally taking a break.

"I can't wait to put the album out!" Ravi said.

Their singing coach had just walked out to go have lunch, leaving the two boys to take a break.

Leo just smiled and nodded his head, understanding his friend's feeling. They have put so much heart and passion on the album that they felt like they were debuting all over again.

"I've never asked you about it, but where did you get the inspiration for the lyrics of the hook for Beautiful Liar? I remember how we were struggling to find a concrete topic for the melody, and you came up with the first ideas one day." Ravi asked his friend.

Leo looked up and pondered for a little while before replying.

"I got inspired by the things that happened around me. Honestly, it was a time when I felt sort of trapped. A part of it was due to seeing my sister going through her breakups, with both her boyfriend, and her closest friends." He started.

"I thought of how her and her Donghae Hyung both really tried to patch things up, but always missed the right timing."

He stopped for a second, thinking about Jessica and Donghae again.

"It's just like everything in life. Sometimes, things that we wish for don't happen because we spend too much time wondering if we should or should not go after them. And in the meantime, someone else makes the decision and it's too late for us. It's a cowardly habit that we all have somehow. And usually with love." He continued.

"Oh wow. I had not thought of it that way before. Remember how we wrote it so fast after that? We had a good time recording this album, to be honest." Ravi responded.

"True. It felt different." Leo agreed, smiling at the memory.

The two friends decided to put an end to the day's practice after the vocal coach told them to rest their voices, and they went their separate ways with Leo going back to the dorms.

On his way back home he got a phone call from Krystal.

"Oppa!"

"Why do you sound so happy?"

"I'm always happy!" She exclaimed.

"I'm sure Minhyuk has something to do with it." Leo muttered, but loud enough for her to hear.

"Ei, Oppa! I'm just happy to talk to you. It's been a while." She said.

He smiled at her reaction. He found his baby sister very cute.

"What are you doing right now?" She asked him.

"I'm going back to the dorms from the company. What about you?"

"I'm home, waiting for Minhyuk Oppa to get here."

"Ah! There it is. I know why you're so happy today." Leo joked.

"Oppa! That's not it, really!" She replied, falling for his teasing.

Leo chuckled on the other end of the line.

"Anyways, did you need something?" He asked her.

"Not really... I was just calling to see what you were up to, and to ask if you wanted to have lunch with us."

"Where?"

"At home." Krystal said.

"At home, where?" Leo asked back.

"At our apartment, not at our parents'." She specified.

"Alright... okay. Can I invite Jaehwan too? I think he is alone at home."

"Of course! The more the merrier." She said, almost immediately.

"Alright. I'll see you in a bit then." Leo replied.

"See you soon, Oppa!"

Leo hung up as the van stopped in front of their dorm. From where his manager stopped the car, no fan could see him walk out of it so he nonchalantly made his way inside the building.

"Jaehwan-ah? Where are you?" He asked.

He just walked into their apartment and made his way over to Ken's room. He opened the door and found his friend laying on his bed, listening to music with his headphones on and his eyes closed.

"Jaehwan-ah."

Leo touched Ken's shoulder to see if he was sleeping.

"Oh my god!" Ken exclaimed.

He jumped up from his laying position, threw his phone away and started protecting his face with his hands.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked.

"You scared me! I thought no one was home, so for a minute I thought it was a burglar or something!" He replied.

He was trying to calm his heart down after being so surprised. Leo on the other hand could not stop laughing at his friend.

"And the only thing you thought of doing was to protect your face?"

"Ah... It's an idol reflex, I can't help it."

Leo chuckled again and shook his head.

"Are you busy?" He finally asked.

"Not really. Do you need me for something?" Ken asked back.

"Soojung just invited me over for lunch and I wanted to know if you wanted to come. Are you in?"

"Who's cooking?" Ken asked straightforwardly.

"I think she will order some food in."

"Okay! Joha!" Ken exclaimed.

"I'm going to get changed and then we'll leave." Leo said before walking out of the room.

He got changed into more comfortable clothes and wore the orange beanie that Jessica got him on his birthday two years ago, to hide his messy hair.

"Jaehwan-ah, are you ready?" He asked.

He walked back into the living room while fixing the beanie on his head.

"Mm. Should we take my car?" Ken suggested.

"Yes that would be nice. I don't really feel like driving today." Leo replied.

They both wore their shoes and made their way down to the parking lot. They chatted about LR's debut and many other things.

"Did you get a call for the new musical you auditioned for?" Leo asked him as they got in the car.

"Not yet."

"I'm sure they're going to call you back soon."

Ken and Leo's close friendship is something that could surprise more than one, seeing how different their personalities appear to be. With N and him being the two oldest, one would think that they have the closest bond out of all the members, but it is different with Ken.

Leo usually feels like because they both hold the same position within the group, and that they went through the same experience with acting in musicals, they got another understanding of each other. On the professional and human level.

Their conversations are never boring, even when they talk about something as simple as a new dish they tried while on a trip, and Ken is a great friend to confide into.

Leo is the responsible and caring type of guy, so he always takes care of all the members, making each of them feel close to him in some way. He includes them in his family's outings and gatherings as if they were fully part of it, and that really touches them.

When the idea of a subunit first came up, every single member recommended Leo as a member of it. When it was finally decided that it was going to be a duo, all of them were adamant on the fact that Leo could match with any of them, making him the obvious first choice.

Leo never told them directly how grateful and touched he felt when they did that. He felt the love and respect that s have for his talent.

Ken drove to Jessica and Krystal's apartment complex in a matter of half an hour. He knew the directions quite well, surprising Leo.

"Why is there a car parked at Noona's spot? Is she home?" Leo asked himself.

They had to park the car at another lot and walk longer to reach the entry. They quickly made their way up to the apartment, trying to avoid any unfortunate encounter.

Leo did not want articles about him and Ken visiting his sisters' apartment to