Whether it’s sitting at home alone at the end of the day to watch his fish in their tank, scuba diving in the ocean himself, or anything in between, LEEHAN does it all.

This is your second round of promotions after your debut.
LEEHAN: I feel a bit more chill about it now. I guess you could say I’m feeling a little more free and easy. And I’m excited about everything we’re going to be able to show people in the future. There were so many things that made me nervous before, but I feel like I have more to offer now.

Like what?
LEEHAN: I think I’m able to do a wider variety of things now, both when performing and talking to people. Whenever I was filming offstage or something, I used to think about all the things I wanted to try or how I should be coming across, but now I feel like I’m more engaging when I’m simply comfortable in my own skin. I’m just being real, you know? When we had just debuted, I thought I needed to speak in a higher-pitched voice and that I needed to be quick. But, as it turns out, people also like it when I just express exactly what I’m thinking.

That makes me think of when you went on that retreat in season two of FUNNEXTDOOR and you were off on the trampoline by yourself while the other members of the group were having fun singing together.
LEEHAN: I’ve always enjoyed spending time doing absolutely nothing. I make sure to carve out some time for myself. It’s not like I’m introverted or don’t like being around a lot of people—I just find maybe 30 minutes when it gets late to pass the time by myself doing nothing special at all. Sometimes I describe it as turning off my brain, but it’s really just my happy time.

Does that have anything to do with having fish, listening to music, and coming up with your own espresso-based drinks? Things that let you spend your time in a quiet, chill way?
LEEHAN: When I have time off, I like going out and hanging out with my friends and being active—including things like scuba diving and surfing—but even then, I need around 30 minutes where I can just zone out. That might come across as me literally doing nothing, but I’ve got my own ideas about things and my own routines in everything I do.

Do those routines help you to center yourself?
LEEHAN: I didn’t consciously plan it out that way, but if I stop and think about it, it turns out that’s what I’ve been doing all along. It’s just a part of who I am. I used to be just a kid who liked to sing and dance for fun, but once I started doing it professionally, it meant taking it more seriously, so I had to find other things to do in my spare time. It's a really lucky thing to be blessed enough to do something you love, but I started to feel how important it was to give myself time to refresh myself so I could devote more energy to my work. That’s why I started looking for things I could do just for fun. I still make an effort to put time aside for that, no matter how busy things get. And it just makes me feel so happy and full to share what I love with others. A lot of ONEDOOR [the BOYNEXTDOOR fandom] started getting fish after they saw me looking after them.

There’s a different side of you that comes out when you open up about your interests with your fans compared to when you’re spending quiet time alone. For one thing, you’ve got that Prince LEEHAN persona the fans love that you keep recording shorts as. I could see how you’re always able to hold onto that cool character in any situation.
LEEHAN: I think that’s just another side of who I am. I’ll think, Oh, I know what’d be fun, and then try that. Everything I do is basically like that. If I think something might be fun, I go for it, and if I get really into it, I stick with it forever. I guess some people might find that peculiar. There’s definitely people who like that part of me, and I guess there’s also people who like when I take things a bit slower and more laid-back. What I do, I can do because I have faith in the people who love me.

Have you learned anything new about yourself since becoming an idol?
LEEHAN: The power of music is unbelievable. HYBE’s mission statement, “we believe in music,” really hits me harder these days. I think the reason fans call me a prince is because they love the character I portray in our songs. When I first heard the songs and started interpreting them, I didn’t see myself as a prince-like figure at all. Nothing was set in stone. But just figuring out how to convey those songs was fun in itself, and I think some people liked seeing me go through that process, which led me to loving my fans even more and being able to be more open.

You have a really strong trust in your fans.
LEEHAN: I’ve always felt like the love they send me is bottomless. Even though we can’t be physically together all the time, I think it’s so cool and beautiful that we have the kind of connection where we can tell each other how much we love one another. I always wrap up my day by reading the fan letters they leave me on Weverse, writing responses, and liking them.

Your latest album, HOW?, talks about the stages of love. Do the emotions you feel from your fans have an effect on how you express yourself in the songs?
LEEHAN: When I look at my baby cousin, everything they do seems so cute and endearing, and I realized that that might be how the fans see me, too. They always seem to love us and like everything we do… so when I’m onstage, I smile more than I would expect. It’s like I can’t help it.

Is that reflected in the part at the end of “l i f e i s c o o l” where you sing in a jazzy way? It’s quite different from what we’ve seen from BOYNEXTDOOR on stage so far.
LEEHAN: The idea of “l i f e i s c o o l” is that all of us except WOONHAK—he’s underage (laughs)—are just sitting around, having a good time. But then I disappear, so everyone’s like, “What, where—where’d he go?” Then WOONHAK’s tired of all of us being noisy and turns off the lights to make us go to sleep. Then there’s suddenly this red mood light, and I’m off in a corner somewhere drinking wine all by myself. I was so excited when I first heard the song. I really wanted to try something like that and thought the fans would enjoy it too. Think of someone slightly tipsy on wine and swaying side to side—that’s the vibe we were going for. I hope people find it clever and fun.

It makes me think of when you said you wanted to portray Gatsby, the character from the movie adaptation of the novel The Great Gatsby.
LEEHAN: That’s exactly it. (laughs) I talked with TAESAN about my part after hearing the song. He asked me how I wanted to do it and I said I wanted to come across as cool and laid-back as Gatsby when he holds the glass up at the party he throws at his mansion. He looks so laid-back at the moment, but you can kind of tell there is a complex web of emotions behind his eyes.

What was your approach to those jazzy vocals? You convey that laid-back feel of classic jazz—your part in “l i f e i s c o o l” reminds me of Chet Baker.
LEEHAN: I actually do love jazz. I learned flute in first grade and kept going for around five years, then I learned to dance in middle school and got into hip hop, but somewhere around my debut, I got really into super slow jazz music. I was listening to a lot of classical music, too. I even said how much I wanted to use Erik Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1 as the background music for my vlog. I’ve been listening to tons of old pop songs and jazz lately, which teaches me different ways to express things. And because the vocals for that part are deep, I tried to do different things here and there to keep it interesting.

You like a combination of hip hop and jazz, which is really the kind of album HOW? is. While the end of “l i f e i s c o o l” is the most mellow part of the album, you really belt it out on “Earth, Wind & Fire.”
LEEHAN: I love that about what we do. We get to draw from an almost endless supply of ways to express ourselves, and I tried to record my vocals in as many different ways as possible on the new album. I thought a lot about how to make “l i f e i s c o o l” sound a little more interesting and how to make “Earth, Wind & Fire” as energetic as possible, then sang “So let’s go see the stars” in a way that made it sound like I was talking to someone rather than singing.

It really does sound like you’re talking in it.
LEEHAN: It sounded pretty good to me, so I was actually pretty proud of myself. (laughs) I’ve noticed lately how it’s not just the way I sing but my whole life that changes according to the music I listen to—like my personality, and my mood—so I thought a lot about what I like as far as vocals and feeling go when I listen to music.

I imagine interpretation plays a big part for you when it comes to singing. It seems like you chose a different direction for each song off HOW? based on the vocals.
LEEHAN: Exactly. Our group comes out with songs in a variety of genres every time we make a comeback, but it’s not easy working on that. We even recorded the vocals for “Earth, Wind & Fire” late at night after coming back from promoting on a music show. It’s giving me a lot of experience in a short period of time. Trying out all different kinds of music makes me feel like the number of ways I have to express myself are increasing. For instance, the most challenging song on this album is “Earth, Wind & Fire.” It’s about liking someone so intensely and being willing to give them everything, but at the same time feeling stressed because of those emotions. But in the end, you know you still like them. Expressing all that within just a three-minute performance felt like a nearly impossible task at first, so I talked it over with producer ZICO. I’ll never forget what he said.

What did he tell you?
LEEHAN: He told me how there’s a huge difference between saying “I hate you!” to your friends jokingly in the midst of having a great time at an amusement park, and when someone says, “I hate you!” in a stern and serious manner. Once he explained it that way, everything clicked. I realized that, even with the same words, the emotions the listeners will pick up from them will be different depending on how I nuance them or convey them.That realization has been so freeing.

You have to express complex emotions in “Earth, Wind & Fire” all while performing incredibly fast dance moves. I’m sure that wasn’t easy.
LEEHAN: We just have fun with it. (laughs) It’s less about whether we like it or not and more like, Wow, I can’t believe we can actually do this! (laughs) We were all in shock when we saw the rough version of the choreography. We couldn’t believe how fast it was. But we worked on it, and it was like, Wow, we’re doing it! We joked with each other that it was as fast as you can move within the confines of a few square meters. (laughs) Anyway, the choreography’s a blast. It kind of feels like playing a game. It was the most fun I had practicing our songs.

I’m sure it isn’t easy pushing yourself to perform at that level.
LEEHAN: Obviously it can be tough—we feel nervous sometimes when we’re about to go up onstage or when the intro music kicks in, but when the fans start cheering and I see all the love they are giving us, it makes it all work out. I just say “hngh!” and dance through it (laughs) and forget all about the hard stuff once we’re up there. We also work out a lot so we won’t get injured. I have to keep myself in good shape so that I can spend quality time with ONEDOOR for many years. The label looks out for me, too, of course, but I also have to make sure to exercise on my own time, too.

That makes me think of the episode of your series WHAT? DOOR! where the group members were all copying each other’s moves and you had no problem going right into some pull-ups. It made me figure your strength comes from working out so much.
LEEHAN: I guess I’m probably the best at doing pull-ups among us. The others can maybe manage, like, two? (laughs)

There was also the part in that episode where you were writing poetry and someone said you would probably write like the poet Ha Sang Wook. So you like spending quiet time alone, but you’re also full of energy when you work out, play the character of Prince LEEHAN, and also write funny poems.
LEEHAN: People constantly have to adapt to the environment around them, and as they do, they change. My thoughts and my whole mindset change according to every situation I come across, so I’ll probably keep showing different sides of me as long as I’m an idol.

What sort of criteria do you consider when deciding which aspects of yourself to reveal to people?
LEEHAN: When I’m really stuck on something, I look at it like this: (in Busan dialect) Is it gonna kill me? Will this decision put my life in danger? If the answer is no, I just go for it. On the other hand, if I ask myself whether I’ll regret it if I don’t do it, and the answer’s yes, I do it. My friends say the same thing: Hey, it’s not gonna kill you! (laughs) That’s where my courage comes from when I’m trying to do something: It’s not going to kill me, so I should just try it. I’ll regret it later if I don’t, anyway.

You’re calm but ready to jump at anything.
LEEHAN: In this line of work, I have to pay attention to how people see me, but at the same time, it’s when I stop paying attention to what other people think and do what I want that my strength really shines through. I’m just trying to do whatever I find fun and what my heart desires.

How do you make things work when what you want to do and what other people think don’t align?
LEEHAN: If I hear them out and just cannot accept their side, I talk it out with them until we find a midpoint, but if it’s the kind of situation anyone could get behind, of course I’m going to be understanding, and in the event I did something wrong, I’ll acknowledge it right away and apologize on the spot. I think that’s a healthy way of going about things. I speak my mind and own up to my mistakes, but I think it’s crucial that I always speak up and express my opinion.

I’m guessing it’s the same way between you and the other members.
LEEHAN: We’re just like family. We can all tell when one of us is uncomfortable with something or they don’t like it without them saying a word, which makes us feel even closer. And we of course disagree on things when we’re working on an album, so we have lots of conversations. We can tell what everyone’s really thinking. We all love our group so much and want to stick together. So we’re not scared of confronting each other in those situations—there’s no reason to try and avoid it. I think it’s quite healthy.

Maybe you need that time by yourself to develop that kind of mindset.
LEEHAN: I try to make time for myself, and try to think and figure out what makes me happy and what I enjoy. I went out and got my fortune told for fun (laughs) and they said I’m the kind of person who would shun “ordinary life” and live carefree off in the mountains somewhere, but here I am, living my life and working hard. People might look at me and think I act and talk slow, but that’s just the way I am, and I’m pretty happy with myself. The fans seem to like it when I’m happy and doing what I truly love, so I decided I’m going to show people exactly who I am, with no pretense.

What kind of happiness do you hope to give to your fans?
LEEHAN: Happiness looks and feels so different for everyone… but just from reading fan letters, I’ve seen that I make some of them feel better, or that seeing me laugh makes them smile and feel happier too. If I can help them find happiness or feel better in some way, that’s more than enough for me. It makes me so happy. Just being able to have a positive influence on someone like that is such a privilege, and it’s something I want to keep on doing.

Happily ever after. (laughs)
LEEHAN: Absolutely. (laughs)