After successfully completing his mandatory military enlistment as a public service worker this past September, VIXX member Leo has made his solo return with new digital single “I’m Still Here.” The track is a beautiful ballad with pop elements in the chorus, with Leo lamenting the end of a relationship. “I’m Still Here” is beautiful in a melancholic way, just in time to put on repeat during the fall weather.

The track opens with a ticking clock, and it’s with this imagery that the music video starts as well, beginning with a focus on Leo’s wristwatch before panning out to Leo sitting in front of a blue backdrop. He sits for the entirety of the music video, singing in a room that seems empty at first before you realize he’s in the middle of a photoshoot, with staff beginning to clean up around him. The lyrics focus on how Leo is “still here” while the person he loves is gone, with Leo wondering how they’re doing, if they’re smiling, before singing, “I won’t worry since it’s useless.”* In the bridge, Leo sings, “It’s funny that you’re not here / But lots of traces / Shakes me and breaks me down.”* It’s the pain of moving on, of remembering small things about that one he loves, that hurts him the most.

You can watch the music video below, but if you click here, you can watch and listen to his performance of “I’m Still Here” for Vocals Only Live, where the instrumentation is in one headphone and Leo’s vocals are in the other, giving the track an even more heartbreaking twist.

*Translation from music video’s subtitles