체크 메이트 2

Checkmate #2

by Tan, 탄

본격적으로 취재를 시작한 수현. 은성을 가십에 올려놓은 사건을 파헤칠수록, 유명 화백 박문섭이 그와 악연으로 지독하게 얽혀 있음을 알게 된다. 한편, 고교 시절을 기억하지 못하는 줄 알았던 은성이 수현의 과거의 모습을 들춘다. 수현은 그가 자신을 기억하고 있음을 깨닫고 충격에 빠지는데…

Genres: Manhwa, Manga, LGBT, Romance, Queer, Contemporary, Yaoi

248 pages, Paperback

Published May 10, 2023

Reviews

[ada ✮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

besides the fact that soohyun is obsessive, toxic, manipulative, mentally unstable, has an inferiority complex bigger than himself, PLEASE let me hit

[rory (jess' version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

i need park moon seob to go to hell

[The Girl Murdered by Her TBR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Angst ✅
Plot ✅
Suspense ✅
Character Development of the two MCs ✅✅
Extreme hatred with the antagonist ✅✅✅

[⋆ ࣪˖ ִֶָ sel ་༘࿐ · Rating 4 out of 5]

[S2CH38-65] A lot more spicier on this season. We're still far from the whole truth but we're getting glimpses from different characters every now and then. It also seems that there's so much more than the initial academic rivalry that Soohyun tries to paint. We're catching some memories from their three years of high school that Soohyun has been painfully trying to bury. Hate? I bet, but it's very much more than that. A kind of obsession he can't define himself. I'm loving that there's this sickening yearning we can feel emanating everytime Soohyun is doing something connected to Eunsung.

I'm looking forward to see more! Can't wait for Park Moon Seob to rot in hell.

[quynh · Rating 4 out of 5]

agghhhh i’m excited for the third act
i can’t wait to see how park moon seob falls vro
and i need eunsung and soohyun together in the most wholesome way
like their chemistry. unbelievable. eunsung is lowk a slut for soohyun and im ok with that.
i neeeed more pov eunsung in hs too.
soohyun so crazy too idk how he’s so nonchalant about everything but eunsung like get your mans king!!

[Nayli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me duele al fin haber leído el ultimo Extra episode, me encantan juntos, son ese trope de sunshine x moon. ¿Por qué tenía que terminar?

[Alicia Delfina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Llore banda

[I Will Elaborate And That's a Threat✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, how do I even sort thru the emotions I felt and the events that occurred in the last two seasons? There will probably be a few spoilers.

First things first, I hate Park Moon Seob with all my heart and I hope he rots in jail for all he did, but that is too tame of a sentence for that scum.

So, I'd like to start by saying that I love the author. I don't usually read the creator's notes at the end of the series unless I have a physical book, but the way this creator talks is so adorable to me, that I spent a lot of time just rereading parts of the creator's notes, enjoying the little doodles and having fun with the QnAs.

The characters were so well written. They were so messed up and complex but still easy to understand and sympathize with. And we all rooted for the!!! Despite their crazy....antics. [Or well, one of them.]

I cannot begin to fathom writing a character like Soohyun and making him the hero. It sounds crazy. How does one make a cold, stubborn, intelligent yet confused, yandere-type obsessive, violent guy sound like a good guy without having people question one's morals? How does one make a relationship based on "I want to lift you high, clean you from the mess you've been in and make you see me as your saviour, only to make you hit rock bottom when we're alone because I'm the only one who should be able to see you in that state".... and still make it sound romantic and... dare I say, adorable even??? How did you do that? This shit was toeing the line between toxic and soulmates so gracefully. I loved every second of it, lapped every drop up like I was starved (and maybe I was after all the books with non-con and unhealthy relationships being normalized). Don't get me wrong, there's plenty wrong in this book too, there's a lot of stuff that is not wholesome, this is the furthest thing from fluff, but never is it portrayed as normal or wholesome or fluffy. It's not perfect because the main couple doesn't have problems, it's perfect because the main couple is a mess, individually, together, at the moment, and even in their history with and without each other, yet they know it, and they embrace it. That makes it so much better.

And you know the best part, the couple isn't the only part of this story that's done well. The plot and the other characters are also so lovable, except for Park Moon Seob (SCREW HIM😒). The plot was so engaging and til the end, I kept wanting to know what would happen next, what the resolution is what they did, and how they felt! Not because there were any major plot twists, but because the tension was stable throughout the story. There's a great balance of chill scenes where we learn about the main couple and tense scenes where they're dealing with all the shit they get into.

I would also like to say that this is one of the e few comics that has a more realistic end to their problem with the whole collecting evidence and going to court thing instead of the usual, Top commits crimes including but not restricted to blackmail assault and threats to anyone that bothers the Bottom yet doesn't face any consequences.

I really enjoyed this, okay, and I can't think of other words in which to explain this. This was very enjoyable.

[amara · Rating 5 out of 5]

cerita mengikuti sudut pandang soohyun dengan inferiority complexnya, ia bersikap sangat obsesif untuk mengalahkan eunsung dalam segala hal dan rela melakukan apapun agar eunsung hancur di bawah kakinya. namun, apakah hal itu adalah sesuatu yang benar-benar diinginkan soohyun selama ini? di antara perasaan marah, benci, ingin memiliki dan frustasi untuk menghancurkan, yang manakah perasaan soohyun sebenarnya?

udah lama baca manhwa ini. cerita utamanya tamat, sekarang masuk proses side story. dipenuhi karakter yang obsesif, ambisius, inferiority complex, tipe enemies to lovers, rivals to lovers, terdapat konten rape dan masih banyak lagi trigger warningnya. memang betul alur ceritanya fucked up, tapi terbilang oke untuk ukuran manhwa bl yang biasanya cuma menempelkan adegan mature ga jelas, checkmate punya fondasi plot yang cukup kuat dibandingkan manhwa bl kebanyakan.

ikatan antar tokoh dibangun secara pelan-pelan (slowburn). karakter-karakternya digambarkan terlalu abu-abu dan ambigu disetiap perilaku dan konflik batinnya, penulis membuat perasaan soohyun serta eunsung terlalu samar untuk pembaca pahami, terkadang mengikuti prosesnya cukup membuat frustasi karena perkembangan karakter jadi tidak terlihat dan tindakannya yang kontradiktif terasa ga masuk akal. "apa sih maunya soohyun? kenapa eunsung harus bersikap seperti itu?"

entah deh, mungkin penulisnya berniat memberikan detail-detail rumit di dalam pikiran soohyun agar suasana psikologisnya terasa kuat. namun sisi positifnya, design karakter yang begini jadi membangun perasaan misterius, membangkitkan rasa penasaran. melalui sudut pandang soohyun, eunsung memiliki image yang seperti itu; misterius dan sulit digapai. aku suka dengan penggambaran eunsung yang seperti ini.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

marking this for season 2

Park Moon Seob is one of the worst, most disgusting villains I've seen in a while. With that said, Soohyun is still the most captivating character to me in the entire story.
While manipulative, red flag tops are a dime a dozen in manhwas, the same cannot be said about bottoms. I think the last manipulative top I saw was in The Pawn's Revenge and I loved that story

I think the monologue below best describes who Soohyun is and his very complex thoughts and emotions

When I 1st met him again, he was really cornered. Sensitive, easily provoked. Smiling but cold on the inside. If it wasn't for Park, I could have just enjoyed his strung up state. That's what I was hoping to do when I 1st sought him out.
To rub salt into his wounds so that he'll never heal. Watch him as he plummets, and pretend to console him, listening to his tearful complaints at his side, sneer at his cries for help and yet feel sorry for him
To feel a sense of superiority because he depended on me and gossip about him over a beer. I could have been that guy. I still feel that way. It's just that there's this uncomfortable feeling that keeps getting in the way out of nowhere
Maybe he's noticed it too. What i want is his isolation. Him isolated in my hands. I want to push him into a corner, square by square so that he can never escape.
Maybe that's the surest and easiest way to have him for myself

He disturbs, troubles and fascinates me. I am genuinely curious to see how this story will end and what will happen between him and Eunsung.

[☾ lulla ☽ · Rating 4 out of 5]

오모 어떻게? 이게 너무 귀엽다~~~~ ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
이게 끝났다는 걸 믿을 수 없어요 아이고ㅗㅗㅗㅗㅗ
This manhwa was really cute 🥹 I read the English version and not the Korean version.

The ending felt a bit lacklustre and too open-ended for me, as I like completed epilogues that don’t leave anything up to interpretation but, at least it was implied that all the character in the cast have a happy future. I’m also glad it was a happy ending.

The character development in this felt really good for a manhwa, and wow I was so hooked by the thriller part of the story too. I’m so glad Park went to jail for all the shit he did. I enjoy the twist of a dom x dom relationship, and how the psycho one turned out to be the MC and not the ML for once, but let’s bfr they’re both psychos until the end basically, just in different ways 😭

[R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Soohyun is trying to move everyone into position to his whims and plans, but they don't seem to be cooperating very much, especially Eunsung, who seems to have his own curiosity and concerns when it comes to Soohyun. More people are being pulled into this tangled web, and even Soohyun seems to be having difficulty keeping his original goals in mind as time goes on. In no way could any of these relationships be considered healthy, but it would still be nice to at least see the boys escape from Park all things considered. Soohyun is most likely going to need more than the little bit of backbone he's developed to really survive these depths.

[Arcel Valencia · Rating 5 out of 5]

¿Me leí todo esto de una sentada? Por supuesto que sí.

La verdad hace mucho que este tipo de relaciones no son mis favoritas, pero Tan logró plasmar a la perfección la personalidad de los protagonistas y la manera obsesiva que tienen de moverse juntos.

Creo que Park se merecía más sufrimiento, pero estoy feliz con ese final.

Lo recomiendo, pero lean los TW, tiene escenas muy fuertes y, en general, se tratan temas sensibles.

[Ida Østby · Rating 4 out of 5]

It doesn't shake anything dramatically up from volume 1. Still extreme, still sexualized, still giving me tense hands while reading. The plot develops at a good pace, which is always a risk with this genre as it would be easy to devolve into an edgy sex-fest; instead it ramps up tension and raises stakes in a way that is engaging and makes me want to immediately pick up vol 3.

That said, I'm not sure there's a huge life lesson to be learned between the pages.

[Filip Skovin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second volume feels stronger than the first.
The characters are more defined, and the relationship between the leads develops with more depth and tension.
You start to understand their motives and emotions better, even if the pacing is still uneven at times.
There’s more feeling here both in what’s said and what’s left unsaid.

[Lady Aqua · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kept me at the edge of my seat the whole 3 seasons, lo único que puedo decir es que la transición de los sentimientos de ambos queda vague; no solo para el lector también para los propios protagonistas. Incluso terminando así quedé satisfecha, i just love them so much😍

[-moonprismpower- · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soohyun really got himself mixed up in some dark shit. But he’s so capable of getting things done. I can’t wait for Park to get what he deserves.

Also, don’t end the volume right there!!!! These two were looking at each other with fire in their eyes and we gotta wait till next volume?! lol

[from the desk of jia · Rating 1 out of 5]

DROPPED

[Alex Lazopoulou · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourites love the art and the character development

[彬彬 · Rating 5 out of 5]

again, all time favourite bl
the way characters are written is just immaculate, mcs r so lovable

[Kata · Rating 5 out of 5]

No puedo describir el amor y aprecio que le tengo a esta tremenda obra de arte.
Los personajes, la historia, el desarrollo, TODO es tan <<<<
AMO. ✨

[noémie · Rating 4 out of 5]

still way too toxic but we're getting somewhere

[Just a dreamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was wow... Overwhelming.

[Britney Piloso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Las cosas se pone turbias por aquí l y por allá.
Maldito Park.

[sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The suspense is killing me!!!

[Eve Healy]

Spoiler-Included Reviews:

Video

Post

[amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

read June 13, 2024 - June 13, 2024: 4 stars

[becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

they are so obsessed w each other omg LMAOOO

[selenarity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Est-ce que je peux devenir amnésique et revivre la lecture de ce webtoon svp

[Lyss · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a special place in hell reserved just for Park Moon-seob and I hope he’s relocated there as soon as possible