Checkmate – serie

Detached. Disinterested. Dispassionate. All words used to describe Soohyun and his uneventful, mediocre life. He’s nothing like he once was. As a teen, he had a fire, a passion burning within, all thanks to one person: bright-haired and brilliant Eunsung. Throughout high school, Soohyun obsessively competed with Eunsung for the top spot in all things, only to consistently come in second place. And as high school ended without victory, so did his passion for anything. But all this changes when, as an adult, he suddenly sees Eunsung again - except the other man is in the news, embroiled in scandal! Seeing Eunsung in a state of shame ignites something in Soohyun. Fiery hate, long thought dead, comes alive within him once more.Determined to see a fallen Eunsung with his own eyes, Soohyun reinvents himself as a reporter and begins dishing out one dirty article after another. He’s sure that with each scathing article, Eunsung will come crawling to Soohyun and begging for mercy. Except, it doesn't happen. Eunsung doesn’t react at all the way Soohyun expects! Just who is being manipulated, and who, the manipulator?

LIKE PIECES ON A BOARDAfter spending years competing against the handsome and popular Eunsung, Soohyun graduated high school filled with anger, never achieving first place or even catching Eunsung’s interest. Years later, finding Eunsung embroiled in scandal, Soohyun weaves a complicated web of manipulation to ensnare Eunsung. The bait: Park Moon-seob, Eunsung’s mentor and…ex?A malicious rumor started by Park leads to Eunsung being ostracized from the art scene. Soohyun, now a reporter, promises to help repair Eunsung’s reputation–so long as he obeys Soohyun’s every command. Wary of the other man’s intentions, Eunsung decides to go along with this, and the two form an uneasy alliance. However, Soohyun doesn’t realize that beneath Park Moon-seob’s quiet demeanor lurks a dangerous predator. Just who is hunting who? Find out in this erotically charged psychological drama.

Soohyun’s game of seduction continues - he's willing to surrender his body in exchange for the truth about Eunsung and Moon-seob. But as Eunsung opens up to him, he finds the other man to be surprisingly sincere, even worried about the danger he'd been unaware of. Could Soohyun have been wrong about Eunsung all along? As it dawns on him that Eunsung cares for him, will he also recognize that perhaps the rivalry between them was all in his head?

WHEN THE THREAT IS STRONGER THAN THE EXECUTION...Master artist Park Moon-seob invites Eunsung, a former pupil with whom he had a very public falling out to attend his exhibit. Surprisingly, Eunsung accepts the invitation, but with his newfound ally Soohyun as a plus one. What Eunsung doesn’t know is that the gallery centerpiece is another portrait of him, created and exhibited without his permission. This leads to another shouting match between the two artists. And while Soohyun is able to restrain his fellow reporters from publishing photos of the fight, he isn’t able to control Moon-seob’s mounting anger and jealousy. As insurance, Soohyun tries to win over an older colleague of his to their cause. But against a powerful and sadistic man like Moon-seob, is there really safety in numbers?