OKAY LOTS OF THOUGHTS ON THIS !!
when i first started reading imma be real i didn’t fuck w either eunsung or soohyun. eunsung was bc of what he did in ch 5 (why does psychological bl always gotta have unprompted SA in it?) but honestly eunsung grew on me a lot as i read the story and i can say he was one of my favorites from this. soohyun’s perspective of him throughout hs paints him out to be a certain way (full of himself + king type character) but he’s someone who really cares a lot for those around him.
as for soohyun: visually he is exactly the type of character that i would like but i hated him when i was early into the story bc i didn’t understand his motivations well enough + the full picture of what happened in hs. i used to think soohyun’s initial obsessive hate for eunsung was unjustified and something soohyun just concocted in his head bc i was like “well it’s not like eunsung bullied him, he just didnt rly give him the time of day”; but after seeing the full perspective from eunsung i fully realize that soohyun was getting picked on a lot by his classmates and was always having his grades thrown in his face/ being antagonized over them and eunsung never rly straight up stood up for him (stopped the goons from talking shit abt him when they would start but wouldn’t outright tell them to knock it off/ that what they were doing was wrong). anyways so soohyun’s obsession and initial hatred for soohyun started to make sense to me. in general tho, i didn’t like how soohyun would talk to eunsung is regards to his abuse from park moonseob; esp bc when they would do sexual stuff or just be having a convo, soohyun would throw park + his actions back in eunsung’s face a lot and it just made me cringe bc it was so insensitive imo.
however, i will say i love how soohyun treated park’s other victims like lee shinhae and yoon jiwoo (heewon is another story erm… but tbh heewon has a rly difficult personality so i understand why soohyun did what he did). HIS DYNAMIC W SHINHAE ESP KILLS ME BC ITS SO GOOD. shinhae trusts soohyun sm and cares abt him and just has so much respect for him. the way that soohyun told shinhae that he’s incredibly strong for surviving the shit that park was putting him through and told him that he did well and SHINHAE STARTED CRYING AND SOOHYUN COMFORTED HIM. I DIED. lee soohyun you ate w that️
additionally, soohyun was an interesting character bc like what they said in the story he gives off the impression that he’s this perfectionist, cautious type character but to his core he’s very reckless and will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. his character development was also cool to see bc of the way of what he wants from eunsung shifted a lot. it starts off rooted in hate and loathing ️ shifting towards genuine care and concern but still twinged w the desire to monopolize him bc he’s realizing that he feels love towards him ️ just fr being head over heels for eunsung. now he is most definitely obsessive from beginning to end but his craziness is acceptable tbh. soohyun is fr just that one guy who don’t play abt jung eunsung. tldr: went from hating to liking soohyun a lot.
opinions on other characters:
park moonseob - KILL YOURSELF NO ONE WILL CARE️️
kim minseok (soohyun boss) - i fw you heavy; thought he had a crush on soohyun for bit but he’s just a good sunbae
lee shinhae - I LOVE YOU SM YOU DESERVE THE WORLD. need a spin off w shinhae finding love tbh.
Checkmate(TAN)