Baek In Ho, Hong Sul and Yoo Jung
Cheese in the Trap is a Korean Webtoon by Soon Ki.
Hong Sul is an ordinary college student. Yoo Jung is the most popular upperclassman. He's good looking, rich, smart and even nice. However, Sul thinks there's more to Jung than meets the eye...
A legal English version is available on LINE Webtoon here
.
A partial Live-Action Adaptation aired on tvN in 2016 for 16 episodes.
The Tropes associated with the series:
- Abusive Parents: After the death of Professor Baek, In Ho and In Ha were sent to live with their Aunt and Uncle. The Aunt frequently beat and berated In Ha for being a drain on their income, and not as talented as her brother.
- The Ace: Jung is handsome, popular, rich, athletic (if that basketball game is anything to go by), and easily the smartest person in his department. Which just happens to be the Business department. He is also very talented at manipulating people.
- In Ho used to be this when it came to the piano, before his hand was crushed.
- All Work vs. All Play: Sul and In Ho come off like this whenever they are together. Sul is always studying and In Ho is always slacking off. He eventually subverts this proving that he can take his work seriously by genuinely trying to hold down a job, and even going through with rehabilitation for his hand.
- Alpha Bitch: Nam Joo Yeon. Da Yeong, from season 4.
- Backstabbing the Alpha Bitch: A variation of this happens to Nam Joo Yeon when Jung turns on her.
- Berserk Button: Do not hurt Sul. It makes Jung terrifying. For that matter it's also a bad idea to tell Sul anything that could make her angry at Jung, because when he finds out...
- Beta Couple: Possibly Bo Ra and Eun Taek. Also Jun and Ah Young.
- Betty and Veronica: In Ho is the Betty and Jung the Veronica to Sul's Archie. Interestingly, In Ho is the more mischievous one, while Jung is more polite and friendly.
- Beware of the Nice Ones: Yoo Jung.
- Big Eater: Eun Taek.
- Big Ego, Hidden Depths: In Ho initially appears to be little more than a lazy, self-centred, short-tempered leech. But he eventually shows that despite his attitude he really does care about his sister, Sul, and even the other guys in his dorm. And in response to their various situations even tries to change for the better.
- Big Man on Campus: Jung, so much.
- Birds of a Feather: Jung believes he and Sul are this. Sul does not agree.
- Subverted in that he later comes to realize that they are different.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: Most people think Jung is either a really good person, or a terribly evil one. He, on the other hand, seems to think that everyone other than him has this. He just can't figure out how other people think. Even when he can predict their reactions he doesn't seem to understand why. This is most noticeable whenever he is unable to understand the reason Sul is angry at him.Jung: "She gets upset when I tell the truth, but she doesn't like it either when I tell a lie. Then I am going to do it my way from now on."
- Book Dumb: Sang Chul and Min Soo
- Brilliant, but Lazy: In Ho was this as a pianist, however since his hand was crushed he no longer has the brilliant part. He continues to keep the attitude, though.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: Hong Sul. Hilariously.Jung: "About yesterday, I thought about it and…"
Sul: "Y-yes!"
Jung: "Don't ever get drunk anywhere again, okay? Ever." - Character Development: Nearly every significant character gets some. They don't always develop in good ways though.
- Chick Magnet: Jung and Baek In Ho.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Jun and Ah Young go on dates from the third season.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Baek In Ha and Nam Joo Yeon toward Yoo Jung.
- Curtains Match the Window: Hong Sul
- Decompressed Comic
- Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Upon seeing Jung in the same class, Sul thinks out loud that she is going to switch to an online class when she gets home. Jung then tells her that all online classes are full. Whoops.
- Dogged Nice Guy: Young Gon thinks he's this to Sul. That isn't how anyone else sees it though.
- Flashback Echo: Sul has this a lot.
- Foil: Jung and In Ho. A number of Duo Tropes can be applied to them.
- Fortuneteller: Sul meets one in the prologue.
- Genki Girl: Sul's bestfriend, Bo Ra
- Gold Digger: Bek In Ha. Yoo Jung thinks everyone is like this. Sang Cheol could count as this, who always wants to get benefits from others.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: In Ho. Though he does learn to tone it down.
- He's All Grown Up: Ah Young has a moment like this looking at Jun, when she can't help but notice that he's much taller and more manly than he used to be.
- I Just Want to Be Special : Min Soo, who regards the alpha girl Sul highly. Other than admiring her, Min Soo starts to copy her.
- I Love You Because I Can't Control You: Probably the reason Jung finds Sul interesting.
- Love Dodecahedron: Nam Joo Yeon likes Yoo Jung, but Jung is interested in Hong Sul. Sul likes Jung (eventually). Baek In Ha is obsessed with Jung. Baek In Ho likes Sul. Oh Young Gon was obsessed with Nam Joo Yeon, then Bo Ra, and now Sul, but he is dating Da Young. Bo Ra likes Eun Taek, but doesn't want to date him right now. Eun Taek likes her back, but some people think he's dating Sul. Min Soo likes, and claims she is dating, Jun, but Jun likes his childhood friend Ah Young. Ah Young also likes Jun, but he thinks she likes Jung. Sang Chul also likes Ah Young, but thought she liked Jung and is now dating Jun. AP Huh is in a relationship with Gong Joo Yong, but thinks Joo Yong is cheating on him with a mysterious hoobae, who turns out to be Jung. Not played for laughs.
- Love Triangle: One involving Sul, Yoo Jung, and Nam Joo Yong and one (possibly) involving Sul, Yoo Jung, and Bek In Ho. And now another involving Jun, Ah Young, and Min Soo.
- Made Out to Be a Jerkass: Jung excels at doing this to people.
- Manipulative Bastard: This is Sul's initial impression of Jung, which lasts for about a year after she first meets him. Despite his charming personality and kind behaviour she believes that in reality he doesn't care about others at all, and is only using them for his own ends. Most notable is her observation that everyone he befriends is in someway influential or important. And those who aren't he gets rid of while still appearing to others as an unfailingly nice guy.
- Meal Ticket: Apparently Jung is so rich that he buys dinner meals for his department on a regular basis. No one refuses. In Ho tends to use everyone like this, but most often Sul.
- Mistaken for Gay: Jun apparently gets this quite a bit, because of how his clothing and pierced ear are perceived in Korea. He is adamant that he should be allowed to dress how he wants.
- Monochrome Past: Flashbacks are either set in sepia or black-and-white tones, depending on the time the event in question occured.
- Mysterious Past: We constantly get hints of this. What exactly happened last year? What went on between Jung and In Ho? What happened with Sul's grandmother?
- Never My Fault: Many characters do this. Nam Joo Yeon manages to do it while apologizing for something she did. Sul shows her maturity in being almost the only person (as far as we know) to regularly consider whether she might be to blame.
- Nice Girl/Nice Guy: Sul thinks Ah Young is an angel, and in fact she is one of the nicest female characters in this webtoon. Kyung Hwan turns out to be a kind soul, willing to pay for Jae Woo's broken laptop when Kyung Hwan himself has nothing to do with it. Professor Shim is a nice man who genuinely cares about his troublemaking student In Ho.
- Noble Male, Roguish Male: Jung is the noble male, In Ho the roguish one. Played with, though, in that Jung has a frightening manipulative side to him while In Ho tends to take a more direct approach with people.
- Parental Issues: Sul's father is very patriarchal: he favored Jun over Sul, in addition to burdening his son. However Sul screams out the family problems, and he does get a little better, like saving her from the stalker Young Gon. Jung's father had good intentions, but he did not trust his son and did not show much love for him, making Jung a Broken Ace.
- Put on a Bus: Nam Joo Yong.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Jung is the blue to In Ho's red. Also Sul is the blue to both In Ha and Bo Ra's red.
- The Resenter: In Ho, toward Yoo Jung.
- Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: When Sul shows Jung a discount coupon, he has no idea what it is.
- Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: Jung and In Ho for Sul. In atypical fashion, Sul is dating rich suitor Jung.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Jung is the sensitive guy and In Ho is the manly man. It's also played with, as while In Ho is more hands-on and rough around the edges, he also enjoys and is quite good at playing the piano.
- Shipper on Deck: A number of them. Sul embarrassingly reveals how she is one for Ah Young and Jung. Bo Ra and Eun Taek become this for Jung and Sul.
- Shopping Montage: Sul and Yoo Jung getting dinner in part 2, chapter 17.
- Single Girl Seeks Most Popular Guy: Subverted. Jung is definitely the most popular guy in their department, and many girls have serious crushes on him, but Sul is not one of them. Though they end up dating anyway.
- The Smart Guy: Jung of course. Jae Woo also counts too.
- The Sociopath:
- Jung may be a high functioning one.
- Among some fans Sang Cheol is suspected of being one, who is illustrated to feel no guilt when ruining others' campus lives.
- Stalker with a Crush: Young Gon. "Creepily." Young Gon does this to every girl he likes, but his obsession with Sul really takes the cake. He is unwaveringly convinced that she secretly loves him, even after she threatened to report him to the police. Aside from following her, discovering her address and sending her random gifts, his whole plot recently appears to have been to get Sul to break up with Jung and to convince her that he is decent boyfriend material. He even started dating Da Young just to show Sul that he can hold a steady relationship. And then there's following her around the library trying to secretly take pictures of her...
- Starving Student: Hong Sul.
- Stepford Smiler: Yoo Jung.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Yoo Jung and his father, of course. Eun Taek also counts, as he becomes a model for an online shopping mall.
- The Un-Favourite: In Ha was this to her aunt and uncle. Sul seems to have been this to her grandmother... but it turns out that her grandmother loved Sul a lot.
- Uptown Girl: Jung is a gender-inversion to Sul.
- What Is This Feeling?: This appears to be Jung's reaction to falling in love.
- Whole Episode Flashback: Multiple times.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Jung is adorably afraid of insects.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Baek In Ha's modus operandi.
- Yandere: Nam Joo Yong is getting there toward Yoo Jung. Jung is also showing signs of this towards Sul. He takes it very badly if anyone hurts her or interferes with his relationship with her. Young Gon was one too. Sang Cheol is one, as he stalks Ah Young and gets her phone numbers from others around her.
