Cheese in the Trap is one of the longest running and longest romance Webtoon from Naver Webtoon. Heck, I think it’s even one of the longest completed webtoons in general. All of this is quite a feat since romance based fiction in general usually don’t get long runs in the manhwa world at first.

THE STORY 10/10
It’s a college romance story! And right off the bat the main character, Sul/Seol/설, says she’s taking a semester off. Her excuse is that she needs money for tuition and since she thinks she won’t win the scholarship she needs, there’s no way she can attend school. However, we learn pretty quickly that she's also pretty relieved to get away from the sunbae from her school, Jung/정, for a semester.

However, suddenly, Jung’s scholarship essay is missing. He was a shoe-in to win but with his essay gone the scholarship goes to Sul. Sul is relieved but now she has to endure another year with Jung. But then, Jung, the person she feels the most uncomfortable with, seems to have taken an interest in her. Does he want to be friends or is this a new form of torture?

Cheese in the trap is unique in that we see a lot of flashbacks. And by a lot I mean a lot. Why so many flashbacks? In the most general sense, this is a story about letting the past go so that one can focus and live in the present. Not just Sul and Jung but most of the characters we’ll be reading about let the past still haunt them and motivate their thoughts and actions. The past is the biggest source of CITT conflicts and obstacles. This is especially true for Sul’s and Jung’s relationship. So the plethora of flashbacks makes sense and they’ll even come times when you’re excited for them. (A couple of my favorite CITT scenes are flashbacks).

Anyways, I gave the story a perfect 10 mainly because of its re-readability. Even though there are a couple of things that I’m not completely satisfied about but I won’t share them because they don’t ruin the overall story in any way and they’re major spoilers.

I’m someone who rereads books/works of fiction years after I finish them so I can forget about it and enjoy them to their fullest once I reread them again. However the first time I completed Cheese in the Trap, I immediately went straight back to reread it.

The first time you read it’s so much fun and interesting and just an overall fantastic reading experience but the rereads are just as fun. There are so many little things to watch for and it’s so much fun to reread scenes because sometimes we get flashbacks that change the POV (the main POV for this series is Sul’s). And so revisiting the original scene with the flashback in mind makes rereading CITT so much fun. I think I’ve reread CITT four times. And I’m hoping for my next reread, I will the korean/original version.

THE ART 10/10
I’m judging the art based on how well it pairs with the story. The art does have some weaknesses like heavily edited photos instead of drawings for the background but they never bothered me.

So I’m giving the art a full score simply because it suits the story. The artist does a great job of illustrating tense scenes and “scary” faces. Actually, keep in mind this has psychological components and if you read the comments, there is one character that is commonly found shady/creepy. This is thanks to the art mainly. This sorry isn’t a sweet and casual college romance. It’s more than that and the art does a great way to illustrate the complex emotions and thoughts that the characters are feeling and thinking. From sadness to chilling facial expressions, the artist really knows how to have the art support the story so that it feels like you’re right in the world of CITT.

And even more Sul’s expressions are so diverse ! Actually every single one of CITT characters are so animated that sometimes it feels like I’m watching a manhwa and not reading it.

BTW the art really improves during season 3. ~~Jung looks soooo good in this season~~

THE CHARACTERS 10/10:
Jung and Sul. Sul and Jung. Sul. Jung. Jung. Sul.

There’s so much I want to say about these two but I’ll have to be vague since I don’t want to give any spoilers. Both are the top students in their business department but
you learn really early on how different these two live. Sul is a poor college student that receives no (financial) support from her family. However, she has great friends and a good head on her shoulders. She doesn’t necessarily go out of her to be kind, she just is (in a normal type way). Sul also is very easy to read aka she can’t hide her emotions side her facial expressions are so telling. While Jung is a rich boy who is known to treat everyone out. It’s not so much because he’s kind but it’s the least bothersome way to interact with others.

From the beginning, we learn more about Sul than Jung and I think the author wrote it like that so that we can learn about Jung at the same pace as Sul is. Which is really cool because as their relationship changes we think the same thoughts as Sul.

If Sul is a great example of a normal college student trying to do it all because they have to then Jung is a great example of how passiveness is just as manipulative as aggression. I know… quite different generalizations for the two but believe me it makes sense.

The “antagonists” in this story are my favorite. Usually antagonists really annoy me because most of the time there is no build up for them nor do we learn about their thoughts and POV. However it’s the opposite for the anatomist of CITT. The antagonists in this story aren’t out of place and I can definitely imagine them attending college. One of them does annoy me but I think that more of a personal opinion I just have if anything.

To add, this story has a good amount of characters and the author does a fantastic job of incorporating them into the story. From the random mob character to the teacher’s assistant to the guy next door, all of these characters first seen and maybe even introduced as someone insignificant (or even annoying) are all used in the story well. This amazes so much because it makes for unexpected but very realistic conflicts.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Read this story! It’s so amazing. It’s the very first manhwa I read and it’s the reason why I’m learning korean. Random advice but when you read CITT be sure to read the comments. Not only is it fun to do so but CITT can be confusing for people and usually one of the top comments breaks down the chapter to help with that. Sometimes even the Korean readers pop in and give more “literal” translations of certain scenes and dialogues because they weren’t translated very well by Webtoon. These comments are my favorite because even the simplest of things can be lost in translation which sucks since they have such a strong impact in this story. So definitely look for those comments when you can. So read this story, enjoy it, and reread! I’m looking forward to hearing more reviews about it.

BTW This is kinda a spoiler so yeh skip if you want but I wanted to share something about Jung: