J.Seph rubbed his chin before sliding his bishop across the board.

He sat back as his eyes watched the other rapper sitting in silence. BM rested his chin on his hand, his darting around the chess board before moving a pawn forward, guarded by its friend, to stop the bishops path. J.Seph smiled simply before leaning forward to examine the board once more. His eyes slipped quickly to the two women beside their game before marching his queen forward to the middle point of the board. He smirked at their utterances of awe.

Somin and Jiwoo snapped their gazes between the two rappers as they exchanged moves.

“Do you even know what’s going on?” Somin bit her bottom lip as BM moved out a knight from his side of the board. “I’ve never learned chess.”

“I know the rules,” Jiwoo replied as she watched J.Seph move another pawn forward. “But I don’t know the strategies.”

“They’re called plays.” BM smugly took one of J.Seph’s piece. “Pre-made strategies.”

“And some are really obvious.” The older rapper moved another piece forward, his eyes stuck to BM. “Which can be easily countered if you know their counters.”

“That is if you know what the play is,” BM said as he moved a bishop out, quickly pinning J.Seph’s pawn. “Otherwise you’re wasting your time.”

“Not so fast.” J.Seph moved his knight in to take the bishop. “Don’t rush in so brashly, BM.”

“You think that’s the trick?” BM moved a pawn forward. “You’ve only touched my trap.”

J.Seph gritted his teeth and responded by moving out his second knight, realizing the urgency of his situation. BM smirked, and raised a pawn to threaten J.Seph’s knight, only for the older to move it back to safety behind his pawn line. They continued their game in silence, with BM always getting the upper hand the numerous sacrifices he made with his pawns, knights and bishops. He even lost his queen in return for his opponent’s, but he had the better positioning. J.Seph’s king was cornered with only his pawns and a rook, in comparison to BM’s more numerous pawns and two rooks placed all around the board.

The younger of the two men sat back with his arms crossed and laughed.

“There isn’t much you can do without me beating you with a rolling check,” BM taunted. “You might as well admit defeat.”

“Check.”

J.Seph moved his rook such that his path aligned with the his enemy’s king. BM raised an eyebrow, causing Jiwoo, Somin, and the rest of the filming crew to gasp. The tallest member chuckled as he moved his king out of the way into the side of the board before J.Seph swiftly moved his rook over once more, just two spaces away from the king.

“Check.”

BM clenched his jaw and moved his king to the side, finally realizing his mistake. The oldest rapper took one of BM’s pawns, placing the rook in a position to freely pursue the other pawns. Their eyes met and everyone on set watched the silent struggle with bated breaths. They could feel the tides turning against BM.

One by one, J.Seph took his younger member’s pawns. BM tried to use his rook to deter the older away, but he was foiled for every time he neglected his king’s position. The taller rapper was checked, and every time he was a pawn was taken right after. Whenever J.Seph didn’t check or took a pawn, he moved his own forward, and BM couldn’t step in with a rook for fear of losing his own pawns. Within a few more moves, they both had two pawns within a few spaces from the other side’s board.

“Check.”

BM smirked when he was able to push the king away from guarding his two closest pawns. J.Seph only moved his king diagonally closer to the offending piece. The younger of the two forced another check with his second rook, which was far away attending to his own backline. The oldest of them merely moved his king closer to BM’s rook, much to his surprise. There was one line on the board where the rooks weren’t covering, and BM was suspicious for the weird positioning. With great hesitancy, BM began rolling check.

“Check.”

BM widened his eyes at the rook that stood right in front of his king. The castle stood stalwart against his own rook, and he was surprised that J.Seph left his enemy’s pawns for his own defense. He was pushed to the limit, and BM laughed in excitement. He pushed his other rook to protect the other, but realized his mistake when J.Seph moved his pawn to the last space.

The pawn was replaced with a queen.

Panic swelled in BM’s heart as he saw his own pawn in the queen’s path. His second pawn was on the same line, making them defenseless. The young rapper eyed the king on the other side of the board, and hissed. He pushed his pawn forward to the other last space, turning it into a queen, but it was instantly traded soon after by J.Seph. BM laughed, his plan working as he finally moved his other pawn forward to make it into another queen.

J.Seph smirked when his rook to the upgraded piece.

BM’s world shattered when his savior was taken, and he realized too late the reason for J.Seph’s defense against the check with his rook. He didn’t realize that the pawn was right behind the rook, and was too busy trying to beat the older member than protect his own pawn. But it shouldn’t matter, because he still had two rooks!

“Check!”

J.Seph only blocked it with his rook, much to BM’s disdain. The young member grew impatient and moved his rook in, only for the king to take it from the diagonal. BM screamed, the mental pain from his own mistake too much. He gripped his hair as checked J.Seph, only for the king to hide next to the pawn. BM knew he lost at this point, as he can’t move quickly enough for him to win. He sighed in defeat, lowering his head humbly as he held the top of his king.

BM pulled his king down.

Everyone in the room exhaled, the tension form the match diffused with BM’s surrender. Somin and Jiwoo hugged each other, tired from watching the intense match. Even the filming crew took a break, everyone walking for a seat as they tried recover from watching the two rappers play.

“Oh, thank God!” J.Seph exploded in exhaustion as he melted into his seat. “I thought I was a goner!”

“I will get you next time!” BM stood in anger. “I will not live in this losing streak any longer.”

“Git gud,” The older said with a smirk. “Then we’ll see.”

“Alright, boys that was a great game,” the director yelled. “Now let’s do the actual filming.”

“Did you at least recorded the match?” J.Seph asked.

“Yeah, but we’re not gonna use it for the MV.” The director clapped, causing the set designers to set up the board once more. “Just do as I say.”

“Okay?” BM watched as the pieces were placed in very unlikely spots on the board. “This doesn’t look like a proper match.”

“Who cares?” The director sighed. “No one’s going to notice. Now take that pawn and knock over his king.”

BM and J.Seph stood in outrage.

“YOU WHAT MATE?!”