Thailand | 2026 | Rise Up Production | Rated 18+
From beginning to end, payback had me stressed, invested, and completely unsure of what was going to happen next.
This was one of those series where every episode felt like it had a purpose.
There was always something happening, whether it was action, new information, or another step in the revenge plan.
Additionally, there was another development between Sun and Jay.
It started strong and never really let up. I genuinely could not tell when the story was going to end or how everything was going to come together. Eventually, I stopped trying to guess and just went with the story. Every episode left me wanting the next one immediately.
At the center of the story are Sun and Jay, two men seeking revenge for very different reasons. Sun’s revenge is rooted in the devastating loss of his brother and mother, while Jay is seeking answers and justice for what happened to his mother and the company that was taken from her.
But Payback slowly becomes more than a story about getting even. Both men eventually have to confront what their revenge is costing them and whether holding onto it is worth losing the people and future they still have.
Synopsis
Payback follows Sun, a 25-year-old deliveryman with a troubled past.
After violence takes his brother and mother away, Sun is left carrying an enormous amount of guilt. His losses push him toward revenge, and eventually, entering Dream Entertainment becomes part of his plan.
There, he meets Jay, the intimidating and charismatic director of the company. Jay believes in strategy over emotion and approaches relationships almost like transactions. Beneath his controlled exterior, however, is a deep and unresolved wound connected to his mother’s death.
As Jay becomes Sun’s sponsor and quietly supports him through the fierce competition of the entertainment industry, their lives and plans become increasingly intertwined.
Both men are fighting their own battles, but as they begin relying on one another, revenge becomes complicated by something neither of them expected: love.
Themes
Revenge, Letting Go & Choosing to Live
Payback is one of the biggest themes in the series.
However, the series doesn’t leave it there.
Sun spends years believing that revenge and guilt are what he deserves.
After losing his brother and mother, he essentially puts his own life on hold.
He is surviving, but he isn’t really living.
His character arc becomes:
grief → revenge → connection → forgiveness → choosing life.
By the end, Sun is no longer simply thinking about what happened to him. He is finally thinking about what comes next. This shift does happen at the very end, when Jay visual shows him that this life is important by Jay threatening his own life. Stating that if Sun dies, he would be taking Jays life with him.
Family
Family is another important theme throughout the series. Both Sun and Jay lose the people who are closest to them, and both eventually find people who become their family in different ways. Jay has his uncle, his mother’s bodyguard, and the people who continued to support his mother and eventually him.
Sun finds that same sense of connection through the people around him, particularly his manager and Sky, who he sees as his little brother. I especially appreciated the smaller moments that showed that Sun had affected more people than he realized.
When he ends up in the hospital, people from different parts of his life come to check on him. His former boss from his delivery job talks about how much everyone misses him. His former gangster boss also comes to see him and had even helped him when he was unconscious.
Sun spent so much time believing that he was alone, while the people around him had already recognized the good in him. Sometimes you don’t realize you’ve become a different person until someone else shows you that they noticed.
Forgiveness
Sun’s story is also about forgiving himself. For so long, he believes that he needs to live with his guilt because of what happened to his family. His punishment becomes his identity. Watching him slowly move away from that mindset is one of the strongest parts of the series. He doesn’t forget his family. He simply learns that remembering them doesn’t mean he has to stop living.
Corruption in the Entertainment Industry
Most of the violence and gruesome scenes center on corruption in the adult entertainment industry.
It shows what individuals have to do to make it big.
We know this happens to many actors who pursue acting careers.
In the series, sponsors abused power, sexually assaulting and humiliating young actors, with violence and deaths.
Payback didn’t pull any punches to show corruption in the series.
Character Review
Sun
Sun is easily my favorite character in the series. At the beginning, Sun is rough, intimidating, closed off, and difficult to read. He doesn’t smile much, and people are understandably afraid of him. He has spent so long surviving that he doesn’t really know how to live normally anymore.
Watching him slowly soften was one of my favorite parts of the series. He starts smiling. He begins recognizing the people who care about him. He allows people to help him.
And most importantly, he starts seeing a future for himself. That is why Sun stood out to me so much. His transformation isn’t just about becoming softer because he fell in love. It is about finally allowing himself to be a person outside of his grief.
Jay
Jay is much more calculated than Sun. He is intimidating, charismatic, and always seems to have a plan. He believes in strategy and control, and he isn’t someone who easily lets his emotions dictate his decisions.
But underneath that exterior is someone who has been deeply hurt. Jay’s relationship with his mother and everything surrounding her death explains a lot about the person he becomes. His desire for control is part of how he protects himself.
What I liked about Jay is that his feelings for Sun don’t erase who he is. Instead, we get to watch him slowly make room for someone else in his life.
Supporting Characters
Jay’s uncle and Sun’s manager are some of the comedic relief in the series, and honestly, they were needed. They are also two of the people who consistently care about Jay and Sun and want them to succeed.
At the same time, they aren’t afraid to question their decisions or remind them that revenge might not be the best path forward. They bring some humor into a story that can get very heavy, while also reinforcing the idea that both men have people around them who genuinely care about them.
Romance
Neither Sun nor Jay is what I would call emotionally healthy. They hide things. They manipulate situations. They make questionable decisions. They are both willing to cross lines to get what they want, and revenge has shaped so much of who they are.
And somehow, I still loved watching them fall in love. Even when their relationship was complicated, they learned how to understand one another and support each other’s goals. They don’t suddenly become perfect people because they’re together.
Instead, they slowly become better people because they have someone who sees them, understands them, and gives them something to care about beyond revenge.
Acting
Min Thanakorn Wichanukroh and Toptap Jarukit Kaewmoonrueang did an amazing job with these characters. One thing I especially noticed was how different they felt on-screen compared to their personalities off-screen.
Min completely captured Sun’s guarded personality and his gradual transformation, while Toptap gave Jay that intimidating, controlled presence while still allowing us to see the softer side underneath. Their chemistry made their relationship believable, but their acting is what made the characters feel real.
Level of Spiciness
Spicy Rating: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 5/5
What stood out to me wasn’t just the intimacy itself, but the way those scenes were filmed. The close-ups, the visual direction, and the way the scenes were built before, during, and after made everything feel incredibly intimate.
It felt like you were intruding on their space while simultaneously being invited into it. And honestly? That is exactly what made it work. The chemistry was already there, and the cinematography knew exactly how to capture it.
What Could Have Been Better
Okay, I genuinely don’t have a long list of complaints for this one.
My biggest wish is that we had gotten more of Jay and Sun simply being a couple. I wanted more little couple moments. More time seeing them actually enjoy each other. More of the relationship outside of revenge, danger, and figuring out what was happening next. Give me some domestic Jay and Sun. Let them be cute.
Let them exist together for five minutes without somebody plotting revenge. 😂
My other critique is the final episode. I really wish the ending hadn’t felt so rushed. So much was happening, and everything seemed to happen at once. If you blink, you might miss something.
After spending the entire series building all these different story lines, I wanted a little more time for everything to breathe and for the characters to fully experience the resolution. The villains to struggle more, before their demise.
I liked where the story ended. I just wish we had been given more time getting there.
Favorite Moment
My favorite moment has to be the shared lollipop scene. Jay was sucking on a lollipop and between dialogue he puts the lollipop in Sun’s mouth and then they have their first kiss.
It was so cute. And honestly, it was such a different way to lead into their first kiss that I wasn’t expecting it. It followed the Manwha that it was adapted from.
It was playful, intimate, and very them. After all the revenge, violence, secrets, and seriousness surrounding their story, having their first kiss come from something as simple and silly as sharing a lollipop was adorable. Definitely one of my favorite moments of the entire series.
Overall Thoughts
Payback is one of those shows that reminded me why I enjoy watching BL series that give me more than just romance. The romance was there. The chemistry was there. The spice was VERY much there.
The story kept me guessing, which I appreciated because I couldn’t predict where everything was going. And while I would have loved more time with Jay and Sun as an actual couple, I still think their relationship was one of the strongest parts of the series.
Sun especially stayed with me. Watching someone go from being completely consumed by grief and revenge to finally seeing a reason to live again was incredibly satisfying.
The series starts with two men who want payback. It ends with two men who have something much more important to protect.
Would I Recommend It?
Absolutely.
If you like BLs with romance plus action, revenge, complicated characters, found family, emotional character development, and a healthy amount of spice, Payback is definitely worth watching.
Overall Rating: 10/10
10/10 — Love, love, love, love.
I am still hoping for a special episode because I am absolutely not opposed to seeing more Jay and Sun being in love.
In fact, I would strongly encourage it.
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