Chess Liam Drake

• He almost always wears different colored contact lenses, so give him any eyecolor you want!
• In public he ALWAYS wears some kind of eyepatch over his left eye
• His hair is naturally black, but is dyed partially deep green and neon green 
• Smiling isn't his style, he almost constantly wears a frown

On stage and in front of important people of his agency he plays a flirty young man with excellent manners that would do anything to get a bit more famous. He jokes around and builds a mysterious aura around himself.
But as soon as he‘s away from the media he turns into a cranky, bad mouthed man that easily loses his temper. He makes it seem like he only wants his peace and quiet and nothing to do with his idolgroup and teammates. That is true to some extent, but there is more behind his secrecy.
He is also desperate to stay famous for as long as possible.

As child he was mostly raised by babysitters and maids. His father, Liam Drake, was an idol himself and busy with his career, Chess an ‚accident‘ with an older actress. She originally didn‘t want to give birth to him and planned an abortion. And if Liam hadn‘t talked her out of it and given her a huge sum of money she would have done it. But even after birth she didn‘t want anything to do with baby Chess and left Liam with him.
But Liam had to take care of his career if he didn‘t want to go out of money and had no time for little Chess himself. Regardless he made sure that Chess got classes on several instruments, singing and dancing as soon as he was old enough. It was a foresighted decision, because Liam couldn‘t hold himself in the idol-business for long and got replaced by a new generation. He had problems getting used to a normal lifestyle and slipped into a gambling addiction.
At least he had more time for his son now, even if it hurt him how much he had missed of his childhood. Because he still was pretty young himself, he was more friend than parent to Chess and that actually strengthened their bond. Even if they just got to know each other for real, Chess loved and idolized  his father and did everything to make him happy. Together they made a plan how to make Chess a well-liked and famous idol.
Much later it turned out that maybe that hadn‘t been the best idea, and Liam would regret it how he molded his son like that without thinking of the fact that Chess was still a child.
But Chess rejoiced at getting the attention of his father and eagerly listened to every word he said, making Liam believe he did him good.
At school Chess was withdrawn, didn‘t male friends and blocked any kind of conversation, because an idol needed to be mysterious! He started wearing colored contact lenses so not even early classmates or teachers could remember his true eyecolor. And after school he had his ‚real‘ classes. More instruments, singing, dancing...the lessons he already had since earliest childhood continued leaving him barely any time for himself.
At the young age of just 14 years his father got him his first contract, using an old acquaintance. Until that moment it had not been clear to Chess just how stressful being an idol was. Being up at sunrise and getting to bed late at night, always on his feet, always needing to smile and being under constant supervision took his toll on him.
But he didn‘t want to disappoint his father and held onto that. He did like it to an extent, he liked the other boys in his first group and he constantly told himself that it wasn‘t that bad. It could always be worse, right?
But it really didn‘t do him any good. He had to follow a strict diet because he easily gained weight and still had a bit babyfat around the cheeks. He constantly got told how he would‘t get far without looking like a model, and then his first group got broken up and he was just tossed to another that had a free spot.
Slowly it all lost it‘s shine for Chess. He had to deliver whatever the company wanted and that was it. Even his father realized that his son was struggling, but with his gambling addiction the next problem came: a massive amount of debt. And Chess had found out about it. He knew that if he stopped, they would be sitting on the streets soon. Even if he hadn‘t always made the right decisions, Liam was still his father and he dearly loved him.
Of course he couldn‘t just share his troubles with anyone, especially not with the members of the newest group he got into. He didn‘t plan on befriending them, the only thing that mattered was how he could stay in the game just a few years longer - he was already at the age when his fathers career went downhill. He especially disregarded his health, being able to keep it a secret just how much he ‚took care‘ of his weight and that he was slowly slipping into an eating disorder.
He knew how to play his role. What the fans wanted. What his agency wanted.
Just what he himself wanted, that was a mystery even to him...
How long will he be able to keep this up?