Painter Of The Night: Yoon Seungho’s father: first impressions

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents:  https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/

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The main lead’s father only appears at the end of the first season. Striking is that the beholder can’t see his face as he is looking at the paper on the table. That way he still remains mysterious and somehow anonymous.

However, the father is already mentioned in the first episode through Baek Na-Kyum. Striking is that this character is introduced in a similar way like Jung In-Hun. This indicates that although the father is not present in Seungho’s life, his shadow has left a deep impact on Yoon Seungho. Thus in the first chapter, we hear from the artist that the master Yoon had cut off the topknot of his eldest son. This gesture symbolized the rejection and the abandonment from the father. Furthermore it also ruined the son’s reputation. From that moment on, Yoon Seungho was stigmatized by gossips as a huge sodomite. Since Baek Na-Kyum is even able to remember this story, it shows that the huge scandal hasn’t really died down… it still exists in people’s mind. Consequently, the master Yoon is linked to a scandal which doesn’t leave a good impression for the readers.

Later, we discover that the families close the clan Yoon were all arrested due to a purge and only the family Yoon was able to escape from this extermination. What caught my attention is that the whole family left the mansion leaving the eldest son behind. From this simple information, we can already conclude that the father was running away and dropped all the responsibilities to his eldest son. That’s why I already come to the conclusion that the father is more or less a coward. He literally walked away from everything. In another post, I have already exposed my theory about Seungho’s tragic past hence I won’t repeat myself. Sure, there is no guarantee that my assumptions are correct. Yet even without knowing the whole past, I can discern certain features from the father: his gutlessness and his cruelty.

However, the reader feels his presence again, when the younger brother pays a visit to Seungho. The latter had refused to reply to the letter from his brother hence the young man didn’t want to leave the noble alone therefore he visited his brother during the evening and even forced his way into the mansion.

The servants could barely stop the young master to enter the chamber of his eldest brother. The way Seung-Won behaves underlines the urgency. The father and his brother seem to need Seungho. But we don’t know the reason. The brother shows a certain discomfort, when he is finally received, since there is a drop of sweat on his cheek. You can sense that he would like to talk in private but can’t because Baek Na-Kyum is present sitting next to Seungho. He tries to ask his brother to send away the young man but he is interrupted by Seungho. The latter won’t listen to him and he should tell immediately the cause for this late visit.

The excuse is the long health issues of the father. Therefore he begs his eldest brother to pay a visit to the father. But if Yoon Seungho went to visit his father, this would signify that the son wants to be reintegrated into the family. He would show his respect to his father. Consequently, the father could announce his wish to return to the real family’s domain where Seungho is living. In the long term, the father could claim that since he is the head of the family, he is the real master of that mansion.

For our protagonist is not stupid, he can only reject the request. Furthermore, this excuse and demand outline two major points:

– The father is using his son Seung-Won as a tool. He knows that he can not ask his eldest son directly, as he was the one who cut ties with him. The father is quite manipulative. He is definitely not ill which the picture in the chapter 44 confirms. The father tried to reach his son much earlier through letters but the son turned a deaf ear.

– The father wants to maintain his good reputation, he doesn’t want to lower himself and beg Seungho for forgiveness. The father truly shows neither regret nor remorse. Now, we can clearly see where Seungho’s selfishness comes from. The father knows that he needs Seungho’s support so that his younger son can become an official. Maybe he wanted from Seungho that Seung-Won is allowed to live at the mansion in the capital.

Seungho doesn’t just refuse the request, he is making fun of his brother and father. The reader feels the resent coming from the protagonist, his reply is full of sarcasm as he is reminding his brother about the past which hasn’t been revealed. Since he mentions that he is already living by the principles father taught him, I came to the conclusion that Seungho was never a homosexual from the start. Because his father abandoned him in the past, this event shouldn’t be changed as the father chose to do such a thing. But this ironic remark reinforces the determination of the seme. He has no inclination to reconnect to his relatives.

As conclusion, he is also abandoning his family. He has no intention to help them. Yet, when the brother leaves the house, he receives a letter from the servant Kim which makes Seung-Won happy. It was as if the late visit was not fruitless. For the first time, Seungho gave a letter for the father.

Only at the end of the first season, we discover the content of the letter. It is the ruined painting, where Seungho is having sex with two partners.

In the first picture above, we could see the hands shaking. This already revealed that the person was not happy at all, quite angry. Sending this picture was a very bold move from the protagonist. He is showing his disrespect to his own father. But at the same time, he is reminding his father that he became a homosexual because of him. He is definitely living the life his father forced upon him. However, if you pay attention, the painting has been ruined by Jihwa therefore this erotic picture is fuzzy. It was as if his life as a hell-raiser and biggest sodomite is about to evaporate. His disappearance coincides with his falling in love with the painter. He is actually no longer living like that. He has become quite monogamous. He hasn’t slept with anyone else after Baek Na-Kyum’s recovery. So the father is left in the dark.

Finally, I would like to point out that the father didn’t even let the brother see the content of the letter. This shows that there is some secrecy kept from Seung-Won. Secondly he didn’t even go outside to say goodbye to Seung-Won, when the latter is about to leave for the capital which shows a certain lack of affection from the father. This actually reinforces my impression that Seung-Won is just a tool for the father and is manipulated by him too. It seems like Seung-Won wants to enter the civil service examination too. Seung-Won and Jung In-Hun will both meet there. I can also imagine that Jung In-Hun will be the one who leaks the info about Baek Na-Kyum to the relatives. I can imagine that the father might try to use the painter in order to force Seungho to give in.

As conclusion, although we didn’t get to see the father’s face and don’t know much about him, he has left a negative impression. Through my analysis, I perceived many flaws. He is selfish, greedy, manipulative, coward, cruel and ruthless. Just like Baek Na-Kyum was living in the shadow of the envious and jealous Jung In-Hun, Yoon Seungho led a similar life, he was burdened by the father’s shadow. Since we could see how the painter could escape from the teacher’s claws, we can assume that Seungho will experience the same. Actually this has already started. Thanks to his love for the painter, Seungho has turned into a different man. But let us not forget that he is suffering from insomnia, his hand was also shaking, (chapter 37) when the brother asked him to visit the father. His suffering has not ended totally, for that he needs to unveil his past to the artist.

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