Painter Of The Night: “It cannot be”

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhin.com/en/comic/painter  But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes.

This sentence is expressed by Baek Na-Kyum and Jihwa because both have problems to accept their new situation: the powerful noble Yoon Seungho is in love with the painter, a low-born. Consequently he rejected his former sex partner and childhood friend Jihwa. However, this expression describes my own feelings as well after imagining the evolution of this story. What will happen next? Will Jihwa choose the death sentence or send him to Min or send him back to Yoon Seungho? Since I have already observed that Byeonduck likes using elements and even chapters from the first season with divergences, I started thinking about the elements and episodes she could use. Then I came up with a certain idea but it sounded too beautiful to be true: „It cannot be“. That’s why in this essay, I’ll present my own continuation of the story with the hope, it will come true but well aware that this is more wishful thinking. Yet, like I pointed out above, this fantasy is inspired by the first season hence I’ll explain my reasoning for this continuation of the story, a dream.

As you know, I’ve always feared for Kim’s life and imagined his death as in my perspective, it would not only bring the two protagonists closer than before but also force to plan for the future. However due to the chapter 60, I have a different impression now. Not I am giving up on the idea, yet in my opinion, it won’t happen soon. For me, it is obvious that the red-haired noble won’t give the order to have the painter killed. First, Jihwa’s remorse and anxieties were the reasons why Nameless detected a certain sensibility in his client. If he decided to taint his hands, the assassin would no longer perceive him differently from all the nobles he met asking him for a crime. That’s why there’s only one outcome: the aristocrat will change his mind. Yet this is not enough because not killing him doesn’t signify necessarily that the low-born will be released. He could be sent to Min so that Jihwa would put the blame on Min and wouldn’t assume any responsibility while Nameless is trying to teach him the opposite. Therefore I don’t believe that the former „thief“ would accept such a decision. Furthermore, his lesson was to show him the reality of murder, the gravity of the crime. When he proposed another solution for the commoner, the criminal also outlined the terrible consequences of the sentence. Handicapped, Baek Na-Kyum would lose his life in the end, unable to earn a living. Jihwa might get away with it, yet he will be burdened by the knowledge that he is responsible for the painter’s misery. The crime doesn’t represent the end of his suffering but the beginning, as he will be the only one who knows what happened to the artist. The knowledge as such will be a heavy price to pay. As you can detect, for me Nameless is trying to change his client’s mind without imposing his opinion. The commoner might become his hands but Jihwa’s mind will be tainted and indirectly his hands. That was the message of his unconscious but Jihwa chose to ignore it. Fortunately, the criminal voiced exactly what Jihwa’s righteous mind was expressing. Hence I come to the deduction that Nameless has already planned the best outcome for Jihwa. That’s why I came up with the following ideas. Either he will send away the artist, making him disappear. This explicates why he wanted the painter to be abducted outside the mansion. Since Nameless has already killed Deok-Jae, he could use his body while faking Baek Na-Kyum’s death (“no one can recognize him”). So far, nobody has noticed Deok-Jae’s disappearance and his death is quite recent so his body must still be well preserved due to the winter. Another possibility is that Nameless has already decided to send back the painter to Yoon Seungho and will frame Deok-Jae for the crime. Many servants have already noticed his jealousy and the latter disappeared so suddenly. The second idea is actually my favorite because it fits Nameless’ good heart and sensibility. He must have realized the painter’s modesty and honesty. It can not be, it is too beautiful to be true. A criminal is helping our OTP!!

We have to imagine that the criminal had more than one month to observe Yoon Seungho and Baek Na-Kyum’s life. He must have witnessed the commoner’s escape (chapter 46) but chose not to intervene as he was sure that Jihwa felt uncomfortable with the idea. Moreover, he must have heard about the gossips in town how the noble suddenly changed for the better. He was a reformed man desiring to settle down which couldn’t escape the former convict’s notice. Besides, Nameless must have noticed that valet Kim would even buy materials for Baek Na-Kyum. Note that this is not the first time, the butler is doing it again for the painter (“Again?”). And if the ex-thief didn’t observe him personally, I am quite sure that Deok-Jae must have told him how the valet would take care of the low-born, just like he disclosed him the situation in chapter 51. Consequently the criminal seems to be the second person who had the best overview about the whole situation, especially since he is not directly involved, like Jihwa, Deok-Jae or Baek Na-Kyum or Seungho. A noble is deeply in love with a low-born and doesn’t care about social norms, something quite unusual.

But let’s go back to the vicious servant who played the spy and traitor. For me, there’s no doubt that he must have complained to the assassin about valet Kim as well. Why do I think so? First, we witnessed Deok-Jae’s resent towards the butler in chapter 45, he even insulted him. Why is there this animosity in this scene when it was not like that in chapter 29? Observe that Deok-Jae speaks in Kim’s name in the end, since he utilizes the personal pronoun “we”. Furthermore, the manhwalovers can sense that Kim has literally the vicious servant’s back, since he stands behind him. I would even add, I detect Kim’s confidence in the vicious servant, when the valet even entrusts the bought paintbrushes and ink stone to Deok-Jae. He even calls him “my good fellow”, a sign of respect and trust. He doesn’t get upset, when Seok-Jae is rather cold and angry, indicating a certain patience and tolerance. He even puts his hand on the servant’s shoulder, a gesture illustrating his reliance and closeness towards Deok-Jae. For me, they are quite close because when in chapter 47 Kim gets mad at him and yells that he should clean up the mess, it looks like Deok-Jae got away pretty easily, although he insulted his master. Their close relationship is in my opinion one of the reasons why Deok-Jae thought, he could ruin the rice, imagining that he wouldn’t get caught and if the painter would ever complain, then he would have Kim’s support. Notice that when he is confronted with the wrongdoing, the mean domestic even justifies his action by wailing to Kim, although the latter is his superior. He shows no fear and respect that’s why I believe that Deok-Jae had always seen in the loyal butler a backer. And now, you might wonder why I write about Deok-Jae and Kim’s relationship, when the main topic of this essay is how the story will evolve. This is quite simple: Nameless explained to Jihwa how he was able to kidnap the painter without getting caught. He faked an escape. And remember, we had two escapes in the first season: chapter 4 and chapter 29. While the first one corresponds to the departure in chapter 46, the second is definitely a new version of chapter 29, where the artist ran away as he feared for his life and his teacher’s. Both disappearances are linked to danger and life. And what happened back then?

In my opinion, Kim allowed the artist to run away because he had seen how his lord was behaving. He raped the poor low-born, would even grasp his sword to eliminate a low noble but fortunately he was stopped. Remember how I pointed out that the white-beared servant had been sent by the butler in order to save Jung In-Hun’s life. Consequently I deduct that with the valet’s complicity, Deok-Jae let the commoner vanish. They were reunited by one goal: Baek Na-Kyum should leave the mansion, yet their motivation diverged. The domestic with the green jacket saw in the artist a rival, while the loyal assistant didn’t see their relationship with a good eye due to the love triangle. Kim thought, he was acting for both’s best interests. Yoon Seungho would forget Baek Na-Kyum, he had acted like that because the commoner had refused his advances. This explains why Deok-Jae utilizes the personal pronoun “we”, when Yoon Seungho asked him about their disappearance. In the domestics’ mind, the aristocrat would also join the artist in the departure after hearing the artist’s words. Kim never anticipated his lord’s reaction. That’s why he begged for the staff in the end as he felt somehow responsible for the beating. Kim never envisioned that the surrogate father would bring the artist back to the mansion, sealing the painter’s life to Seungho’s mansion. From that moment, the butler realized that it was too late, he got aware of his lord’s feelings for the painter. He was present, when the protagonist flew towards the painter. His feet were barely touching the ground. And that’s the moment when Deok-Jae started resenting valet Kim. He had been the one who received the worst beating. On the other hand, the butler must have felt guilty towards Deok-Jae hence he wanted to show his trust and a certain closeness to his accomplice “my good fellow”.

As you can imagine, I am expecting a new version of chapters 29 and 30, the return of Baek Na-Kyum’s mansion. Notice the parallels between the chapter 30 and 60. In both scenes, Seungho is standing on the terrace looking outside . Yet, there are three huge differences. First, Kim is not by his side. Secondly, Seungho’s back is no longer turned to the main door but facing the exterior. This is quite important as it unveils the change of his attitude. Now, he is more facing the world as his eyes are no longer directed towards his servants and the interior. Only the return of Baek Na-Kyum made turn his head to the door, a metaphor for the world. Third, the author doesn’t let us witness Seungho’s gaze, unlike in chapter 30. If you compare both scenes, you’ll note a huge contrast. There’s no longer any fury and rage. Even if the cover has been removed quickly, exposing a certain nervousness, he is not agitated like in the past. That’s why I had the impression that he looks more resigned as the panel reminds me of his mouth in chapter 35, where he was on the verge of giving up. Because of this association, I have the feeling that this time, the noble won’t throw any tantrum and vent his rage on his staff. I came to this idea that this is his turn to believe that this magical night with the painter was just an illusion due to his fever. Let’s not forget that this time, he didn’t clean the painter’s body like he did in the past. Furthermore he hasn’t yet viewed the last painting the low-born made which showed that the painter never saw their night in chapter 49 as something terrible. His mouth and facial expression revealed pleasure. Therefore I imagine that he won’t be looking for the painter right away. But what he fails to recognize is that there was a witness of their magical night, valet Kim who put their shoes next to each other. That’s why I believe that valet Kim will be the one bringing back the painter, assuming his new role as surrogate father for Baek Na-Kyum therefore we would have a new version of chapter 29. Besides, the readers shouldn’t forget that Kim took a similar role in the past. In chapter 24, Baek Na-Kyum was kind of abducted by Jung In-Hun and Kim was the one who discovered his disappearance and fetched him. The other reason why I believe that the gentle and caring domestic will become the painter’s rescuer is that he always visits his lord’s room during the night and he must have seen the painter’s missing shoes. In my opinion, Nameless could anticipate Kim’s actions and envisioned that he would look for the missing painter. Imagine his reaction, when he discovers the painter. The latter is in a poor state and is reminded of the night of the rape where he had to fetch the hurt low-born. He will console the artist, hug him and bring him back to his lord as quickly as possible. And once they arrive at the mansion, Baek Na-Kyum will be the one running into the lord’s arms. We would have a new version of chapter 30, yet the role would be switched. The artist would be the running one so that he would reveal to the staff that he is no longer staying there because he has been forced but he is also in love with Yoon Seungho. Imagine the aristocrat’s reaction. His dream would become true, while he had thought that this would never happen. However, even if Nameless is using Deok-Jae’s body, they need another accomplice because the painter witnessed the discussion. That’s why I have already imagined that the criminal might frame Min and could use the incident with the painter in order to punish this terrible noble. For me, there’s no doubt that the criminal resents the nobility in general. First, he has two tattoos indicating his past and it is clear that he must have suffered some injustice as well. So why not use Yoon Seungho’s hand to get revenge. First, I think, the incident with the nobles’ expulsion must have reached his ears too. Besides, Min is not someone secretive. Deok-Jae would be framed as someone working for Min and we would have a purge, just like in the first season.

And with the painter’s return, Yoon Seungho’s love for his painter would become official, creating a scandal and forcing father Yoon to meet his son as he can’t accept that Seungho is living with a low-born, an affront for him. At the same time, the staff would no longer look down on their master because they judge the painter differently now. So what do you think about this continuation? Does it sound too beautiful to be true? Will you also say “I cannot be”?

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