Protected: Painter Of The Night/Doctor Frost: Season 3, the breaking of the shackles

June 5, 2021July 2, 2021 ~ Bébébisous33

Protected: Painter Of The Night/Doctor Frost: The birth of the zombie 🧛🏻‍♂️

May 2, 2021May 30, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33

Protected: Painter Of The Night: Interpretation of a nightmare (second version)

April 12, 2021August 30, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33

Painter Of The Night: Truth and memories (second version) 🧠

April 11, 2021February 5, 2023 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 7 Comments

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/

Many readers are able to recognize the similarities between chapter 40 and 75, because both episodes contain the following elements:

The prank: (chapter 40) (chapter 75: repetition from chapter 74)
The presence of the bulletin board (chapter 40) versus (chapter 75)
The honest conversation between the protagonists, where Yoon Seungho is encouraging his lover to introspect himself (chapter 40) versus (chapter 75)
The color of the sky (chapter 40) versus (chapter 75)
The presence of memories: (chapter 40) versus (chapter 75)

Yet despite all the parallels, if I had to give a title to chapter 75, I would select “Memories” and not “Responsibility”, although the latter is still present in episode 75. Why? It is, because the painter talks about his past and youth and as such, he is forced to bring up memories. (Chapter 75) And this made me realize two things: Baek Na-Kyum embodies memories, hence we got many flashbacks from the painter (chapter 2, 11, 23, 34, 38, 40, 41, 46, 56, 57, 60, 66, 74, 75), whereas Yoon Seungho embodies truth. Note that unlike the artist, Byeonduck showed us only a few memories from the aristocrat (chapter 19, 25, 48, 55, 74 with the nightmare). Moreover, the latter is always confronting the painter with his questions and observations. The noble wants him to be true to himself and question his own motivation. (Chapter 75) And this observation made realize another aspect about Yoon Seungho, because unlike chapter 40, the aristocrat stands in the center of episode 75: the significance of memories in the lord’s life.

1. Memories and identity

In order to understand why I came to this conclusion, it is relevant to examine the memories in chapter 40 due to the parallelism. There, the painter recalled the questions and comments from Yoon Seungho, which incited the commoner to ask his teacher about his future. Once the scholar had succeeded, would he become responsible for the painter, like he had implied? And observe that during the confrontation, the artist used a statement from the past: (chapter 29) Thanks to the memories, the low-born had gathered courage and faced his teacher. However, this discussion led to a tragedy. Baek Na-Kyum got hurt, because his learned sir chose to destroy him in the worst possible way. With his words, he showed his true thoughts (chapter 40) and in order to reinforce his statement, he made sure that Baek Na-Kyum would perceive his real gaze: cold and ruthless. (chapter 41) But more striking is that the scholar used memories (the kisaeng house) to define the painter’s identity: he was born to be a prostitute despite his “lessons”. He puts the whole responsibility and blame on the commoner. As a conclusion, the memories served in the conflict to identify Baek Na-Kyum. Who was he really to the scholar? Was he his helping hand, like the low-born claimed, or was he just a “prostitute” according to the scholar?

2. Memory loss and identity

This connection between memory and identity in the manhwa is not random, because according to John Locke’s “memory theory”, a person’s identity only reaches as far as their memory extends into the past. In other words, memory is a necessary condition of personal identity. Thus, as a person’s memory begins to disappear, so does his identity. Therefore, we could say that without memory, there’s no identity. On the other hand, in my previous analysis, I had demonstrated that the lord’s unconscious was trying to force his conscious to remember his past, because he had repressed his traumatic past. This meant that he was suffering from memory loss. Hence we could say, that he lost his own identity. This is not surprising that childhood trauma and memory loss go hand-in-hand. Blocking out memories can be a way of coping with the trauma. It goes even so far that an adult survivor of childhood trauma can even believe that he was never a victim of childhood trauma. Consequently, in case of a permanent memory loss, it signifies that the victim even loses his own identity. Since my theory has been confirmed that the lord was a painter in his youth, chapter 75 actually exposed the memory loss in two different ways:

First, the lord couldn’t even remember painting an orchid (Chapter 75), an indication that his short-term memory was defective due to his lack of sleep.
However, the master’s hand could still paint a orchid without paying too much attention to his hand. It exposes that it was actually an automatic gesture, revealing that he had internalized such a gesture in the long-term memory. And note that when he did this, he mentioned his youth (chapter 36) Therefore I come to the conclusion that Yoon Seungho’s short-term memory is not working properly. Imagine, he could remember one incident from his childhood, but he couldn’t remember painting the orchid. Hence I believe that the lord can’t even reminisce the drawings in chapter 8 and 23 . Only thanks to Baek Na-Kyum’s mention, he was able to recall the drawing. Thus the manhwalovers can comprehend why I consider the artist as a synonym for memories.

3. Trauma and memories

But in the manhwa, there’s more than just memory loss due to a coping mechanism. Traumatic events such as sexual assaults, are encoded differently than more routine due to extreme fear. The victim won’t be able to remember everything, just details, the chronology will be mixed up due to existential fear, that’s why if you recall the following panel, you’ll truly grasp the real atrocity of Yoon Seungho’s suffering. (Chapter 65) While he can’t remember what truly happened due to his poor emotional and physical state, Kim somehow blames him. The young master is so confused that he has to defend himself. This means that after the first rape, the domestic didn’t even comfort the protagonist, but he used the victim’s vulnerable state of mind (who was confused due to this terrific incident) to manipulate the noble’s memory.

That’s why when police investigate a sexual abuse and interview a victim, the latter will always be interrogated twice. The first interview focuses more on the sensory and emotional memories, while during the second, the officers will try to reconstruct the chronology. This explicates why they always wait for quite some time for the second statement. It is necessary, as the memories are now stored and they can be retrieved, although due to fear and stress, the incident can never be properly reconstructed. As you can imagine, Yoon Seungho was not in the capacity to testify about the sexual assault. This terrible event affected his memory so much that he was not given the opportunity to denunciate the crime. He was made speechless in the end due to the insinuation and as such manipulation. I bet, he couldn’t even describe what had truly happened to him. That’s why he repressed the first rape.

4. Amnesia and manipulation

But now imagine this. You are exposed to physical and sexual abuse for more than a decade, this means that your memory will be definitely affected. You are living constantly in fear and stress, two important factors, which can trigger memory loss. [read more here: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-causes-memory-loss-4123636] Like I explained briefly above, terrific events are never encoded normally. This signifies in our case that the lord’s faculties to memorize were definitely affected due to the constant exposure, which can make him more vulnerable to false memories. Studies show that individuals with PTSD, a history of trauma, or depression are at risk for producing false memories, when they are exposed to information that is related to their knowledge base. This also signifies that they are more receptive for manipulations. Therefore I come to the next deduction that in chapter 68, Kim was definitely attempting to distort the past and create false memories. (Chapter 68) He mixed facts with lies in order to confuse his master’s judgement and memory. That’s the reason why it is important now to recall my initial statement: without any memory, there’s no identity. This signifies that in chapter 68, when Kim tried to give him memories, he desired to give him a certain identity: he was similar to his father. The latter would punish or imprison the boy and not release him. Giving a false reflection and identity is something Kim had never done before in front of his master, as he knew that his master feared his own image. However, he never imagined that Yoon Seungho would react differently. Instead of pushing away the painter, he let the artist choose his fate.

5. Making memories and forgiveness

However, in order to comprehend the topic memory, it is relevant to know how memory functions. The latter is divided in 3 parts: encoding, storage and retrieval. And in order to encode information, you have to utilize your senses. There are 3 types of encoding: semantic (words), visual and acoustic (sound). The manwhaphiles should recall that according to my interpretation, Yoon Seungho had been deprived of all his senses, therefore he lived like a ghost. And this signifies that he couldn’t make any memory at all. And with no memory, you have no identity and as such no life. That’s why when he cut ties with Jihwa the first time, he never mentioned the word “memories”, but time spent together: (Chapter 18) In my opinion, this shows that Yoon Seungho had no true memory in reality. He knew that they had sex together, but that was it. It was more like “the night is long and I need to kill time so that dawn can come faster.” Note that he never mentions their childhood together. With this interpretation, it becomes comprehensible that the main lead could act, as if nothing had happened between Jihwa and himself after the topknot incident. From my point of view, he had literally forgotten the incident, yet for Jihwa, it meant that he had been forgiven. (Chapter 59) And this explicates why Yoon Seungho barges in the mansion in chapter 67: he makes it clear that he won’t forget what happened. (Chapter 67) The real forgiveness occurred in chapter 59: Despite the caused pain, Yoon Seungho was willing to overlook the terrible action (chapter 59), but he made it clear that he would never reciprocate the feelings. This was real forgiveness from my perspective, whereas in the past, Yoon Seungho couldn’t remember anything. Jihwa had the terrible habit to use the past in order to torment his childhood friend, which always triggered buried emotions connected to memories, which the noble couldn’t control. From my point of view, the lord only had flashbulb memories which the readers could discover in chapter 55: (chapter 55)

“A flashbulb memory is an accurate and exceptionally vivid long-lasting memory for the circumstances surrounding learning about a dramatic event. Flashbulb Memories are memories that are affected by our emotional state.” quoted from https://www.simplypsychology.org/flashbulb-memory.html

These memories connected to emotions were the remains of his deeply repressed memories. The lord could only remember the feelings he had felt during his traumatic past. To sum up, the lord had no real recollection of his past, and the few things he knew were manipulations and lies explained by his butler. Therefore you can comprehend why Kim got scared (chapter 56), when he heard that lord Song asked for a meeting. The latter could definitely reveal new information and let the protagonist realize that he was truly suffering from memory loss.

6. Recovery from amnesia: memories

However, due to the exposure to arts, his eyes got healed, hence he could sense positive emotions and as such create good memories (visual encoding). From my point of view, when Baek Na-Kyum entered his life, the noble had started developing good memories, because so far, all he had were traumatic memories. However, Yoon Seungho’s capacities to memorize were under-developed due to the lack of practice. This explicates why he shows no interest to discover why the commoner stopped painting. This was not meaningful to him, and the readers should know that people will only memorize significant information. The emergence of his memory is visible in chapter 1. We see him speaking about his nightly activities so positively, but observe that he is only talking about recent and meaningful memories. (Chapter 1) Striking is that when Baek Na-Kyum confronts him with his poor image (“man consumed by lust”) (chapter 4), the lord is bothered. He is forced to ponder why he is described like that, hence he has to recall events from the past. At the same time, when the lord read the poem, he was encouraged to recall the original sijo. This shows that at some point, Yoon Seungho rediscovered literature. Words and paintings helped to create memories. Thus if you pay attention, you’ll notice that the more time passes on, the more memories the lord has. They are strongly intertwined with the paintings. The latter helped him to reminisce the sex sessions and his past. He can’t forget how the painter masturbated behind the door. He is even getting more and more good memories. (chapter 18) Then in chapter 19, he reminisces the painter’s facial expressions which puts him in a good mood. (Chapter 19) This explicates why Yoon Seungho was so moved by the painter’s confession during their Wedding night. For the first time, he experienced warmth and love, he even heard a love confession. This could only be stored as a wonderful memory. At the same time, he hoped, the artist would create a picture of this night in order to ensure that this memory was real. Moreover, note that in chapter 58, he externalized how much this night meant to him. (Chapter 58)

Yet, the manhwaphiles can detect that in his confession, the memory is not entirely described as positive: “haunt”. This explicates why I consider the Wedding night as a turning point in Yoon Seungho’s life. This memory is a combination of positive and negative elements. The lord wished to relive this, but he was not satisfied, because he knew that he had impersonated the scholar. Moreover, the manhwaphiles should reminisce that after this night, the lord will do terrible things to the artist and as such, he gets now terrible memories. That’s the reason why in my opinion, Byeonduck chose to expose the rape as a flashback from the master’s perspective. Because of his bad actions, Yoon Seungho feels huge pangs of conscience and can’t act like nothing happened. He is now forced to remember. However, in my eyes it is different from the past. Before, he was just a ghost, hence he was incapable to get memories, with Baek Na-Kyum’s help, he can get memories which will help him to face his own traumatic past.

7. Memories and learning

There’s one aspect, strongly connected to memory, which I didn’t mention so far: learning.

” Learning and memory operate together in order increase our ability for navigating the environment and survival. Learning refers to a change in behavior that results from acquiring knowledge about the world and memory is the process by which that knowledge is encoded, stored, and later retrieved.” quoted from https://opentext.wsu.edu/psych105/chapter/8-2-how-memory-functions/

As you can see, in order to change, the lord needs memories. Through positive and negative experiences, the noble can gain knowledge leading to a change of attitude which the readers could observe. Gradually, the noble learnt from his mistakes and good memories. Therefore, this is no coincidence that when in chapter 75, Baek Na-Kyum talks about his past and memories, he criticizes his master: (Chapter 75) He gives him the impression that he will never change, the lord wouldn’t even remember him after his death. Now, you grasp why he reproaches Yoon Seungho his fickle nature, he is indirectly referring to the lord’s memories. (Chapter 75) His feelings will fade away just like memories. He will forget him. What the painter doesn’t realize is the following: this date is actually an important moment in Yoon Seungho’s life. For the first time, he gets to discover the painter’s memories and past, which now the noble can store as his own. He will never forget this day, especially when he heard that the painter would cry because of him (a new version of chapter 21: (chapter 21) , but here out of concern. In other words, Baek Na-Kyum would like to be remembered. Hence he complains that the lord didn’t call for him. And this can only make the lord happy, because he can detect through the painter’s words that the latter is longing for his presence and care. From my perspective, Yoon Seungho has finally grasped why the artist is not truly honest with him. Therefore he can only tease his lover pushing him to make the first step. Let’s not forget that right now, the master is now treating his lover as his new lord. So the latter has to call for him. (Chapter 75) Here, the protagonist clearly displays that he has never forgotten his companion. Their date is so important for two reasons. It allows the noble to gather more information about the commoner, and get a really good memory before the next tragedy.

From my point of view, it will help him to face his own traumatic past. Let’s not forget that a rape is planned, so if the noble was to discover this, he would be definitely reminded of his own past. And this truly happened in season 3. Simultaneously he would be able to help his lover to recover from the traumatic incident. We shouldn’t forget that during the kidnapping, the lord’s smile was the reason why Baek Na-Kyum didn’t lose his sanity (Chapter 60) and could cope with the kidnapping much better. Note that he has no nightmare afterwards. And this detail is important, because we have to envision that while Yoon Seungho was exposed to physical and sexual abuse for a decade, he had no good memory at all in order to remain sane. Moreover, he never felt loved. Consequently, he couldn’t even think of anyone in a positive way. That’s why he was so damaged in the end. (Chapter 57) The presence of a loved one is necessary in order to cope with traumatic childhood abuse.

8. The impact of Yoon Seungho’s traumas on his mind and attitude

And this leads me to the next observation: Due to his childhood trauma, the lord’s memory was affected and didn’t work properly, as for a long time, his memory was not encouraged to encode events. On the other hand, because of Baek Na-Kyum, Yoon Seungho was forced more and more to face his traumatic past, therefore his fears and abandonment issues came to the surface. This explicates why he couldn’t pay attention to details and never questioned the circumstances of the first abduction. Note that during the night at the physician’s, he still doesn’t trust his own senses. (Chapter 58) This signifies that he is unsure if what he is experiencing is real or not. From my point of view, the memory loss and his life as ghost affected his brain and the way to encode and store information. Hence he has no real recollection of the incident with Deok-Jae (chapter 30 and 53). That’s why he is not asking for his whereabouts. However, I believe to see a turning point in chapter 75. By giving the lord the opportunity to have a real date, where he could hear and see that Baek Na-Kyum was definitely affected by him, the noble will react differently compared to the first abduction and after the painter’s first flashback. He will not lose his mind blinded by his emotions and insecurities, he knows that the artist chose him. And he won’t blame himself like for the first flashback. Remember that in chapter 66, he never called the physician. Why? Because someone told him that the painter needed the presence of a loved one to recover. Kim made sure that Yoon Seungho would feel guilty. Deep down, Yoon Seungho knew that he was responsible for the panic attack. (Chapter 66) But the real cause for all this was the butler’s silence and complicity. That’s why he remained by his side, until the artist had recovered. Thus I had predicted that after meeting Nameless, Baek-Na-Kyum would get a panic attack. (Chapter 75)

This is what I wrote in the first version:

“However, this time, the noble will wonder how this could happen. They had a nice conversation, where they exchanged thoughts. He is not responsible and it can’t be the alcohol. Moreover, he will recall his lover’s words: He won’t focus on his own emotions, but will try to calm down the artist and investigate why the painter reacted like that.” It is definitely possible that he brings back the painter to the mansion and decides to visit the physician in order to ask for an advice. From my point of view, thanks to the new memories, the noble is learning more about his surroundings and gaining more experience.”

However, the reality was that Yoon Seungho thought that the painter’s panic attack had just been triggered by the entertainers. (Chapter 76) He didn’t take his words seriously, for he believed that he had discovered the truth. Therefore the lord never investigated the circumstances of the kidnapping. Since he thought, he knew the truth, he had no reason to question this. Why did the Joker scare the painter so much? Thus the lord didn’t take the memories from the painter seriously. How could he, since he had been already informed? However, the revelation from Min had diverted Yoon Seungho’s attention from the real problem: the involvement of the helping hands (Kim, Deok-Jae, No-Name) and of the mastermind behind this.

9. Baek Na-Kyum’s memories and truth

What caught my attention is that Baek Na-Kyum is also hurt, though he has memories from his past. What he confessed to his lover represented a bad memory, and this made him feel guilty. Striking is that he believes, he knows the truth, as he can reminisce his past. Yet, he is making a huge mistake: memories are by no means facts, they are biased and even tainted. The artist took the scholar’s words as face-value. He never questioned his words, therefore he blamed himself for Jung In-Hun’s failure. Here, I would like the manhwaphiles to notice the parallels between Jihwa and the artist: both feel responsible for a tragedy, while in reality it was not the case. Both were victims of manipulations and lies.

My theory is that the learned sir imagined that he had finally the possibility to get a high position. Yet the incident in the gibang put an end to it, and this is definitely related to the erotic pictures. However, there is no ambiguity that Jung In-Hun was actually receiving his karma. Remember that in the Alternative Universe, the protagonist used Jung Na-Min as his artist name. In other words, the name of the artist must have had an effect on his career. Besides, let’s not forget that the teacher is preaching immobility, for people’s fate is always determined. (Chapter 6) They can not escape their conditions. Thus the gods chose to punish him the following way: he could never escape his own situation. He would remain a man with no wealth and connection. Thus no matter what he did, it ended with a failure. Therefore it is not surprising that he came to resent the painter, for he caught the attention of a powerful noble and this at least twice. The scholar was offered a position, but due to the incident in the gibang, the sponsor changed his mind. Hence he blamed Baek Na-Kyum for not securing a post. It was, as if he had stolen it from him. I think, Jung In-Hun published poetry, but couldn’t get recognition. Therefore he used the incident (discovery of the erotic pictures) in order to punish him and force him to give up on painting. He couldn’t allow that a commoner was more successful than him. At the same time, it was the reason why there was a ruckus in the gibang too. But now, we have to wonder why Baek Na-Kyum talked about his past. From my point of view, an important detail played a huge role at the inn: (Chapter 74) Observe that the woman has a similar hair dress than his noona. That’s why I believe that when he saw her, he must have been reminded of her. Note that when he speaks about the leftovers, he describes leaving food as a sin, but strangely, in chapter 40/41, he had the opposite attitude. (Chapter 41) He didn’t eat all the sweets or even skipped meals. (Chapter 41) In other words, he didn’t eat everything and committed a sin. This indicates a certain hypocrisy, simultaneously Baek Na-Kyum’s lack of critical thinking, when it comes to his noona. Moreover, he says the opposite of what he thinks. In chapter 74, he claims that the lord has changed(chapter 74), in episode 75, he claims that he has not improved his behavior. The painter’s memories clearly reveal Heena’s strong influence, which explains why he doesn’t make the first step in the end. He would like the lord to become responsible for him. But Yoon Seungho would like the opposite, because that way, the low-born can never claim that he was forced or pressured by him. In my eyes, Baek Na-Kyum still fears to be perceived as a man consumed by lust, if he makes the first move.

That’s why I believe that Yoon Seungho embodies the truth, while Baek Na-Kyum represents the past and memories. The commoner’s past will become the trigger for Yoon Seungho to decide to discover the truth about his own past and as such regain his own identity: he was a talented painter with a promising future. Since the low-born’s past with the kisaeng and the scholar are more recent, it is much easier for Yoon Seungho to unveil the lies concerning Baek Na-Kyum’s past in the kisaeng house. At the same time, thanks to the physician, Baek Na-Kyum is gathering information about his lover’s past (chapter 57), which will assist him to regain his lost memories.

Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for topics or manhwas, feel free to ask. If you enjoyed reading it, retweet it or push the button like. My instagram-tumblr-twitter account is: @bebebisous33. Thanks for reading and for the support, particularly, I would like to thank all the new followers and people recommending my blog.

Protected: Painter Of The Night: Nightmares and their message (second version)

April 9, 2021August 24, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33

Painter Of The Night: The night is long

April 8, 2021April 9, 2021 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 2 Comments

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. 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/

After reading the title, the manhwaphiles surely recall that these words were voiced by Yoon Seungho in chapter 71: The lord was definitely expressing his joy and excitement. For the first time he truly desired that the night would be long to enjoy this moment where he was accepted. Unfortunately, the night ended so abruptly due to the painter’s exhaustion. The power of the climax and the sex marathon from the previous night were too much for his frail body. Knowing that the artist liked his bed, the lord let his lover rest in the bed and chose to sleep far away from him. And the readers should wonder why, especially after witnessing how in chapter 38, they lied next to each other.

What caught my attention is that he had a similar attitude in chapter 55. Back then, he didn’t put the painter on the bed, but covered him with his beautiful hanbok. Since he abhors his own mattress, he believed that the artist would judge his bed the same way after the terrible night (the assault and the interrupted gangrape). However, he didn’t stay by the artist’s side unlike in chapter 38. For the lord, the night after the eviction of the nobles must have been very long. That’s why there are bottles of wine next to him. He sat there drinking in order to kill time. The readers have to envision that he was sitting the whole night without being able to open the window or the door, as Baek Na-Kyum was not sleeping under a real cover. He was scared that the pure man would catch a cold. Moreover, I believe that he kept watching over his lover out of fear that the artist might have a nightmare to the terrible event from the previous night. This explicates why in chapter 74, he went to rest in the next room in front of the opened window. He knew that the commoner would sleep peacefully. However, the chapter 74 gave us the final clues why Yoon Seungho has always had nightly activities in the past and why he avoids his bed. Remember how Jihwa in his love confession underlined the connection between the sexual activities and the importance of the nightmares (chapter 57) which exposes that the nightly torment is related to his phobia of the bed and to his insomnia. I come to the conclusion that his nightly activities helped him to get through the night, because he couldn’t even lie down in his bed. They helped him to kill time. This is what Jihwa even witnessed. The beholder views how the main lead pushes his friend away with his arm. Why? One might say that as soon as he sleeps, he has a nightmare. However, as you can imagine, there’s more to it.

From my point of view, the main character is suffering from nocturn panic attacks and the nightmare in episode 74 showed us how the panic attack comes. A person is considered to be suffering from a night panic attack, when he experiences 4 or more from the following symptoms:

sweating: That’s why the lord has to sleep in the cold, outside the cover
chills
feeling faint
nausea
palpitations, a pounding heart, or an accelerated heart rate
feeling dizzy or lightheaded
feeling unsteady
trembling or shaking
feeling smothered :
feeling a fear of dying
depersonalization, or the feeling of being detached from oneself
sensations of shortness of breath Here, he could barely speak.
feelings of choking
fear of losing control:
pain or discomfort in the chest
paresthesia, or sensations of tingling or numbness
derealization, or feelings of unreality quoted from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324531#how-to-calm-down

As the manhwaphiles can detect, what the lord has are more than just nightmares or insomnia. This explicates why he doesn’t sleep next to the painter. The latter always sleeps so peacefully that Yoon Seungho can’t bear the thought of disturbing him. However, you can observe that by just being by the artist’s side, his panic attack disappears. That’s why he plays with the painter’s hair . This gives us the answer to why the artist had such a disheveled hair the next morning in chapter 38: On the one hand, the headband represents a hindrance for the lord, on the other hand it was removed even before he spent the night with Yoon Seungho. From my point of view, touching the artist’s hair has a calming effect indicating that the lord truly needed Baek Na-Kyum’s assistance that night. The night spent by the painter’s side helped him to go through the night, therefore he felt more refreshed the next morning. However, he must have had a panic attack, hence he left the bed before the painter woke up. I believe, the artist’s regular and deep breathing has a calming effect for Yoon Seungho. Therefore in chapter 74, he lied down next to Baek Na-Kyum and looked at his face. Like I pointed out the last time, the noble is in a fetal position which is a clue that he is relaxing. The panic attack vanished so quickly thanks to Baek Na-Kyum. Now, you understand why the lord is visiting the artist from time to time during the night. That’s when he has a panic attack and the sleeping face of his lover with his normal breathing helps him to recover quickly. He doesn’t want to trouble his lover. We could even say that when the main lead kisses the artist, it is to express his gratitude. Thanks to him, the night doesn’t seem so long now. That’s why he can smile more often and becomes cheerful again.

Let’s not forget that Yoon Seungho tried once to share his bed with Jihwa with the hope to get rid of these nocturn panic attacks, but the second lead couldn’t help him at all. That’s why Jihwa accepted these nightly activities afterwards, he had resigned that his friend could never recover. As the readers can envision it, the causes for these nocturn panic attacks are the lord’s traumatic experiences, these panic attacks are the symptom of PTSD. This explicates why he hated night in truth. In other words, he became a nocturn animal due to his suffering path.

After elaborating why the lord can’t rest in his bed, I would like to give another explanation for the trigger of these panic attacks. Since we know that Yoon Seungho was sexually abused by the king due to the drawing of the mountain, I could make a connection with the bed. This picture comes from Gyeongbokgung palace and note how the colors of the bed and seats are similar to the one from the protagonist’s. Besides, I am sure that people have already watched sageuks, historical korean dramas, where the king is dressed with a red hanbok adorned with golden embroidery, where you can see a dragon like this one:

So this is not surprising that as soon as the lord sees these colors and especially the bed, he gets stressed. Thus it is important to examine the following picture again: (chapter 57). In this scene, the noble attempted to kill himself. Striking is that he had just lost his hair revealing that this had happened after the public humiliation with the topknot. I come to the conclusion that the bed itself triggered his anxiety and has so far represented a source of his panic attacks. Back then, it was so strong that he desired to end his own agony. Moreover, observe how the valet is forcing him to remain on the bed. The manhwaphiles certainly recall how I described that this picture actually illustrated the lord’s captivity. He was treated like a prisoner. Now that we know that his phobia of the bed is linked to sexual abuse and to the king, you can comprehend why Yoon Seungho desired to end his life here. As soon as he saw the bed, he was reminded of his time with the king and the sexual abuse. There’s no ambiguity that the main lead was held captive in the palace. Since the butler stopped him from committing suicide, the manhwaphiles had the impression that Kim truly cared for his master. On the other hand, for we are aware of the signification of the bed and its colors, the manhwaphiles should question why the master has such a bed. First, in this manhwa, nothing is random. For the lord was not in the capacity to choose his bed, someone had to pick the bed. As you can imagine, the butler made the choice and from my point of view, he did it on purpose. He made sure that the lord would always be reminded of his traumatic past. That way, he would remain trapped in the past. In my opinion, he must have accompanied the young master to the palace. Therefore he knew that the poor man was traumatized and chose to take advantage of it. Note that when the physician visited the painter’s study, he noticed that Baek Na-Kyum was lying on a bed reserved for nobles. Even the physician thought, it was Yoon Seungho’s bed which shows that technically the lord could have had such a bed. But no, the yellow-red bed was never changed. Since Yoon Seungho was mentally sick, I doubt that he could choose his own bed after returning from the palace. As for father Yoon, when he went into exile, I don’t think that he left his own mattress and cover behind. Moreover, if you pay attention to father Yoon’s bedchamber, you’ll detect that the father prefers blue due to the bed and the background. That’s the reason why his sons were both dressed in blue: (chapter 57) (chapter 55)

We have two possibilities: either the butler acted on father Yoon’s order or he made the decision himself. As you can imagine, I’m more inclined to believe that the butler made the choice on his own. That way, Yoon Seungho would never try to get revenge on his tormentors and discover Kim’s betrayals, simultaneously the butler would be able to live a quiet life. The lord could never relax due to the bed, hence he would seek relief elsewhere. That’s why he could fall into debauchery so easily, Kim made sure that Yoon Seungho would go down that road. Yoon Seungho is even wondering why he started living like that. This truly exposes that he never made the decision consciously. Therefore I come to the conclusion that the red and yellow bed represents the source of his misery, making sure that he never relaxes.

An important detail caught my attention in chapter 14. When Jihwa visits him for a sex session, the cover is turned over. Yoon Seungho never did it even with Baek Na-Kyum. (chapter 31) and (chapter 73) . From my perspective, it outlines how much Jihwa meant to Yoon Seungho. He never saw the sex sessions with him as a battle, exposing why Yoon Seungho is so lenient towards his childhood friend. But it was different with the painter. The latter kept rejecting him in the beginning, so he had defeat his opponent and enemy, forcing him to surrender. However, when the latter didn’t fight him back and showed no sign of resistance, he was bothered. Deep down, he felt that he still hadn’t truly won the war. Strangely is that the painter started conquering the yellow-red bed to the point that in chapter 72 the low-born preferred making love on the bed. Hence the lord followed his request. Since here, he was making love to Baek Na-Kyum, his mind was not focusing on the bed. All his attention was directed to his lover, hence he could lie down for the first time. That’s why I come to the deduction that the lord should buy a new bed or put the painter’s bed in his bedchamber. The lord will only be able to overcome his nocturn panic attacks, when he has the painter by his side. But more importantly, he should talk about it to Baek Na-Kyum. The latter would definitely give him the comfort and reassurance that he is safe next to him. However, as long as Kim is working at the mansion, I fear, the bedchamber will never be a safe place.

No wonder why the lord felt so happy, when Baek Na-Kyum was accepting his advances, for the first time he truly desired the night to be long, whereas he had wished the dawn came quicker, when he was on his own. And when the second abduction takes place, it will be a very long night for everyone: the protagonists, the villains and the readers as well. 😓

Painter Of The Night: Refraction 🌈

April 4, 2021July 18, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 7 Comments

Announcement: I updated the essay “Kim: a dog, a matchmaker or a father?”

You are probably wondering about the selection of such a title and its signification, especially if you are not familiar with physics. What is refraction exactly?

“Refraction is the bending of light when it goes from one medium to another so, when a ray of light passes through a glass prism, refraction of light occurs both, when it enters the prism as well as when it leaves the prism. Since the refracting surfaces are not parallel, therefore, the emergent ray and incident ray are not parallel to one another. In this case the ray of light is deviated on passing through the prism.” quoted from https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/refraction-of-light-through-a-glass-prism-1456391639-1#:~:text=Refraction%20is%20the%20bending%20of,when%20it%20leaves%20the%20prism.&text=In%20this%20case%20the%20ray,on%20passing%20through%20the%20prism.

People observe this phenomenon, when there’s a rainbow.

This spectacle can only occur, if there are rain and sunlight together. Due to the presence of water, the beholder perceive the existence of light, which is actually a combination of all colors. Although light seems colorless to our eyes, it is not correct. It is just that our brain is used to perceive light as such. Now, you are probably intrigued how I could associate the manhwa with laws of refraction, when the author never drew a rainbow. But refraction is not just limited to the rainbow. It is also perceptible under other circumstances, like for example: when the sunlight goes through a real glass prism

As you can observe, there’s a deviation and dispersion of the light through the glass prism. So when did the manhwaphiles witness this experience in Painter Of The Night?

Byeonduck applied laws of refraction in two episodes:

chapter 55:
chapter 74: Yes, the presence of the colorful bubbles are a sign of refraction.

And these episodes are quite important, for due to the refraction, the readers can finally perceive the presence of light and as such warmth. When the episode 55 was released, I had explained that these bubbles of light announced the revival of the lord’s body. He was no longer living as a zombie, he was finally becoming a real human. But only now, I’ve recognized the real signification of these bubbles of light. (chapter 55) I am not saying that my previous statement was wrong. It is just that I’ve realized the gravity of the lord’s wounds. Yoon Seungho opened the door of this bedchamber, which meant that he was letting the sunlight enter his room. This had a symbolical meaning: the noble was finally allowing the light to enter his inner world. That’s why in this chapter, the noble confessed. He was opening up to the painter and permitting him to see the darkness in his mind and heart. He was jealous and he expressed his murdering and suicidal thoughts (chapter 55), therefore he imagined that the painter would run away, too shocked by the obscurity of his inner world. And this signifies that until chapter 55, the lord’s soul and body were trapped in the darkness. Now, you might come to the conclusion that he was in a similar situation than Jihwa. Because the latter was figuratively deaf and blind, he had the impression to live trapped in a dark room, separated from the outside world. However, this is just a false perception. Jihwa was still in possession of his body, he could feel through his hands. Consequently, he could detect the presence of others. There’s no doubt that he felt lonely and was also lacking for warmth, however the protagonist was in the worst possible situation. He had been literally swallowed by the darkness. (chapter 74) He could feel nothing at all. Even his own mind was trapped in the darkness reinforced by his huge guilt triggered by father Yoon. Remember when I wrote that his body was covered by an armor, this referred to his loss of sensation. Imagine yourself in this situation: everything around you is dark and cold and you can feel nothing at all. No wonder why the lord came to believe that he was just a ghost. This is definitely the negative version of Blaise Pascal’s philosophy: cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am). Yoon Seungho could only recognize his existence through his thoughts. And the chapter 74 was terrible for two reasons: it unveils to the manwhaphiles how the lord became a ghost. We see him disappearing in this blackness step by step:

His powerlessness in front of brutality. He can’t protect himself (chapter 74) He can no longer yell for help and use his leg in order to defend himself, which contrasts to the beginning of his nightmare. (chapter 74)
Then when his body starts flying in his terrible vision (chapter 74), this displays that the noble is losing the control of his body which can be explained with the usage of drugs. But he is still feeling the touch.
Then the hands are covering up his mouth indicating that he can no longer express himself (chapter 74), but at the same time, it indicates the loss of sensation. This panel symbolizes that he is no longer possessing his body at all. All he has left are his eyes.
Even at the end, he loses his sight… (chapter 74) This is the last vision he has before his eyes are also trapped in the darkness.

So the manhwalovers have now to question themselves: How do you leave this darkness, when you are surrounded by it? It is impossible, you can’t even feel the warmth of a body, because even your sense of touch is dead. In order to perceive the presence of light, you need colors… like I explained above. Light is composed by all the colors. And that’s how the lord could slowly leave his state of torpor. When he saw the erotic panels from Baek Na-Kyum, he could see the light, as they embodied love and warmth. That’s why he became so “addicted” to the pictures. They stood in opposition to the world he had been exposed to: sex, not as prostitution, but as a symbol for affection and warmth. The “colors” from the paintings helped him to see the light. After this new interpretation, it becomes understandable why he treasured so much the artist’s hands.(chapter 1) They were the reason why he could see glimpses of light in the darkness of his world. And since he became trapped in the blackness due to hands of scholars and officials, it is not surprising why Baek Na-Kyum’s hands are healing him. Therefore, when the painter touched his chest with his hand (chapter 73), he purified his heart. This explicates why in chapter 74, the noble is no longer interested in sex. The hand liberated his heart and allowed him to express his affection differently. At the same time, the loving gaze in the painter is the reason why the lord feels warmth in the end. All he ever wanted was to see light, but he truly discovered it through the painter’s embrace. (chapter 21) That’s why even in the darkness of the room, he could only be moved. Therefore he was focused on the painter’s body in the first place. The warmth made him realize the existence of light next to his body.

So when Yoon Seungho met the commoner for the first time, his eyes were already healed, as his eyes were exposed to colors constantly. No wonder, why the main lead fell in love at first sight. He had every reason to love the protagonist. The latter had saved him through the colors, making him view glimpses of light. Hence he could feel alive again. But more importantly, he could sense in the pretty face genuineness and naturality. But what the main lead didn’t realize is that Baek Na-Kyum was his mirror and as such his reflection. In other words, he was his glass prism. Since the painter felt attracted to him, the lord saw in the first painting (chapter 2) that he was handsome and attractive. That’s why he could experience his sexual emancipation afterwards. A part of his self-hatred disappeared. However, in order to liberate the lord entirely from his darkness, he needed to drop his fathers’ doctrines, which represented the biggest problem. His healing process got delayed due to Kim’s interventions and the painter’s own indoctrination. Striking is that Baek Na-Kyum was entirely healed by the lord, even before the latter has properly recovered from his own traumas. This clearly outlines his selflessness in the end.

And now, if I compare the first bubbles (chapter 55) to the ones from chapter 74, you’ll detect a huge difference. While there are only three colors in the first image (white, red, blue), the bubbles from chapter 74 remind us more of the colors from a rainbow. This coincidence with the character’s development. Yoon Seungho is seeing more and more light in his mind and heart. In chapter 55, only his conscious allowed the warmth and light associated to the painter to enter his inner world. But it is not the same with the unconscious… only in chapter 74, the light is entering his unconscious which explains why he is slowly remembering what happened to him. The lord can finally perceive his nightmares, while in the past they were just connected to terrible sensations. (chapter 38) I doubt that in chapter 38 and 59, he saw images. Due to the darkness of his inner world, he came to repress the horror he was exposed to. Thus it is not surprising that Yoon Seungho is not sleeping next to the painter, even after that night. (chapter 74) He still has this fear that Baek Na-Kyum might get affected by the blackness of his unconscious. At the same time, when he is facing the sleeping artist, it gives him comfort. Remember that the low-born is the glass prism of Yoon Seungho, hence his peaceful sleep helps the lord to relax. Note that he is lying in a fetal position, an indication of the return of his innocence. There’s no doubt that the visits in the painter’s study during the night (chapter 74) help the lord to relax and move on from his insomnia. Since he is now seeing light and feeling warmth thanks to the painter’s presence, he no longer feels the need for physical intimacy. Hence the lord can’t restrain himself showering Baek Na-Kyum with affection and care. However Yoon Seungho is not realizing that thanks to the artist, he is finally able to show his true self: a phoenix who got burnt by selfish and greedy people. This explicates why Yoon Seungho still perceives himself as a bad omen, because he can still see the blackness in himself. On the other side, this truly exposes the ravages caused by the traumatic experiences. From a sensitive, gentle, selfless and intelligent man, he became the opposite, reflecting the real image of the ones who destroyed him.

The irony is that the lord is not aware of his own transformation. In his mind, the painter has become his sun, hence he gave him a yellow-orange scarf. (chapter 74). When he sees the light next to the painter, he has the impression that it comes from the artist, while in reality, the painter is just mirroring his own light and warmth. Remember that the mirror in the manhwa has the form of the glass prism described above: (chapter 28) And in this panel (chapter 74), it is particularly visible, as the light coming from Yoon Seungho is reflected in the painter (glass prism), hence the colors are behind the artist’s head. This is not surprising why Baek Na-Kyum is so affected. Everything from Yoon Seungho is exuding love and care. At the same time, the lord serves also as a mirror for the painter. The latter can only sense love and warmth in the lord’s face and gaze. (chapter 74) He can only be smitten. But since the lord is also the glass prism for the painter, you can observe the refraction in this panel: (chapter 74) The painter’s affection is literally shining through the lord so that colors appear behind the lord’s back. The diversion becomes obvious for the readers, who are the beholders of such a phenomenon This is not surprising that the painter is falling more and more for Yoon Seungho. That’s why he blushes after a good night kiss. (chapter 74) He is now even longing for Yoon Seungho’s warmth, hence he stands up during the night and looks at the light in the lord’s chamber. (chapter 74) However, the lord is keeping his distance due to the darkness still existing in his unconscious. He fears that this could represent a nuisance to the painter’s peaceful sleep. Moreover, he still perceives himself as impure contrary to Baek Na-Kyum. What the lord fails to recognize is that the artist seems to have sleeping trouble now, because he is longing for his lover’s warmth too, another clue for the painter’s thirst for love and strong libido. There’s no doubt that as long as the commoner doesn’t claim the lord’s bed as his own and expresses the wish to share the bed with his lover, the latter will never suggest this to Baek Na-Kyum.

Because the lord allowed the light from the painter to enter his spirit and heart, he is shining like a sun, which coincides with the animal embodying the noble: the Phoenix. In other words, the nightmare from the aristocrat should be judged as a necessary healing process. (chapter 74) Slowly, the lord is getting rid of the blackness. He is turning his light to the Earth, the painter, mistaking his lover for a sun. Their blossoming love will definitely bring the artist to improve his talent and creativity. But it will have the same effect on the noble. The longer Yoon Seungho is spending his time with Baek Na-Kyum, the better the lord can perceive the colors and light. Through art, the noble will rediscover his lost passion: painting and even poetry. And in my opinion, in order to reconnect to painting, the lord needs to sense the colors for real. The painting in his nightmare was made of black ink and nothing more. (chapter 74)

Both are so fascinated by the colors coming from the refraction that they are seeing the world in bright colors now. However, their fascination for the light makes them careless. They are not paying attention to their surroundings. (chapter 74) In their innocence, they are not realizing that if there’s light, there exists darkness too. Consequently, they don’t detect that darkness is already gathering around them, preparing for the next attack. From my point of view, the darkness should be perceived either as an eclipse or as clouds. Imagine the lord’s reaction, when he loses his prism glass, he will feel definitely devastated. However, there is one thing that even darkness couldn’t destroy after all these years: the lord’s intelligence. He might have acted stupidly during the second season, but his mind was clouded by his emotions. Now that he knows that the painter chose him and is no longer pushing him away, he will be able to use his brain properly. He has more evidences for that. Baek Na-Kyum allowed him to put the scarf properly. Observe the difference between the first (chapter 74) and second image. (chapter 74) The knot is different and he has now a hat. The noble put the scarf exactly like in chapter 69. (chapter 69) Moreover, the new headgear, reserved for women, is a sign that Baek Na-Kyum is accepting his marriage officially. (chapter 74) Hence there is no ambiguity that his disappearance will lead to an investigation and Yoon Seungho will interrogate his staff. Finally, neither an eclipse nor the clouds can truly separate the sun from the Earth, consequently they won’t be able to disrupt this harmonious relationship for long. As a conclusion, the painter as a representative of all virtues could only become Yoon Seungho’s savior, as he brought light into his darkness. This explicates why Yoon Seungho views the commoner as his god and lord. (chapter 71) He was as strong as a god, when he entered his obscure world. No wonder why the noble is so humble and thankful towards his lover. He brought him back to life, hence his life can only revolve around the painter from now on. The sun will never sense his own light and warmth, unless it witnesses how the nature on Earth is blossoming. It needs the existence of another planet to realize the existence of its own heat.

Protected: Painter Of The Night: Yoon Seungho’s suffering path (fourth version)

April 2, 2021June 13, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33

Painter Of The Night: Liberation

March 28, 2021March 28, 2021 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 11 Comments

In my eyes, chapter 73 represents much more than just a hot smut scene. The readers can witness the protagonists’ mental liberation. How? It is reflected in the following panel. First, observe that the lord is lying on his bed, although we all know that he had developed a phobia of his bed. In the past, when he was having sex with the artist. He would either sit (chapter 32) or be on his knees (chapter 42) or lie above the painter (chapter 45) (chapter 58). Besides, the moment Baek Na-Kyum voiced the desire to have real sex with his lover, the latter preferred standing up, while he justified that he was longing for an embrace. But like I had demonstrated in a previous essay, it was more a false excuse, because lord Na-Kyum had been able to hug him on the bed.

But there’s a more evident proof for this observation. When Yoon Seungho was below, I noticed that his head and shoulders would never touch the mattress. He would use his arms or elbows to hold his head high. (chapter 14) (chapter 45) (chapter 73). However, it changes the moment the painter encourages him to help him. Note that for the first time, his shoulders are touching the bed and from this perspective it even looks like his head is resting on the bed. This becomes more obvious, when you compare this scene with the episode 14. Note that right after the penetration, Yoon Seungho changed his position immediately. However, with the commoner, Yoon Seungho still remains lying on the bed, he just raises his head in order to look at his lover. This truly exposes that the lord’s discomfort and fear is slowly vanishing. His affection for Baek Na-Kyum is so strong that he forgets his surroundings and as such his phobia. The pinnacle is reached, when the lord puts his head on the mattress after his climax. Since he doesn’t even straighten up immediately, it exposes that the lord is finally relaxing. His deeply rooted fear has totally vanished. This was already perceptible, when I analyzed the appearance of the bed. But in my opinion, there’s another progression in chapter 73. Note, that the painter is not lying next to him, contrary to chapter 38 or 59 or 65 . This illustrates that thanks to the last sexual encounter, the noble has again lowered his guard. The artist’s pleasure made him feel secure. Another huge difference is that for the first time, the main lead’s face looks carefree and calm. In the previously mentioned episodes, the lord had to feel the artist’s presence in order to be able to lie on the bed, yet he was still plagued with a nightmare or he was still stressed, as he feared the painter would run away, if he wasn’t next to him. In chapter 59, he looked tranquil and composed, nevertheless it was caused by his illness. The moment Baek Na-Kyum left his side and the noble couldn’t sense his warmth, he woke up. This implies that he was tense all the time. As you can see, fear was always following him in the bed. However, as time passed on, the nature of his anxiety changed. It was no longer linked to assault, but to abandonment. The noble was afraid that the artist would leave him behind. However, since he knows that Baek Na-Kyum chose him, his phobia of the bed was almost removed. And when the painter expresses his desire, he reveals that Yoon Seungho has already a huge importance in his life. Without him, he can’t feel good. In other words, Baek Na-Kyum is already dependent on Yoon Seungho. Only him can provoke pleasure in him. In my opinion, the lord’s fear vanishes, because he feels needed. And remember that the lord stood up in order to force the commoner to hug him, so that the commoner would rely on him. As you can detect, reliance plays a huge role in the lord’s liberation. The bed is no longer feared, it has become a place that his lover likes and the latter needs his assistance to feel excitement. That’s why the noble is so relaxed. He knows due to the painter’s words and action that he is now accepted. He even saw and heard his painter’s moans revealing his pleasure.

At the same time, their sex position outlines another important aspect: It mirrors their position in the relationship. The painter is the one with the upper hand, while Yoon Seungho has totally submitted himself. Simultaneously, it also exposes that the lord is the painter’s support and strength. With him by his side, lord Na-Kyum is strong, because his words are finally listened and he is even encouraged to speak up. Yoon Seungho never judges the artist’s action or attitude. That’s why Baek Na-Kyum’s embarrassment concerning his orgasms slowly vanishes as well. First, in chapter 71 he either covered his mouth or even ignored a question out of shame. Then in the next episode, he hid an orgasm from his lover. However, in chapter 73, the manhwaphiles can view how the painter can voice his pleasure for the first time: Striking is that the moment the artist can express his thoughts and emotions, Yoon Seungho allows him to determine the space. In other words, he incites Baek Na-Kyum to become proactive. Hence the peak is reached, when the artist confesses that he can’t get an orgasm without his lover’s help. Thanks to this conversation, Baek Na-Kyum can experience that there’s nothing shameful in their interaction. That’s why this panel symbolizes the liberation of the two protagonists: the noble forgets his fear of the bed, while the painter drops his shame concerning his climax. This explicates why both are really active in this sexual position. They are no longer paralyzed by their emotions. Note that the painter is no longer hiding his moan, he has his mouth wide open.

However, the love session ends abruptly, because Baek Na-Kyum seems to have fainted. Remember what I wrote in my previous analysis entitled “Words”. The lord had somehow developed a trauma due to the sex marathon. He had such huge pangs of conscience due to the painter’s sickness, thereby he had never forgotten it. I have to admit that my first reaction was that we would have a repetition of chapter 32/33. A doctor would be fetched. However, due to the examination of the sexual intercourse, I recognized that Byeonduck is showing us how the two main leads are overcoming their issues. Therefore I have a different impression now. In my opinion, Baek Na-Kyum is not unconscious, just exhausted. We have a clue that this “night” will be long, because we had two different moons in chapter 70 and 71, implying that some days will pass between the moment the main characters entered the bedchamber and the final panel from episode 71. It indicates that the protagonists will stay there for quite some time. And this made me realize that for the noble to overcome his recent trauma, he needs to be confronted with a similar situation, yet with a different outcome. This signifies in my eyes that Baek Na-Kyum is conscious, and as such he will be able to pay attention to his lover’s actions. Let’s not forget that in chapter 32, the main lead fed him water with a tender kiss. Then in chapter 50, he caressed the painter’s cheek and kissed him tenderly. However, the artist never got the chance to sense his love in a different way. The lord always expressed his love through sex, even in the bathroom, he was very sensual… while in the bedroom, his kisses and caresses showed care and pure tenderness. And it happened to Yoon Seungho as well. The latter never detected the painter’s caress at the physician’s. That’s why I believe that due to this incident, out of worries and fear the lord will react like in the past, but this time Baek Na-Kyum will witness this. Therefore he will perceive the lord’s affection in a new light. This is not just sex, his love goes beyond sex. And this can only move the painter, hence the same gestures will be reciprocated. That way, the lord is able to overcome his trauma. Not only he has been “forgiven”, but it will show him that he is loved, even if Baek Na-Kyum has not confessed yet. I am expecting that now the strokes and caresses will have a different nature.

But there’s another reason for this prediction. If you pay attention to the way they shared the bed in the past, you’ll note a progression. In chapter 59, they are facing each other revealing that they got closer due to the love session, , while in chapter 38 and 65, the painter was turning his back on his lover revealing a gap between them. In this position, it gave the impression that Baek Na-Kyum was rejecting Yoon Seungho. That’s why the moment the lord expresses his affection differently, it will not only move the artist, it will change their relationship. Striking is that in that sexual position, they were indeed facing each other and the noble was gazing at his lover. He has neither abandonment issues nor a phobia of his bed. Therefore I come to the conclusion that they will relax in bed facing each other. Both protagonists will experience that they can show their love differently. Their liberation helped them to overcome their fears and traumas. As a conclusion, their emancipation will bring them closer.

Protected: Painter Of The Night: Stockholm Syndrome (second version)

February 23, 2021January 12, 2023 ~ Bébébisous33

Painter Of The Night: Baek Na-Kyum’s past

February 22, 2021February 22, 2021 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 5 Comments

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.

In the essay entitled “Persuasion and Pride and prejudice in the manhwa” [https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/06/18/painter-of-the-night-persuasion-and-pride-and-prejudice-in-the-manhwa/], I demonstrated that Baek Na-Kyum had been suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Moreover, I also elaborated that the low-born had been exposed to coercive persuasion. Nevertheless, since we had the appearance of the adoptive mother, Heena noona, I got new insight about the painter’s youth.

Byeonduck gave us more clues about the painter’s past. First, I realized the importance of the place he was raised. Since he was surrounded by loving noonas, he grew up in a loving environment. Nonetheless, because the kisaengs belong to the lowest social rank, they don’t have a good reputation, which is visible in the way Yoon Seungho called Heena noona: “harlot” or “wench”. So right from the start, Baek Na-Kyum grew up in a rather secluded place, it was not the place for children. Therefore, he never had the chance to make friends so that he couldn’t exchange his thoughts with his peers. That’s why he is seen painting on his own in the first chapter. Since he couldn’t play with other children, he overcame his loneliness with painting. And remember that social isolation plays a huge role in coercive persuasion.

Secondly, each time he witnessed violence perpetrated on his adoptive mother, he could only cry before being sent away with the scholar Jung In-Hun. He could never voice his anger and intervene. He hadn’t the strength and the time to stop the abuse. The only thing he was able to do was to cry as a sign of protest, and later find solace in the scholar’s arms. The manhwaphiles can detect his anger, powerlessness and pain in this panel. Hence while the low-born grew up, he was not only deeply influenced by this negative image of rich nobles, but also not allowed to voice his resent. From my perspective, the artist must have felt no liking to interact with other people. On the one hand, he was happy among his noonas, on the other hand the strangers visiting the brothel were all perceived by him in a negative light. That’s why I come to the conclusion that Baek Na-Kyum’s isolation was even reinforced by these incidents, creating the perfect situation for the coercive persuasion.

Moreover, the story told from Heena noona’s perspective clearly outlines that this kind of incident was recurrent. And the author posted another picture on social media reinforcing this impression. Striking is that the painter’s facial expressions are showing sadness and pain, whereas the scholar is actually smiling. This is palpable due to his gaze and the angle of his mouth. And this panel truly displays the teacher’s hypocrisy and superficiality. How can he smile and ooze a certain happiness, when the boy is definitely feeling depressed? More importantly is that the young boy is on the teacher’s back, which explains why he could never perceive the fakeness of the warmth. Sure, one might argue that the teacher was happy, because he was hugging the artist. Yet, in a real embrace full of affection, people are facing each other, like in this panel: Yet observe how the scholar is hiding his face from the innocent boy. The artist could never witness the teacher’s facial expressions and gaze. And if we combine these two observations, we recognize why the artist questioned the genuineness of the main lead’s hug in chapter 49. Note that he didn’t see the lord’s gaze in that moment. He was actually hiding his face from the protagonist. Moreover, he didn’t pay attention to the lord’s words , too overwhelmed with the last sex session. If he had truly listened to his words, he would have sensed the noble’s unhappiness and regrets. He was definitely expressing some self-reproaches here. The problem was that in chapter 29, Baek Na-Kyum realized the scholar’s betrayal after a warm embrace due to his words, explaining why he was rather critical to this warm embrace. Yet here the artist made a mistake. He judged the gesture without paying attention to the lord’s remark. And this shows to me that Jung In-Hun took advantage of the artist’s affection to fake care and love. Yet, while he was faking warmth and love, he never said anything, since either the faces are covered or the mouths are closed . That’s why Baek Na-Kyum made this mistake in chapter 49. His skills to listen were poorly developed, because in his past he barely talked in the end. I would even add that he had been trained not to voice his thoughts and emotions in reality. Why do I come to this conclusion? It’s because he speaks either like his surrogate father or like his adoptive mother (chapter 65) (chapter 2) I am quite certain that he adopted her perception of the world due to his negative experiences. Besides, I believe too that Heena noona was already influenced by the scholar. She already mistook for a hero and misjudged his personality. Therefore I come to the conclusion that the painter’s skills to lead a conversation weren’t developed at all. The scholar had no interest to teach him, because this would have led to critical thinking. Furthermore, he is just a low-born. Finally, he had no reason to talk, because this would mean that he had to explain the situation. Why did the rich noble become violent? So he was doing the exact same thing than the butler: he was swaying the violence under the rug by letting take the wealthy and violent aristocrat the blame. Since no one discussed these incidents, the painter could never voice his anger and developed his conversation skills. That’s why it tool a long time for Baek Na-Kyum to finally listen to the main lead properly. He experienced a similar situation than Yoon Seungho in truth. Yet there was a huge difference between them. Yoon Seungho could read books, hence his thinking could improve, whereas it was not the case for the artist. He had to find another way to voice his emotions. Therefore he came to paint in my opinion. This was the only place where he could express his emotions properly, yet his pictures were only reflecting warmth and love, but nothing about his negative emotions: rage in face of injustice and violence.

From my point of view, these incidents reinforced the bound between the low noble and the low-born. Moreover, the noble could only smile, as he had the opportunity to enter the kisaeng house without paying anything. He could keep trying to get close to the powerful and rich aristocrats frequenting the kisaeng house, and the boy was the key to enter this place. Finally, since the scholar is also a reflection of Kim, and the latter always uses others to achieve his goal, while he lets others take the blame, we have now a confirmation that the scholar was definitely responsible for these incidents. The kisaeng is seen hurt by the rich noble, we can definitely imagine that the scholar was the cause for these incidents.

In the head-kisaeng’s eyes, it was the right thing to send away her son in tears and rage, because that way she was protecting him. He wouldn’t catch the brutal nobles’ attention. At the same time he would find comfort in a caring person: the scholar Jung In-Hun. But this method could only last, when the boy was young, because he older he got, the higher the risk was that Baek Na-Kyum would unleash his rage onto the violent nobles. That’s why the mother decided to trust the painter to the teacher. Simultaneously, this observation made me realize this: Yoon Seungho’s words expressed the same emotions the low-born sensed, when he saw the main lead’s face. He was also sent back to these violent incidents. And now, you understand why the painter didn’t feel repulsed by the rather brutal confession. When Baek Na-Kyum met the protagonist, he could only reject him because of his past experiences. He saw in him the typical violent noble. However, surprising is that Yoon Seungho allowed him to express himself. That’s why Baek Na-Kyum lied, even yelled at him or criticized him by calling him a man consumed by lust. This explicates too why the painter was only honest during a confrontation in the end. While in his past, he could never voice his thoughts and emotions, he could with Yoon Seungho, as the latter never sent him away or shut his mouth with a warm embrace. Remember how the noble asked him to explain the situation about the ruined painting. He gave him the opportunity to speak, and kept asking for an explanation. He did the same thing in the barn as well. And now, you understand why the painter could only fall in love with the main lead, unlike in the past, he could freely express himself. Therefore I consider the chapter 68 as an evidence that Baek Na-Kyum isn’t suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. His love confession reflects his inner conflict. He loves him, yet there’s a certain reluctance. Moreover, he is arguing with Heena noona in chapter 68 showing that he is thinking on his own. Thanks to his “teacher”, he doesn’t just follow his mother’s wish blindly. Note the contrast between these two panels:

(chapter 46) (chapter 68) What caught my attention is the caress on both cheeks in the farewell. The gesture oozes tenderness and love, yet at the same time her hands are restraining the painter’s mouth. With her hands, she hinders the artist to argue with her and reject her decision. That’s why he accepts his fate, although he is terribly wounded by this experience. This explicates why she repeats the same gesture in chapter 68, yet she can’t stop him from speaking this time. The painter still disagrees with her. However, observe that the kisaeng is determined to act like in the past. Someone takes the boy away from a place, and the loving person will cover him with affection so that there will be no protest and objection. However, this is no longer possible. The abandonment affected their relationship, there’s a visible distance between them. The painter doesn’t even stand up for her. And now, if the manhwaphiles examine their conversation, they will recognize that the kisaeng has been cornered by her adoptive son. Even the caress on both cheeks didn’t have the same effect than in the past. That’s why she becomes more and more firm, I would even say authoritative. When she claimed that she had seen everything, Baek Na-Kyum told her what others saw (the lord’s affection) and that the latter had already confessed. For me, since each character has flaws, some more and others less, Heena noona is not different. She doesn’t realize that love is not enough to raise a child. The true goal of education is to let the children become independent. And this can only happen, when they are encouraged to voice their emotions, exchange their thoughts with others and question things. Overprotection can lead to misery in the end. Sure, her temper and personality served as a good role model: she is affectionate, definitely brave and willing to sacrifice herself for her son. But since she judged people based on appearances, she didn’t realize the teacher’s hypocrisy and sent her son to misery.

Finally, I would like to elaborate why the head-kisaeng expected from Jung In-Hun that he would take care of the painter, when she asked: Since in the past, the teacher had given her impression that he was caring and selfless, then she imagined that he would continue doing the same, if she made the request. However, the problem was that the moment she trusted the artist to the scholar, the latter had lost the key to enter the kisaeng house. It was, as if the key of the door had been removed, since Heena noona requested from Baek Na-Kyum to never come back. But this meant that the painter had become a burden for Jung In-Hun. Furthermore, this new panel showed us a teacher without glasses, which confirms my theory that the painter was the one who bought the glasses for Jung In-Hun. That’s why Heena noona could expect something from the scholar. She had allowed him to enter the place without paying, he had been receiving help from the painter as well. However, since the teacher had lost a possibility to find connections through the kisaeng house, he could only resent the painter. Besides, he loathes low-borns. As you can see, he had many reasons for abusing the protagonist:

He was definitely jealous of the painter’s success.
He couldn’t enter the kisaeng house any longer
He had to take care of a low-born, while in his eyes, they are just destined to keep their social status
He didn’t feel the need to hide his resent, but he used the erotic pictures to unleash his negative emotions and put the blame on the protagonists.

And since the painter had never the opportunity to talk a lot in his past, he couldn’t oppose much resistance. He was already isolated and their closeness created the perfect situation for the painter to develop a Stockholm Syndrome. He had no one to turn to, and since the painter had been trained to rely emotionally on Jung In-Hun, the physical abuse could only trigger this coping mechanism.

As a conclusion, Yoon Seungho’s desire to communicate coincides with the painter’s too. Nonetheless, the latter hadn’t found the appropriate partner yet. First, he had never learned how to make new acquaintances, and his second abandonment had traumatized him much more. Consequently, he became a drunk. Finally, he couldn’t judge the main lead properly due to his past and his prejudices. However, like my follower @Dunya696 truly noted, Yoon Seungho helped the artist to cope with his traumatic past by humiliating nobles. At no moment, Baek Na-Kyum intervened (chapter 8; chapter 18, chapter 53, chapter 54). Imagine, he risked his face for the vicious servant Deok-Jae who had hurt him before, while he remained totally passive, when the main lead punched Min. So the lord became the hand of justice for the painter, and Baek Na-Kyum didn’t mind in the end.

Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for topics or manhwas, feel free to ask. If you enjoyed reading it, retweet it or push the button like. My tumblr-twitter account is: @bebebisous33. Thanks for reading and the support.

Painter Of The Night: “Respect and Love”

February 20, 2021February 23, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 1 Comment

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.

In the analysis called “A man consumed by lust”, I not only compared Yoon Seungho to a head-kisaeng, but also described that all the characters, including Baek Na-Kyum, would perceive the main lead as a man obsessed with sex. Striking is that with the entrance of Baek Na-Kyum in the main lead’s life, the lord got to discover this reflection about him which took him by surprise. Moreover, he realized gradually, how disrespectful the nobles and the servants were towards him. Therefore I came to the conclusion that the artist was not only associated to a mirror and love, but also to respect. And this observation led me to the following conclusion: Baek Na-Kyum is carrying in himself all the virtues which are necessary for a good social life:

love,
respect,
justice,
honesty,
equity,
responsibility,
loyalty,
freedom,
tolerance,
and peace.

That’s why I decided to examine the behavior of the characters under the aspect of respect and love, as all the other values like justice or tolerance are strongly linked to these two values.

But the problem is that although the commoner embodies these values, this doesn’t mean that he is truly tolerant, honest, just and respectful himself. If the manhwaphiles recall the first season, they will surely remember that Baek Na-Kyum wasn’t actually honest towards the main character, since his mind had been influenced by the scholar’s doctrines and Heena noona’s prejudices. Right from the start, he lied to the noble due to his preconceptions and his belief in rumors. What caught my attention is that in reality the painter’s honesty was only reflected in his body (his tears and his blushing) and in his unconscious. It was something that the low-born couldn’t control, but these honest facial expressions attracted the aristocrat so much to the point that he wanted the artist to see them in the paintings, therefore he utilized the mirror during the first sex marathon.

Right from the start, the artist was sexually attracted by the main lead, especially by his huge phallus, which was implied in this panel: and only displayed with the second episode from the Alternative Universe: . This explicates why he desired to have replaced the second lead (chapter 2) and got aroused during the threesome. The brush was focused on the lord’s hand touching the butt (chapter 9). He deeply desired to have sex with Yoon Seungho, but his conscious kept denying the obvious. And his lack of honesty is still present in the second season, hence he still perceives Yoon Seungho as man consumed by lust which is visible in the paintings. The artist legitimates his wish to stay at the mansion, because it is for the teacher’s sake, then later for the protagonist, who is in love with him. At no moment, he wants to become responsible for his feelings. He keeps resisting his affection and attraction towards the main lead. Why?

From my point of view, it is related to the painter’s huge libido. First, the readers shouldn’t forget that the low-born started erotic paintings of sodomy at a very young age, indicating that he discovered his sexual orientation very early on. Moreover, there’s no doubt that the commoner is quite kinky: his different wet dreams (chapter 2, chapter 6: sex with a stranger , chapter 56 ) expose his deepest sexual desires, the main lead should pleasure him. This explains why Baek Na-Kyum is never facing the lord and always passive in his wet dreams. This shows his reluctance to admit his kinky side. Imagine that he ejaculates, when he hears “you’ve made a wreck of me”, but not when the lover whispers “I adore you”. He even got erected again, when he saw the butler in front of the barn, which was noticed by the aristocrat, and he even had a climax in the courtyard. His reluctance to admit his affection is strongly intertwined with his strong sexuality. There’s this fear that he might get perceived as a man consumed by lust himself. If he accepts his love and as such his huge libido, he might get looked down and excluded. This is understandable, because he has abandonment issues. I believe, the readers should remember that the artist was scared of people’s opinion during the first season. From my perspective, although he has come to accept his homosexuality, he is still under the influence of the social norms: a man shouldn’t love another man. Besides, let’s not forget that Jihwa, as a reflection of the painter, has a similar mindset. He uses sex in order to disguise his emotions. As long as the painter is not honest to himself and as such doesn’t respect himself, he can’t be genuine with the noble. In my eyes, Baek Na-Kuym continued viewing the lord as a man obsessed with sex for many reasons. First he was too hurt by the teacher’s words. He never paid attention to the lord’s words and gestures. However, as time passed on, he never reviewed his perception out of convenience. With such an image, the noble was responsible for the sexual intercourses, and this attitude was even reinforced by the maid’s comments. But now, he is facing a dilemma, because his noona offers him the possibility to leave the mansion, but he refuses her proposition for futile different reasons: the scholar, his living conditions, the painting, the lord’s love… Only once cornered, he finally admits his love, but he describes it as something negative (he is scared, it is against his will). And this interpretation made me wonder about its origin. I have the impression that it is not only related to the brainwashing perpetrated by the scholar. I think that Heena noona could be the other explanation. Since sexuality played a huge role in the head-kisaeng’s life, it is possible that she has a negative perception of sex. Since she wanted the painter to remain quite innocent and pure, she sent him away. Her desire was to protect him too, but deep down she hoped that he wouldn’t outlive truly his homosexuality. If he was painting erotic pictures by the scholar’s side, she imagined that he would get happy. She had the impression that this would be sufficient for the artist’s life, because he would get “loved” and supported by the man the artist admired. Since Jung In-Hun gave her the impression, he was caring and selfless, she imagined that the learned sir would take care of the artist. And this leads me to the conclusion that she has a very romantic and pure image of love, because in her world there is a strong connection between sexuality, power and violence. However, she never asked for the painter’s opinion, she just sent him away, thinking that she was doing it for the boy’s best interest. For her, the boy would keep outliving his sexuality through art. On the one hand, this would explicate why Baek Na-Kyum is scared to accept his sexual appetite, on the other hand it also shows that love is strongly connected to respect. And for the first time, the artist is not blindly following Heena noona’s actions and decisions. So this scene exposes Baek Na-Kyum’s growth, he is transforming slowly into an adult, making his own decision, although his words ooze a certain fear and hesitation.

That’s exactly when Yoon Seungho comes into the picture. He will continue playing the role of the painter’s liberator. The aristocrat forced Baek Na-Kyum not only to admit his sexuality, but also his homosexuality. But now, it is time for the painter to accept his love and as such his strong libido. That’s why the moment the lord tells him that he can leave the mansion, the former will set the commoner entirely free. That way, the low-born can no longer use the excuse that the main character was living together with a man obsessed with sex. Let’s not forget that during season one, the main lead helped the commoner to not only recognize his own sexual orientation, but also to use his own mind. Therefore I predict that the aristocrat will be the cause for the painter to eliminate all the prejudices he had about people, to no longer care about people’s impression. As you can see, Yoon Seungho also embodies honesty, but a different kind: a free spirit. And this comes from his education, the main lead reads a lot and ponders a lot (chapter 61) (chapter 62). He questions things and people’s behavior , that’s why he is so obsessed with the “why”. He desires to understand the motivation behind the painter’s words and actions. In other words, he is looking beyond the appearance and surface. However, Baek Na-Kyum was surrounded by Heena noona and Jung In-Hun, people who value appearances very much. That’s why the head-kisaeng said that she saw everything. But what did she see and hear? She discovered through the town gossips that the painter had caused a commotion by running away. Then she saw the artist tied up and breathing heavily, and the noble’s lie could only contribute to reinforce her negative perception she had about Yoon Seungho. Besides, when she claimed that she recognized the artist’s painting, we have to wonder which drawing she saw. So far, when she opened the door, she only viewed a blank sheet of paper. And thanks to @shoei’s comment, I realized that the butler could have played a role here. Remember that the butler was asked in chapter 44 to throw away the picture of Jung In-Hun’s inauguration. And since we have a scene where Kim gave the ruined painting to Yoon Seungwon, I believe that in chapter 65, we had a repetition of this scene, but the readers were not able to witness it. The valet showed her the painting in order to confirm the painter’s identity. The other evidence for this theory is the absence of Kim’s eyes, when the head-kisaeng states that she recognized the artist’s painting. Therefore Heena noona jumped to the wrong conclusions. She had the impression that Baek Na-Kyum was still in love with his learned sir, and the hell-raiser was just abusing his power and position. But like I have already written many times, reality is far more complex and appearances should always be queried. From my point of view, the noble will help him to get stronger to the point that he won’t care about people’s gaze and gossip.

For me, the painter serves as a carthasis to bring out the virtues hidden in both protagonists due to the reflection. In other words, while the aristocrat purifies the painter by emancipating him from any prejudice and social norms, the artist cleans the lord by unveiling his caring and sensitive side so that the latter is forced to accept the existence of his heart and drop his fathers’ principles. The master of deception is in reality a person who treasures love and honesty above anything, but since he was surrounded by selfish and hypocrite people, he had no occasion to show his true self. We shouldn’t forget that Jihwa never showed his true emotions: his smile and cheerful gaze were masking his own insecurities. From my point, the second lead never allowed Yoon Seungho to see his blushing and, when he cried in front of his childhood friend for the first time(chapte 18), Yoon Seungho had already been moved by the painter’s tears.

What caught my attention is that although Baek Na-Kyum helped the aristocrat to see how disregarded he was by his peers and even Jihwa, the artist didn’t show any respect towards the main lead either. One might argue that Yoon Seungho treated the painter poorly, and even described him as plaything. Therefore the painter was not obliged to respect Yoon Seungho. However, the truth is that the main lead had other intentions in the beginning, if you examine the first two chapters carefully.

First, we shouldn’t forget that the story doesn’t start with Yoon Seungho speaking with the domestic investigating the creator’s identity. The real story begins with the main lead getting fascinated by the publications. Furthermore, the painter hadn’t worked for almost one year after vowing to never paint again. Hence it took Yoon Seungho some time, until the absence of new works made the lord realize that he could no longer live without them. He needed new erotic drawings. Besides, in the first chapter, we shouldn’t forget that Yoon Seungho even visits the painter to the tavern, which is really unusual for him. Let’s not forget that the noble only went to the tavern in chapter 57 after receiving the fake letter from lord Song. This is not a place the lord usually visits, rather Jihwa. This outlines the huge respect the lord showed towards the low-born. A high noble goes to a tavern, even talks directly to Baek Na-Kyum. In the lord’s mind, the artist should have felt flattered. And then we shouldn’t forget that when the artist was sitting in the study, he noticed the expensive paper and the different brushes at his disposal. This shows that the protagonist had made preparations for his arrival. Therefore I come to the conclusion that the noble had intended to invite the artist to work for him. He was his admirer and fan, hence he treasured the artist’s hands so much. However, the painter couldn’t recognize the respect and admiration the main lead was showing, because it was directly connected to sex. Since the lord had been brainwashed to accept sex as a normality (he lets the low-born touch his loins!!), the artist could only feel repulsed and scared due to the scholar’s indoctrination. Sex and physical touch are dirty, that’s why Baek Na-Kyum lied to the noble in the end. He disregarded the noble’s genuine compliments and effort. Since the noble had been hurt and disrespected, he retaliated and showed his anger. Striking is that the lord stopped talking after the second lie, though he was very talkative before. He is left speechless.

In my eyes, there’s a strong connection between the master’s violence and his silence. Studies indicate that persons in jail with a violent temper have often less vocabulary, which exposes the importance of words and voicing his emotions. It is also proven that the less you are allowed to express yourself, the higher the risk you get violent. I could add another example. It is well known, that a baby will scream and become agitated, when he is frustrated. Since he can’t express his thoughts and emotions, the only way to show his discomfort and anger is to scream. Since the painter denied his identity, the lord had no other possibility to continue a conversation. On the surface, in that scene, the aristocrat looked like a violent child killing the domestic, the truth was different. The situation triggered a flashback. And that’s the moment, Yoon Seungho started treating the commoner as a plaything. He dragged him to his mansion and kept him in the barn, until he achieved his goal. During the second season, I pointed out the ambiguity about Baek Na-Kyum’s status at the mansion: who was he really? A wife, a concubine, a fiance, a favored servant or a prostitute? Since there’s a reflection in this story, it came to my mind that the painter’s status was also ambiguous in the first season. However, back then it was different: was he a guest, a servant, a plaything or a prostitute? We have diverse clues showing that Baek Na-Kyum was truly treated like a honored guest:

Yoon Seungho goes to the tavern like mentioned above in order to invite the low-born personally.
He has already prepared the room for the painter and his study is next to the lord’s chamber, a huge sign of respect. The manhwaphiles should remember that the teacher’s room was further away.
Furthermore, I believe that he is the one who took care of the painter, when the latter was sleeping on the floor. Remember that in my analysis “Who is this Baek Na-Kyum?”, I had assumed that the servants had to clean up the mess left by the low-born. However, since we have two episodes in the season 2 indicating that the lord cleaned himself the painter (chapter 45 and 59) and brought him to the bed (chapter 62 and 65), I came to the realization that in episode 2, the noble already washed himself the artist, and even organized the bed. Imagine this: a noble is taking care of a commoner. Yet at no moment the painter wondered who took care of him.
We have two invitations (chapter 8) and (chapter 23).
When the painter arrives in the lord’s chamber in chapter 8, he is the last to enter the room. It gives the impression that he was the guest of honor. The lord kept waiting for him. He must have felt restless, because he started painting something. And observe how he welcomes the artist. He is full of joy and smiling. And when the noble with the mole requests from him to send away the artist, his guest of honor, he evicts the arrogant aristocrat.
In chapter 11, the noble even desires to eat his lunch with the painter. If the butler had not mentioned the study, then we have to wonder if the noble in his good mood would have invited the painter to his bedchamber.

One thing is sure: the lord did care a lot for the artist right from the start, but he made two huge mistakes: he never anticipated a rejection from the low-born, because in his mind he had everything what people would like to have. Secondly, he never envisioned that he would expose Baek Na-Kyum to danger, because for him the latter didn’t represent a thread to anyone. He was just a commoner.

Striking is that despite his care, the painter refused to remain at his mansion, hence he tried to flee in chapter 4. And in order to convince him, Yoon Seungho proposed the deal: if he paints for him, then the lord will help his learned sir in his career. With this new approach, the lord thought that he had finally been able to achieve his goal. But note that with this proposition, the lord was actually selling himself. He was in fact the one asking for a favor, in exchange he would offer his connection. Sure, we shouldn’t forget that the noble had not truly promised anything to the scholar (just an empty promise), but Baek Na-Kyum was not aware of this. At the same time, it revealed the lord’s mentality. This was his way to achieve his goal: prostitution. Sure, sex was not directly involved first, but since the artist was supposed to create erotic pictures, the boundaries were already dilued. And this is not surprising that the moment Jung In-Hun realized that Yoon Seungho was not impressed by his skills, he decided to use the painter as prostitute. However, in my eyes, the lord had already become one, the moment he offered that deal to the painter. And this shows that the lord was showing himself disrespect in the end, just to get the painter working for him. As you can observe, both protagonists didn’t respect themselves in truth, consequently they were not able to respect each other.

And if you look at many drawings created by the painter, you’ll observe that they all show a main lead acting as a prostitute, trying to please the partner: each time he keeps looking at the lover, in order to confirm that he is pleasing his partner: Either Jihwa is moaning or the painter is blushing or moaning, but the lord is always focused, starring at this partner. That’s why the moment the lord had sex with the painter, it affected the artist’s status. The latter could only be judged as a prostitute, because he was also doing it for a favor, for the scholar’s sake. Therefore the following pictures mirrors the prostitution, both protagonists act as whores in the end. While in the drawings from the first season, the protagonists switched the role of the “whore”, in the following painting they are portrayed both as such. That’s why the painter was not paying attention to details. As a conclusion, the moment the noble proposed the deal, he not only lowered himself, but also affected the painter. That’s why the teacher’s words are so painful, because he is actually the one benefitting from this deal. The moment the painter has sex with the main lead, he is indeed a prostitute. Yet the irony is that he is not doing it for himself, but for the scholar: This is the height of hypocrisy. Simultaneously, with these words, he makes sure that the painter can’t even enjoy sex, making him feel terrible.

At the same time, Yoon Seungho did treat the painter as a servant. First, he dragged him to the mansion and kept him captive, until the artist accepted the offer. Then the aristocrat punished him after the second drawing was ruined. The huge contrast between being a guest or a servant exposes that the lord did treat the artist as a plaything. Everything depended on his mood. On the one hand the lord acts like a happy child showing off to his other guests: (chapter 8), on the other hand, when he claims this in front of Min, he is hiding the truth as well. Yoon Seungho had to make a deal with the painter, hence the latter wasn’t truly a plaything… but a person who was using the noble’s wealth and power for his loved one, the teacher. And by praising the painter’s talents, he contributed to expose the artist to danger, to make him the target of envious or jealous aristocrats. In these moments, the main lead showed an immaturity. However, we shouldn’t underestimate the role played by Kim here. The latter ensured that the artist would lose his title “honored guest”, when he suggested to his lord to visit him in the study in chapter 11.

However, if you pay attention to the chronology of the lord’s wrongdoings (the poem, the punishment in chapter 11…), you’ll notice that the artist didn’t respect the lord either. Yet this is not obvious, because Baek Na-Kyum doesn’t get physically violent. Yoon Seungho took the poem without asking, so did the painter with the expensive wine. He never wondered about the origin of the wine. When the lord criticizes the poem, the painter says that he is not allowed to make fun of it, because he is just a man consumed by lust. Nonetheless, Baek Na-Kyum has also no right to say this to Yoon Seungho either, because he is just a commoner. That’s why the master reminds him of his own social status, he is just a peasant. And we have a new version of this situation in chapter 41, when Baek Na-Kyum yells at the main lead, although the latter was caring and showed concern. He desired to know the origin of the painter’s sadness. However, the artist was unwilling to explain the cause for this. That’s why the lord slapped the artist, reminding of his place. He was a lord and the host here.

When the lord gets angry with the painter in chapter 11 due to the ruined image, the painter apologizes to the noble, yet from my perspective his apology is not really genuine, especially if you contrast this to the one in chapter 62: Furthermore, when the painter begged for the lord’s mercy, he was willing to do anything else, except to paint, , he was forgetting one important aspect: he was actually breaking his promise to the main lead. He was actually taking advantage of the main lead, because this meant that the latter would be the only one who didn’t get what he truly wanted. Baek Na-Kyum was here only loyal to the scholar, he was willing to sell his service for the main lead in exchange for his sponsor of the teacher, yet he was still refusing to create erotic pictures. Simultaneously this showed that the commoner started mistrusting the teacher, as he was suspecting his involvement. In other words, he was trying to call off the deal, while the scholar would benefit the most from him. And now, you can understand why the lord got upset and felt betrayed, leading the lord to threaten the artist: the low-born was trying to change the content of the deal, while Yoon Seungho was selling his wealth and connections for the artist. And since this story is build like a kaleidoscope, the new version of this incident was in chapter 38, when the artist chose to lie to his learned sir in order to protect Yoon Seungho. As you can see, both protagonists were disrespecting each other… sure, the master was more brutal, when he felt disrespected and hurt, but this doesn’t mean that the artist was totally blameless.

Then in chapter 30, the painter feels the need to pledge allegiance to the master in order to protect Yoon Seungho. From that moment on, Baek Na-Kyum swears that he will do everything the lord wants. This marks the painter’s official start as Yoon Seungho’s servant. He is no longer perceived as an artist “Will do anything”, explicating why the pictures started losing their importance in the noble’s eyes. So the moment both had sex with each other, the painter became “prostitute”, as he was doing it for the learned sir.

As you can see, the lord always did himself a disservice with his actions and decisions. Each time, he had the impression, he came closer to his goal, only to discover that this was an illusion. He even complicated the situation so that everything was so confusing for the artist. He was an artist, a servant and at the end a prostitute. Let’s not forget that right after swearing to follow Yoon Seungho’s order, the master removed the head-band from the painter, showing his desire that he never wanted him to be a servant. As you can observe the painter’s status was never clear, the lord had no real idea what he truly desired, as his unconscious and conscious stood in conflict. For me, he was already in loved, his heart and gaze had been moved by the painter’s talents. But since he was always rejected, he tried to find ways to achieve his goal, to keep the artist by his side, nonetheless he complicated more and more the situation and created walls between him and the low-born.

As you can observe, the disrespect is mutual affecting both. Yet, the one who is seeking desperately the artist’s attention and love is the noble, hence the painter has always had the upper hand, which he never realized. That’s why little by little, Yoon Seungho is always forced to give in. Therefore, the climax is reached in chapter 66: Yoon Seungho is unable to stop the artist so that he admits his submission and decides to choose the artist as his master: However, this time the commoner’s hand is not led to the loins, but to the master’s eyes and hand. That’s why I believe, the nature of their relationship will honestly change in the future. Now, they will start sharing what they have on their mind, the biggest wish Yoon Seungho ever had:

But Yoon Seungho was also treated as a plaything by the painter. If you pay attention, Baek Na-Kyum is actually the one using Yoon Seungho as sex toy. Note that the commoner only expresses his satisfaction (chapter 45) , but he never tries to please the lord… “he is always on the receiving end”, like Yoon Seungho observed in chapter 45. Finally, in chapter 49, the painter tells him that the noble is only there to procure pleasure to him: an affront and he shut his mouth with a kiss!! He is not allowed to protest, he has to accept his situation: he is there to procure pleasure. Yoon Seungho was definitely not pleased and even hurt, yet he let him have his ways, because he sensed the genuineness in the kiss. And now, the manhwaphiles can comprehend, why the lord treated the painter as a sex toy during the second marathon. He was following the words expressed by the painter to the letter, but he was switching the roles. Since he had been treated as a sex toy, then he was allowed to do the same. However, he refused to kiss the artist, because as a sex toy he is only there for a sexual intercourse and nothing more. And this was reflected in the last painting: this explicates that Min has the impression that Baek Na-Kyum is craving for sex, while in truth the latter was just longing for love. As a conclusion, both protagonists were treating each other as tools, explaining why they kept hurting each other with their lack of respect.

When Kim criticized the artist for acting as a spoiled princess, he was telling the truth, but here he had another intention: he wants the painter to accept his status as “servant”, in order to stop the artist from gaining more power over the master. Observe that the valet didn’t tell him, he should love the noble. He just asked the artist to act like a servant. And the return of the head-band marked a new turning point, because it showed that Baek Na-Kyum was now accepting Yoon Seungho as his master, and he was no longer a prostitute, but he couldn’t treat the main lead like a sex toy either.

As a conclusion, there was a reason why Baek Na-Kyum kept this image “a man consumed by lust”. That way, he could maintain a certain integrity: the master was the one with a huge sex appetite, while the dream revealed the low-born’s true nature: a man with a strong libido. Furthermore, the words expressed in chapter 68 gives the impression that the artist is indeed using the main lead: the latter provides him a roof and his material… he can paint. Then who is using whom here? That’s why I come to the conclusion: the moment the lord decides to free the painter so that he can decide about his own fate, he shows him respect. But at the same time, the deal with Jung In-Hun is cancelled. They can make a clean start. Yoon Seungho can no longer be used, he is actually starting showing respect to himself (although he doesn’t realize it). As you can see, both characters were actually acting like “prostitutes” or “servants” and were used as playthings. And since each action the powerful aristocrat makes is reflected in the painter’s words and action, I am anticipating that the painter will be the one who so that this rumor will become a reality: That’s why the moment the painter accepts his strong libido and his love for the rich main lead, this means he starts respecting himself. Consequently, when the master releases him and allows him to leave the mansion, he shows finally respect in its purest form. And with respect comes love! Thus, this will be reflected in the relationship between Yoon Seungho and Baek Na-Kyum.: both won’t be a prostitute, a servant, a noble or a sex toy any longer: they will be two men in love with each other.

Painter Of The Night: “HAA…” Flashbacks

January 9, 2021January 9, 2021 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 13 Comments

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.

If I asked the manhwalovers about the number of flashbacks used in chapter 66, they would certainly reply that there were 2 flashbacks. The first one is, when Baek Na-Kyum remembers that night where he had a near-death experience and the second one would be, when he is lying in his study with Yoon Seungho next to his bed. They would give such an answer, because they would use the black frame as reference. The latter represents a memory or a dream in Painter Of The Night. In other words, the manhwaphiles would invoke a literary phenomenon:

“Flashback is a device that moves an audience from the present moment in a chronological narrative to a scene in the past. Often, flashbacks are abrupt interjections that further explain a story or character with background information and memories. […] Flashback can occur as a sudden thought sequence, a hazy dream, or a vivid memory. It can be announced or unannounced in the line of narrative.” https://literaryterms.net/flashback/

However, we have more than 2 in reality, as Byeonduck used a different type of flashback too: the psychological flashback linked to PTSD.

“Flashbacks are psychological phenomena during which a person relives a past event or fragments of a past experience. […] Conversely, some flashbacks may be devoid of visual and auditory memory and may lead a person to experience feelings of panic, helplessness, numbness, or entrapment. Many individuals report the onset of flashbacks after surviving a near-death experience or another traumatic situation.” https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/flashbacks#:~:text=Flashbacks%20are%20psychological%20phenomena%20during,fragments%20of%20a%20past%20experience.

Striking is that the author linked both phenomena together in order to explain the reason for Baek Na-Kyum’s behavior. He was having a panic attack in form of a flashback, which terrified him so much that he left the bed in his distress and walked randomly in the room. His survival instinct had kicked in. Because of the flashback, the protagonist had lost his sense of orientation and couldn’t see where he was going, as all his thoughts and emotions were revolving around the trauma. He had the feeling that he was reliving his past experience. This explains why the chapter 65 ended with the following panels:

The readers had here to fill the blank and explain, why the painter was first lying under the cover to finally end up in the room next to the cupboard on the floor. Yet, Byeonduck never showed us this. She just offered us the result requesting from the readers to imagine the whole scene. By doing so, she forced the manhwaphiles to put themselves into the artist’s shoes. That way, she let them feel what Baek Na-Kyum was experiencing.

But let’s return our attention to the flashbacks. When the episode 66 starts, the time of the narration has actually changed. We are already reading a flashback, although this time Byeonduck didn’t use the black frame. There’s a reason for that. She employed a time jump, but not in the future, like k-dramas often utilize it, but a time jump in the past. The first scene of chapter 66 happens right after Yoon Seungho says those words in chapter 65. And if you read the chapter again, you’ll notice a huge white space between the next following panel. Yoon Seungho is opening the door leaving the painter in his bedchamber (chapter 65). As a conclusion, the beginning of the episode 66 has to placed between the last words and the opening door. Hence we have a fourth flashback in episode 66.

First, she showed us the protagonist tying the painter on the bed, then covering his mouth and finally putting him under the cover so that he could get rid of noona Heena easily. He recreated the situation Baek Na-Kyum was exposed to, when he had been abducted. And if the beholder pays attention to the way the painter is lying in the bed, they will realize another important aspect: the cover that the painter used as protection and comfort has become a prison or a trap now. The cause for this heartbeat is not excitement or surprise but fear. And this panel is very important for two reasons. First, it is a new version of chapter 34, where the painter was crying that the scholar hadn’t asked for him and used the cover as solace. Besides, in this chapter, his heart started racing with the main lead’s appearance. In both chapters, the main lead was the cause for the heartbeat, yet the reasons for the racing heart are totally different. It is important, because it shows us that the kidnapping left a deep wound on the artist’s psyche. When the main character recreated the condition of the abduction, he triggered a flashback. Because Baek Na-Kyum couldn’t scream for help and his head was held under a bag , he had difficulties to breathe, therefore in Seungho’s room, he starts suffocating too: “HAA, HAA”. Furthermore, during the kidnapping, the threads and the knife in his mouth showed that Nameless knew how to scare the low-born. He triggered all the painter’s senses and aroused them to the maximum so that the artist wouldn’t be able to speak so easily. This explicates why the artist felt the abduction as a near-death experience. This is not surprising that when he woke up the next morning, he was trembling and felt scared. But if the manhwaworms looks at the criminal’s actions, they will conclude that Nameless was indeed ruthless. He knew how to terrify the painter. He tormented the painter psychologically. Nonetheless, since Nameless neither murdered nor atrophied the painter, in his eyes he was actually very kind and even merciful. He even felt pity for him, as he was well aware of the artist’s innocence. The latter was just a plaything caught in the middle of the fight between two nobles. Because of his words, I believe that Nameless stands in opposite to Kim’s philosophy. While the latter chose cowardice and indifference for his self-preservation, the “butcher” made the opposite choice. By becoming the dirty hands of the nobles, he was sure that the nobles would protect him, because if they didn’t, their crimes could threaten their position. He would always stand on the winning side. However, by acting like that, Nameless contributes to perpetuate injustice and reinforce the harsh treatment on commoners. As you can see, the flashbacks (memories of the painter) were used to explain why the low-born had a flashback (panik attack) at the end. By reproducing the condition of the entrapment, Yoon Seungho helped to unveil the truth unconsciously. The painter’s body revealed the terrible secret and the readers got a glimpse of Nameless’ true mindset too.

So when the lord opens the door and sees the artist on the ground, he looks angry, because his lover caused him some trouble. This impression seems to be confirmed, as the moment he removes the cloth from the painter’s mouth, the lord criticizes him. However, from my point of view, we need to differentiate between the actions made by Yoon Seungho’s mouth and hands again. While the latter are under the influence of his unconscious, the mouth represents the mind and as such conscious. Note that he removes the cloth, although he could have ignored it. By liberating Baek Na-Kyum’s mouth, he is actually endangering his situation. Let’s not forget that since that terrible night, the lord has returned to his older self, therefore he has the impression that he is no longer using his heart. But he noticed that the painter was in a terrible condition, therefore he couldn’t ignore his lover. From my point of view, the two panels reveal that Yoon Seungho’s affection for the painter hasn’t changed one bit in the end. He continues saying that he is restraining himself, since he is not even able to refuse Baek Na-Kyum’s resistance: “But you have your ways”. From my point of view, we have here a new version of the lord’s confession: (chapter 58). The irony is that in chapter 66, the painter is a wreck, yet the lord is admitting his defeat displaying Baek Na-Kyum’s real power. The other divergence is that this time, it is a conscious choice. This is not a dream or an illusion. Yoon Seungho states that he can’t win against the low-born’s will. In other words, their relationship is progressing again. Due to the resemblance of the chapter 58, the readers have the feeling to witness another flashback. Nonetheless here, the noble hears a reply to his confession, unlike in the past: The nature of the confession has changed: this is an admission for his silence. He lied and apologized in order to survive. These panels expose how deeply traumatized the painter is. He is still trapped in his flashback, reliving his near-death experience and doesn’t realize his lover’s presence. Therefore his gaze is directed elsewhere. I would even say, his gaze is lost in the flashback. What caught my attention is the protagonist’s reaction, when he hears the painter’s words and heavy breathing. He is not only surprised and shocked, he is also paralyzed. For me, the last panel shows the main lead’s realization. He must have recognized the painter’s real condition: he is traumatized. And in my opinion, the painter’s confession and behavior triggered a flashback in Yoon Seungho too, which we don’t really see, but can sense more or less. Observe his discomfort and his fixe stare. He seems lost as well, very similar to the commoner’s gaze. Besides, the aristocrat doesn’t move one moment, although some time has already passed. The sister has already left the house and Min is now standing at the door. The last picture even shows us Min’s perspective. He senses the lord’s worry and pangs of conscience too. From my point of view, the lord is reminded of his own bad past experience due to the artist’s behavior and words. The other clue for this interpretation is the lord’s phobia of the cover. (chapter 35) Therefore I come to the conclusion that we have another flashback here, but Yoon Seungho’s is not revealed, only through his gaze and the observations I made: the fear of the cover and the commoner’s past as a repetition of the main lead’s tragic past. Let’s not forget that this scene is also a new version of chapter 53: , back then, the main lead was the one who was in a dissociative state and the painter embraced him, when he sensed his fury and pain. However, this time the roles are switched. And this explains why the noble hugs the painter, attempting to give him some comfort. Yet, in my opinion, he has no idea about the real cause of the artist’s trauma in that moment, therefore he feels responsible and terrible. That’s the reason why he remains so passive and silent. He feels the need to console Baek Na-Kyum, but note that he doesn’t even attempt to dress the painter or to put him in a better position. He stays kneeling in an uncomfortable position, using his body and hands to protect Baek Na-Kyum from others. And now, the manhwaphiles can comprehend why I chose such a title. The flashbacks are not just memories, but also psychological phenomena due to PTSD.

And now it is time to focus on the last flashback. I have to admit, it took me some time to fully grasp what it really represents. The first confusion is the chronology of the episode. Before the appearance of the flashback, we have a zoom on Yoon Seungho’s face indicating that he heard Min’s confession: Lee Jihwa is behind the painter’s disappearance. And right after, the flashback starts so that it feels like a caesura. Therefore many readers felt confused. In order to comprehend its true nature, the manhwaphiles should remember the definition of the flashback in fiction. It is either a memory or a hazy dream. That’s why we need to question ourselves about the nature of this scene. Is it a dream or a memory? And who is the person having a flashback?

For me, there’s no doubt that this can’t represent the lord’s memory. First, the chronology shows that the flashback happens during the next night due to the way the lord and Baek Na-Kyum are dressed. The lord is still wearing the hanbok from the morning and this time, the painter has his own expensive clothes on. From my point of view, the lord took care of the artist personally. Unlike in chapter 33, Yoon Seungho took his responsibilities for his wrongdoings and didn’t delegate it to the doctor or his assistant. It was his way to show repentance. Secondly, I believe that the owner of this flashback is Baek Na-Kyum due to the ending and the two following drawings: The images are almost identical, yet in the second picture, there’s no black frame, therefore this means that it represents reality. And now, you can better grasp the nature of Baek Na-Kyum’s flashback. It is a mixture of dream and memory. The lord stayed by his side the whole night (a new version of chapter 55) and at some point, the artist opened his eyes briefly, just like the lord nodded to Baek Na-Kyum’s question unconsciously , as he felt his presence, but never realized it in the end. In other words, the painter also detected the lord’s presence by his side, even opened his eyes for a second, heard him even calling his name . The tragedy is that exactly like during their Wedding Night, the painter won’t be sure, if what he sensed and saw was reality or a dream. Therefore I come to the conclusion that this is a new version of chapter 58, where the roles are reversed. Back then, the lord thought that this night with Baek Na-Kyum was too beautiful to be true and it is the artist’s turn to feel the same way. This flashback shows his wish mixed with a memory. And now, during this night, the lord expressed his regrets and showed his tenderness, just like in chapter 58. He took the hand with delicacy and touched the wrist and the wound with his finger carefully, ,as though he wanted to heal himself the bruise. For me, this scene was so beautiful and moving, as it reflects the noble’s growth. He doesn’t just feel huge pangs of conscience, but he is determined to redeem himself in the end. When he touches the scar, he feel sorry for Baek Na-Kyum’s wounds which he hadn’t seen due to his self-hatred. At the end, he treats Baek Na-Kyum’s hand like a treasure. Yet, note that he is not kissing it. First, I interpret his gesture as a sign of regret. Secondly, a kiss is linked to sensuality and the noble is no longer for such a love, especially after that terrible sex marathon. Moreover, I believe that lord Seungho has the impression that he is not worthy of the painter, hence he puts a finger between his eyes and the low-born’s hand. The absence of his eyes is not necessarily referring to his blindness. For me, it points out that the lord has finally recognized the true value of his hands: the painter’s beautiful spirit and soul. Besides, they helped him to see the truth. Why? I have to confess that this scene made me remember their first meeting in chapter 1. Although the lord called them “talented hands”, he grabbed them in a rather rough way and put them on his loins. He only valued them, as they helped him to have a better libido. And now, his gesture has a different meaning. The hand made him recognize that the drawings had an effect on his heart and soul. At the same time, the artist made him realize his hypersexuality. As you can observe, by contrasting these two scenes, you can detect the noble’s development. But since the painter only opened eyes shortly, the noble decided not to remain by his side, because he had the impression that the artist didn’t wish to see him after what he had put him through. That’s why he sent for noona Heena. He knew the importance of his sister, since the commoner had tried to protect her before. That’s why we see the sister by the painter’s side the next morning. She symbolizes reality. Consequently, I believe that the following picture from the flashback illustrates the artist’s true wish. He desired the lord by his side, but the reality was different. His noona was by his side. This didn’t upset the painter, because he received a warm embrace full of love and compassion, something really important in order to heal his wounds, contrasting to the hug in the barn symbolizing fakeness and coldness.

As you know, Baek Na-Kyum’s dreams were always connected to reality, as they often announced the future events. However, here I feel that the dream is connected to reality differently: it is connected to the past. The lord was indeed present in his study. The flashback is influenced by a memory mixed with a wish. Consequently this flashback stands in opposition to the first one, where the painter relived his trauma due to the memories linked to his terrible near-death experience. Both flashbacks were influenced by memories, yet in the last one, the painter will have the impression that it was too good to be true. There’s no ambiguity that Yoon Seungho will keep his distance from the artist. Just like during the first season after the chapter 35, he won’t ask for sex. The gesture with the hand was pretty clear for me. The aristocrat will be content, if he sees the artist by his side from afar. However, this doesn’t signify that Yoon Seungho will leave his mansion for sex orgies. No, it is impossible. Since he knows that Jihwa hurt his lover, he has to be by his side to ensure Baek Na-Kyum’s safety. Therefore I come to the conclusion that Yoon Seungho will start paying attention to his mansion and staff. He will ask for answers, like for example: How could the guardian let Min walk in the mansion so freely? He will give strict orders. From my point of view, the main lead will start acting like a real lord and pay attention to the behavior of his staff. At the same time, Yoon Seungho will also have a flashback of that night, where he beat Deok-Jae, who had hurt his lover. He will interrogate Kim about his whereabouts and investigate the circumstances of his disappearance.

Although the painter is now unsure, if the lord was by his side or not, it’s only a matter of time, until the painter approaches the noble again. I am expecting a new version of chapter 52. Why? Due to the analysis of the flashback, I think that despite the new sex marathon, the artist is not resenting Yoon Seungho. I explain his reaction the following: In the barn, the aristocrat’s words left a deeper impact than anything else. For the first time, someone was refusing to abandon him (even if it sounded so possessive and obsessive). Furthermore the same person even expressed that his smile and presence could be the source of his happiness , something he had never heard before. Finally, we shouldn’t forget that Baek Na-Kyum’s ears have always been very sensitive to words, explaining why the commoner was so devastated by Jung In-Hun’s last sentence. Finally, the lord’s confession revealed that he never considered him as a whore in the end, as his request was just a smile and not his body. Finally, I believe, noona Heena’s presence will also have an influence in the painter’s thoughts and emotions. Baek Na-Kyum will be able to appreciate that Yoon Seungho allowed her companionship, willing to accept a gisaeng in his house, although the low-born heard him calling her a wench or harlot before. Unlike the past, the artist is no longer blind or deaf to the noble’s gestures. There’s no doubt that they will rekindle, but their relationship will mature. The lord will try to find a different connection and I am already imagining him asking again: Another flashback from the past…

Protected: Painter Of The Night: The night of revelations – part 2 (second version)

December 21, 2020October 12, 2021 ~ Bébébisous33

Protected: Painter Of The Night: Yoon Seungho’s secrets (second version)

October 13, 2020June 15, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33

Painter Of The Night: Yoon Seungho’s hands 👐 and feet in the first chapter

October 7, 2020August 18, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 3 Comments

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/

It would be great if you could make some donations/sponsoring: Ko-fi.com/bebebisous33 That way, you can support me with “coffee” so that I have the energy to keep examining manhwas. Besides, I need to cover up the expenses for this blog.

This won’t be a long analysis compared to “Conscious versus unconscious” but I felt the need to examine the scenes from the first chapter, after I made this discovery while analyzing the chapter 54: Yoon Seungho’s hands and feet are under the control of his unconscious, while his mouth speaks for the mind representing the conscious. Under this interpretation, certain scenes from the first season have now another significance. This helps us to understand why the lord had his mood swings. This proves that the lord was never an unsensitive character, in reality quite the opposite. There is a fire burning inside his body, a metaphor for the intensity of his feelings and the moment he gets wounded, he literally explodes. There’s anger mixed with pain.

However since his mind chose to live as a spirit, he could only repress any feeling. This explicates why due to the power of his repressed emotions, he could only get blinded by his rage and heartache, the moment they came to the surface due to a wound. As you can imagine, it is impossible for me to study all the scenes from the first season therefore I decided to pick the ones from the first chapter as an illustration. Consequently, when you read the manhwa from the start again, pay attention to the hands, the feet and the mouth because their actions mirror the inner conflict of this traumatized man and his growing desires for Baek Na-Kyum.

Let’s start with the first scene. What caught my attention is the noble is cleaning his sword while menacing in front of the servant that someone could die. Since the lord speaks about a bloodbath in a calm manner, he appears cold and even heartless. The cause for his lack of sensibility is that his mouth is controlled by his mind and the latter is denying the existence of any emotion. Striking is that his hands are busy as they are focused on wiping the sword. I perceive a contrast between the tranquility coming from the mouth and the activity of the hands. This scene already implies the first inner conflict between the conscious and unconscious. Notice that he is neither smoking nor drinking so that his feelings are not numb. The movement of his hands displays a certain edginess. With this first introduction, Yoon Seungho appears bloodthirsty due to the association of the blood and the sword. However, if you look again at the scene, you’ll notice that he only threatens, after hearing that the painter is no longer working. So the trigger for his menace is the fear that his wish to get new erotic paintings might not be granted. He denies that this news should concern him, yet right after he comes up with this thread. Someone could die. The contradiction between the hands and the mouth and even the disparity between “that’s nothing to concern myself” and “surely he won’t insist on it once he sees some blood” actually betray the aristocrat’s eagerness to have the artist by his side. He wants Baek Na-Kyum to paint for him. In other words, right from the start the noble felt the need to have the painter and his unconscious through the hands revealed his true emotions. However, in this scene he has never seen Baek Na-Kyum. He has no idea how he looks like but through the paintings, his unconscious had been triggered. The erotic images had aroused emotions in him.

And notice that when his servant has finally discovered Baek Na-Kyum’s real identity, the lord can’t wait to meet the artist. He follows the domestic to the tavern. As a powerful aristocrat, he could have sent his valet Kim in order to hire Baek Na-Kyum personally. No, he didn’t… his feet under the influence of his unconscious exposes his real desire and his dependency. He must see the painter himself and have him no matter what.

In the beginning of their first encounter, the lord shows a detached attitude. His face is expressionless, until the painter acquiesces about his identity. From that moment, the lord’s visage changes. There is a huge smile on his face and grabs his hands with such a speed and strength that Baek Na-Kyum is unable to resist. The lord is not even aware that he has dropped his mask of indifference. His eyes are shining, his mouth is even smiling. Striking is that the mouth lets even transpire a lot of affection: “very much enjoy”, “my boy”. His actions contrast so much to the first scene. In my first analysis of the first episode, I had compared him to a fan meeting his idol. However, from my point of view, his emotions are actually much stronger than I had envisioned. The mouth is not under the control of the mind, the conscious. Why such a reaction? It is because the painter has just spoken to him. Therefore I come to the observation that right from the start, the artist’s mouth plays a huge role in their relationship. Baek Na-Kyum’s mouth is the trigger for the unconscious to reveal itself. However, at no instant, Yoon Seungho realizes the contradiction between his body and his mind. He is so happy to meet the painter he admired so much, because he felt a connection through the creations. It’s as if his unconscious had sensed the power of the artist’s emotions (love, warmth) behind his pictures. The unconscious through the eyes recognized the sensitivity in Baek Na-Kyum’s works. For me, the lord had already fallen in love with Baek Na-Kyum, even before he met him for the first time. Yet, I believe, the moment he sees his face and hears his voice, his feelings become even more intense to the point he already has an erection. His body, led by his unconscious, is attracted by the low-born. Interesting is that at no time, Baek Na-Kyum’s status as a low-born is relevant. The noble feels the need to touch his hands, even treasures them. He allows the artist’s hands to touch his loins. There is such a closeness exposing the noble’s desire: his body wishes intimacy, yet his mouth is still fighting the urges expressed by the unconscious. That’s why he keeps talking about the paintings and the effect they had on him. Why do I think that the powerful protagonist is so fascinated by the painter’s mouth and the latter serves as a trigger for his unconscious to reveal itself? Let’s not forget that I wrote that the low-born’s face serves as a mirror to the lord. His face symbolizes the mirror of the truth. Since the aristocrat’s mouth is under the power of his conscious, his mouth is never allowed to speak the truth. Due to his philosophy to live as a spirit and to never feel any emotion, the lord forced himself to use his mouth to disguise himself and to never let transpire any emotion: only rationality and coldness. Therefore his mouth is never honest in reality. Not only it lies to others but also to the main lead himself. The mind through the mouth is ruling his life, telling him and others that he is cold, distant and even heartless. However, deep down his unconscious wishes honesty and genuineness. In reality, Seungho is a very passionate person.

Striking is that the moment, the painter denies that he’s the author of the erotic paintings the lord’s face slowly gets frigid and the smile vanishes gradually. For me, the lie triggered the return of his mask. Look at his faze: it was as if it was paralyzed. The conscious takes over the control of the lord’s face. He is disguising his emotions. He is deeply hurt. His feelings have been rejected, since the painter told him that he wasn’t the person he had been looking for. The conscious might control the face and the mouth for an instant, yet his hands are under the power of his unconscious. That’s why he grabs the sword so quickly. The manhwalovers only witness the sword leaving its protection outlining the rapidity of his hand. This gesture displays the anger he is hiding behind his frozen face. From my perspective, his hands and his feet are expressing what he is feeling inside. There is this rage and pain for being pushed away. He’s already the vengeful spirit, his unconscious feels the need to vent his inner emotions. However, since I observed the return of the lord’s mind, we have to imagine that the main lead has the impression, he is making decisions rationally. He is just following what he said the night before. If his wish is not granted, then someone has to pay. I believe, the speed of his hands and feet indicate that the latter are actually influenced by his unconscious, the lord can’t detect the power of his unconscious as they are actually obeying the order of his mind: someone needs to die. And note that soon after he rushes to the servant’s side. It was as if he was flying towards him, his feet are rushing demonstrating the intensity of his inner emotions. The painter’s mouth, which he is already treasuring, wounded his heart so deeply that he feels the need to punish someone but he can’t hurt the artist because he was somehow moved by the painter’s face. His unconscious must have sensed the innocence in the painter’s gaze. Let’s not forget that Baek Na-Kyum is sweating, when he lies to Yoon Seungho. As you can detect, there are many reasons why he didn’t touch the artist in the first place. Yet, since his mouth said that some blood would be spilled, he needs to find another target and that’s the domestic. Furthermore, the unconscious sees no problem with the killing. I would like to remind that the unconscious is something wild and knows no boundary, the emotions unleashed by the unconscious can be very violent. The mind might have decided that he would kill someone if his wish wasn’t granted and the unconscious might have agree to this in order to vent his fury. In other words, the lord’s body might seem now under the control of the mind, yet from my perspective, the lord’s emotions, led by his unconscious, are playing a huge role in this scene as well. Observe that the moment he is about to kill, his gaze is cold and ruthless, but his face seems like frozen. For me, he is here wearing his mask again. However, his eyebrows and mouth are betraying him. He has a frowning face.

A frown (also known as a scowl) is a facial expression in which the eyebrows are brought together, and the forehead is wrinkled, usually indicating displeasure, sadness or worry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frown#:~:text=A%20frown%20(also%20known%20as,less%20often%20confusion%20or%20concentration.

This reveals that the lord’s action to kill the domestic isn’t causing him some pleasure, quite the opposite. He is rather displeased and even a little sad, but he is angry as well, because his hand is the one killing the low-born. For me, this murder can be explained by the pain caused by the painter’s lie and not by his thirst for blood. Yet, he is not in a dissociative state either. This is perceptible, when you contrast this situation with the one in the shaman’s house. (Chapter 102) (chapter) Here, the gaze is focused. It was, as if he needed to prove to himself and to others, he is not joking. At the same time, his unconscious needs to vent his frustration and agony. However, I believe what we are seeing here is the result of indoctrination and brainwashing. He has been conditioned, as it is his way to cope with his PTSD.

In my opinion, the heartache is the reason why he is so selfish in the first half of the first season. Everything revolves around himself: his desires, his wishes, his pains and his emotions. Due to the Stockholm Syndrome, Yoon Seungho has turned into a blind and self-centered man. He has adopted the principles of his tormentors. Hence, he’s oblivious to anyone around him. Therefore he didn’t pay attention to the painter’s discomfort, while he was touching his hands. Furthermore, I see a confirmation that the aristocrat was acting on his unconscious too, when he eliminates the domestic. Only after the murder, he sees the painter’s tool, while he explains the reason for his action in a rational and calm manner. My question is: Why didn’t he check out who lied in the first place? Why did he have to kill someone? From my perspective, in this scene, the lord’s heart played a huge part in his behavior. In my opinion, he’s already developed some feelings for the painter, hence he didn’t vent his anger on him. Deep down, he knew that his servant had deceived him, though he couldn’t tell how. He didn’t notice the servant’s discomfort. (Chapter 1) Thus he was portrayed with no eyes. Sure, not everything was a lie, yet the commoner mixed a lie with the truth, turning his testimony into a deception. What appeared as trivial was in truth betrayal. What the domestic didn’t know is that the lord hates lies, for they were the reason for his downfall. He needed to hurt someone, because he had been wounded by the painter’s lie. But the latter was just a white lie. So in the picture above, I see the lord’s conscious attempting to justify his action. Yet his gaze and smile contradict his mouth right after. There is a glimpse of a smile, his eyes are showing an interest. The idiom “the boy” illustrates a certain closeness. I mean, he could have called him “the low-born” but he didn’t. For me, this picture illustrates the lord’s satisfaction. He has obtained what he wanted: the painter.

Striking is that later at his mansion, the painter lies again. Yet compared to the first deception, the lord’s anger is less violent. He is even caressing the painter with his sword. It looks like the sword would remove the cloth so that he can see the artist’s naked body. The way he uses the weapon exposes that his unconscious doesn’t want to hurt the artist, although he is actually displeased to be lied again. This gesture expresses a certain sexual desire, but the counterpart is not noticing it due to his uncomfortable and frightening situation. That’s why there is no rage unlike at the tavern. The sexual desires have returned. Furthermore, we could say that the main character has got used to or that he is well aware that Baek Na-Kyum has the creator of the erotic paintings by his side. He feels less betrayed.

Observe that during this scene Yoon Seungho can’t stop his hands, therefore he starts getting touchy again. First, he wipes the painter’s tears and later he even grabs his hands again. I would even say, the gesture with the sword is another caress showing the power of his emotions. His unconscious feels the urge to touch and caress his face and his hands. Both have already become Yoon Seungho’s weaknesses. Notice that he even lowers himself to the painter twice and gets very close to him. His feet always lead him to the artist’s proximity. He remains by his side, until he is lied a second time. From that moment, he stands up and starts walking revealing a certain uneasiness and edginess. He is troubled and frustrated because he has been indirectly rejected again. Yet, unlike at the tavern, his reaction is less violent and this for two reasons. First, his unconscious is definitely more attracted than before. Secondly, his mind is well aware that the painter is not telling the truth. In other words, his heart and mind are not fighting each other. Their goal is the same, they want to have the painter by their side. Yet the conscious doesn’t realize that behind its decisions, the heart is already influencing his mind. Why does he want the erotic drawings?

The last image where you see the lord weeping his tears is quite interesting, because for the first time, the lord is wondering about the painter’s actions: his lie and his tears. Yoon Seungho is already fascinated by Baek Na-Kyum. Why does he keep lying? Why does he cry? The commoner is quite a puzzle for the noble. His mind doesn’t understand the artist’s behavior. For me, this drawing reveals that Yoon Seungho’s mind has already started thinking about Baek Na-Kyum a lot. Compared to the scene at the tavern, he is less selfish. He pays more attention to the artist’s reaction and words. Everything is pointing out that his mind is already influenced by his heart but the noble hasn’t noticed it yet. That’s why he doesn’t get aware that he is falling in love.

Striking is that he even sent his staff away, creating a certain intimacy. He definitely wants to get close to Baek Na-Kyum physically and mentally. But since he’s just a spirit, he doesn’t notice that his hands and feet have been acting on their own… led by his unconscious.

Yet compared to the chapter 54, the inner conflict between the lord’s unconscious and conscious is less palpable, as the heart and mind are not contradicting each other, since the noble is already rationalizing all his actions and decisions. This is only a matter of time, until his desires for the painter become so unbearable that he starts wooing him. The paintings become more and more just an excuse. I hope, with this essay, you will feel the desire to read the manhwa all over again under these two aspects.

Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for topics or manhwas, feel free to ask. If you enjoyed reading it, retweet it or push the button like. My Reddit-Instagram-Tumblr-Twitter account is: @bebebisous33. Thanks for reading and for the support, particularly, I would like to thank all the new followers and people recommending my blog.

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