Please support the authors by reading Manhwas on the official websites. This is where you can read the Manhwa: Jinx But be aware that the Manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. Here is the link of the table of contents about Jinx. Here is the link where you can find the table of contents of analyzed Manhwas. Here are the links, if you are interested in the first work from Mingwa, BJ Alex, and the 2 previous essays about Jinx The Director and Me (part 1)(locked) and The Director and Me (Part 2)
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The Shirt with the Bear—A Child Marked for Longing
In Jinx, the story of two men begins not in the ring, but in childhood 
(chapter 72) —and not with fists, but with fabric. 
(chapter 11) Each boy is introduced wearing a shirt adorned with a teddy bear, a symbol that quietly carries the emotional weight of the entire narrative. 
(chapter 11) [For more read The Missing Teddy Bear] These bears do not speak, but they tell us everything: about love received and love lost, about betrayal and comfort twisted into burden, and about two boys growing up in the absence of safe arms. 
(chapter 72)
The first bear appears on Joo Jaekyung’s summer tank top, worn by a small child peeking out from behind a wall. It’s a soft image against a harsh backdrop. (chapter 72) But look closely: the teddy bear wears a blue beanie, a casual hat suited for the outside world—not rest, but readiness. It also has a pair of glasses, a symbol of alertness, self-control, and forced maturity. Most strikingly, its right arm is wrapped in a white bandage. [I can’t recognize the writing below] This is no untouched toy. The bear, like the boy, is already injured. Even comfort is expected to survive harm. To wear such a design is to walk into the world marked not only by childhood, but by pain, exposure, and abandonment.
The second bear belongs to Kim Dan, who wears it not on a summer shirt but on winter pajamas, as he sings joyfully with his grandmother on his birthday. His teddy bear is unadorned, uninjured, and suited for rest. The night setting, the blanket, and the candlelight create a small cocoon of warmth. Yet this moment, too, is fleeting. The very love that nurtures him will later trap him—hoarded, isolated, and turned into duty.
What connects these two images is more than coincidence. Both boys wear gray and blue. While the first color indicates the loss of innocence and depression, the other stands for trust, responsibility, care and tenderness. One is dressed by a mother who vanished too soon. The other is dressed by a grandmother who seems so gentle and caring. Yet, the reality is that doc Dan has also been abandoned. One bear is already broken, the other seems to be still whole. One is worn in daylight, the other in the dark. But both children are being slowly stripped of the right to be protected. Their teddy bears will vanish—replaced by fear, control, and survival.
And yet, this is not just a story of loss. It is also a story of return. By meeting each other, Jaekyung and Dan begin to recover what was buried or better said repressed. The teddy bear reappears—not on fabric, but in gestures of touch, presence, and care. 
(chapter 68) In time, each man will become the other’s bear 
(chapter 66): a source of comfort, loyalty, and belonging. To follow the teddy bear is to trace this emotional path—from abandonment to connection, from injury to intimacy, from being held once to being held again.
(chapter 11) [For more read The Missing Teddy Bear] He too was once held 
(chapter 47), and then claimed, just like his teddy bear. The fate of doc Dan’s toy bear reflects the boy’s. The former was pushed outside the embrace and bed before disappearing. 
(chapter 21) That’s how the toy bear vanished from the little boy’s life. Thus I deduce that the teddy bear on the pajamas was the last traces of his “childhood”.
Across seasons and silences, both boys are linked by this shared emblem of care—care that was once given, then distorted, lost and finally rediscovered. They are united by the same experience and pain: a phone call linked to a missing mother. 
To follow the teddy bear is to trace this journey back to tenderness: the long path from abandonment to being held again.
But the presence of the teddy bear, even in symbolic form, does not last. 
(chapter 72) The shirts are not only outgrown 
(chapter 72) but also replaced with t-shirts without any design alluding to the vanishing of their identity and forced maturity. 
(chapter 57) For Jaekyung, the beanie-wearing bear with its wounded arm and wise glasses is the last trace of comfort before reality hardens. What remains is not the child, but the instinct to survive. From the moment the bear vanishes, a new figure begins to emerge—not one held, but one who fights. The boy with the teddy bear becomes the man who can’t rest, who equates existence with usefulness, and usefulness with victory.
The Vanishing of the Teddy Bear: The Birth of a Self-Made Man
In episode 72, readers are finally granted a glimpse into the long-obscured past of the champion. Some of my earlier hypotheses are confirmed—most notably, that Jaekyung’s father was an abusive alcoholic. Others, like the assumption that Joo Jaekyung belonged to a wealthy chaebol family or that the director’s name was Park Jinchul, are clearly disproven. (Though I’m not entirely ready to give up on the rich family theory just yet.) Interestingly, the name of the former coach appears indirectly, displayed on a sign outside the boxing studio: Hwang Byungchul. 
(Chapter 72) This subtle insertion suggests that the gym wasn’t just his workplace—it was his whole life, his identity, and even his home. Therefore it is not surprising that his name was not mentioned by doc Dan or the other patients. His stay at the Light of Hope implies the loss of his “home”, the gym and as such his identity. At the same time, this image reveals that Jinx-philes should examine each panel very closely, that there’s more than meets the eye.
What the chapter made unmistakably clear is that Jaekyung grew up in poverty and was abandoned at a very young age. His early life was marked not by privilege or education, but by neglect, hunger, and silence. 
(Chapter 72) This episode doesn’t just show how Jaekyung became a self-made man 
(chapter 72) 
(chapter 72) —it makes one thing heartbreakingly clear: he wasn’t raised by a pack of wolves; he raised himself. 
(chapter 7) The cliché used by Park Namwook in chapter 7 is revealed to be not only ignorant, but cruel. Jaekyung had no home, no real guardian, no one to defend or guide him. He didn’t grow up in the wild—he grew up alone, navigating between violence (abuse and bullying), hunger, and neglect without true protection. This reframes the champion’s identity: not as someone untamable, but as someone who was never tamed because no one cared enough to try. What we witness is not savagery, but simple survival. Thus he had no friend.
That’s how I realized that in such a barren emotional landscape, the “Teddy Bear” learned by mimicking others. With no safe adult figure to model affection or emotional intelligence, he absorbed what was available: the yelling or silent toughness of Hwang Byungchul 
(chapter 71), performative masculinity and high expectations of Park Namwook, and the explosive violence of his father. 
(chapter 72) 
(chapter 5) His behaviors—his hot temper, cold demeanor, blunt speech, and instrumental approach to others—were not innate traits. They were learned strategies, adapted from men who had likewise buried their vulnerability beneath strength or stoicism or brutality. Hence he brought no present to the patient at the hospice. 
(chapter 71) He became a wolf because he was surrounded by wolves—but deep down, his true nature is closer to a cat’s. This contrast becomes visible in Chapter 72, where his external persona appears as a shy, quiet, more sensitive self. 
(Chapter 72) Much earlier, in the summer night’s dream (Chapter 44), Kim Dan sensed that hidden nature: not the predator, but the man longing to be held.
(Chapter 44) Doc Dan had sensed the real person behind the legend.
But this pattern began to change the moment Kim Dan entered his life.
Unlike the men of his past, Kim Dan shows his emotions 
(chapter 1), as he treats them as valid, not shameful. He cries, trembles, runs away, he apologizes… He asks questions rather than issuing orders. He names feelings 
(chapter 45) and respects boundaries. He listens. 
(chapter 29) And so, like a child learning a new language, Jaekyung begins to mimic him too. 
(chapter 62) The change is gradual but visible: helping the townspeople, accepting rest, asking to stay close, even touching and speaking more gently. 
(chapter 71) With Kim Dan, the fighter who once only mirrored power begins to echo tenderness.
The transformation is not only behavioral—it is linguistic. His vocabulary evolves. Once dominated by words like “fight,” “win,” “useful,” and “fuck,” his speech begins to include softer terms: 
(chapter 62) 
(chapter 68). These are not just words—they’re the building blocks of intimacy, borrowed from the only person who ever saw through his armor. From mimicking strength, Jaekyung has begun to mimic care. (chapter 71) Jaekyung is not just echoing concern—he is taking gradually responsibility for someone fragile, someone he once overlooked: the “hamster.”
And this is why Chapter 72 strikes with such force. It takes us back—not to his ambition, but to his origin, where the myth of the self-made man begins. We see now that his athletic mindset was not forged in aspiration but in desperation. His worldview was shaped not by hunger for greatness, but by starvation in all its forms.
(Chapter 72) The tragedy is that Hwang Byungchul misread that hunger. When he first met the boy, he saw dirty feet, an empty stomach—literal poverty. 
(chapter 72) So he fed him. But he never saw the deeper hunger: the absence of love, of being wanted. The coach assumed the problem was solved with food—because he had never gone without care. 
(chapter 72) He lived with his mother. He was never truly alone. And so he projected stability onto the boy’s silence.
What he thought was grit was grief. What looked like strength was only ever survival. We finally understand why he treats his own body with such brutality, 
(Chapter 27) because the body, from the very start, was only a tool for survival.
In chapter 72, the young Jaekyung is offered boxing not as sport, but as salvation. The former coach doesn’t comfort the bruised boy or confront the abusive father. 
(Chapter 72) Instead, he redirects the situation: (Chapter 72) Fighting, from the very beginning, is not about glory—it is about survival. What replaced the teddy bear was not another form of care—it was a system. Cold, brutal, and inescapable. In Jaekyung’s world, money means food, and food means strength. Fighting becomes synonymous with feeding himself. But this isn’t nourishment—it’s maintenance. Thus a nutritionist was hired later.
(chapter 22) There is no joy in eating, no comfort at the table. His body becomes a tool, and pain becomes the currency he pays to keep it running.
It’s a vicious circle: he fights to eat, and he eats to fight. Every gesture is bent toward usefulness. His wounds are not treated for healing, but for returning to combat. That’s how he lived all this time. His body is not loved, only weaponized. Even food—the most basic form of comfort—is absorbed into the logic of performance. The equation is cruel but clear: to be seen, you must be useful. And to be useful, you must win. This means that the director’s suggestion and principle was pushed to the extreme. That’s the reason why I come to the following conclusion: there’s someone else involved in the birth of Joo Jaekyung, the Emperor. The evidence for this hypothesis is the champion’s belief: his jinx which is strongly intertwined with sex. Back then, the little boy was too young for sex.
This is the emotional core of the episode: Jaekyung internalizes the idea that his worth is conditional. He is not loved simply because he exists—he is noticed because he punches. 
(Chapter 26) This is how he enters adulthood, though he was still a child: not through love, but through function. The moment he steps into the ring, he’s no longer a child. He becomes, in the eyes of the adults around him, a product. 
(Chapter 72) This explicates why Hwang Byungchul never confronted the father or called the cops or the social services. The fact that he asked the little boy (chapter 72) indicates that he was not scared and was envisaging to intervene, until he changed his mind. He hoped to have found a “gem”, a future star. (Chapter 72) This interpretation gets reinforced in the following panel: 
(chapter 72) The expression (“But reality was like a punch to the gut”) suggests that even the coach himself was struck by how wrong or harsh the outcome turned out to be, but that realization came too late. Yet he blamed the young boy instead of convincing the young boy to postpone the fight. This scene shows that the man’s form of “help” was not rooted in empathy or protection—it was rooted in opportunity and perhaps even short-sighted hope for glory through the boy’s talent. He turned pain into performance.
But there’s a deeper, more insidious lesson embedded in this worldview—one the coach failed to recognize. (Chapter 72) By instilling in the young athlete the belief that survival depends solely on usefulness and performance, he unwittingly fostered a radical sense of self-reliance. The champion learned not only to fight, but to survive alone. If he became rich or succeeded, it wasn’t because of guidance or teamwork, but because of his own strength, talent, and determination. Thus he only employs the personal pronoun “you” and not “we”. In this cold logic, there is no room for mutual dependency, emotional support, or even loyalty. The coach, unconsciously, excluded himself from the athlete’s inner world. He trained a boxer, not a partner. And in doing so, he guaranteed his own eventual irrelevance.
Therefore it is not surprising that he was not contacted after the protagonist moved to Seoul, 
(chapter 71) why Joo Jaekyung never visited him or expressed his gratitude towards the boxing coach more openly. 
(Chapter 71) He became successful thanks to his own hard work. It was, as if he had followed the advice to the letter—make it on your own. I am suspecting that the charity event is linked to poor neighborhoods and children, so he didn’t totally erase the man from his memory, he just repressed him. However, it is not astonishing why the director is resentful and even bitter towards Joo Jaekyung. It was, as if he had never helped him. While he blames the man, the coach never recognized his own shortcomings. He didn’t see that his assistance was actually conditional. (Chapter 72) His goal was to create boxers and promote his gym. (Chapter 72) This explicates the absence of real support among the little kids in the end. 
(chapter 72) They are all rivals. But from my perspective, there exists another reason why the main lead didn’t keep in touch with Hwang Byungchul exposing the director’s blindness. The adult Joo Jaekyung admits that seeing the director’s face brings back “old memories”—not of comfort, but of trauma. 
(Chapter 71) The implication is unmistakable: Hwang Byungchul reminds him of his father and the abuse. And the latter is strongly intertwined with the mother’s abandonment.
That’s why I believe that going to Seoul wasn’t just about chasing success and looking for the mother—it was an act of escape, a way to break free from the past and its shadows. Joo Jaekyung needed distance not only from his hometown but from everything linked to his father, including boxing. The coach, in offering boxing as salvation, unknowingly tethered the boy to his abuser. (Chapter 72) The coach believed he was giving him a lifeline—but what he gave was a continuation, not a release. This could only increase Joo Jaewoong’s resent and jealousy towards his own son, if the latter became more successful.
Under this new light, we would have an explanation why Jaekyung ultimately chose MMA over boxing. MMA became his attempt to reclaim his body and forge a path not dictated by paternal legacy or the coach’s limitations. It was a way to fight, yes—but differently. On his own terms. This is the bitter irony: Hwang Byungchul believed he had rescued the child, when in reality, he kept him imprisoned in the very logic of pain and survival that was nearly destroying him. He didn’t free him—he simply refined the chains. On the one hand, the father got constantly reminded of his own failure, which could only poison the relationship between father and son, it created a common denominator between them.
This leads to a structural insight: episode 72 actually features two parallel narrators. One is Hwang Byungchul, whose commentary frames most of the memory sequence. 
(chapter 72) The other is Jaekyung himself. How can we tell? Because the scene of the phone call contains no narration, no framing voice. 
(Chapter 72) It’s a raw memory—silent and personal—untouched by the coach’s perspective. .
(chapter 72) Thus I deduce that the other scenes are a combination of the champion and director’s memories. This would explain such scenes, where Hwang Bung-Chul is not present. 
(chapter 72)
Besides, Hwang Byungchul believed food and discipline were enough. He never noticed the emotional void beneath Jaekyung’s fighting spirit. What he interpreted as drive (ruthlessness/hunger) was, in truth, longing. He was hoping to have a true home again, to live with his mother. (chapter 72) The contrast between these two memories outlines how the coach misunderstood the athlete. Interesting is that doc Dan assumed that Joo Jaekyung had cut off ties with the former coach due to a quarrel. 
(Chapter 71) But here, doc Dan was making a huge mistake: he was just projecting his own feelings and relationship with him onto theirs. But he was behaving exactly like the former director: simplification.
Simplification as the Real Barrier to Care
Once again an article from Jennifer Delgado caught my attention: You don’t need to simplify your life: you need to eliminate the useless – and it’s not the same. The article warns us about the danger of simplification. In a turbulent world, we long for a sense of order. To achieve this, we construct simple narratives that comfort our self-image, ease our emotional stress, and help us sidestep ambiguity. However, this approach has a downside. By oversimplifying, we sidestep genuine engagement with complex issues. We overlook inconsistencies, reduce individuals to stereotypes, and avoid the demanding work of truly understanding others.
We want everything to flow. Relationships to flourish effortlessly, work to bear fruit without breaking a sweat, projects to materialize quickly, and difficult emotions to go away with a five-minute meditation session.
“Keep it simple ” seems to be the leitmotif.
However, sometimes life has other plans. Full of surprises, setbacks, emotions, and conflicts, reality is complex simply because everything is interconnected and constantly changing. And that means that if we try to oversimplify it, we’ll likely lose its richness along the way. Quoted from https://psychology-spot.com/simplify-your-life-eliminate-the-useless/
Instead of asking why, we label. 
(chapter 9) Instead of listening, we assume. We choose clear lines—strong or weak, good or bad, useful or useless—over the tangled, uncomfortable truth that everyone is both hurting and trying. This refusal to reflect doesn’t just distort reality—it perpetuates it. When we simplify, we don’t heal; we reenact.
In Jinx, all the major characters fall into the trap described in the article on simplification. But here, we’ll focus on four: Park Namwook, Hwang Byungchul, Shin Okja, and Kim Dan. Each, in their own way, simplifies Joo Jaekyung. They misread his strength as certainty, his body as armor, his silence as consent, and his volatility as mere rudeness. They reduce complexity into caricature—and in doing so, they fail to see the man behind the myth.
The manager and the brain scanner
Let’s begin with the manager, Park Namwook. In Chapter 52, 
(chapter 52),
he blamed Jaekyung for the entire “fiasco” with the post-fight scandal—even though he knew full well that the spray had been tampered with and that a conspiracy was in play. Why blame the victim? Because that’s what simplification offers: a way to avoid moral discomfort and responsibility. Namwook projects his own spoiled, self-centered logic onto Jaekyung, interpreting his athlete’s breakdown as immature drama, rather than what it actually was: the collapse of someone who had been manipulated and betrayed.
This moment reflects exactly what the article warns about: in the face of complexity, people seek easy answers. Instead of facing the multicausal reality—schemes, mistakes, exploitation, emotional exhaustion—Namwook reduces the problem to one person, one reaction, one scapegoat. That’s why the scene from Chapter 61 is so revealing. 
(chapter 61) In the panel where he sighs, “Haa… I have no idea what’s going on in that guy’s head,” he unintentionally exposes the shallowness of his approach. He imagines that by looking at Jaekyung’s brain—by cracking his psychology—he’ll “understand” him. That way, he can regain control. But this isn’t curiosity. It’s a veiled form of control-seeking. Namwook doesn’t want to know Jaekyung as a person—he wants him to be predictable, manageable, marketable. That line doesn’t reflect concern. It reflects frustration that the human being in front of him refuses to fit the role he’s been assigned. Hence it is logical that his solution to force Joo Jaekyung to return to the gym is to accept a new match. 
(chapter 69) Namwook’s failure is a professional one, but it’s also deeply emotional: he simplified Jaekyung into a product or spoiled child. And when the product malfunctioned—when pain erupted from silence—he didn’t ask why, he suggested how to make it stop. This is simplification in its most insidious form: not out of malice, but out of discomfort with emotional reality.
Shin Okja: One Problem, One Person, One Solution
If Park Namwook reduces Joo Jaekyung to a tool of success, Shin Okja turns him into a quick fix. 
(chapter 65) Her mindset follows a consistent logic: one problem, one person, one solution. Kim Dan is overworked and sick? 
(chapter 65) Then someone stronger should carry him. That “someone” becomes Jaekyung. The doctor should take pills and that’s it.
In Chapter 65, she urges the champion to take Dan back to Seoul. 
(chapter 65) Her logic is deeply utilitarian—Jaekyung is rich, strong, and dependable. Therefore, he must be fine. She does not consider whether he is emotionally stable, available, or even willing to carry such a weight. The haunted look in his eyes that Hwang Byungchul noticed in Chapter 72 
(chapter 72) is invisible to her. She sees a man who has succeeded—and assumes that means he is thriving.
But her pattern is older. If doc Dan had parents, he wouldn’t be suffering so much. Her presence could never replace the parents. 
(chapter 65) This is totally naive, because certain parents like Joo Jaewoong are not capable of offering love and support. In Chapter 57, when Kim Dan was a child, bullied and humiliated, she told him: “They don’t know what they’re talking about. You still have me.” 
(chapter 57) This line, though comforting on the surface, is an act of simplification. She makes herself the sole solution to Dan’s complex emotional wounds. Her message: You don’t need justice, friends, or understanding. You need me. That’s how doc Dan was taught not to argue and not to fight back. He just needed to accept the situation.
In doing so, she creates a binary world: safe vs unsafe, solution vs threat. There is no room for nuance, community, or uncertainty. And this has long-lasting consequences. Dan grows up believing that support must come from one person, that relationships must be compensatory and binary. When the grandmother sends him away again—this time to Jaekyung—it mirrors the same pattern. “You need help? You’re sad? Then go with him.” That’s the reason why she is treating him as a “child”.
Like the article on simplification warns, such narratives are comforting but misleading. They prevent people from seeing the full scope of reality. Shin Okja never asks Dan about his friendships, his boundaries, his career goals. As she admitted herself in Chapter 65, 
(chapter 65) she doesn’t know anything about his life. That’s the price of simplification: you get a clean answer, but not the truth.
Gloves Instead of Grace: Hwang Byungchul’s Simplified Salvation
The “old coot”, too, clings to the myth of the invincible fighter—hungry, gritty, unstoppable. He fondly remembers the wounds, the sweat (chapter 72), the hunger, as if these alone forged greatness. But he fails to see how the very system he created helped drain the boy of more than just his tears—it emptied him of safety, of rest, of care. He only addressed the visible wounds and stomach pangs. (chapter 72) The gym’s director gave food and gloves, but not love. This was relegated to his “mother”. (chapter 72) He never addressed emotional starvation because he never recognized it; he himself was never truly alone—he always had his mother. And his misjudgment started from the very first encounter: seeing Jaekyung as a fierce cub (chapter 72) or as Joo Jaewoong’s heir rather than a hurt child.
Even in the present, the former director continues this pattern of simplification. He blames the champion for returning to the ring 
(chapter 70), as though he chose freely, overlooking how coercion and image control operate in their world. He accuses him of ruining his career with the suspension, even though it was orchestrated by others. 
(chapter 70) He judges him without knowing the circumstances. This projection is not new. In the past, he blamed the father, (chapter 72) Joo Jaewoong, for becoming a thug—but when another former wrestler also ends up as a loan shark’s lackey 
(chapter 17), it becomes clear that there exists a recurring link between athletic decline and criminal paths. The man fails to notice this connection. He sees these outcomes as individual moral failings, not systemic failures.
That’s why he never judged the mother for abandoning her child. (chapter 72) In his eyes, her departure was understandable (“of course”), even rational—because the father was “rotten.” But by justifying her decision, he erases the damage it caused: a bleeding, unconscious boy left to fend for himself. (chapter 72) In his worldview, offering a meal and a pair of boxing gloves should suffice to compensate for parental abandonment and violence. As if a jab and a protein shake could replace a mother’s embrace. This reveals the core of his failure: he confused intervention with salvation, and survival with healing.
So in the end, Hwang Byungchul didn’t just witness the system—he upheld it. (chapter 72) He became its idealistic defender, blind to its contradictions. He believed the gym could cure what society broke, but all he taught was how to endure, not how to recover. I would even add that when the boxers didn’t succeed in their career, they could end up using their skills for the mafia. This worldview is a product of his own simplification, his refusal to examine the deeper rot within the system he served. He didn’t suggest school and titles in order to escape poverty. And this is why he never truly saw the boy disappear. He missed the moment the light faded from Joo Jaekyung’s eyes, because he was never watching for it. In chasing strength, he forgot to safeguard the soul.
The tragedy is this: while he wanted to save the child (chapter 72), he trained the champion instead. That’s why the previous panel resembles a lot to this one. 
(chapter 40) Kim Dan saw the result and got fascinated. And what we’re left with now is a man whose pain and exhaustion are almost unseen (chapter 72) —until Hwang Byungchul notices the change and confided it to doc Dan. Someone should start listening to the silence after the spotlight vanishes.
This is where simplification becomes most tragic—not only because it hides pain, but because it reinforces it. It keeps people locked in roles, acting out silent scripts they never chose. To truly follow the teddy bear—to return to care, to softness, to a place where people are held and not used—each character must confront the simplifications they relied on. They must admit what they refused to see.
Kim Dan: The simple complexity
And then there is Kim Dan, who utters the most painful truth. In a moment of illness and exhaustion, he says, “
(chapter 64) He reproached him about being used and abandoned. But he was forgetting his own actions. He had also used the athlete, he had also left the bed in a hurry the next morning. Yes, he, too, simplified Jaekyung. That night, he said nothing. And in doing so, he confirmed the belief Jaekyung had internalized: I’m not someone who gets cared for. I’m someone who is tolerated, used, replaced. Like mentioned above, his mind-set was strongly influenced by Shin Okja. On the other hand, I noticed that the protagonist embodies complexity. How so? On the surface, he appears simple: obedient, quiet, weak, submissive, passive. 
(chapter 70) But beneath that surface lies a dense emotional world— love, grief, guilt, exhaustion, intelligence, empathy and moral clarity — that few characters in Jinx truly perceive. He stands for the heart! And everyone knows that “the heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing.” (Blaise Pascal) Because he acts from a place that defies the cold logic of power, hierarchy, and survival, he operates on emotional intelligence 
(chapter 71) —unspoken understanding, silent resistance, instinctive empathy. It’s no coincidence that his presence disrupts every system he enters: the gym, the hospital, the champion’s life.
By following his heart (even when that heart is heavy, broken, or exhausted), he becomes the very element that exposes the inadequacy of every simplified explanation—whether it’s Park Namwook’s control, Shin Okja’s projection, or even Jaekyung’s own self-image.
In short: Kim Dan is the counter-force to simplification because he lives in the in-between—where care and contradiction, pain and tenderness, duty and desire coexist. And now, you comprehend why Joo Jaekyung needs to realize the existence of his heart and as such his love for doc Dan. Only then, both will be able to understand each other’s pain and heart.
Healing can only begin, when Jaekyung stops being a performance 
(chapter 70), and starts being a person. The racing heart… which has already happened. And this observation leads me to this scene: 
(chapter 58) Kim Dan was erasing this memory, he wanted to forget the star The Emperor. This act of forgetting wasn’t an escape from pain; it’s an active rejection of a myth that was keeping him emotionally paralyzed. As long as Jaekyung remained “The Emperor,” he could not be touched, questioned, or truly known. By forcing himself to forget that image, Kim Dan was making space for something more vulnerable and human to emerge. To conclude, thanks to this painful decision, he was able to perceive Joo Jaekyung the man. That’s why he acted so fiercely in front of him later. So by meeting the director, doc Dan is now able to see the child or the “cat” in his fated partner. That’s how it dawned on me why Mingwa let doc Dan suffer from addiction, depression and insomnia. Because these afflictions defy simplification. They resist instant solutions (pills). They demand patience, presence, and a refusal to look away.
Kim Dan, in a sense, becomes the embodiment of complexity. While others in Jaekyung’s life simplified him—manager, coach, fans—Kim Dan’s own struggle becomes the key to unlocking the champion’s inner contradictions. He doesn’t just offer pills; he becomes someone who stays through the night. That’s the true antidote to trauma: not fixes, but presence. But he is sick now too. (chapter 71)
Hwang Byungchul and the spotlight
Since the start of Jinx, I have been examining names, as the author made it clear that they carry symbolic weight and the former coach’s full name—Hwang Byungchul (황병철) is no exception. He encapsulates both his past role and his evolving narrative function.
Hwang (황) means yellow, a color tied to imperial symbolism but also to artificial light, visibility, and performance which is reflected in his offer: (chapter 72) Fittingly, Hwang Byungchul believed that survival came through being useful and seen. His guiding principle was clear: become a champion to put food on the table. Fighting was a mean to escape poverty, and success was measured by status, not inner healing.
But the given name Byungchul (병철) reveals even more.
- Byung (병) includes the meanings:
- Soldier → He encouraged Jaekyung to train with military-style rigidity, enforcing a code of strength over vulnerability.
- Jar/container → He emotionally bottled things up, never showing weakness or affection.
- Disease → A symbol of his terminal condition, but also the philosophical “illness” he passed on—survival at the cost of love and life. Joo Jaekyung was never taught how to enjoy life.
- long, hunger → Perhaps the most revealing meaning. He is a man of long hunger—not necessarily for food, which he did provide to the children in the neighborhood, but for recognition, belonging, and emotional acknowledgment. He hoped to create a talent. He stood in the background, feeding mouths but staying unnamed, invisible. This hunger lives on in his relationship with Joo Jaekyung. He could never claim the boy as “his” athlete—not publicly, not even privately. Hence the picture remained in his notebook hidden. Because Jaekyung never spoke of his past, never acknowledged the gym, never looked back. It looked like the boy who was fed did not remember the man who fed him. The silence wasn’t just about pride—it was about pain. In a way, both of them were waiting for the other to speak first. Thus, Hwang Byungchul’s name becomes a silent confession: he symbolizes the emotional and symbolic hunger that surrounded Jaekyung’s early life—one that was addressed physically but never emotionally. The coach’s spotlight was always directed outward, toward performance, visibility, survival—but what he longed for most was to be seen by the one he helped raise.
- To scold or punish → A reflection of the discipline and shame-based teaching he used.
- To end or exterminate → This meaning could refer to his imminent passing, but it could allude to something else. Once a guardian of the system, he may unwittingly become its undoer. While he never openly questioned the structures of boxing or the MFC, he long dismissed corruption as the fighters’ personal failing—not a systemic flaw. He maintained a clear-cut divide between the “glamorous” fighting world and the criminal underworld, but reality has proven more entangled. In his final days, by being confronted with the truth and with Kim Dan’s care, he might symbolically put an end to the illusion that sustained his lifelong simplifications.
- 철 (Chul / Cheol) was already examined before (see Park Jinchul)
- Iron → Symbol of cold strength, discipline and inflexibility.
- Philosophy → He lived by a code, but one that lacked space for human frailty.
- To pierce → He trained the champion to break through his limits, but also inflicted wounds he never tended to.
- Season/time → A fading era. His presence now marks the end of one ideological “season” and the start of something else—perhaps more human.
Together, Hwang Byungchul stands for a legacy of rigid survivalism under the spotlight, but also for the potential to expose its limits. His name doesn’t just mirror what he was—it foreshadows what he might help undo. His final lesson may be the most important: that the system he clung to was always built on a false binary. Striking is that when the director interacted with the main lead in the beginning, he didn’t pay attention to the boy’s clothes and as such to the teddy bear. He only looked at the boy’s body (the gaze (chapter 72), the size 
(chapter 72), his bruises 
(chapter 72) and asked for his name. This exposes his priorities and his blindness. He didn’t truly perceive the child in him, he was seeing him through the lenses of a boxer and director. Hence he underestimated the absence and abandonment of the mother.
The Absent Embrace: Of Bears, Mothers, and Fathers
If the teddy bear symbolizes maternal protection and warmth, then its absence in Joo Jaekyung’s childhood flat speaks volumes. 
(chapter 72) The boy didn’t have a blanket. He slept beside garbage. His father lay drunk and sprawled out, blind to his child’s needs. There was no teddy bear, no shared bed, no real cover. 
(chapter 21) Unlike Kim Dan, who grew up falling asleep next to his grandmother, accustomed to someone sharing his blanket, Jaekyung was emotionally and physically on his own from the start. Moreover, observe that the little boy had toys (chapter 21) contrary to Joo Jaekyung.
And yet, there was that one telling detail: the young Jaekyung once wore a shirt with a bandaged teddy bear on it. (chapter 72) Far from offering comfort, it mirrored his own battered condition. The implication? Someone saw—and chose not to act. That shirt represents the mother’s only trace. She was likely the one who picked out his clothes; an abusive man like Joo Jaewoong wouldn’t bother with childish designs. Which means the mother did witness his suffering or anticipated his fate, but chose to simply walk away without leaving a letter. IMO she didn’t leave an explication for her departure, hence the little boy came to imagine that she had left because of his addicted and violent father. (chapter 72) However, it is clear that here the protagonist was simplifying his mother’s decision, just like Hwang Byungchul. If she had truly cared for him, she would have taken him, but she did not.
She didn’t take her books either. (chapter 72) We see them wrapped up, left behind in the trash-littered apartment. This suggests she had been educated, possibly a nurse or a doctor. How did I come to this hypothesis? It is because this image reminded me of doc Dan’s departure from the penthouse. 
(chapter 53) He is a physical therapist. He had also arranged his books together: 
(chapter 53) And what did the hamster think while gathering his belongings? 
(chapter 53) So I deduce that the woman left them behind because she didn’t need them, she had enough or she no longer cared. But there is more to it!
Among the garbage 
(chapter 72), there are parcels stacked on the commode and table—some of them are wrapped and seemingly untouched. Their presence is striking. Unlike the strewn bottles and plastic bags, these boxes don’t speak of decay, but of intention. They hint at a moment when someone had plans—however fleeting. And yet, their sealed state raises unsettling questions: Who were these parcels for? And why were they never opened?
Two possibilities emerge.
First, the parcels might have belonged to Jaekyung’s mother. She came into that apartment with books and packages, suggesting she was educated and had once imagined a different life. But she never unpacked. The fact that the books remained sealed indicates she was already preparing to leave or they had moved recently. These were not signs of building a home, but of biding time. If she made purchases, they were not for her son. 
(chapter 27) There are no toys, no supplies for a child—just quiet evidence of a woman focused on herself, her escape perhaps already underway.
The second possibility is darker still: that even while living there, she bought things—but not for Jaekyung. She may have tried to create comfort for herself, or imagined she could still pursue personal goals, all while ignoring the battered child in the room. This would explain the absence of affection and the lack of a maternal trace. The teddy bear on his shirt, with its bandage, might have been an unconscious projection of his condition—but it was never followed by comfort or care. In contrast, when Kim Dan orders board games for the adult champion in episode 27, it is the first time we see a parcel meant for joy, connection, and healing. What the mother withheld, the doctor finally provides.
Remember how I connected the two teddy bears together! (chapter 72) (chapter 11) Is it a coincidence that we have age and a birthday together? And what had doc Dan left in that house? 
(chapter 53) The jacket… Because of these parallels, I come to develop the following theory. Joo Jaekyung knew his age, because he had just celebrated his birthday. This scene definitely took place in the summer. (chapter 72) And in my opinion, she must have offered him this t-shirt before her betrayal and abandonment. And she had definitely planned it. That’s why I believe that doc Dan’s departure 
(chapter 53) must have triggered the champion’s abandonment issues. He had the impression to relive the past. The mother had left him behind in the dark unexpectedly.
(chapter 53) Thus Joo Jaekyung started drinking and recalling his repressed traumas. This explains why he didn’t look for doc Dan at first and why he hates his birthday and presents. 
(chapter 45) And now, you comprehend why I wrote above that I was not giving up on the idea that the champion could belong to a different world too. She was not accustomed to take care of a household. She wasn’t used to cook either. She would order food, hence we have the empty bowls. 
(chapter 72) Remember how the champion reacted, when he tasted his cooking for the first time? 
(chapter 22) He feared deception here, a sign that he must have experienced such a lie before. For me, everything is pointing out that this woman was incapable of becoming responsible for her own child. She left quietly and early enough that even Hwang Byungchul, who knew of her departure, didn’t recognize the boy 
(chapter 72). In other words, the mother was already emotionally absent long before she physically vanished. The bandaged bear thus becomes a silent accusation: you saw, and you left. Therefore it is not astonishing that Joo Jaekyung made such a mistake: 
(chapter 68) His mistakes concerning doc Dan are the evidences that he was not taught how to take care of someone. His errors indicates his innocence and purity.
This motherlessness is the defining wound of Jaekyung’s early life. No pictures, no memories, no bedtime rituals. In contrast, Kim Dan’s early childhood, while also marked by loss, retained traces of maternal love. His duck-print shirt, the framed photo with his grandmother, and the teddy bear he once held—all speak of touch, affection, and care. Dan was kissed 
(chapter 44) before he was abandoned. Jaekyung was never treated properly before. He was not claimed at all. It is important because the champion mentioned the word “home” 
(chapter 43) for the first time shortly after receiving a mysterious phone call. 
(chapter 43) And it is linked to his birthday. This resembles a lot to this scene: (chapter 72) That’s the reason why I am coming to the following hypothesis. The mysterious caller must be related to the “sulky cat” or “wolf”.
(chapter 37) 
(chapter 49) Is it the mother or someone acting as an invisible guardian who knows the champion’s past? What do you think?
Now let’s turn our attention to the father. 
(chapter 72) Joo Jaewoong—whose name literally evokes the bear (웅, 雄 or 熊)—was not a gentle protector, but a violent alcoholic and drug addicted, a man who “strayed from the straight and narrow” (chapter 72). (chapter 72) A fallen boxer whose strength devolved into brutality. He started working for the mafia, but became entangled in their web. 
(chapter 72) The bear here is not a comforting toy but a dangerous beast. He loomed large over the child’s life not as a shield, but as a shadow. It is important because doc Dan is hearing for the second time that fighting has connections to the underworld. 
(chapter 47)
Even the name of the gym 
(chapter 54) —Team Black—bears symbolic weight. Unlike other athletes who proudly attach their names to their legacy, Joo Jaekyung avoids personal branding. He doesn’t call it “Jaekyung’s Gym” or “Joo Athletics.” Instead, he opts for anonymity, for darkness. It’s as if he’s building a fortress rather than a legacy, a space that offers power and protection, but no trace of where he came from.
This choice could reflect a deep desire to erase or hide his family history, especially from his father. The name “Joo Jaewoong” still echoes in the neighborhood (chapter 72), tied to shame, alcoholism, and downfall. Naming the gym after himself might invite that past back into the spotlight. Worse—it might give his father, or others like him, an opening to claim a share in his success.
Moreover, we should not overlook the emotional contradiction: Jaekyung’s former coach and his coach’s mother once formed a kind of surrogate household. They cooked for the boys, gave them structure, and in doing so gave Jaekyung a place to belong. But that environment was also where the champion was “trained,” not truly raised. The tenderness was limited to the mother, who is now dead and Joo Jaekyung knows it. Hence he didn’t ask about her. 
(chapter 71) I am quite certain that her vanishing must have pained him. She embodies the only good motherly role model in his life which explains why Joo JAekyung has a soft heart for Shin Okja. He knew to speak prettily and gently because of her. It is clear that the director influenced his dream, creating a gym where his mother would be part of it. (chapter 72) By not naming the gym after his mentor, Jaekyung draws a clear line: this is mine, but not a home—not for children, not for mothers, and not for fathers. Thus I came to deduce that Joo Jaekyung must have experienced something related to his mother, which Baek Junmin must know. But after the release of chapter 73, it becomes evident that their short but painful encounter took place shortly after the father’s death.
In this light, Team Black isn’t just a gym. It’s a sealed space—unbranded, unsentimental, and deliberately impersonal. A hidden monument to the self-made man who refuses to be claimed. The irony is that this name helped Park Namwook to claim the gym as his own. 
(chapter 22)
Thus, Joo Jaekyung’s story becomes one of inverted symbols. Where a bear should offer comfort, it signals danger and suffering. Where a shirt should offer warmth, it marks injury. Where a home should provide shelter, it holds darkness, silence and hunger. No wonder why the man fears the night! And this is why the champion had to become a bear himself—not the soft kind, but the feared kind. His “taming” by Kim Dan is not just romantic; it’s reparative. The man who never had a teddy bear may yet become one. I would even say, he is on the verge of becoming a mother bear defending her “curb”.
Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for topics or Manhwa, feel free to ask. If you enjoyed reading it, retweet it or push the button like. My Reddit-Instagram-Twitter-Tumblr 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.
(chapter 89) The lord’s back is covered with marks. Yet, he was not brown-nosing here at all, for he was rejecting the lord’s advances. And now, it is time to take a closer look to season 1. 
(chapter 23) Baek Na-Kyum was seen holding an apple, here it looked like he was indeed polishing the fruit before eating it. Striking is that during that scene, valet Kim was interrogating him. He was acting, as if he was interested in him. It was, as if he was buttering up to Baek Na-Kyum. The purpose was to gain the artist’s trust so that at the end, he would listen to his advices.
(chapter 23) However, the reality was that the valet was actually digging for information, spying on the main lead, so that he could create a new incident. As you can see, there were two apple-polishers in that scene, the painter and the butler. This was the reflection within the same episode. While Baek Na-Kyum was literally polishing the apple, the other was just cajoling Baek Na-Kyum in a figurative way. Yet, the former was not truly sweet-talking to the artist. He gave the impression that he was totally honest. And now, it is important to recall what happened to the painter in the next chapter. Jung In-Hun was kissing the painter’s hands.
(chapter 24). He was flattering the painter with the hope that Baek Na-Kyum would spy on his account. But the scholar couldn’t succeed with his request. Why? It is because he only kissed the artist’s hands. He never licked his boot or his ass. We could even say that he did scratch his back, but in the wrong way: 
(chapter 24) In other words, he could never lower himself in front of the low-born. This was too much, explaining why the scholar failed with his request. 
(chapter 27) In exchange for saving Jung In-Hun’s life, Baek Na-Kyum was forced to do a fellatio. We could say that the artist was sucking up to the owner of the mansion. But the fellatio is not just an exchange of favors. It is also associated to forgiveness. At the tailor’s shop, the painter had blushed because of Yoon Seungho, The latter had embarrassed him. Thus the lord made the following suggestion:
(Chapter 39) This was his way to apologize, though here he was teasing his lover. These were the principles he had been taught, therefore it is not surprising that he applied them for the painter. And now, you comprehend why in episode 71, Yoon Seungho sucked the painter’s phallus in the bathroom, he was also currying the artist’s favors. His goal was not to be pushed away, to be accepted.
(chapter 71) He had wronged the painter so many times, that the blow-job was not enough. Thus he licked his ass in the bedchamber. He was hoping to seek his forgiveness. 
(chapter 71) It was, as if he was lowering his head, the kowtower. In this episode, the lord was on his knees in front of the painter, and this twice. One in the bathroom 
(chapter 71) and the other time in the bedchamber. 
(chapter 71) However, his nose didn’t get brown, as the painter is a pure and innocent person. 😉 That’s how I realized why Baek Na-Kyum was sent to the bathroom. His role was to divert Yoon Seungho’s attention from Kim so that the master would forget to ask for the butler’s punishment. In other words, the valet used the low-born to seek his master’s favors. This shows that Yoon Seungho had been taught that the blow-job and the ass-kissing are the means to obtain forgiveness. 
(chapter 73) He was licking the painter’s foot so that he could keep thrusting. Don’t forget that during the whole night, he behaved like a servant… the one who was “sucking up to Baek Na-Kyum”. 
(chapter 72) On the other hand, the latter scratched the lord’s back for the first time during that night. 
(chapter 72) This was the reflection within the same episode, yet the “back-scratcher” was not doing it for his personal gain at all. We couldn’t say that he was currying favor or buttering up Yoon Seungho. He believed that he was just a servant and nothing more. From the outsider’s perspective, he was treated indeed like a favored servant, though in truth Yoon Seungho viewed him more like his new master and lord.
(chapter 45) In this scene, the lord was acting like a teacher, and the painter was supposed to do a blow-job in exchange for a favor. But since the painter was heartbroken, he was doing it absent-mindedly. Thus the roles got switched. After the noble licked the painter’s ass, 
and masturbated him anal, the painter was able to confess his pleasure: 
(chapter 45) This shows that the lord was slowly “currying favors” to Baek Na-Kyum. And this is no coincidence that Kim brought the ink and brushes to the mansion. 
(chapter 45) Once again, he was acting, as if he was buttering up to Baek Na-Kyum and indirectly to the host. But the reality was that everything was done for Kim’s interest…. On the other hand, we could say that Yoon Seungho was not really different from his surrogate father, for in that scene, Yoon Seungho was more thinking about himself than the painter’s. Yet, there is a slight nuance, the lord was sensing that the painter was not himself. He was talking to him, so licking the painter’s ass was not just done in order to obtain the painter’s support. His true goal was to be noticed and looked by the painter. He desired to have a true exchange of thoughts. Interesting is that by licking briefly the painter’s ass, he indeed succeeded, Baek Na-Kyum started thinking about him afterwards. The irony is that Yoon Seungho was just applying what he had been taught. That’s how I discovered the other reason why the main lead is not suspecting the butler of treason. Contrary to Yoon Chang-Hyeon or the pedophile, Kim was never seen asking Yoon Seungho for sexual favors: no fellatio or no ass-kissing. But this is just a deception, for we could clearly see that the butler is connected to the sex parties: 
(chapter 33) 
(chapter 52) He was the one who separated the couple. Because of his intervention, the painter deserted the mansion and got sick afterwards. Then in chapter 50, he revealed the argument between Baek Na-Kyum and Jung In-Hun. Striking is that in that scene, he was standing on the lord’s left side!! 
(chapter 50) No wonder that Yoon Seungho got furious. Simultaneously, while Kim was acting, as if he was defending the painter’s interest and as such feeling sorry for the painter, this signifies that he was no longer sucking up to his own master. Therefore, it is not surprising that the lord scolded him. 
(chapter 50) In fact, he should have “buttered up” his master and not pitied the painter. And now, you comprehend why the main lead misinterpreted Kim’s behavior. In his mind, the valet was actually “apple-polishing” to the painter. He had somehow “witnessed” it in the woods. But he had misjudged the situation, in reality he had caught Kim spying. 
(chapter 23) Unfortunately, the lord was not perceptive at all.
(chapter 80) He enjoyed seeing the painter’s facial expressions and reaction. He looked so shy and pure. 
(chapter 80) However, during that night, three people were trying to bootlick someone figuratively speaking: the new version of Deok-Jae, Kim and the messenger. Let’s not forget that before the arrival of the messenger, the painter made the following request to the butler: 
(chapter 79) One might say that he was currying favor to the butler, when he asked the butler about the music box. But what did Kim do? He brought the item to the bedchamber. 
(chapter 79) But this is not what the painter had actually requested, since the butler said this “I thought”. He had taken the initiative on his own. In my opinion, the painter had just asked that the music box should be brought back to the study. However, Kim brought the expensive present to the bedchamber for one reason. He expected the arrival of the messenger. We could say that he was “ass-kissing” the painter in order to obtain his trust. Kim definitely imagined that Yoon Seungho was sleeping. As you can see, this scene was the reflection of Yoon Seungho’s action in chapter 80. 
(chapter 80) While Kim had asked the painter’s to clean his face himself, the lord was cleaning the painter’s ass himself. Or we could say that he was polishing the painter’s apples, for he has an apple-shaped buttock. 😂 This clearly indicates that Kim has never washed Yoon Seungho himself. In other words, while Yoon Seungho was totally selfless here, this was not the case for the valet. And this is no coincidence that right after, the new version of Deok-Jae appeared in front of the door calling his master. He was faking loyalty and dedication. 
(chapter 80) Here, he was acting, as if he was sucking up to Yoon Seungho, but his gaze betrayed him. In my opinion, he had been deceived by the butler, for the latter expected that the painter would open the door. This situation was reflected within the same chapter. Notice what the messenger said to the young master in the study: 
(chapter 80) He was implying that his father had to bootlick an official in order to hide the incident. And how did the lord react to this? He not only asked the servant to do him a fellatio, but also made an allusion to the sexual favor: 
(chapter 80) His father must have kissed someone’s ass. But as you already know, Yoon Chang-HYeon is not someone who will do such a thing himself. And this shows that he has definitely used his son in order to obtain favors in such a way. Yoon Seungho had to do fellatios and let people lick his ass for his father’s sake, as he was a uke in the past. This is not surprising that the messenger received such a beating in the end. 
(chapter 80) He gave an order to the main lead, he threatened him. But actually, he was just a servant. He was not treating Yoon Seungho correctly. Interesting is that he showed more courtesy and respect to lord Lee than Yoon Seungho. 
(chapter 82) It was, as if the man was hoping to obtain father Lee’s support either. Another interesting aspect is that when the butler approached the wounded emissary, the former was definitely brown-nosing. 
(chapter 82), until he heard that the scholar Lee had approached father Yoon. On the other hand, his introduction didn’t fool the courier, for he was aware of Kim’s meddling. 
(chapter 82) In my opinion, Yoon Chang-Hyeon had followed the butler’s suggestion. Since the painter would always sleep in the study alone, he envisioned that the messenger would suggest to the artist to meet Heena. The man could fake that he had been sent by his noona. He was dressed up for that reason!! Observe that the color of the hanbok is similar to this one: 
(chapter 94) Thus I had this sudden idea. What if the messenger was receiving his karma for beating the painter in the past? Remember how I had deducted that these two men could have been disguised as nobles!! And this new perception would fit my interpretation. But let’s return to our main topic. The courier refused the obsequious and submissive remarks from the butler. He was no fool, for he knew that because of his “plan”, he had become the biggest victim of Yoon Seungho’s wrath. This explicates why the author never revealed the father’s words, because the manhwaphiles would have discovered the valet’s plan and as such betrayal 
(chapter 82) This means that if father Lee or Yoon Chang-Hyeon are cornered, they could be forced to “ass-kiss” the king. 
Baek Na-Kyum is now imitating his lover. He is also licking the lord’s boot/foot. However, contrary to the signification, he is actually making love to his companion. This has nothing to do with selfishness and hypocrisy. We could even say that at the end of season 3, Yoon Seungho had become the teacher’s pet, the yes-man towards Baek Na-Kyum: 
(chapter 92) He could never refuse his lover’s requests. Thus in the gibang, he encouraged the painter to stay in the gibang. 
(chapter 93) It was, as if he was seeking the kisaengs’ support. Thus he chose leniency towards these women, though the latter had insulted him. At the same time, he was not hoping to receive any flattery from the noonas. He was the one “sitting on the painter’s right side”. 
(chapter 93) To conclude, the lord had been “tamed”, he was apple-polishing Baek Na-Kyum, but not in a negative way. It is the positive reflection of Kim who will act behind people’s back, and definitely use sex for his own advantage. We have the perfect example with the 2 sex marathons. He always let the painter suffer in order to cover up his own wrongdoings. But by allowing the main lead to act this way indicates that he was not helping Yoon Seungho. What people thought as assistance was in truth “brown-nosing”.
(Chapter 95) In his eyes, the lord didn’t need it, for he was already aroused. Remember in the beginning of the story, Lee Jihwa had to prepare his lover 
(Chapter 3) Secondly, the painter was in the position not to ask for favors, to suck up to Yoon Seungho. In their relationship, the low-born had the upper hand. Finally, Baek Na-Kyum had done nothing wrong before, so he didn’t have to beg for the main lead’s forgiveness. That’s the reason why the lord was actually rejecting the blow-job!! 
(Chapter 95) It is the expression of affection and love. 
(chapter 101) The painter had to do a fellatio to lord Jang in exchange for protection. 
(chapter 101) The artist was not acting like the teacher’s pet, 
(chapter 101), hence he needed to receive some lesson. In their eyes, Baek Na-Kyum should have licked their boot, sucked up to them… due to their power and social status. Therefore, it is not astonishing that at the end, they were executed. Why? It is because Min and the others could never “curry Yoon Seungho’s favor”. 
(chapter 102) Without the painter, the lord had no reason to continue living. Baek Na-Kyum was his source of joy and of strength. Without him, he was powerless. And this leads me to the following observation. Since we have a situation of brown-nosing concerning Black Heart in the shaman’s house, this signifies that we should have a reflection earlier in season 3. And now look at this: 
(chapter 92) In that scene, Min was indeed “flattering” his ex-sexual partner, while he was rather dismissing the painter. 
(chapter 92) He was also indirectly currying the lord’s favor. This was the reflection of the night in episode 52 either. However, contrary to season 2, Yoon Seungho had the upper-hand, as the painter had already sided with him. But one might say that this perception of “apple-polishing and buttering up” stands in opposition to my previous statement: sex is like a battle, a fight where there is only one winner. But that one doesn’t exclude the other, since Min had also tried to eliminate Baek Na-Kyum before changing his mind. This truly shows that we had two different philosophies, yet both were evolving around sex. This truly outlines that someone was “consumed by lust” in the end. 
(chapter 102) On the other hand, Baek Na-Kyum is slowly sensing the valet’s disloyalty towards the aristocrat. 
(chapter 86) Since the lord could see through Jung In-hun’s true personality, I believe that it is the painter’s duty to grasp the valet’s treason. In my opinion, since he caught Kim having sex with the maid, it is only a matter of time, until he realizes his true personality. In chapter 77, valet Kim had thought that he could rekindle with the owner of the mansion, hence he brought him tea and the medicine. He envisioned that if he acted like a loyal and dedicated servant, he could regain Yoon Seungho’s support. 
(chapter 77) In other words, he was buttering up to the young master. But observe that in that scene, he never lowered himself in front of the young man. He didn’t go on his knees or he didn’t bow to him either. This attitude exposes the valet’s true personality. He considers himself better than Yoon Seungho and Baek Na-Kyum, refusing to admit any crime or mistake. In that scene, he never said YES! In fact, he kept contradicting his master. 
(chapter 77) Under this new light, the avid readers can understand why he contacted the patriarch in the end. He knew that Yoon Chang-Hyeon would listen to him, for he had been brown-nosing him for years. And the color brown of his shirt is no coincidence. Observe that when the father visited the mansion, he was wearing brown and red… 
(chapter 86) He envisioned that his elder son would return him the seat and as such he would become the owner of the family mansion again. Why? It is because of the main lead’s words in the library. His so-called respect towards the father was just fake. That’s the reason why the father imagined that he just needed to show up and he would get the mansion back. However, in reality, he should have sought his son’s support, and as such kiss his ass in order to achieve his goal. But the man has never done it himself. He has always been used to being fawned and ass-kissed that it is not surprising that he barged in the mansion. And this is the same for Yoon Seung-Won. The latter might have sent letters in order to obtain his brother’s support, but we can’t say that he was sucking up to Yoon Seungho. Thus it is no coincidence that at the end, the latter advised his brother to follow the father’s principles. 
(chapter 37) Here, he was implying that Yoon Seung-Won should do fellatios and other things in exchange for favors. 
(chapter 40) Moreover, according to me, she used the young master Seungho and her brother to avoid sex. Furthermore, I would like to point out that when the kisaeng argued with her brother, this is what she said to her brother: 
(chapter 97) Here, she was referring to favors. Yet, shortly after she proposed this to her brother: 
(chapter 97) It is clear that the agreement was not selfless. No nobleman would spend money and energy for nothing. The noona was hiding the content of the deal to her brother, the negative reflection from season 1. And now, you comprehend why I am sensing that since her deal was to sell her brother in exchange of favors, her karma should be that she has no other mean than to sell herself in order to survive, as she is now on her own. And if this truly happen, this can only reinforce her resent and hatred towards the couple. But we will see, if Heena is the one “sucking up” in season 4.
(chapter 73). But keep in mind, this is related to the painter’s education. He had been raised not only to hide his homosexuality, but also to reject sexuality as such. Naturally, in reality a no means no and nothing else. 
(chapter 12) The mention of a new toy implied the existence of an old plaything. But we know for sure that Yoon Seungho has never possessed anything. He was treated like a male kisaeng himself, for he was not allowed to refuse advances from anyone. 
(chapter 52) Finally, he was forced to share anything he owned to others. 
(chapter 52) That’s how I realized that the inner thought from Lee Jihwa was exposing his knowledge. The latter knew about Yoon Seungho’s true conditions. The latter had been treated like a plaything by the pedophile. As the red-haired noble had been raised as an filial son respecting elders, Lee Jihwa saw no reason to change the way Yoon Seungho was “trained”. 
(chapter 57) Besides, he could only benefit from it. Now, he could have sex to his heart content. He only started playing tricks, the moment he felt that his childhood friend was escaping from his claws.
(Chapter 37) On the other hand, since the lord went to the authorities in season 3, I deduce that he must have gone there in the past too, yet not as a victim/plaintiff, but as an accused. Because of this new revelation, I made a new connection: sex and torture.
(Chapter 83) Why? He viewed him like a dog, for he was living in the shed. He even had no proper hanbok and no real hair dress, and the manhwaphiles can certainly remember the idiom: clothes make the man! If he was no man, then he was an animal, a dog. Even his food reminded me of dog food. But why was he living there? 
(Chapter 83) In this essay, I will answer to this question. As a first conclusion, the lord was not even treated like a male kisaeng in the past, but more like a dog. Consequently, I deduce that when Baek Na-Kyum met the lord in the inn (chapter 1), his status had already changed. He was slowly experiencing emancipation. He was living like a male kisaeng. Thus I conclude that Lee Jihwa contributed to his recovery to a certain extent. 
(chapter 59) However, don’t get me wrong. I believe that the change occurred thanks to Baek Na-Kyum’s intervention, the new version of this scene. 
(chapter 68) Their path crossed a second time in the gibang which led to the painter’s expulsion which affected the lord‘s living condition. But let’s return our attention to the lord’s long suffering.
(chapter 57) 
(chapter 62) This explicates why after reading episode 62 for the first time, I had suspected the father to have raped his own son. Yet this thought was dropped shortly after. Then when episode 77 was released, I realized that in the shed the lord was also reminded of Kim’s betrayal, for the latter would always drag him to the shed. Observe the way he was “carried away“. It was like an “embrace“. 
(Chapter 77) In episode 77, the readers can witness 2 incidents how the lord was brought to the storage house. 
(Chapter 77, this is a different situation, for we have different servants except Kim) Therefore in the barn, Yoon Seungho behaved like his surrogate father Kim as well. This explicates why we have the fake embrace and the insincere apology. 
(chapter 62) 
(chapter 62) As you can see, the hug from the past was the symbol of violence and hypocrisy. It served to drag the lord to the storage room. And this new observation led me to the following conclusion: Yoon Seungho was copying the behavior from all his abusers from the past: his brutal father, the hypocrite butler and naturally the pedophile. 
(chapter 62) Hence the protagonist grabbed the painter by the hair. For me, the “mysterious lord Song“ used to hurt the main lead by the hair, when he got angry. How did I come to this interpretation? Note that at no moment we never saw Yoon Chang-Hyeon taking his son’s hair. First, the lord’s head was covered with a hat. 
(Chapter 83) 
(chapter 83) As for Kim, the latter would always restrain the main lead by the shoulders, the fake embrace. 
(Chapter 57) And now, you comprehend why the lord dragged the two nobles by the topknot. 
(chapter 8) For a long time, I have demonstrated that this gesture represented one of Yoon Seungho’s biggest traumas. But why would the pedophile do that? One might say that it is because of Yoon Seungho’s resistance and struggling. He needed to punish him for his disobedience. Note that the noble with the mole and Lee Jihwa got humiliated as sanctions. 
(Chapter 18) However, in my eyes there exists another explanation which I will elaborate in this analysis either. From my point of view, the shed and the humiliation are strongly intertwined. This was particularly visible, when the lord forced Baek Na-Kyum to have sex in the courtyard. 
(Chapter 64) But why would he do that in the end? It was to train him, to make him obedient. 
(Chapter 64) Remember how he had declared that the painter was now his sex toy. He should listen to his master or owner. That’s how I came to this deduction. The infamous lord Song is a sadomasochist. In the worse case, he is simply a pure sadist. I am inclined to believe more in the first view. With this, we would have the link between sex and torment. And the picture from the erotic book where you see the bearded man having a braided man on his lap outside indicates that Yoon Seungho was here getting punished. The pedophile loved seeing Yoon Seungho humiliated and in tears. 
(chapter 01) And now, we have the explanation why the lord could no longer cry and how he came to hate “fake apology”. This was the result of the exposure to the sexual assaults under the form of BDSM.
(chapter 96) They ended up in the hallway, anyone could see them. Then in another website, I found the following principles: 
(chapter 25) He even brought the hanbok himself. 
(chapter 26) The lord went so far to take his bath with his lover to clean him. 
(chapter 59) He made sure that his partner wouldn’t suffer. 
(chapter 89) Yoon Seungho knew by experience that the rest of semen in the stomach would cause him ailing. 
(chapter 77) This was the reason why Yoon Seungho had a fever afterwards. Don’t forget that the pedophile used Taoist sexual practices, this means the young boy had a sex marathon each time, he met the pedophile. Thus I interpret the bruise on Yoon Seungho’s eye not only as an indication of resistance, but also as a source of joy for the sexual predator. We have the reaction from lord Jang as the perfect example. 
(Chapter 101) He blushed, though he could see that Baek Na-Kyum was in pain, the face covered with blood. Remember what the painter did in the pavilion to the main lead: he scratched his face. 
(Chapter 25) Thus we have to envision that the lord must have reacted the same way and wounded his abuser. And imagine the consequence if he had wounded the king on the face. This could be seen as a reason for a punishment. 
(Chapter 77) Remember Black Heart‘s warning in the shaman‘s house: 
(chapter 102) 
(chapter 33) This is an euphemism for aphrodisiac. Thus we had this confession from the physician. 
(chapter 57) Why did the butler visit the doctor without Yoon Chang-Hyeon? It is because he had been ordered to fetch the aphrodisiac. By feeding him with the drug, they wanted to force Yoon Seungho to accept the advances from the king, and as such to admit his sexual orientation. He was a sodomite. 
(chapter 65) They faked his “pleasure“ making him feel guity and dirty. That’s how he got tricked. This explicates why the main lead still has no idea of the use of the aphrodisiac. 
(chapter 89) If you pay attention to their interaction, the lord acts like the servant. The reason is simple. If you take into consideration the second list of recommendations, you will recognize that the roles are switched. Outside a sex session, the submissive becomes the “king“, and the dominant has to act like his servant. That way, a certain balance is created. But this was never the case between the pedophile and the teenager. The latter was always reduced to a plaything and at the end to an animal. The pedophile never called the protagonist by his name. 
(Chapter 1) He was just called “my boy“. And that was it. He never created a real bound with the main lead. Therefore trust was totally inexistent. And because the young noble could only fear the man, he came to hate him to the point he could die. The latter made promises which he never kept!! 
(Chapter 55) I had this idea, for the story is going in circle, meaning that the lord must have done it before, just like he did in season 3. The possible death from the main lead and probably his own pain must have brought the mysterious lord Song back to reality. That‘s the reason why he sent for the physician‘s assistance. He was encouraged to keep his distance from the young man, just like the latter was incited to stay away from the painter in season 1 (sickness, Min), in season 2 (the scholar‘s insult) and in season 3 (the rough sex session in chapter 81-82). Thus I deduce that the pedophile has always kept an eye on Yoon Seungho and his recovery. In my opinion, the man has not forgotten the main lead at all. Why do I think so? It is because he kept the painting… 
(chapter 82) a souvenir from their time together, just like Min who stole the painting in the study. 
(chapter 74) Thus I am deducing that Seungho-Ya will become the safe word between the two protagonists. 
(Chapter 72) 
The noble with the mole is trapped in a shed, and the color purple, a symbol for royalty, is dominant. From my point of view, the author revealed everything in this tweet. On the other hand, I would like to point out that here the man doesn’t look scared or rejecting the use of the bondage or the dildo. 
(Chapter 63) He was reliving his biggest trauma. Yet, he never went overboard in the shed. Note that the moment the painter called his lover “lord Seungho”, there was a switch. 
(chapter 63) That’s the reason why the lord changed the painter’s position and faced him. 
(chapter 63) The lord communicated his feelings and thoughts, and he even made a promise. 
(Chapter 63) This new perception reinforces my impression that there was no rape in the storage room. The painter kept saying “no“, because he was actually scared about his own reactions. Strangely he felt pleasure, thus he kept having climaxes. He was simply in denial. The irony is that the noble attempted himself to be cruel during the night of the revelation (episode 62, 63, 64), but he failed, because the night at the doctor’s house was still fresh in his memory. He couldn‘t forget the tender embrace from the painter. 
(Chapter 62) This explicates why he stood up during the penetration, he was forcing the artist to hug him, to clinch onto him. He wanted to relive it again.
(Chapter 63) He had internalized the marks left by the bondage. This is no coincidence that the artist‘s wrist was covered by the bandage, the reflection from the torment in his youth. Under this new aspect, the presence of the bed in the shed was like a magical tool, which helped the lord to not turn into his tormentor. He was just a ghost from the past, and the word “lord Seungho“ worked like a magic spell, which stopped Yoon Seungho from becoming as vicious and cruel as lord Song. Moreover Lord Song sounds very similar to lord Seungho. And this new discovery confirms my interpretation that Kim was the helping hand of the king. He had to provide him with the white bands for the bondage, just like he had helped for the young master’s kidnapping in the gibang. 
(chapter 86) But don‘t get me wrong. The king sent the main lead to the shed, when he wished to punish him. Yes, he repeated the same actions than Yoon Chang-Hyeon. And what is the common denominator between these two circles? The valet…
Under this new light, I see it as another evidence that the infamous lord Song could only be the king! He is the only person who has absolute power in Joseon, and as such knows no “real boundaries“. Furthermore, as the ruler, he is expecting no rejection from his subjects. Anyone watching sageuks (historical Korean dramas), is aware that the Joseon king was never an absolute monarch, for he was always controlled by the officials, ministers, the Queen dowager and the Queen. There were also protocols which he was forced to follow. And we have an indication about the king‘s lack of power and wealth. 
(Chapter 76) Thus I am assuming that the lord Song must have been frustrated about this contradiction. On the one hand, he was supposed to be the most powerful man in Joseon, on the other hand, he had to rely on the aristocracy. Hence I have the impression that the ruler vented his anger and frustration on Yoon Seungho unconsciously. That way, he could outlive his sexual fantasies, where he was powerful. But because of these terrible sexual habits, the young master could never get treated by a physician. Anyone would have recognized the sign of abuse. 
(Chapter 101) are a proof that they never discovered the importance of kisses, embraces, caresses and words during sex. They never recognized that they were denying the existence of love, too obsessed with their heritage and their reputation. The manhwalovers will remember my previous observation. The pedophile had never kissed the main lead. The king like all the nobles had disconnected sex from love. Why? It is because sex was a duty… to continue the lineage. And now, you have the explanation why the pedophile and all the others reduced sex to penetration. 
(Chapter 96) When she heard the noise (PLOP), she was brought back to the past, when she had witnessed a scene of BDSM, though the violence was real. A similar situation to this scene: 
(chapter 73) The pictures from the erotic publication are the evidence for this theory. After hearing the description from the butler about the events in the shed, the noona Heena believed to know what had happened in the shed. 
(Chapter 68) She could see the traces on the painter’s body, and conclude that the valet was telling the truth. However, the butler had been misled himself, for his perception was biased by his past experience. 
(Chapter 64) The butler thought that the “no“ from the painter was truly real, while the latter was just dishonest. It was the result from the “indoctrination“ from Heena and Jung In-Hun. The valet had been deceived in the end. The humiliation and punishment were not real, for the painter did ejaculate, and back then he was not under the influence of the aphrodisiac.
(Chapter 64) This was not like in the past, when the brutality was real. And now, you comprehend why Heena‘s resent towards her brother became more visible after witnessing the love session between the noble and Baek Na-Kyum. 
(Chapter 97) From my point of view, she had already internalized that the painter would never change, he was already too “damaged“ to change. However, since he was close to Yoon Seungho, he could become in danger, for she knew the connection between the ruler and the main lead. 
(Chapter 72) He was copying the habit from the pedophile in my eyes. The latter would never remove all his clothes on his own. As the king, he was used to get undressed by his own staff. Only the teenager as the uke was undressed, unless the lord was accompanied by the other nobles, like in this scene. 
(Chapter 54) And because the ruler was too focused on his own pleasure, he never got to know the young noble. He only realized too late that he had made huge mistakes. 
(Chapter 72) Yoon Seungho was his prey.
(Chapter 59) The main lead was supposed to meet his tormentor in a public place. Yet their relationship was based on “humiliation“! The “king“ loved to punish Yoon Seungho through humiliation and violence. This explicates why Yoon Seungho reacted that way. 
(Chapter 56) 
(chapter 57) This is what he experienced himself in the past. And observe that the childhood friend’s biggest punishment was actually his public humiliation, when he confessed and got rejected. 
(Chapter 59) In my eyes, the king sought to obtain Yoon Seungho’s affection, but he never realized this. He definitely confused it with submission. He definitely imagined that once the teenager would become submissive, he would have achieved his goal. But he was doomed to fail. In his mind, as the ruler no one could ever reject him. Besides, as the ruler, he was allowed to use his power and as such his strength to obtain what he desires. Don’t forget that in Joseon, people viewed all the monarchs als representatives of the gods. The latter would support them. However, since his youth Yoon Seungho had a strong opinion and mind. Therefore he had caused trouble to his father, as the latter viewed his critical thinking as a synonym for a lack of respect for traditions and the elders, the so-called illness from his childhood. Besides, I am suspecting that the lord must have had visions as well, which would contradict the father‘s dreams and expectations. 
(Chapter 57) Yoon Chang-Hyeon looked down on his son’s critical thinking and came to doubt his words. The author left many clues for this interpretation: 
(chapter 101) Lord Jang got aroused, when he saw the bloodied lips from the painter. Moreover, Black Heart had brought a huge dildo.
(Chapter 101) The item was huge, therefore it could only injure the artist’s anus. 
(Chapter 100) 
(chapter 101) Even the noble said that this must have hurt. The painter disliked being bitten in the neck. 
(Chapter 88) Furthermore, the lord said this to the painter in the study: 
(chapter 85) These were the words from the pedophile. He was repeating his sexual abuser‘s words. And this proves to me again that the lord was abused in the study, but if he rejected the man, he would be sent to the shed where he would receive his punishment. In other words, Yoon Seungho was punished with sex and violence. And now, you have the explanation why he got gangraped in the end. But the readers should keep in their mind that this was no real BDSM, for the brutality was real. The king couldn’t distinguish between reality and illusion. And this coincides with all my previous interpretations.
(Chapter 65) Kim had brought him to the barn, because Yoon Seungho was punished there. This could only be suggested by the butler, as I don’t think that the king would ask for the owner of the mansion for permission. This room was definitely taboo, no one was allowed to approach the study or the shed. Yoon Seungho was exposed to rough sex, and Kim knew this, like mentioned above. But he never witnessed it himself, he only discovered the aftermath. From my point of view, this scene occurred after the lord’s loss of virginity. 
(chapter 18)
(chapter 34), only spiritual love was allowed 
(chapter 19)
(chapter 68). This signified that in his education, not only sex was prohibited, but also sexual desires were denied. Although love was expressed through hugs 
(chapter 66)
(chapter 68) and caresses 
(chapter 10) 
(chapter 68), they were devoid of sexuality. The painter experienced love, but was not allowed to experience sexuality. He was only authorized to paint it for the scholar’s sake. On the other side, Yoon Seungho was raised the opposite: love was not allowed, as it was a sign of submission and weakness. Sex was permitted, because it was considered as a fight in order to defeat his opponent. These were the butler’s doctrines. That way, he could still have a connection to the main lead. If he came to love someone (the pedophile), the lord could definitely abandon the valet and reveal his betrayals. In other words, he used pity as a way to tame the lord. At the same time, sex also served to gain some benefit, as it was an exchange of favors (giving versus receiving), 
(Chapter 71). I connect this philosophy to the king and indirectly to the butler. With sex, the nobles could exchange some favors. These huge divergences in the mindset explicate why there were so many misunderstandings between Yoon Seungho and Baek Na-Kyum, as their education diverged so much. 
(chapt45), as the painter had accepted him as his sexual partner, he had to realize slowly that he was wrong. He imagined that since the artist had remained by his side and was accepting to have sex with him, he had achieved what he wanted: in his unconscious it was to be loved. Yet, it was just an illusion. The painter saw himself as a whore and the master as a man consumed by lust. As you can see, the noble was forced to judge the nature of the sexual encounters differently. He had associated sex to love due to their Wedding night, therefore he imagined that the moment the painter was accepting him, the problem was solved. He would be able to relive this wonderful moment, but however nothing like that happened. He felt never satisfied, as there were no feelings at all. Hence he even had sex during the day
, believing that the artist’s lack of experience was the problem. 
than a master- servant relationship, because the commoner was never treated like a domestic. He only had sex with the lord and had some privileges. 
(chapter 46) He was never asked to do other work, although the artist tried to change his situation. Since he was behaving like a whore, he felt that he had no right to express any thought and emotion. He couldn’t show any pleasure. That’s why there were no feelings in their sex encounters, and the lord could sense the difference. Consequently, when the lord realized that he was still perceived as a man consumed by sex
(chapter 48), he changed his behavior. He acted like a real client at the brothel
(chapter 48), but at the same time he cornered the painter to have multiple climaxes in order to let him experience that he liked having sex with him.
(chapter 49) As you can observe, the lord linked sensuality to love. If he could provoke ejaculations, then it meant that the artist was definitely feeling something for him. However, the moment the lord liberated the painter from his pejorative perception about himself (he is a prostitute), the painter reacted the exact opposite. Now, he was the one using Yoon Seungho, the latter was his plaything. 
(Chapter 49), his prostitute, for he was the one procuring pleasure to Yoon Seungho. As you can see, the roles had been switched. This means that now the painter had the upper-hand in their relationship. We could even say that the noble was willing to accept his fate. 
(Chapter 49) Yet there was a difference from the past. Yoon Seungho would feel pleasure as well. This is not surprising that Kim chose to intervene and separate the couple right after. Without sex, the painter had no power over the master. That’s the reason why the butler revealed his knowledge the morning after. The protagonist had to hear from his butler the real cause for Baek Na-Kyum’s passivity and torpor: 
(chapter 50). Through this revelation, the lord was indirectly confronted by his own reflection: he was indeed asking from Baek Na-Kyum sexual favors in exchange for his stay at the mansion. That’s the reason why the lord had a “relapse“ and kept his distance from the painter. 
(chapter 52). This was important, because for the noble, it meant that he could no longer have sex with other partners. Without sex, the lord was forced to question himself and ponder on the true nature of his relationship with Baek Na-Kyum. He felt jealousy during that night, he was very protective as well. 
(Chapter 52) His sexuality had already become an expression of his love, although the main lead was still unaware of his own feelings. That’s why I come to the conclusion, chapter 52 was actually revealing Yoon Seungho’s monogamy, although it looked the opposite. And this becomes truly visible, when the gangrape was about to occur. He felt no urge, when he was with the guests, yet the moment he brought the artist to the bedchamber, he couldn’t stop himself from kissing his loved one. 
(chapter 54) He was definitely longing for his warmth. This explicates why the noble got so infuriated, when he was confronted with the consequence of his bad decision: 
(chapter 54) the artist was on the verge to be no longer monogamous, as he would be tasted by other aristocrats. In this scene, the lord would have indeed become a client and pimp, if he hadn’t chased away his guests. Although the painter was indeed upset afterwards about this incident
(chapter 55), deep down he sensed that his master had protected him. This night was important for the main lead: he was forced to admit his own feelings for the painter. Therefore, we could say that the issue with the prostitution was solved after chapter 54. Yoon Seungho thought that the moment he confessed, the painter would get scared and run away, but it didn’t happen. Why? Love among men and especially between a brutal noble and a commoner, was a taboo, like Min had underlined. Secondly, if the lord had indeed feelings for him, he had behaved like a beast during that night. He had mistreated Baek Na-Kyum. In his mind, the artist would never accept him.Besides, the painter had clearly denied the affection from the main lead. In his eyes, the painter’s words were indicating a rejection. 
(chapter 54) Thus I conclude that Yoon Seungho and Baek Na-Kyum had come to an implicit agreement: they had a master-servant relationship
(chapter 56), although Baek Na-Kyum started perceiving himself as a domestic from chapter 51 on again. He kept following the head-maid 
and Kim 
(chapter 51) in order to help them. Therefore the readers could witness the return of the white headband in chapter 52: his task was to paint for his master.
(Chapter 52) 
(chapter 62) here, he whispered to Baek Na-Kyum that he adored him), he would bind the artist to himself. 
(chapter 63), exactly like he had wished in chapter 49. The only difference is that this time, the painter was here for the lord’s pleasure. The roles had been switched again. As the manhwaphiles can perceive, the noble and painter had a similar reaction: they both tried to deny the existence of love in their relationship. That’s the reason why the noble stopped the artist from confessing: 
(chapter 63) They just had a sexual relationship which could provoke pleasure, but that was it. But in order to ensure that the artist wouldn’t run away again, he used sex to “tame“ Baek Na-Kyum. If the main lead could procure multiple climaxes to the artist, then the latter was forced to admit that only Yoon Seungho could be his “partner“. This explicates why the noble kept pointing out how the artist would react to his lover’s body. 
(Chapter 63) 
(chapter 64) He was moaning and would ejaculate constantly thanks to the main lead. Yet, during this second marathon, the noble was actually deceiving himself. 
(Chapter 62) 
(Chapter 65) This shows that the painter had gained a new position: he was indeed a favored servant. He was allowed to spend the night in his lover’s bed and he could see the lord getting dressed. 
(Chapter 65) The slight change was that now the main lead was aware of this. This truly exposes the lord’s affection for the artist. He might have treated him like a plaything in the shed, in reality he had attempted to show “his skills“ as a lover. He had licked him, bit him and the painter had felt pleasure, though he kept saying no! This is not surprising that Yoon Seungho had denied the kiss in the study. 
(Chapter 64) Because that’s how he had been deceived that night in the study. 
(Chapter 49) Baek Na-Kyum had silenced him with the kiss, as the main lead was about to protest. 
(chapter 65) What caught my attention is that the painter’s disappearance mirrored the lord’s wrongdoing. Lee Jihwa and the main lead had both kidnapped the artist. That’s why I believe that when he heard Heena’s words in the study
(chapter 68), the noble could only come to the following conclusion: he could only let the painter choose his destiny. But the moment the artist decided to remain by his side, he needed to change Baek Na-Kyum’s position in the mansion. He was no longer a servant, but a noble guest. Hence the lord tied the scarf like aristocrats did. 
(chapter 69) Consequently, we could say that the painter had a similar status than Jung In-Hun. Yet, there was a huge difference: the owner of the mansion was now acting like the painter’s servant. Hence Deok-Jae’s words came true: 
(chapter 46). 
(chapter 71). Why? It is because the lord made the decision that the painter chose him, then this means that he became his wife, though at the end of season 2, he was not thinking about marriage yet. He was not aware of this perception. By becoming his official partner, the spouse obtains the status of his husband: nobility. This explicates why the lord ate with his lover 
(chapter 74) and allowed him to smoke. Then in season 3, he gave him ladies-in-waiting in order to give him some company. 
(Chapter 78) He even gave him the music box, which was mistaken as a dowry. However, the problem is that the painter was still fighting his own feelings for the protagonist due to Heena noona’s words and past experience with the scholar. He feared that this new situation was too beautiful to be true, hence he thought that the lord’s feelings would fade away. But there was another reason for doubting the lord’s affection: there was no sex. 
(chapter 74) The painter had come to associate sex with love too. Yet, the moment he relived his trauma, he only found comfort and safety in the lord’s embrace. 
(Chapter 76) The main lead didn’t reject the painter’s urge for a hug in front of commoners. At no moment, Yoon Seungho felt embarrassment. He treated him like a special treasure. That’s how the painter came to realize that Yoon Seungho‘s love for him was true and genuine. Consequently, he decided to rely on him and to trust him. That’s why in this panel, the painter closed his eyes: 
(chapter 76) We could say that he was reminded of his own past. When he was a child, he sensed love through hugs and caresses. Since the painter could feel the lord’s genuine affection and warmth, he recognized that even when there was no sex, love was present. All his senses made him perceive the lord’s love: 
(chapter 76) His words showed his care and concern, then he bought him an expensive music box. 
(Chapter 76) 
(Chapter 80) And now, you comprehend why the painter didn‘t confess during that night. He got interrupted. The kiss was the symbol for their love. Thus it is no coincidence that just after his confession,. 
(Chapter 94) the painter initiated a long and sensual kiss with his “husband“. 
(Chapter 95) Since the painter had received caresses and embraces in his childhood, he came to view the kiss as the symbol for true love. And note that the kisses exchanged in the gibang were full of passion and love. This was the perfect combination of love and sex. 
(Chapter 95) 
(Chapter 96) This shows that Yoon Seungho has always longed for a pure and spiritual love in the first place. His sexual preferences were already palpable in the last love session (season 2): 
(chapter 72) We could say that he discovered all his sexual preferences thanks to the painter. 
(Chapter 80) But he failed due to the intervention of the butler and other schemers. Besides, the whispering of „Kyumah“ could only make his heart race. Let’s not forget that his painting in the sand 
(chapter 1) externalized his own philosophy: love and sex can’t be separated. Note that the couple is is hugging and kissing at the same time! 😍 This picture will represent the peak of their love! Striking is that when the couple confirmed their mutual affection, they did in the kisaeng house, the symbol for prostitution. This truly exposed that Yoon Seungho had been treated like a male night servant in the past. .
(chapter 99) 
(chapter 102) This means that he is still viewing himself as a low-born. But note that contrary to the past, Baek Na-Kum is now wearing a hanbok and he has no other clothes. Thus I am deducing that the painter’s next lesson is to drop his notion that he is a commoner. He will be taught to view himself as an equal to Yoon Seungho. Only when he has internalized that there is no gap between him and his lover, then he will be able to address him as “Seungho-YA!“ At the same time, both protagonists will come to realize that they can express their love differently. Poetry, painting and more importantly through their desire to protect their loved one. The lord will start protecting Baek Na-Kyum more actively, just like the painter will decide to show more interests in his lover’s skills and past life. Baek Na-Kyum will feel responsible for the bloodshed in the shaman’s house. In my opinion, the lord will confide to him what happened to Min and the other nobles. I am assuming this, for the lord remained silent, when the messenger of his father came to the mansion. He didn’t want to scare his lover because of his brutal outburst. 
(chapter 84)
The trigger for the change is the noble’s words. The latter keeps talking to the painter asking for an reply. Hence in my eyes, there are glimpses of love the moment Baek Na-Kyum said this: 
It sounded like a confession, hence the seme became more passionate: 
Here the lord acted like a client. Yet, notice that the lord is speaking again forcing to express himself. And the moment the painter cried and started voicing his own opinion, the sexual encounter was affected. 
(chapter 49) An expression of love and affection, but the painter rejected it, as he mistrusted his own judgement. He couldn’t help thinking of the learned sir’s fake embrace. Striking is that despite the rejection, the painter kissed and hugged back his lover
(chapter 49), which made the lord believe that he could only get embraced by the painter, if they had sex. 
. Although the second sex marathon starts like a pure sex session, the moment the painter calls Yoon Seungho differently
However, due to his own insecurities and fear, the noble still can’t trust the artist’s words, therefore there’s no confession. 
, it is just that both main leads were in denial. 
(Chapter 58) Thus he should become responsible for him. Yoon Seungho was unconsciously trying to push the painter to reciprocate his feelings, an imitation of Lee Jihwa‘s confession. Nevertheless, the painter remained silent, therefore it meant that his love was still denied. That’s why it stands more under the sign of dream and illusion. Consequently, the night in chapter 70, 71, 72 and 73 contrasts so much to the one from chapter 58. This time, it symbolizes the lord’s pure love. As such, the sex is already a real expression of love. That’s why the lord asked to be called intimately: Seungho-Ya 
(chapter 72) On the other hand, this love session was strongly intertwined with the notion of forgiveness and punishment as well. This is important, it reveals that Yoon Seungho had internalized that sex was the expression to redeem himself. He had been tasked in the past that if he desired to obtain “forgiveness“, then he should have sex. And by comparing all these sexual encounters, I came to the following conclusion: the lord’s words definitely contributed to change the nature of the sex session, just like the hug. 
In chapter 66, he had a flashback, hence he couldn’t witness his lord’s attention and care.
But the lord discovered this kind of embrace, when he helped the painter in chapter 53: 
That’s how the noble experienced the embrace as a source of comfort and affection. Therefore you can comprehend, why I wrote above that the painter was teaching the lord how to love properly, but also why the embrace became the symbol for love in the lord‘s eyes. He had never been embraced before by a man. And Lee Jihwa had recognized the true signification of this gesture, when he spied on the couple (chapter 43). That‘s how he knew the friend‘s biggest desire: and was deeply hurt after this discovery 
(Chapter 57) However, this shows that Yoon Seungho is a quick learner, because he knew what to do, when the painter was in pain and destress. At the same time, it explains why he could fake the embrace in chapter 62: 
(chapter 102) The artist was forgiving his lover! Love represents selflessness, tolerance, forgiveness, warmth, affection and assistance which is transmitted by the embrace. Now, you understand why Yoon Seungho was still not satisfied after the sex session in the study, he was longing for the hug. 
(Chapter 84) In his unconscious, he knew that if the artist hugged him, he would have forgiven him. But he had no idea about it, thus he couldn’t suggest this. So far, he had experienced the embrace from the artist while having sex. Deep down, he had already internalized the embrace to forgiveness. So we could say that the absence of the embrace in this scene was the lord‘s punishment for the fake hug in the shed. And the painter let him discover the true nature of a warm embrace: 
(chapter 88) This is not surprising that this hug was not connected to sex at all. Yet it moved the lord so deeply. As the manhwalovers could sense it, season 3 was focused on love and sensuality. During that season, the couple was able to voice about their sexual desires and their preferences. 
(chapter 91)
(Chapter 86) No one close to him had grabbed his hand in order to show their support. This gesture in the picture embodies abandonment. On the other hand, the painter had been the first one to take his hand and to swear “loyalty“. 
(Chapter 30) The joined hands were repeated in season 3 , the only difference is that this time, Baek Na-Kyum was doing it willingly. 
(Chapter 88) The symbol for support, company and responsibility.
and his request for help are strong indications that Baek Na-Kyum was now accepting his affection. He was now trusting the noble, hence he revealed an important clue about the abduction. 
(chapter 41) Under this perspective, it becomes understandable why the couple neglected these pictures. They were all devoid of affection, it was more about prostitution and battle! And here is now the question? Where are these drawings? 
(chapter 73) Here, the relevant word is “enter”, an equivalent for invade. 
(chapter 73) Mess is a synonym for chaos and wreck. 
(chapter 73) In the third panel, Yoon Seungho is implying that the painter just has to call him Seungho-Ya, and he will stop immediately. Strictly speaking, he is referring to the saying: your wish is my command. 
(chapter 73) Strangely, the word “bow” has two significations: a ribbon or a weapon. 
(chapter 73) In the fifth image, Yoon Seungho actually means seduction, yet he utilized the idiom “provocation”. Finally, we have Yoon Seungho’s favorite expression “fret”. During this night, he keeps mentioning it in connection to the painter: 
(chapter 73) I have to confess that in this situation, I can’t help myself associating this idiom to an anxious animal trying to escape. Now, I would like to sum up all the expressions the main lead employed: enter, mess, word as a synonym for command, bow, provoke and fret. As you can observe, they are all connected to war and conquest. However, since the lord dropped his armor for good, I believe that the aristocrat is thinking about something else: hunting, which coincides with his second hobby. 
(chapter 41) Baek Na-Kyum is his prey, and the lord is trying to catch his heart through sex. However, Yoon Seungho’s attitude is not consciously done, he is not aware that he is speaking like a hunter. More astonishing is that the painter’s vocabulary mirrors his lover’s: 
(chapter 73) The word spot is a synonym for target and prey. 
(chapter 73) the target is wounded (“it hurts”) and tied up. Even Yoon Seungho’s words are referring to a wound, as if the animal was bleeding to death 
(chapter 73) , as it keeps leaking 
(chapter 73) His actions prove that he is definitely in a hurry.
(chapter 42) And observe that this chapter confirms my interpretation. First, the noble has a similar facial expression 
exposing that he has to work hard in order to please his lover. He is still clinching his jaw, however the manhwaphiles can detect two huge differences: the mouth is more open and he is now blushing. This shows how much this hunt is touching his heart. And the comparison makes me realize that Yoon Seungho’s final sexual emancipation could be symbolized, when he moans his lover’s name while having an orgasm. That’s why we have the lord calling the painter so affectionately (Na-Kyum-Ah) before the second round. 
(chapter 73) showing that he was serious with his saying: Your wish is my command. In addition, he wanted to demonstrate that he hadn’t forgotten his promise: not to scare him. 
and a breather. 
(chapter 73) The noble and Baek Na-Kyum’s desires stand in opposition to the artist’s weakened physical condition. The latter can’t physically keep up, hence he faints at the end.
(chapter 73) Yet, I doubt that this will be noticed by the aristocrat. He is definitely too shocked by the incident. His lover fainted. In my eyes, there is no ambiguity that Yoon Seungho will panic again. He has three reasons for that:
(chapter 32) He felt so remorseful and was so worried that he ran away, too scared to face the painter and assume his responsibilities. However, he made sure that a physician was fetched. This terrible experience explicates why the lord panicked in chapter 50. He envisioned for one moment that he had overdone it again. 
The noble had such huge pangs of conscience that he couldn’t forget the painter’s poor condition. Hence he desired to verify if he had recovered in the bathroom.
(chapter 72) He was worried, but the painter reassured him. In truth, the heavy breathing was caused by a climax, which the artist tried to hide from his lover. Therefore, there’s no doubt that after this chapter, the noble will question his behavior again. As a hunter, he overestimated the strength of his “prey”. Moreover he will realize that Baek Na-Kyum’s words contributed to this incident. Let’s not forget that Yoon Seungho was following the artist’s request. 
(chapter 73) This time, the painter’s exhaustion occurred due to both protagonists. That’s why Yoon Seungho will realize that he has to become more responsible and can’t just give the whole responsibility to Baek Na-Kyum. He should have paid more attention to the artist’s health and physical condition. And Kim took advantage of the situation. Thus from that night on, the lord kept his distance from his lover. From my point of view, the valet used these expressions against the main lead. He had been targeting the artist, turning him into a prey, hence the painter could not refused. Kim’s MO has always been to mix cause and consequences. Besides, since he heard such words, he could only have a negative impression. The manhwaphiles shouldn’t forget that the valet is a pessimistic person due to “fortunetelling”. [For more read the essay “Fortunetelling”] As you can see, due to this incident the main lead learned another important lesson: consent. Therefore the lord said this later 
(chapter 75) 
(chapter 79) In the second case, he made sure that both were on the same page. He had felt coerced. Through this fainting, the main lead became more careful and responsible for both of them. The problem is that he was still influenced by his past experience: sex is like a battle… which was now transformed into a hunt. 
. (chapter 15) Secondly, Yoon Seungho repeats similar expressions: 
(chapter 14) And this is how I made the connection with this love session, as I was paying attention to the words. 
(chapter 14) It didn’t happen, because he was selfless… no, this was the consequence of Jihwa’s attitude who did nothing to “seduce” his friend. He refused to kiss him
(chapter 14), but like he explained, his visit was because he was giving in to Yoon Seungho’s ways. But we have to question ourselves: who wanted whom here? The second lead did visit his friend, as he was seeking his company for sex. He could have refused, as his friend never forced him, but he did not. Moreover, the lord made it clear that Jihwa was just coming for sex and nothing more, yet the childhood friend never denied it. 
, he never allowed him to see his weak side. In addition, Jihwa’s words were full of criticisms.
This is not surprising that Yoon Seungho was behaving in a similar way. He was reflecting the second lead’s behavior. In my eyes, Jihwa treated his friend like a real sex toy who was there to pleasure him, hence the fellatio is done to prepare the penetration. That’s why there’s no real exchange, the lord is very passive as well during the blowjob. He feels nothing at all 
. When the sex session started, he seemed to be in a hurry too
(chapter 15) However, Jihwa never truly invested his energy and effort to woo his childhood friend’s heart. This is no longer surprising why the second lead felt so lonely, even during their intimate time. Yet the irony was that the head-kisaeng was treated like a tool for Jihwa’s pleasure, and the latter never realized that. 
(chapter 72) Baek Na-Kyum’s words and reactions are the reason why the lord is so affected. But unlike in chapter 14, the painter asks for his lover’s help showing that making love implies the involvement of two persons and not just one. Like I had written in a previous analysis, the lord is discovering that giving pleasure to his lover is also receiving. Hence he blushes and becomes more passionate.
Bebebisous33s' analyses in K-Dramaland and Manhwas 