Protected: Painter Of The Night: Yoon Seungho’s erections (second version)
Tag: Chapter 8
Protected: Painter Of The Night: Baek Na-Kyum’s orgasms (second version)
Protected: Painter Of The Night: Peace and Love ☮️ (second version)
Painter Of The Night: The Light 💡in the Heart❤ (second version)
This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents: https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/
It would be great if you could make some donations/sponsoring: Ko-fi.com/bebebisous33 That way, you can support me with “coffee” so that I have the energy to keep examining manhwas. Besides, I need to cover up the expenses for this blog.
I would like to thank Luzy 😉again for pushing me to ponder more about chapter 70 and its significance.
(chapter 70) When you look at the panel, you’ll observe that Baek Na-Kyum is represented by three white candles, while on the lord’s side there are just two white bougies. Since the color white symbolizes purity, this picture exposes that both protagonists are not just healing, but also getting less selfish and more open. Nonetheless, the noble’s purification is not complete yet. Here, I would like the manhwaphiles to keep in mind that since 3 is often associated with order, perfection, completion, reconciliation or fecundity due to the fusion of 1 and 2, it explicates why 3 is considered as magical and mystical. On the other hand, the number 2 symbolizes not only duality (light-darkness; ying-yang), but also balance and companionship. It is also related to kindness, and reflects a quiet power of judgment. At the same time, it indicates the need for planning and boundaries in order to keep the balance. And now, the readers can grasp why I view this panel as a confirmation that the master’s carthasis isn’t finished. In chapter 70, he has finally dropped his armor, this just means that he has finally abandoned father Yoon’s doctrines for good. But let’s not forget that Yoon Seungho’s life has not only be determined by father Yoon, but also by Kim, his surrogate father. Hence he is still under his influence.
1. The butler’s principles
But what are Kim’s rules?
(chapter 23) Ignorance is a blessing for him, because it allows him to let his master to be in the dark. That’s why the master relied on the valet all this time. Kim was his eyes and ears, therefore certain rumors didn’t reach the noble’s ears. 
(chapter 18) On the other hand, the butler let him know about this gossip. 
(chapter 22) Since Yoon Seungho perceives himself as cultured, because he reads so much, he could only laugh about this rumor. However, he never realized the origin of these gossips. The valet utilized the rumors in order to deceive everyone, including the main lead. That’s why Kim could only judge “ignorance as a blessing”, because it helped him to manipulate the staff, the town folks and the nobles. He had an interest to create a bad image about Yoon Seungho. This helped him to keep the main character in isolation and in the dark. Moreover, it reinforced the lord’s dependency on his assistant. In order to corroborate my interpretation, I will use a panel reflecting the true nature of their relationship: 
(chapter 11) Observe that the valet is not portrayed with eyes. This is not just an indication of the butler’s lie. The valet’s eyes became the master’s. This signifies that the words and the vision of the valet became the noble’s reality. At the same time, the noble’s mouth is closed and his hands are not present either. Note, he is getting dressed by his own valet. As a conclusion, he is entirely relying on Kim. He has no mouth, no hand, no ear and no eye. Everything belongs to the butler. This single picture exposes the butler’s true powers. The lord was totally deprived of all his senses and his own body, a real puppet. And this interpretation leads me to the following question: Who killed the servant in chapter 1? In my eyes, the noble was just the executioner, while the butler was the judge. Why do I see it like that? First, note that in the scene, the main lead has no eye 
(chapter 1) and he doesn’t want to know about the painter’s reasons for not painting any longer. I know, some readers might reject this idea, but I would like them to remember that we see the butler acting like a judge in front of the doctor, that’s why the commoner begs the valet (“Are you trying to have me killed”).
(chapter 65) He uses Yoon Seungho’s power, yet the latter is described as a killer. In chapter 1, Yoon Seungho was the epitome of ignorance (narrow-minded, blind and deaf) 
(chapter 1) and the butler didn’t need to be by his side, as he had a real control over the lord’s hands, eyes and ears. Now you understand why Kim really treasures ignorance. Simultaneously, the valet values knowledge, as it procures him power. - Don’t take it to heart
(chapter 50) This idiom doesn’t only imply to ignore your feelings, but also to deny the existence of your heart. If the noble has no emotions, then he can be the perfect puppet. This explicates why Yoon Seungho had a relapse after this conversation. Despite his warning, the master did listen to the butler’s advice. - Act, as if nothing happened
(chapter 65) That’s why there is no sincere apology. 
(chapter 65) - “It’s none of my business”
(chapter 65). He prioritizes his own life. He is not interested in people’s passion and well-being. He doesn’t care about people’s motivations. The latter just become relevant, the moment they affect his life. He needs to know about people’s behavior and thoughts for his manipulations in order to protect his quiet life. - He hates trouble and scandal,
(chapter 65) therefore any incident must be covered up. At the same time, it implies as well that everything must be done in the shadow. That’s why without any spectator, he removes the snowman embodying the painter. The final panel contain all the butler’s doctrines. He will erase everything related to the past, acting as if nothing happened. It doesn’t matter, if someone gets destroyed in the end, because on the surface, it will look like he just cleared a way. He gives the impression that he helped the persons concerned, not taking into consideration how his actions and decisions will affect others. If someone has to pay the price for this, then so be it, as long as it doesn’t disturb his life. From my point of view, this scene is full of symbolism. From my perspective, he is ruthless and even willing to dirty his hand to a certain extent, since he is using a broom. However, this gesture exposes too that he is not directly soiling his hands. This is the reason why he is never directly involved with people’s wrongdoings. He will just push others to commit wrongdoings with remarks. They have to act according to his own thoughts and benefit. This interpretation is not exaggerated, if you compare this scene with Deok-Jae’s misdeed in chapter 46. The vicious servant used his own feet to ruin the artist’s creation 
or he pushed the painter with his own shoulder. 
(chapter 46) At the same time, with this new approach, it helps to understand why the butler’s evilness was never caught. He could always feign ignorance with such a behavior and was never directly involved. - And this leads to the following observation. Kim’s final rule is to utilize others in order to achieve his goal. The butler allowed Jihwa to torment the painter three times (10
, 17, 59). He also allowed the vicious servant Deok-Jae to betray Yoon Seungho and plan a murder
(chapter 51). He hoped that Heena noona would take the painter away 
(chapter 68) and he is now expecting that Min organizes a second abduction while framing others: Nameless, Heena noona and Jihwa.
After exposing the butler’s doctrines, I would like to describe the impact of these rules over Yoon Seungho’s life, and they slowly disappeared or diminished.
2. Yoon Seungho’s life under these rules
- First, the rule “don’t take it to heart” was completely abandoned in chapter 58, because he was confessing his love to the painter properly:
(chapter 62) Here, the noble stated that he adored the painter). This means that the light and warmth had finally reached the lord’s heart, which is also mirrored by the light in the panel. But the problem is that after the low-born’s disappearance, the master had the impression, he had been betrayed and abandoned. Hence he became enraged and blinded by his own wound. This is a sign that he definitely took it to heart. Moreover, we shouldn’t forget that despite the incident at the barn, the noble was not even able to stick to the rule, treating the artist like a sex toy. In the end, Yoon Seungho brought him to his own bed, indicating that he considered him as his partner. To sum up, the noble was still not honest to himself exposing the valet’s influence. - The longer the painter remained by his side, the more the main lead caused trouble and scandal (rule 4). First, it started with the nobles’ humiliation in chapter 8 and 18.
. Then another scandal appeared, when the lord punished the staff for not following his order (chapter 30).
As you can see, the uproar remained within the mansion in season 1. This is the reason why the noble retreated in chapter 30, when he was pressured by the other aristocrats. 
(chapter 33) Here, he was definitely avoiding any scandal. He was running away, although he tried to deceive the nobles by declaring that the painter would belong to him. And during the second season, the readers can observe a progression, the scandal and uproar is now reaching the town (chapter 64) 
. Thereby the climax was reached in chapter 67, when Yoon Seungho visited the Lees’ mansion. For the first time, he was confronting a noble and didn’t fear to cause a scandal, when he showed up with a sword and didn’t even remove his shoes. 
(chapter 67) - As for the principle “act, as if nothing happened“, the manhwaphiles can detect that it is still present in the lord’s life, because he still doesn’t judge his action in the barn as a wrongdoing.
(chapter 70) And this confession could be used against the lord later, hence after that night, Yoon Seungho kept his distance from his lover. Thus he said this to his lover in chapter 75 
and later asked if the painter was truly resisting. Slowly, he had internalized that consent was central: 
(chapter 79) But this doesn’t signify that this doctrine had completely vanished. For me, it has been gradually weakened, the moment the lord started feeling remorse. The problem is that he still relied on the butler to correct his wrongdoings. That’s why he sent the valet to the artist in chapter 12 or left the artist behind in chapter 33. He ran away from his responsibility 
(chapter 33) and let Kim take the burden. Yet the more time passed on, the more the noble took his responsibility. He protected him from the maids and decided to buy him better clothes. This is no coincidence that in chapter 40, he implied to the painter that the latter could now rely on him. This progression is visible, when he took care of the painter in chapter 55. He covered him 
(chapter 55) and watched over him during the night. But this principle will be truly abandoned, the moment the lord apologizes properly, and this expectation was proven correct, as the real apology took place in season 3. 
(chapter 102) Nevertheless, for me, he truly changed a lot from episode 70, because there he expressed regrets for the first time
in front of the painter. Notice that in episode 71, we had a semi-apology, for he was admitting his mistakes: 
(chapter 71) The problem is that in the bathroom, he chose the wrong words. Hence the painter could only misunderstand him and pushed his hand away. While the manhwaphiles could witness his huge pangs of conscience, the painter never did. He was either unconscious (chapter 32) 
or asleep 
(chapter 50) or blind or deaf
(chapter 49). And little by little, the lord learned how to apologize to his lover. In season 3, he admitted his wrongdoing right away. 
(chapter 82) Then later he tried to redeem himself. 
(chapter 84) Note that here, he was doing everything himself. He was no longer relying on Kim. Hence in the first version, I had voiced that the lord would apologize to Baek Na-Kyum, after the second abduction had been solved. And this expectation became a reality. The lord felt definitely huge pangs of conscience. (chapter 102) He knew that Baek Na-Kyum had been targeted. Yet he thought that by just warning his childhood friend, the problem was solved. He didn’t desire to cause too much trouble. However, I believe that after this crime, the noble will realize that he needs to take matters into his own hands. He can no longer live like that, he needs to become more reliable and not to fear scandal. We have another clue for this theory, the painter’s question: 
(chapter 102) He is tasked to investigate how this tragedy could take place. Why did they get separated for so long. - “Ignorance is a blessing“
- with to utilize others in order to achieve his goal: Yoon Seungho praised Kim in that scene
(chapter 23), because he liked keeping people in the dark as well. We had a perfect example with the deal between Jung In-Hun, the painter and the protagonist. First, Yoon Seungho gave the scholar the impression that the former was just an uncultured fool, whereas in truth the low noble was the one deceived, because Yoon Seungho was giving him just an empty promise. At the same time, the rich noble lied to the painter, when he claimed that Jung In-Hun had come to see him. 
(chapter 7) However, it backfired on Yoon Seungho the moment the latter saw the painter’s reactions. He would run to his former teacher immediately, leaving the main character behind. Then he smiled to Jung In-Hun 
(chapter 7) and blushed in his presence. That’s the moment Yoon Seungho’s heart was moved, justifying the words in chapter 63: 
(chapter 63) No one has ever questioned how the master could treasure the artist’s smile so much? One might say that the first smile occurred in chapter 40
(chapter 40), but as you know, each event happens twice during the same season. So the lord experienced it much earlier. That’s why I believe that the first smile in chapter 7 played a huge role. The incident marked the return of the aristocrat’s jealousy, which had been buried for a long time. That’s why Yoon Seungho decided to reveal his plan. He hoped that with this new approach, Baek Na-Kyum would perceive him as a benevolent lord and look at him differently. He hoped that Baek Na-Kyum would smile for him. This explicates why the lord underlined the importance of connections and wealth. 
(chapter 7) Note that at the end of the chapter, he treated the painter as a real guest. He invited him to his bedchamber officially. 
(chapter 8) And observe that the noble was here smiling, he was already imitating the artist. This explicated too why not only his moves in this chapter were contradicting each other, but also Kim was introduced here for the first time. And note that from that moment, the lord never tried to trick the painter afterwards. Like I have already pointed out, the incident at the pavilion was definitely organized by the butler. And with this example, the manhwaphiles can see that the lord was applying the 6th rule as well, but dropped it due to the low-born’s reaction. This is not surprising why this manipulation ended up causing more and more pain. Yoon Seungho had brought him upon himself, revealing how the first doctrine “ignorance is not a blessing“. With this new observation, I perceive the episode 7 as a first major turning point. The lord was dropping the 6th rule (to utilize others in order to achieve his goal). However, this doesn’t mean that he abandoned the first doctrine. Quite the opposite… it took him a long time to realize why he couldn’t achieve his goal. In my opinion, the master started changing in chapter 67. Contrary to chapter 33
, Yoon Seungho couldn’t bear to hear how people would talk behind his back: a sodomizer and a beast who corrupted Lee Jihwa and others.
(chapter 67). Note that for the first time, the lord decided to defend himself
, correct people’s perception about him, which he never did before (chapter 18, 22, 57
). This coincides the return of the lord’s hearing and speech abilities. In chapter 67, he is using his own ears and mouth, he is no longer relying on the butler’s help. What the lord imagined to perceive as help was just an illusion. However, I believe that the lord decided to drop the first principle in chapter 68
, when he heard the conversation between Baek Na-Kyum and Heena noona. Observe that he is listening behind the door, as if he was spying, which I perceive as another evidence for Kim’s spying activities. Nevertheless, this was never the main lead’s intention, hence he left quietly. Yet the painter’s words did push the lord to abandon the butler’s first principle. But what did he hear exactly? Here, I have to admit that I can’t be 100% sure, but I think that he heard the painter’s confession, because in chapter 70, Yoon Seungho asked the painter, if the latter was afraid of him 
(chapter 70). And note that when the painter confessed, he externalized his fear. 
(chapter 68) But what caught my attention is that when we see the lord’s feet in front of the door, we have to keep in mind, Yoon Seungho was not able to see the painter’s tears. He could only hear his words. Consequently he was relying on his own ears. However, this doesn’t signify that Yoon Seungho is blind. In my opinion, in this precise moment Yoon Seungho was able to envision Baek Na-Kyum’s tears, because he was forced to use his mind’s eye. Then with this new perspective, we have a new version of chapter 3
. However, the huge difference is that Yoon Seungho’s mind’s eye is no longer focused on himself, but on the painter. This explicates, why the master decided to retrieve and to give him space. Without seeing his face, he could sense that there was affection, because the painter was crying. The readers should recall that the painter’s tears have always had a huge impact on the noble, because they healed his eyes, hand and heart. The manhwaworms can comprehend why the lord chose to let the painter determine his own fate. The presence of tears and the painter’s voice were able to remove the lord’s veil on his eyes and ears for good. I would like to remind the manhwaphiles that in chapter 68, Kim tried to destroy the lord’s own judgement by recurring to gaslighting and distorting the past. [For more explications, read this essay: https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2021/01/30/painter-of-the-night-heroes/ ] In other words, the discussion in chapter 68 represented the most important battle between the master and his domestic, where the latter wanted the main lead to lose his sight and hearing for a second time. However, the butler failed. The irony is that people perceived the argument as the butler’s victory, while in truth it should be judged as the valet’s loss of power. What Kim didn’t expect is that with his manipulations, he encouraged the main lead to rush to the painter’s study. The butler never expected that the lord would stop right in front of the door and listen to the conversation. For me, this marked the return of the lord’s senses. This is the reason why the lord is able to hear the door opening and the commoners leaving the study, 
(chapter 69) although he is sitting in his bedchamber. Imagine, he is no longer relying on the butler’s information contrary to chapter 56: 
(chapter 56) With this new approach, the readers can understand why the aristocrat can make such a comment in chapter 70: 
. Therefore I deduce that the butler can no longer control the lord’s body, since he is no longer required to be his eyes, ears and hands. However, this doesn’t mean that Kim is truly defeated. He still controls the staff, especially the male domestics. Here, I would like to make a little disgression. In my opinion, the butler played a huge role in the first abduction. How come that the servants were so sure that the painter had run away? 
(chapter 61) They were not present, since both protagonists were at the physician’s. From my point of view, Kim must have manipulated the servants… he just needed to imply that Baek Na-Kyum had escaped, while in front of Yoon Seungho, he would say the opposite later due to the commoner’s return: 
(chapter 62) There’s no doubt that with the painter’s appearance, he could use the incident to obtain more support from the servants. The painter had caused trouble again, he was responsible for their misery. But since he truly exposed his true nature to the main lead (abusing his authority, criticizing and judging his master), he can no longer appear in front of him. Right now, he has to lie low, hence he needs other people to be his eyes and ears. This explains why the servant is portrayed without eyes either
(chapter 70). The absence of the eyes is an indication that they belong to Kim, just like the lantern indicates that the domestic is acting on the valet’s order. And in season 3, we can observe a similar situation. This time, they faked obedience 
(chapter 99), while they badmouthed their master. 
(chapter 98) Because the lord feared to lose his lover, he didn’t pay attention to the domestic’s insult: 
(chapter 98) But the insult was the proof that they never treated the painter as a part of the household. He was just a spoiled brat. - And since the noble is now using his own body and all his own senses, it becomes clear why the lord is gradually becoming less selfish. He needed to be selfish in the past in order not to become completely alienated. This signifies that he would have lost his own identity. This explicates why his selfishness is slowly vanishing, indicating that the noble is on the verge of dropping rule 4 (“This is not my business“) which embodies selfishness. On the other hand, his selfishness can not completely be eliminated, as long as the butler is by his side. Why? It is because the valet is trying to justify his actions by acting selfless. He lulls the lord in the illusion, he will do anything for Yoon Seungho, and the new scene in the bathroom is the perfect example. Observe that the lord is determined to treat the painter more like a guest, hence he asks his servant to follow the painter to the door. From my point of view, it was not, because he wanted the domestic to keep an eye on the painter, but because he wanted to treat the artist with great respect. Yet, note that the moment the kisaeng leaves her brother and the door closes, the servant’s behavior and tone change drastically. He pressures Baek Na-Kyum
and gives orders
. He is truly rude. We could say that he treats the low-born like a servant, as though he wanted him to feel so little. Kim’s strategy was to remind the painter of his position: he is just a servant, a new version of chapter 52. Remember that Kim’s intention from the start of the second season was always to diminish the artist’s status: he is just a temporally favored servant, nothing more. Striking is that the domestic never says that the lord gave him the order to bring the painter. He uses here a passive sentence “you are to attend to him” which is important. That way, the servant can hide the identity of the person who requested this. And since the lord was looking at the intruder in a rather cold way, I believe that he didn’t expect Baek Na-Kyum.
However, when the door was closed loudly, the lord must have realized that this must have been Kim’s action. The lord didn’t mind, for it looked like the butler was helping him to improve his relationship with the painter. This interpretation was also confirmed in season 3. Yoon Seungho showed no desire to investigate the matter of “Jung In-Hun” or Deok-Jae’s death, for he was too much focusing on his lover. He kept saying that this was not of his concern. 
(chapter 98) However, he was totally wrong here. That’s the reason why the abduction could even take place. Because of the last incident, the main lead is forced to recognize that he needs to investigate the matter, as everything or everyone can affect his life. This is important, because that’s the only way for Yoon Seungho to recognize the butler’s wrongdoings. He encouraged him not to pay attention on others so that he wouldn’t detect his wrongdoings. Thanks this rule, Kim could live freely.
All this leads me to the final observation: since the butler is relying on others, this signifies that these persons become his eyes, ears, mouth and hands. Therefore he becomes dependent on them. This indicates that the valet has switched his position with the noble. And this is relevant, because this announces Kim’s future demise. He will experience himself, how ignorance can’t be a blessing. In chapter 69, they heard from the kisaeng that the painter could write, hence he will take this info as face-value. I am assuming now that he knows that the painter can not read Chinese and will come to the conclusion that he can read Hangeul like any commoner. However, while in the past, I used to think that Kim had asked the domestic can only listen to their exchange, I realized that I was wrong. It was still Kim behind the window. (chapter 70) But he is deprived of his sight. And now, if you look at the conversation in the bathroom, we have to question what information the spy gathers: 
“You refuse to watch” and “Don’t push me away”
This means that the servant will have the impression that the artist is still resisting the lord, especially after hearing that the low-born corrected the lord. However, the spy can’t see what is happening in the room. He can’t observe how the painter is letting the lord caressing his face
(chapter 70), kissing him tenderly 
. That’s why Kim will have the impression that the painter is still not accepting the lord. This explicates why after that night, they were separated. The butler imagined that if they had no longer sex, the artist would feel neglected and believe that the lord had already a change of heart. He hoped that after such a separation, the painter would leave the mansion, exactly like the lord had been encouraged to have a relapse in chapter 50. In my eyes, Kim was slowly viewing the artist as a man consumed by lust. How could he still accept to have sex with Yoon Seungho after the latter had treated him like a sex toy in the shed? The butler couldn’t grasp the protagonists’ thirst for love and warmth.
From my perspective, Kim had already realized the urgency of the situation at the end of season 2. He was on the verge to lose his position. The painter was getting more and more power, while the reality is that Yoon Seungho was slowly regaining his freedom, because he was just owning his own body. This explicates why he is now delicate and treats the painter’s hand as a treasure. 
(chapter 70) Under this new light, it becomes understandable why Kim decided to betray his master and rekindle with Yoon Chang-Hyeon. The punishment was the signal for the valet to switch the alliance.
Therefore as long as the butler remains by the noble’s side, the transformation is not completed. That’s why we still have no proper apology and the lord is not determined to get justice for the artist. Yet, the light has already entered the master’s heart, irradiating his whole body. Consequently, the main lead could finally drop his armor: it melted away. To conclude, the final transformation took place in the mountain which was symbolized by the lord’s tears. 
(chapter 102) From that moment on, the light had now reached the mind. He could drop his self-loathing finally which was the foundation of Kim’s principle. It was okay to cry. These were tears of happiness and relief… He had been able to rescue his lover. This means that Yoon Seungho did everything what the butler rejects: the embrace as a way to console and apologize and the tears as a sign of regret and happiness. But why does the valet abhor them? It is because he could never admit his own mistakes and as such he could never beg for forgiveness.
(doctor Frost, chapter 211) 8chapter 50) Since he has been denying the existence of his heart, there can be no light in the heart. 
(chapter 50) Here, the butler never cried, he just showed pity and sympathy towards Baek Na-Kyum, however he was not speaking from the heart.
And now, I would like to close this analysis with three quotes from the book called “The Light in the Heart written by Roy T. Bennet which inspired me to write this essay, because it illustrates the lord’s metamorphosis:
“Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice (chapter 63/70
). Optimism is a choice (chapter 68/69: the lord recognized that he still had some chance, though he was very scared). Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice (chapter 69
). Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.”
“Don’t Just
Don’t just learn, experience.
Don’t just read, absorb.
Don’t just change, transform.
Don’t just relate, advocate.
Don’t just promise, prove.
Don’t just criticize, encourage.
Don’t just think, ponder.
Don’t just take, give.
Don’t just see, feel.
Don’t just dream, do.
Don’t just hear, listen.
Don’t just talk, act.
Don’t just tell, show.
Don’t just exist, live.”
With this quote, the readers grasp better why the lord was just existing like a ghost in the past before meeting Baek Na-Kyum. He was only a puppet, while he was lulled in the illusion, he was a free spirit haunting an armor. This explicates why he couldn’t feel remorse in the past, why he could neither hear, nor see, nor talk nor dream nor give etc. And since he has promised that he won’t frighten Baek Na-Kyum (chapter 70), he needs to prove it. He will never hurt anyone close to the painter, hence he spared the kisaengs. I have to admit that I have been thinking about the next step: asking the painter to brush his hair. 
This would announce the butler’s complete loss of power. At the same time, it would signify that the lord is showing that he trusts Baek Na-Kyum and is using his hair to woo the painter. And this could definitely correspond to the master’s attitude: his will to open up. Simultaneously, he could express the following wish: he would like to comb his lover’s hair himself encouraging him to have a topknot.
And now, I would like to close this essay with the following quote from Bennet
“We are all different. Don’t judge, understand instead.”
Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for topics or manhwas, feel free to ask. If you enjoyed reading it, retweet it or push the button like. My instagram-tumblr-twitter account is: @bebebisous33. Thanks for reading and for the support, particularly, I would like to thank all the new followers and people recommending my blog.
Painter Of The Night: Desires and communication 📲 (second version)
This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents: https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/
It would be great if you could make some donations/sponsoring: Ko-fi.com/bebebisous33 That way, you can support me with “coffee” so that I have the energy to keep examining manhwas. Besides, I need to cover up the expenses for this blog.
1. The significance of communication
In the essay “Respect and love” I demonstrate that both protagonists aren’t honest to themselves, exposing their lack of self-respect. This is one of the reasons why they keep disregarding each other. While they are hurting each other, they force each other to question their own action and words simultaneously. Hence the readers are witnessing their transformation. Little by little, the protagonists mature and turn into adults. They become more responsible. Their growth coincides with the development of attachment and the realization of their affection. At the same time, this evolution is strongly intertwined with the painter’s sexuality. The latter is making his first sexual experiences, which leads him to slowly accept his homosexuality. Yet he still fears his own strong libido and as such his love for the noble. Therefore till chapter 68, the artist is still dishonest with himself. As the manhwaphiles can see, the painter’s honesty is linked to respect and love. Striking is that both values are dependent on communication.
- “Love without communication is impossible”. from Mortimer Adler
- “Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.” from Fyodor Dostoevsky
2. Communication and relationship
With these quotes, it becomes obvious that communication represents the foundation of a good relationship, where there exist respect, love and trust. Silence or lies stand in opposition to communication, because they create a false perception or an illusion. Since manipulators employ lies by commission or omission, the latter can be judged as weapons. Moreover, unsaid things and deceptions display a lack of trust. That’s why the relationship between the noble and the low-born can only stabilize, the moment they talk to each other properly. Once Yoon Seungho and Baek Na-Kyum reveal their true thoughts and emotions to each other, they not only show trust, but also can discover the true personality of their lover. However, if you pay attention to the evolution of the story, you’ll observe two details:
- Yoon Seungho is the one who keeps talking, revealing his desire to exchange thoughts with the painter. This explicates why the lord was so hurt in chapter 49.
He wanted to communicate (“share what’s on our mind”) with the low-born, but the latter refused, because he just considered the noble as a sex toy to procure him pleasure out of fear to get hurt and deceived again. - The painter is only opening up once confronted with sex and his own sexual desires.
3. Words, sex and its impact on relationship
Now, I would like to elaborate more these observations, hence I will start with the first chapter as illustration. The manhwaphiles should remember that at the tavern, Yoon Seungho was very talkative. 
(Chapter 1) He expressed his genuine admiration for Baek Na-Kyum’s talent and creations. Yet, at no moment the painter noticed the compliments. He had been forced to touch the loins, which shocked him, and then he remembered the lord’s bad notoriety. Therefore all the lord’s good words fell on deaf ears. The painter was more concerned with appearances and rumors than anything else. That’s why the conversation failed. Since Baek Na-Kyum was not interested in the main lead’s feelings, he feigned ignorance first, and lied at the end. 
Striking is that their first conversation was connected to books and sex, therefore this already limited their exchange. Moreover, this first chapter clearly reveals the lord’s interest in the low-born. He not only sent a domestic for the investigation about the mysterious creator, but also asked about his recent whereabouts. And curiosity usually initiates a conversation. But there’s more to it. From my perspective, the main lead felt no longer satisfied with the erotic pictures. He wanted to share his emotions and thoughts, when he looked at them. However, he had no one to talk to, so in his mind, if he met the artist, he could come into a conversation with the creator. That’s why he wanted to invite him in the end. The painting of sex sessions would give him the perfect occasion to discuss with someone.
And observe, when the first session starts, he can’t help himself talking to the artist, while Jihwa remains silent, as he doesn’t pay attention to him. If you read the story again, you’ll sense the master’s strong desire to communicate. When the painter arrives in the bedchamber in chapter 8, the lord welcomes him warmly with a huge smile and speech. 
(Chapter 8) Observe the contrast. The main lead doesn’t reveal his anger towards the noble with the mole, it is not worthy for Yoon Seungho of giving him an explanation for the humiliation. He just smiles 
(Chapter 8) before grabbing him by the topknot. His words and behavior truly display a huge respect and a desire to exchange thoughts and observation.
Moreover, when the master is not talking during the sex sessions, then he is in a locked gaze with the artist.
(Chapter 8) This mirrors the noble’s need to talk and now, you understand why the main lead had to evict the aristocrat with the mole in the end. By requesting to send away the commoner, 
(Chapter 8) he was more or less asking from the host to remain silent. 
(Chapter 8) The latter just had to focus on the guest’s sexual desires which confirms my interpretation that the main lead is treated like a head-kisaeng. Since the noble showed him no respect, then the main character didn’t need to respect him either. But more importantly, the protagonist made sure that he would be treated the same way. He also wouldn’t listen to his words, because the noble with the mole didn’t want to hear him speaking either. Therefore the door is closed, before the man can protest. As a conclusion, the aristocrats only visited him for sex or other pleasures and nothing more, while the noble had to remain quiet. Hence we have a silent main lead in his relapse: 
(chapter 52) However, even here the manhwaphiles can notice the transformation. The guests are no longer here for sex, just for smoking opium and drink wine. That way, the noble doesn’t feel lonely.
And Jihwa was not different from the others. Like Yoon Seungho described it to father Lee, (chapter 67) the childhood friend would only visit him during the night (“used to”). However, it changed the moment the main lead paid a visit to the red-haired noble early in the morning (chapter 3). After that, Jihwa realized that he could also go to his friend during the day (chapter 5 
and 12 
). And now, you comprehend why the lord questioned his presence in the morning and why he assumed that his visit was related to sex in the end. It looks like Jihwa never showed an interest in the lord’s thoughts and emotions too. And there exist two reasons for that. First, he had the impression he knew everything about his lover. 
(Chapter 57) Secondly, there was a risk that the main character could talk about the past and as such mention Jihwa’s betrayal. The lord’s emotions (sadness, anger, pain) represented a huge burden to the red-haired master. 
(Chapter 59)
This illustrates that the lord was never allowed to express his thoughts and emotions, until the artist arrived at the property. And now the readers can comprehend why Yoon Seungho said this in chapter 18: 
(chapter 18) Thanks to the artist’s presence, Yoon Seungho had been able to talk and people would actually pay attention to his presence and words. They started listening to his words. Imagine, one word and the straw mat beating was stopped: 
(Chapter 13) No wonder, why he thanked the painter in chapter 18. He could only be happy, when he confronted his childhood friend, as there was a real exchange for the first time. 
(Chapter 13) Argument is also a form of communication, and it happens between people in a relationship. Not only his words were finally noticed, but also he was able to draw lines to Jihwa. 
By influencing the host with the hope, Yoon Seungho would send away the painter, the childhood friend didn’t recognize that he was attempting to turn the protagonist into a puppet, therefore he could only fail. Moreover, Jihwa had no idea that Yoon Seungho’s true desire was to get close to someone, to engage a honest conversation. Therefore the main lead could only reject the friend’s words and proposition. As a conclusion, with the painter’s arrival, the lord’s words were little by little listened, he was able to communicate more with others: Jihwa, the nobles and the staff. After scolding the maids in the kitchen 
(chapter 38), the head-maid started showing her respect to her lord. But more importantly, he gave her the order personally to bring the painter’s lunch to his study.
(Chapter 46) He could finally voice his thoughts, everything happened thanks to the painter. This explicates why Yoon Seungho kept seeking the artist’s proximity, although the latter kept rejecting him (his escape, his lies, his refusal to paint for him etc…). He had realized that his living conditions had improved despite the struggling with the low-born.
His strong desire to communicate exposes that he had no companion by his side. In my opinion, Yoon Seungho justified his existence as a free spirit in order to hide his loneliness and emptiness. It was his explication why the nobles and Jihwa wouldn’t listen to him and disrespect him. Yet, the real cause for this situation was his traumatic past, where he had been forced to silence. Moreover this explains why he never paid attention to intruders in the end. He didn’t have the impression, he would truly live in that mansion. Besides, because people were supposed to visit him during the night for sex, then he was never expecting visitors during the day. Hence he spent his days smoking in front of the window. 
(Chapter 5) This outlines the main lead’s isolation and loneliness. Simultaneously, with this new approach, the readers grasp why Yoon Seungho couldn’t anticipate to become Min’s target in the end. He noticed Black Heart’s envious gaze 
, (chapter 8) but he didn’t envision what jealousy and greed would provoke. In my eyes, he couldn‘t identify these emotions properly.
The problem is that Baek Na-Kyum refused to converse with the lord. In chapter 4, the artist didn’t allow the main lead to express his opinion about the plagiarized poem. 
(Chapter 4) He was not worthy to comment this poetry, as he was just a man consumed by lust. However, the commoner never asked why the noble would judge the poem so poorly. He already assumed that he was just making fun in order to humiliate the scholar, while in reality the noble wanted to reveal the author’s true personality: Jung In-Hun was just a deceiver. And since he had been hurt by the painter’s comment, he retaliated too: since he was just a commoner, he had no right to criticize the lord.
And now, it is time to focus on the second aspect: Yoon Seungho and Baek Na-Kyum only started communicating properly through sex. The reason is simple: the painter was only honest, when his unconscious revealed his true desires. Right from the start, the artist was sexually attracted by the lord, but he kept denying it. However, the aristocrat did notice the painter’s genuineness in the sex sessions, which could only reinforce his strong attraction towards the low-born. He loved his art, and now he saw that someone was truly perceiving him. 
(Chapter 2) Baek Na-Kyum was the first who made the main lead realize the existence of his body. For the first time, he felt attraction through the gaze and saw something beautiful in himself. And what was the lord‘s immediate reaction? He started talking about his thoughts, though this was more a monologue than a discussion. (Chapter 3)
(chapter 3) Exactly like the painter, Yoon Seungho began talking while having sex. He even formulated his first desire in front of his childhood friend: 
(chapter 3) And now, you comprehend why his relationship with Lee Jihwa was doomed to fail. The red-haired master was more focused on sex and his own sexual emancipation than his lover‘s well-being. 
(Chapter 3) He never asked him why he was behaving so differently. He didn‘t notice that the lord was more communicative.
4. The first real conversation
But let’s return our attention to the main couple. The real conversation between Yoon Seungho and Baek Na-Kyum only starts in chapter 16. Nonetheless, the only one talking is Yoon Seungho. He keeps asking questions about Baek Na-Kyum’s sexuality, waiting an answer from the artist:
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
Here I only selected a few inquiries from the main lead, however what caught my attention is that with his behavior, the noble was putting the artist under pressure. The latter remained silent, but the beholder detect how these questions affect the artist. They actually excite him in reality. Why? It is because the lord’s words incite the painter’s imagination. Note that in the second panel above, he is describing the sex session. And the painter gets really excited, when the noble says this: 
(chapter 16) On the surface, it looks like he is sulking, the reality is that he is already fighting against his urges. The hand is trembling due the arousal. 
While you have the impression, he is bothered by Yoon Seungho, the truth is that the artist is getting more and more excited due the lord’s picturesque questions. Funny is that in this scene, the aristocrat is the more innocent one. He plays with the head-band 
and his “innocence” is truly visible through his facial expressions too: 
. What is the painter’s real sexual desire? We have the answer in this panel: Getting violated by a stranger! In the wet dream in chapter 6, 
(chapter 6) a stranger in form of a shadow enters the artist’s room. The lord’s identity is only discovered at the end. But in his fantasy, the main lead was even grabbing him by the hair. It was definitely not a tender gesture.
He was even caressing him against his will. And note that when Yoon Seungho questions when he got the most excited to the point that he had difficulties to breath, the commoner remembers this image and not the strokes. (Chapter 16) As a conclusion, the artist is actually a person who likes BDSM. This explicates why the painter’s trembling hand was grabbing the shirt in chapter 12 while facing the lord. He was hiding his erection 
(chapter 12) triggered by fear. This new interpretation explains why the artist painted the sex at the pavilion in the end. 
(Chapter 41) If the forced sex had truly traumatized him, he wouldn’t have been able to do so. Furthermore, he questioned the authenticity of the lord’s affection, when he recalled the moment, he was offered to the other nobles. He was upset and offended. 
(Chapter 55) Yet he didn’t even think about the scene at the pavilion for one minute. This means that Baek Na-Kyum only accepts the main lead as his lover. Fear and pain are not perceived as something negative, they can evoke pleasure.
In chapter 16, Yoon Seungho got the painter so excited that he felt the need to run away in order to hide his erection. Striking is that when the lord starts masturbating him, the commoner starts blushing and crying. But these tears and reddening are not the expression of pain, they express the opposite: pleasure. 
(Chapter 16) Moreover, he didn’t get angry at Yoon Seungho for touching his phallus. He got more scared that someone had seen him enjoying the masturbation and I would even say, getting grabbed by force. Therefore the lord got an erection and was so happy at the kisaeng house. Finally, he had been able to talk to the painter. He even got to receive a honest answer for the first time, where he was even called “my lord”: 
(chapter 16) To sum up, Baek Na-Kyum showed a certain respect to the main lead in this chapter. But more importantly, the master was in a good mood, because he kept thinking how he could procure pleasure to the commoner.
5. The secret meaning of „no“
However, he felt a little insecure at the same time, because the commoner had kept saying “no”. That’s why during their first Wedding night, the lord asked him about his first sexual experience: 
(Chapter 21) The painter reveals the truth by replying that he enjoyed it very much, it felt like a dream. As you can see, chapter 21 was a reflection of the episode 16: we had a discussion, where the lord tried to initiate a conversation, tears of joy connected with pleasure, the lord asking to be called “my lord” and the realization of a dream. But we have another evidence that despite his words, he wanted the main lead to continue:
(chapter 16) The commoner’s hand is placed on the shoulder indicating that he is pushing Yoon Seungho to his side. He could have tried to remove the lord’s hand on his phallus, but he didn’t. The hand was even trembling from pleasure. That’s why the second sex marathon shouldn’t be judged as a rape in my opinion, although the painter kept saying no too. First, the painter makes the exact same expression than in chapter 16: 
(Chapter 63) And even the lord notices that the painter is getting more and more excited by the roughness. He keeps describing how the painter is reacting below
(chapter 63) which can only increase Baek Na-Kyum’s arousal, as his words are again very graphic. Note that the lord’s pictorial “filthy” expressions affect the painter deeply, exactly like in his second wet dream: 
(Chapter 63) Therefore I come to the conclusion that in chapter 63, the painter is not crying, because he is really hurt and angry at the main lead. These are tears of pleasure mixed with pain, which is linked to BDSM. That’s why he keeps blushing the whole time. 
(Chapter 63) This explicates why he kept ejaculating, despite saying “no” or recognizing that there was a witness. He felt no longer scared or embarrassed, like in chapter 16, where he ran away to hide. With this new version of the sex marathon, the painter truly discovered his sexual preferences. Therefore, when we see this
(chapter 63), we shouldn’t project our own emotions into the artist: pain and disgust. Remember this: the painter felt his blood running hot, when the lord grabbed his hair violently in his wet dream. (Chapter 6)
And now, you understand why the artist is scared to admit his affection to the main lead. (Chapter 68) He is still scared and embarrassed of his own sexuality. It must have felt strange in that historical period. What caught my attention is that we have two chapters where tears are mixed with pleasure and happiness (chapter 16-21), while we have two chapters where the tears are associated to pain and sadness (25-26; 41-42). Besides, in the last sex session from the first season, the painter was the one asking the lord to be quite rough! 
(Chapter 42) Yet, the noble couldn’t help himself showing tenderness and affection at the end with the passionate kiss. As a conclusion, the second sex marathon contains all these elements: sadness, pain, pleasure, anger and happiness.
6. Yoon Seungho‘s desires
And it is the same for Yoon Seungho. He likes BDSM and cosplay. That’s why he plays with the head-band 
(chapter 16), and in chapter 35 he accepts to be a servant or in chapter 49 a sex toy. Due their different sex sessions, he discovered that he likes being rough too. Therefore he couldn’t enjoy, when the painter was so passive. He recognized that he took pleasure, when the painter was showing resistance too.
(Chapter 63) This explicates why he couldn’t stand the expression “I like it”. This was too insipid. So when he became rough in chapter 48, he truly hoped to provoke tears of happiness caused by the sensation of pleasure.
(Chapter 48) However, since the painter ended up crying and criticizing the lord, he had the impression, he had failed. As you can see, the lord might have had a lot of sexual experiences, yet with the painter, he entered a totally new world: full of warmth and love, yet there was pain connected to pleasure as well. This explicates why he could open up and reveal that his real dream was to make the painter smile (chapter 63), which contrasts so much to Baek Na-Kyum’s dream: cry of happiness.
I deduce that Yoon Seungho discovered BDSM through the painter, and we should see this as a treatment for the sexual abuse. First, he is put in the same position than lord Song. Thus he learned that sex could only be enjoyable, if there was consent. (Chapter 79) Hence people saw the sex session in the shed as rape. Nonetheless, the manhwaphiles shouldn’t forget that Baek Na-Kyum was living in the mansion as a servant. Hence according to Joseon’s social norms, he was in no position to reject the main lead. However, for Yoon Seungho, it was different, for he was a young master. He had a title that was supposed to protect him. Consequently, the main lead can reproach the mysterious lord Song that he never asked for his consent and he would even treat him like a male kisaeng!
However, we shouldn’t forget that right from the start, the lord was seeking for a companion to share his thoughts and emotions. Due to the sex sessions, their honest conversations were limited to sex. First, they started arguing, because their couple had started on the wrong premise. Both were not honest to themselves in reality. Through their discussion, they were forced to listen to each other: chapter 25-26. Yet without any confrontation, they were not able to converse properly. Both of them were hiding something out of fear and pain, that’s why the conversation in chapter 47 failed too. As you can sense, their physical connection was never satisfying for the lord, he always hoped for more and tried to initiate conversations (chapter 35, 39-40, 41, 42). Both needed to learn to trust each other, but it was not possible because of their lack of self-respect.
7. Kim as a fake mediator
Remember that the aristocrat desires to talk to the painter right from the start, and later he wants to share his meals with him. And each time, Kim intervenes. First, he manipulates the lord to visit the artist in his study, well aware what Jihwa has already done. Then in chapter 50, he finally reveals the content of the conversation between Baek Na-Kyum and his scholar. And this conversation happens right after the lord asked to take his meal with the artist. He made sure that their interactions would only be limited to sex. In my opinion, Kim started meddling between the two protagonists, because that way he could refrain them to communicate directly to each other.
“There is only one rule for being a good talker – learn to listen” from Christopher Morley
That way, the butler hindered the painter to discover Yoon Seungho’s true personality. If they didn’t have an opportunity to talk, then the artist couldn’t learn through listening. That’s why the use of aphrodisiac in chapter 36 was actually an act of sabotage. The manhwaphiles shouldn’t forget that in chapter 35 the lord tried to discover the painter’s likes and offered the latter to join him to his room. But in order to ensure that there would be no conversation, Kim warned the artist about the lord’s bad mood. 
(Chapter 36) While, it looked like he was protecting the painter, he was undermining their relationship. He was actually using triangulation.
Triangulation is an approach used by many different people who share one thing in common: insecurity. As a result, they’re willing to manipulate others in harmful ways to get what they want or feel a sense of security in a relationship. Quoted from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-triangulation-in-psychology-5120617
I had described the protagonists as insecure, and Kim could sense these anxieties and took advantage of it. And this is no coincidence that the painter’s love confession took place in the gibang. Kim was not present, and he could only join them much later. As a conclusion, Kim made sure that there would only be sex between them and nothing more. But when he realized that sex would bring them closer, as they started communicating, he separated the couple. They should no longer have sex together. First the valet used the conversation in the library as a justification, 
(chapter 50) Then he utilized the lord’s misconduct in the storage room. He should wait for the painter’s visit in his bedchamber. (Chapter 75) However, the valet could never stop the progression. The irony is that their first deep conversation took place outside the mansion. 
(Chapter 39) Once again, the lord had a teasing attitude, yet he was gentle and considerate. This is not surprising that due to their interaction, Baek Na-Kyum started listening to the lord. He took his questions and advices very seriously (chapter 40). Thus he confronted the learned sir about his future. As the painterofthenightphiles can detect, by communicating they began trusting each other more, and as such showing more curiosity and understanding to their counterpart.
After the kidnapping, the butler imagined that the lord would kill the artist for his abandonment, yet it didn’t happen. In reality, the lord prepared himself the painter’s bed. Then when he went to the barn in order to see what was happening, he heard and saw a painter saying “no”, while the lord was quite rough. So in his mind, after this sex session, the painter would be scared of the lord and would run away. What he saw was violence because of the past. Note when he tried to manipulate the master, he mentioned the main lead’s rape at the barn. 
(Chapter 68) With these words, he was implying that the low-born suffered the same fate than Yoon Seungho, because it looks like that on the surface. He imagined that he would achieve his goal (sending away Baek Na-Kyum) by using his knowledge, but in my opinion the opposite happened, like I had expected. What caught my attention is that the butler only mentioned Yoon Chang-Hyeon 
(chapter 68), as he had sent the painter to the storage room like his father. Yet, at no moment he made an allusion about lord Song, though he saw the sex in the barn as sexual abuse. He was thinking of the pedophile’s crime. He couldn‘t bring up the pedophile for two reasons: As a domestic, he can‘t badmouth the king. Secondly, he has to blame the father, as his own responsibility in Yoon Seungho‘s suffering would come to the surface. Remember my theory: Kim was the one brought the young master to the king thinking that the latter would protect Yoon Seungho.
Yet the problem with BDSM is that the couple needs to set the rules first, and these are strongly intertwined with “respect and love”. They have to communicate. That’s why the moment the painter accepts his affection, he is forced to recognize his own sexual preferences. This is no coincidence that in the bedchamber, Baek Na-Kyum voiced his desires after vowing loyalty to his lover. 
(Chapter 88) Furthermore, the chronology is important. The painter communicated first his thoughts and wishes, before they initiated the love session. 
(Chapter 88) This contrasts to the sex session in chapter 48/49. The lord had used sex in order to force the painter to share what was on his mind. Finally, in the gibang, the painter had talked a lot about his childhood to his lover before kissing his lover. 
(Chapter 94) They had a long conversation, where the lord could ask questions. This conversation ended with a love confession. 
(Chapter 94) This is important, because sex had now a different function. Sex was now a real form of communication, they would share what was on their heart. With their bodies, they would convey emotions. They would use the hand
(chapter 88) or the kiss 
(Chapter 95) so that no misunderstanding would be created. Therefore it is not surprising that even during their love session, they would keep talking, and even express their desires: 
(Chapter 96) And observe that even after the love session, they continued sharing what was on their mind and heart: 
(chapter 97) And now, you comprehend why the schemers had to separate the couple! From this moment on, they would communicate constantly, and this outside sex. Thus when they are in the mountain, they can speak freely. (Chapter 102) They are no longer a noble and a commoner walking together, but a real couple. They are equals sharing their happiness and pain.
However, this doesn’t mean that their love story ends here. This marks only the beginning, because the lord has so much more to show to the painter. Their love will keep growing and affecting other aspects in their life. Moreover, they are now paying attention to what is happening around them (chapter 102) Here, the painter wished to understand why they were separated for so long. This means that Yoon Seungho has to discover the circumstances which led to this tragedy. That‘s how they will realize that the enemies are close to them. The lord has to recognize that he needs to share everything, like for example the discovery of Deok-Jae’s corpse. 
(Chapter 97) As you can see, the topics of their conversation will diverge more and more. I do think that he was incited to let the painter sleep in order to „protect“ him. Yoon Seungho needs to recognize that warning and drawing lines are not enough to protect the loved one. He will have to take real measures to turn his statement (taking responsibility for the painter) into a reality: he will have to fight for his right to happiness. 
Taking the civil service examination only represents one step. Furthermore, appearances can be deceiving. The pure artist is not so “innocent” in the end. He has definitely met his match in Yoon Seungho, though I believe that his role is to heal Yoon Seungho from his PTSD and give him closure. And this can only happen, when the victim of sexual abuse confronts his perpetrators, the old bearded men!
Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for topics or manhwas, feel free to ask. If you enjoyed reading it, retweet it or push the button like. My Tumblr-Reddit-Instagram-Twitter account is: @bebebisous33. Thanks for reading and the support.
Painter Of The Night: A man consumed by lust
This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents: https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/
Feel free to make some donations/sponsoring: Ko-fi.com/bebebisous33 That way, you can support me with “coffee” so that I have the energy to keep examining manhwas.
I would like thank Luzy again for her observations, because her comments inspired me a lot.
What caught my attention is the idiom employed by the painter to describe the wealthy main lead: a man consumed by lust. These words were pronounced, when the commoner criticized the main lead for mocking the poor quality of the poem. Since he was just a man obsessed with sex, he had no right to make fun of the poetry and author. He was worse than Jung In-Hun in his eyes, as he lived in debauchery. Striking is that the low-born kept seeing the lord that way until chapter 47: 
(chapter 48) But strangely, the main lead never realized it, until each time the commoner had to externalize it. How did he not see it before, and how didn’t the noble recognize that the artist hadn’t changed his perception about him in the second season? Thus I will try to answer these two questions in this essay.
I had exposed that Yoon Seungho feared his own image due to his self-hatred. Consequently, it meant that he had to rely on others to get a reflection about himself. However, we have to imagine that neither Kim nor Jihwa nor the other nobles gave him a honest portrait. They had no interest to reveal that he was a man obsessed with sex. Why? It is quite simple. Yoon Seungho’s mansion had become the kisaeng house for sodomy, and Yoon Seungho was the head-kisaeng. If you read the story from the start again, you’ll detect how the main lead is actually disrespected by his peers the whole time. Jihwa enters the lord’s mansion unannounced on multiple occasions (chapter 5
here, no servant is sent to announce the noble’s arrival, which is quite rude; chapter 10, chapter 12
, 17, 43). He acts, as if he owns the place. Moreover, the noble with the mole requests from the host to send away the artist (chapter 8). He acts, as if he had a saying in this, nevertheless he is just a guest and not the owner of the house. Moreover, he requests the whole attention from the main lead, as though the latter had to follow the guest’s desire. . No wonder, Yoon Seungho got infuriated and ejected the man. The painter’s presence revealed the disregard the noble had for the host. Striking is that even after getting dragged by the topknot, the aristocrat demanded an explanation for this humiliation. He didn’t realize his wrongdoing. This is not surprising that the Joker’s friend noticed the change in the protagonist. 
(Chapter 8) For the first time, the protagonist didn’t allow his peers to look down on him and requested more respect.
In chapter 19, Min invited himself at Yoon Seungho’s house in order to taste the expensive wine. 
(Chapter 19) He imposed himself upon the main character, yet Yoon Seungho didn’t feel upset. In fact, he just accepted the suggestion by a silence. It was, as if the protagonist was not allowed to refuse the invitation. More surprising is the place where The Joker suggested this: the brothel, an indication that the Yoon residence is considered as the noble kisaeng-house. I would even say, his mansion is the real place for pleasure and vices. And now, you comprehend why Yoon Seungho was pressured by the nobles in chapter 33. In the past, he would have given in, yet this time he showed them that there was a line not to cross. 
(Chapter 33) Imagine what would have happened, if the noble had followed their suggestion. The artist would have indeed turned into a prostitute.
From my point of view, the young nobles considered the protagonist as their head-kisaeng, he entertained them and allowed them to do immoral things (sodomy, wine and opium), while they could maintain their respectability and honor. Yet, since a kisaeng belongs to the lowest cast, it signified that the lord could get mistreated, exactly like a kisaeng. Besides, only the lord got the bad notoriety, he was a hell-raiser, because the aristocrats desired to hide behind him. He was their scapegoat and shield for their debauchery. He actually embodied all the vices the aristocrats were doing in secret. And now, you understand why the guest in chapter 53 told Min, he wanted to having fun without ruckus.
(Chapter 52) In Yoon’s residence, there was no parent or authority to interfere. This explicates why father Lee blames the main lead for his son’s sodomy. He corrupted Jihwa, while in reality Jihwa treated Yoon Seungho like his possession and his personal concubine. He was the one visiting his place and not the other way around, like a husband visiting his “wife” (chapter 67) explicating why Jihwa could only get infuriated and jealous. The “husband”, treated like a concubine, was unfaithful. The second lead was even perceived by the town folks as the mistress
(chapter 45), in other words the mistress of the house (the second definition: a mistress is a person of authority and power). This explains why he could trespass the mansion, like he desired. He considered Yoon Seungho’s mansion as his property, where he could enter at any time.
But if he was the real mistress of the house, why didn’t he stop Yoon Seungho from fooling around with men? Why didn’t he act more responsibly? First, the young man was blind and deaf, hence he couldn’t truly grasp what was going on. Secondly, he was too afraid to confront the friend. Remember that he always played tricks behind the lord’s back. Besides, we shouldn’t forget that Jihwa was himself treated like a servant by Min. If the mistress is disregarded, then the head-kisaeng can only get mistreated. Moreover, the second lead never realized that the nobles’ behavior contributed to the lord’s bad sexual habits. The manhwaphiles should remember that the second lead blamed the main character for fooling around (chapter 57), yet his friend was the one participating to the sex session. At no moment, he reproached him his behavior. In Jihwa’s eyes, only Yoon Seungho was responsible for this due to his past. Yet, he never tried to change the situation. I would like to remind the readers that the origins of Yoon Seungho’s bad notoriety are quite complex. Many people had an interest that Yoon Seungho focused on sex and nothing more: Yoon Seungho (he wanted to hurt his father), father Yoon (covering up his cowardice and own misdeeds), lord Song (making sure that the main lead doesn’t retaliate), Kim (leading a peaceful life and covering up his own wrongdoings), the nobles… and in the end Jihwa. The latter always wounded the main lead by using the past in order to attach the protagonist to him due to his neglecting father. Since the second lead had obtained a certain control over Yoon Seungho, he saw no reason to change. He could outlive his sexuality and have sex any time he wanted. Sure, his dream was to obtain the childhood friend’s love, yet he never saw the urgency, because he believed that time would help him. For him, there was this hope that at some point, the main character would confess. Yet, with Baek Na-Kyum’s appearance in Yoon Seungho’s life, the fragile balance was destroyed due the sex at the pavilion. For the first time, Yoon Seungho felt true desires and pleasure. This detail is important, because it truly outlines that Yoon Seungho was living like a head-kisaeng. He had sex without feeling any pleasure, just to serve others.
And now, it becomes understandable why the noble claimed the artist as his possession in two occasions (chapter 8 and 33). First, he voiced that the low-born would only paint for him. (Chapter 8) He was clearly demonstrating that he would never accept to give up on the painter. Slowly Yoon Seungho started asking respect for himself from others. In reality, he is a noble and he is quite rich through trade. This explicates why lord Min used the wine as an excuse to come to Yoon’s residence. He couldn’t ask the main lead, if he could borrow the painter. Furthermore, this statement and the humiliation revealed that Yoon Seungho was no longer a pushover. Hence Black Heart was more careful around the main lead. From my perspective, The Joker imagined that if the lord got drunk with the expensive bottle, he wouldn’t notice the artist’s disappearance. However, because the wine was stolen, Black Heart couldn’t achieve his goal that’s why he asked for a harsh punishment for the theft. Besides, Yoon Seungho showed no interest to organize a sex session any longer. His eyes were already set on Baek Na-Kyum. Since his initial plan failed, and the lord was no longer organizing parties, then he could only use the sex sessions as an excuse to see the painter.
(chapter 33) 
(chapter 52) Everyone among the aristocrats did see the main lead as a head-kisaeng, who had to please her guests. Thus Byeonduck created such panels indicating that the nobles had always taken advantage of Yoon Seungho. 
(Chapter 54) They look like conniving creatures. Their wish would get granted in the detriment of the host. And now you comprehend why the lord got so angry, when he saw this. 
(Chapter 54) It was not just a reflection of his own past as an uke, but he saw his actual reflection. His house was a brothel and nothing more, and his guests were taking advantage of him. That’s why he got so infuriated and evicted the aristocrats. They truly showed no respect to him. It took many months for the lord to recognize this. And now you comprehend why he abhorred the idea of prostitution. He wasn’t even realizing that he was still doing it. Therefore Yoon Seungho could only come to the conclusion in chapter 55 that he needed to confess. First, this night made him realize that all this attempts in the past were to win the painter’s heart. Yet he was well aware that with his last action, he had almost sold his loved one to nobles, thereby the painter could only reject him. Besides, he had another reason to expect this outcome: his self-hatred.
Under this new interpretation, the manhwalovers comprehend why the household had a terrible reputation. 
(Chapter 29) Since a kisaeng belongs to the lowest class in Joseon society, the servants could look down on their master. Despite his title, he was living like a head-kisaeng, therefore the staff showed no respect towards their lord. 
(Chapter 32) This explicates why they didn’t follow his order, when he asked them to keep an eye on the artist. Nevertheless, as time passed on, the noble started acting more like a lord, hence the head-maid accepted his reprimand and decided to treat him differently. That’s why she bowed to Yoon Seungho in chapter 46. (chapter 46) And by comparing the two last pictures, the readers con detect the butler’s absence. the latter was responsible for the past situation, because he didn’t want to get into trouble. As long as the lord was acting like a head-kisaeng, providing entertainment for the local aristocracy, the valet could lead a peaceful life and definitely sway his misdeeds under the rug. Moreover, he could even use the master’s authority and act like a lord.
But let’s return our attention to The Joker. When the main lead stated this: (chapter 8), he was looking at Min, for he viewed the noble’s envy in his gaze. Since the artist was not allowed to paint for others, then the only possibility left for Black Heart was sex. If the painter joined their sex orgy, then he could achieve his goal: taste the commoner. Therefore you comprehend why The Joker is determined to kill Baek Na-Kyum. If he kills him, then Yoon Seungho is left with nothing. He is like in the past: he becomes again a “head-kisaeng” with no right. But as you can imagine, the Joker is deceiving himself. I doubt that he would be satisfied with just one session.
The problem was that Yoon Seungho never sensed that he was treated like a prostitute, because they created the illusion that he was the alpha among the sodomy community. 
(Chapter 33) The lord fell for this illusion, and he would have never realized it, if the painter had not entered his mansion. I also fell for this illusion myself for a while, calling him an alpha, while he was disrespected the whole time. However, this doesn’t mean that the main lead is powerless. He has indeed connections to the government (exactly like the kisaeng-house) and he is definitely rich, because he is a trendsetter. Min keeps copying his clothing and the master’s windscreen is the same at Min’s pavilion and the noble with the mole. That’s why Yoon Seungho never got to see his true reflection. In his mind, he was either busy reading or fighting with nobles, while in reality he was having sex for the most part of the time. Moreover, no one truly gave him a true reflection, since they had no interest to switch the situation.
And this negative reflection is also palpable in the paintings Baek Na-Kyum created, yet curiously the rich main lead never saw this image reflected in the pictures for many reasons. First, his unconscious noticed something else, the painter’s desire, so that the lord acted differently towards the artist. 
(Chapter 2) Therefore the main lead’s gaze in the picture mirrored the image of a man showing true interest, warmth and beauty. Later, he only got to see the ruined painting, which triggered a huge anger, hence he didn’t pay attention to the image. Then in the third picture, 
(chapter 16) he was no longer interested in the creation, since Yoon Seungho had already started wooing the commoner. 
(Chapter 16) Here the second lead was exploring an unusual position. Although the protagonist could have noticed this reflection “man consumed by lust”, because Black Heart commented it as lewd
, he still didn’t observe it. His gaze and mind were all focused on the painter and his face. Then in chapter 41, he never saw the multitude pictures of him having sex with the low-born
(chapter 41), because his gaze was only focused on the inauguration drawing with Jung In-Hun.
(Chapter 41) And the moment the painter accepted him as his sex partner, he showed no interest in the paintings. However, he got annoyed, when he saw the first new creation. 
(Chapter 47) It was unfinished, and it gave the impression that both of them were acting like whores. That’s why the lord was indeed a little annoyed and made the following remark: 
(chapter 47) And it is in this chapter that he gets to discover his reflection… or better said, Baek Na-Kyum hadn’t changed his judgement about him, which provoked the next crisis. With the last painting, Baek Na-Kyum reproduced the situation, where the master was focused on provoking reactions in his partner in order to force him to abandon his torpor. 
(Chapter 52) Therefore the beholder couldn’t detect any love and affection in this drawing, only the attempt to incite pleasure. This explicates why Min described this as salacious, and had the feeling that the commoner was only interested in sex either.
Striking is that in the first painting, Baek Na-Kyum used a big wallpaper (chapter 2), while he only used small sheets of paper later. In my opinion, this is strongly connected to the return of the repressed sexual desires with the low-born. What also caught my attention is when he painted all the situation, when he had sex with Yoon Seungho having sex, the characters have no facial expression. It was, as though the lord was treating the commoner as his sex toy at his disposal. And that’s how the painter explained the rape. (Chapter 41) For him, every action from Yoon Seungho was caused by his obsession for sex, while the lord was trying to win his heart.
And while comparing all the creations, I recognized that they reflect not only his image as man consumed by lust, but also the disappearance of Yoon Seungho’s past life as sodomite and head-kisaeng. First, the huge painting with Jihwa is ruined, exposing that the latter is losing his control over his childhood friend. 
(Chapter 2) Simultaneously, Baek Na-Kyum destroyed it because of his jealousy (under the influence of his unconscious). The manhwalovers shouldn’t forget that in that wet dream, he wanted to take Jihwa’s place, attracted by the lord’s huge penis. Yet, he justified it with his doctrine. Furthermore, the second painting with Jihwa is created on a small sheet of paper reflecting the loss of the red-haired noble’s influence.
Later, when Jihwa ruined the painting with the threesome, the result was showing that Yoon Seungho’s life as head-kisaeng was starting vanishing. 
(Chapter 44) from that moment, the protagonist was no longer hosting any sex orgy which led Min to take over this role. Jihwa’s gesture symbolized that the childhood friend was not allowed to fool around with other men. However, he was quickly replaced by the painter. Let’s not forget that in the noble’s mind, Jihwa was just visiting him for his own sexual desires. He never recognized the childhood friend’s feelings. He had no reason to see otherwise, since the second lead treated him poorly. 
(Chapter 59) That’s why, after having sex with Jihwa, the “head-kisaeng” neglected his guest and went directly to Baek Na-Kyum for the painting in chapter 15, because the noble is already interested to taste the artist. At the same time, the low-born got his first sexual experience with the main lead. 
(Chapter 25) And here, the lord couldn’t perceive his own image as man consumed by lust, because his gaze was looking at the painter’s expression. This exposed the lord’s desire to see the attraction for Yoon Seungho in the painter’s eyes. His eyes were always focused on the painter the entire time, revealing that he was longing for more than sex. He wanted to see a mutual attraction… in reality, he wished to see a painting oozing warmth and love, exactly like in the publications he bought. And note that Yoon Seungho never got to see the last drawing, because his heart was too wounded by the distance. He hated so much the idea that the artist considered himself as a prostitute, while all this time, Yoon Seungho was just longing for love. Striking is that the ultimate picture is a blank sheet of paper mirroring the transition.
(Chapter 65) Here, the lord has finally cut ties with his past. This marks the start of a new life and the painter will reflect his rebirth. But as you can see, the multitude of pictures (chapter 41) only mirrored the painter’s perspective about the main lead. For him, he was just a man obsessed with sex, while in truth he was just longing to get love. The problem was that the protagonist had never been taught how to show love. Furthermore, Kim made sure that the artist would only see this image. That’s why it took Yoon Seungho a long time, before he realized that he needed to recreate the Wedding night, so that the artist would be able to perceive his true feelings. For me, there’s no doubt that at some Baek Na-Kyum will create a huge painting with the main lead, and the low-born will be represented as well. Both will be portrayed with facial expressions exposing confidence and love. I am even predicting that Baek Na-Kyum will paint a new inauguration portrait with Yoon Seungho, which will contrast so much to the one with Jung In-Hun, where the commoner had no face and as such no identity.
Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for topics or manhwas, feel free to ask. If you enjoyed reading it, retweet it or push the button like. My reddit-instagram-tumblr-twitter account is: @bebebisous33. Thanks for reading and the support.
Painter Of The Night: Silence (fourth version) 🤐
This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents: https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/
It would be great if you could make some donations/sponsoring: Ko-fi.com/bebebisous33 That way, you can support me with “coffee” so that I have the energy to keep examining manhwas. Besides, I need to cover up the expenses for this blog.
“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people” from Martin Luther King
With this quote, the famous American Baptist minister denunciated the passive attitude of many Americans, who didn’t feel concerned with racism and segregation in 60’s. Why? (chapter 65) As you can see, the valet Kim is not revealing the truth, not out of fear, but he has the impression, this is not his problem. He chooses indifference. With this single attitude, the readers discover Kim’s true personality and past, confirming my last analysis about him. When he heard the painter’s refusal, 
(chapter 65), he was brought back to the past. The domestic was a witness of Yoon Seungho’s rape and as such of his sexual abuse. Striking is that in episode 65, he didn’t even open the door, but instead of helping, he let it happened. He didn’t act according to his belief. This means that in the past, he must have acted the opposite. The door was open. This signifies that he abandoned the young Yoon Seungho, when the main lead asked for assistance. 
(chapter 65) He refused to listen to the young master’s plea. And now, you understand why Yoon Seungho had sex in front of him outside the barn. Unconsciously, he wanted to confront the valet with the consequences of his actions.
(chapter 64) The teenager was left behind by the servant, and his hand couldn’t even stop him. But since it is a reflection, I think that the butler was the one who brought the main lead to the predator, naturally his intention was not to have him raped. And now, I grasp why the lord feels the need to hurt people with his hand, like for example strangling the painter 
(chapter 61) or grabbing the topknot of a noble
(chapter 8). His hand expresses not only his rage, but also his powerlessness. With his hand, he wasn’t able to stop the valet from leaving him behind. He had tried to stop his father from leaving his side with his hand too. 
(chapter 86) Furthermore, Yoon Seungho couldn’t even punish the valet for betraying him, because he had no authority and no strength. Back then, he was just a teenager. In chapter 63 and 64, Yoon Seungho was indeed reliving his traumatic past. Because the butler was recollecting two different memories (the night before and the lord’s sexual abuse), my first impression was that the young boy had been abused in the shed. (chapter 65) Yet, the storage room is the place where the valet betrayed him, as he changed his lord. 
(chapter 77) My theory is that the main lead was raped by “lord Song”, the king. Therefore I assume that the man was invited by father Yoon. Remember that the kisaeng Heena proposed to her donsaeng to seek the protection of a nobleman, as he is a low-born. 
(chapter 97) My idea is that the valet thought that by seeking the monarch’s protection, the young master’s suffering would end, for the king stands above the scholars and elders. Anyway, I believe that the valet made a bad choice and regretted it afterwards. Due to his guilt, he developed resent towards Yoon Seungho. And this explains why Kim said this to the painter in order to ease his pain: 
(chapter 12) He couldn’t tell him details, since he would reveal his complicity to the crime. Furthermore, since the valet led the painter to the pavilion, it is very likely that Kim was the one who offered Yoon Seungho to the pedophile, which makes his crime even worse.
With Kim’s silence came a huge price: fear and guilt. (chapter 65) Since he had not assisted the young master repeatedly
(chapter 77), he became more and more burdened by his guilty conscience. He turned into an accomplice, for he never revealed his involvement and mistakes.. He could no longer reveal the truth, because he would have to get punished. He feared father Yoon’s wrath and he had reasons too. He could definitely die. That’s the reason why he reproaches the doctor his passivity and silence, though in my opinion, it was not about the abduction, but about the tonic. Sure, in Joseon, there was no law called “Duty to rescue or Failure to provide assistance”.
“Failure to assist a person in danger is a criminal offence that condemns the failure to assist a person in danger. Contrary to most criminal norms, it is an offence of omission and not of commission, i.e. the perpetrator does not act when he should have done so.”
However, from a moral perspective, Kim committed a wrongdoing, and he knew it. That’s why he couldn’t forget and felt guilty. Even nowadays “Duty to rescue law” doesn’t exist everywhere, nonetheless many European countries, like Germany or France or UK possess one and its creation was partially influenced by the experiences made due to Nazism. And now, the manhwalovers can comprehend why my association to dictatorship was correct. Kim and other ordinary people are their willing assistants in the end. They prefer avoiding trouble out of convenience. Consequently, they turn a blind eye to injustice. Yet, though they try to forget (chapter 65), they can’t, because they feel guilty and remorse. Note that right after voicing his wish to forget the incident, he recalls Yoon Seungho’s tragedy indicating his incapacity to forget. This explains why Kim gives the doctor the following advice: (chapter 65) Although Kim’s words in the panel are addressed to the physician, they actually reflect that Kim is speaking out of experience. He knows by experience that “silence is a true friend who never betrays”. Observe that Kim’s complicity was never brought to light, hence he never got punished. This explicates why Yoon Seungho is acting differently from his biological father in reality. Each time there was a crime, the lord let the painter defend himself and asked questions: chapter 11 and 62 
, (chapter 62) especially when you think that Baek Na-Kyum is just a commoner. But the problem is that he was biased, just like his father who had the impression that his son was a homosexual due to the testimonies of close people (Kim, Lee Jihwa and probably Yoon Seung-Won). After the rape, Yoon Seungho got punished. And this interpretation was proven correct in season 3 
(chapter 77). But here Kim remained silent too. 
(chapter 77) It was even worse than before, because after the straw mat beating, he was paralyzed. No one spoke for him and believed his words, and Kim wasn’t willing to step in. Moreover, I believe that Kim had another reason for remaining silent. (chapter 65) He disliked the idea of a scandal and trouble. If he had told the truth, he knew that his punishment would be death. Out of convenience, he ran away from responsibility and from the uncomfortable truth. 
(chapter 65) That’s why I believe that the author is not showing that Kim and the physician chose secrecy and silence, because they feared for their life. They only started fearing for their life, when the truth is about to be revealed, as the painter was not dead yet. As the victim, he was a witness. Because once the lord discovers the butler’s passivity and complicity, it becomes a matter of life or death for him. According to me, there are two doctors. So the chapter 65 unveils that the first doctor didn’t testify, as he wanted to help the artist. 
(chapter 65) In my opinion, the butler had deceived the commoner, he let him believe that Baek Na-Kyum had run away because of the lord’s violent temper. The painter had come wounded to his office. This negative perception of the young lord Yoon could only make the doctor jump to wrong conclusion. ,Striking is that this scene 
(chapter 63) revealed that the doctor was hesitating to give his opinion to the butler, he thought that the artist had run away. And what is the common denominator of all these scenes with the doctors. They all chose silence for different reasons. Just like Kim, the doctor had become an accomplice. As for the second, he remained silent out of fear, that he could get into trouble. (chapter 65) My theory is that the valet used the drug as an excuse to silence the physician. Now, the doctor is hoping that the boy says no word about it, so that his “wrongdoing”, the false medication, won’t be discovered. Kim blamed the doctor that after that, his master had behaved like a crazy man. The result was that both physicians chose silence!! Why? It is because the valet had pushed them to make this choice. And note the pattern. Kim used pity and compassion for the first doctor, and fear and brutality for the second! Exactly like in this scene: (chapter 12) In this scene, we have all three elements: pity, fear and silence (“can’t go into details”).
And despite knowing the truth, Kim makes the same decision like in the past. He chooses to sweep the incident under the carpet. He is glossing over the abduction with all fake excuses. (chapter 65) He has the audacity to say that his master won’t hurt the painter, although he even witnessed the roughness the artist was exposed to. Yet, for him harm was flogging or execution. From my perspective, this is no coincidence that the author showed us the valet sweeping. 
(chapter 65) This represents his attitude in life, therefore he is responsible for Baek Na-Kyum’s loss of innocence. His other leitmotiv is 
(chapter 23) He acts, as if he knows nothing reminding us of this scene.
(chapter 28)That’s why I believe that the butler was lying back then and had even allowed the artist to run away that morning. I see a new version of chapter 29. But let’s go back to chapter 65. Notice that he is the one removing the snowman built by the painter, the last reminder of the low-born’s innocence. In two occasions, he chose cowardice and silence. First, he did nothing to stop his master (chapter 65), as he didn’t desire to feel his master’s wrath. Secondly, he asked the physician to keep silent by making him feel guilty. (chapter 65) But if he had seen this, he could have intervened and reasoned his master. But he chose not. He was too embarrassed, for he had been caught “spying”. 
(chapter 64)
And the next day, he prefers to forget this incident. (chapter 65) What caught my attention is that he feels nothing for the painter, he doesn’t even express any regret or remorse. Since he knows that the artist won’t be killed, then everything will return to normal. He doesn’t consider the impact of Yoon Seungho’s violence used against the painter, which he witnessed on several occasions. For him what matters the most is silence, the absence of ruckus! And now, I can understand why the lord is not able to distinguish genuine from hypocritical care. When the lord was young, he saw in his valet a surrogate father, but he got betrayed in the worst way. He turned away from the wounded master. He closed his eyes, closed the door and ran away. Therefore, it becomes comprehensible why Yoon Seungho’s unconscious always expresses itself through the hand, the eye and the feet. This was the result of Kim’s abandonment, but not only from him: from his own family and even his best friend. And back then, the butler must have thought exactly the same in order to justify his behavior: (chapter 65). He legitimated his cowardice and passivity by saying that Yoon Seungho wasn’t part of his life and his adoptive son. He was just a noble, with such a statement, Kim was drawing a line. Due to his mistakes, he chose not to intervene any longer. But observe that in season 1 and 2, he meddled in his lord’s life, as he viewed it as his own business. Why? It is because he feared that he could lose his position. However, I think that in season 1, he was more influenced by his unconscious, but not in season 2.
After all these observations, I come to the conclusion that Kim has many common points with Lee Jihwa. He knows the past and feels remorse and repentance. But both are forced to hide their wrongdoings and as such their culpability. That’s why the chapter 65 reinforced my conviction that Lee Jihwa was indeed responsible for Yoon Seungho’s misery and the red-haired noble was aware of it. Yet, exactly like the butler, he denied his responsibility. Sure, many are to blame for the main lead’s tragedy as well: father Yoon, his brother and lord Song/the king. All of them lied and chose to remain silent.
From my point of view, Byeonduck has another reason for making Baek Na-Kyum going through the same experiences than the protagonist’s. This is not just to make Yoon Seungho realize what he has become and sees his own reflection in the end. In my opinion, the author uses the painter’s suffering to reveal the main lead’s tragic past. Since we all suffer for the artist, the manhwaphiles have to imagine that Yoon Seungho experienced it too, but in the worst possible way, as he had really no one by his side. While Yoon Seungho might be rough and hurtful towards the artist, he is still in love with the artist, hence he still cleans
(chapter 65) the artist after their intercourse and even gives him his own shirt. He shows a certain sense of responsibility.
So my actual theory about Yoon Seungho’s past is the following: Yoon Chang-Hyeon got deceived by many people, making him believe that his son was an idle young master before being stigmatized as sodomite. The king had to ruin the protagonist’s reputation in order to approach him. The real puppet master was lord Song alias the king. But every culprits had to suffer the consequences of their crimes and deceptions. I don’t think that even the king was spared. He also got punished by the gods, yet he never realized it. Yoon Chang-Hyeon thought, he could benefit from such an alliance, but he got betrayed by father Lee, but the scholar never recognized it. 
(chapter 82) Why didn’t he ask for a punishment after this humiliation? It is because he couldn’t. However, he must have definitely sought revenge. And the main lead became the sacrificial lamb, as in father Yoon’s eyes, his son was the reason for the purge: desertion, betrayal and probably drugs played a role in the purge. It is definitely possible that I have to change this theory about his traumatic past, but as you can observe, the main elements don’t change:
- coercive persuasion: sexual, physical and emotional abuse
- a wrongdoing and the innocence of the main lead, yet the father believes that his words are all lies
- the abandonment from everyone: Lee Jihwa, the staff, the butler, his brother and his biological father
- The responsibility of Jihwa and Kim in his misery due to their behavior (action versus passivity)
- sexual abuse committed by a repressed homosexual
- “prostitution” and gangrape As the king would share Yoon Seungho to his officials
As a conclusion, silence is as terrible as words. Both can kill in the end.
Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
That’s why it is important not to turn away from injustice. This is not just a question of courage. Not helping someone in the need is committing a crime, and it contributes to reinforce injustice. Fear for life can not be an excuse in this story, since the matter of life and death appears afterwards. The silence is related to a misdeed. Besides, this kind of behavior explains why Third Reich could exist. First, while some people were convinced believers, many chose comfort over trouble. Let’s not forget that Hitler could install his dictatorship, because the MP from the Reichstag voted for Enabling Act (1933). That law gave Hitler the power to enact laws without the involvement from the Reichstag. One might argue that Hitler used terror to coerce the MP, but this is not correct, as Otto Wels gave a speech against it and the socialist party (SPD) followed him. This was the only party that voted against it. I have to admit that while reading the last chapter, I couldn’t help myself thinking of the Third Wave.
In our case, it is not about Nazism, but about civil courage. Once one remains passive, the other follows creating a common movement: all become inactive and silent. IT takes courage to admit a mistake and a wrongdoing. And we have to imagine that in the past, the servant Kim remained silent once leading the others to close an eye as well. And the phenomenon is occurring again. The physician was a witness, but did nothing (not even asking for help after the painter’s disappearance). He was convinced that if he shut his mouth, he would help the artist! But this was simply wrong, for with his passivity and false conclusion, the painter could have died. The irony is that Kim is following him after their conversation. (chapter 65) Slowly, he is recognizing that his master won’t hurt the artist. Yet, during his visit, he thought the exact opposite. (chapter 65)
However, this time it is different because of Baek Na-Kyum’s panic attack and his sister’s intervention.
(chapter 65) The lord realized that something had happened. Due to the painter’s reaction, he was brought back the past. 
(chapter 66) Striking is that the painter’s words were the trigger for revealing the truth. 
(chapter 66) This stands in opposition to silence. Therefore it is no coincidence that Min revealed the truth. 
(chapter 66) The irony is that Heena suspected the main lead of kidnapping her brother and everything looked like her words were true: the wrist, the wounds around his wrist, his actual position (the mouth covered and his hands tied together…)
(chapter 66) 
(chapter 66) Thus the circumstances were turned against him. 
(chapter 65) But she was not present, when Min admitted Lee Jihwa’s crime. That’s how I realized that while chapter 65 represents silence, deception, cowardice and passivity, chapter 66 embodies the exact opposite. Min told the truth, Heena tried to save her brother by creating a ruckus! For Yoon Seungho, silence is a sign of culpability which he learnt from Kim. Hence he lied to the kisaeng 
(chapter 65), and later never spoke to the painter about the incident. If he had done it, he would have been forced to admit his misjudgment and wrongdoing. And now, you understand why Martin Luther King said this:
“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people”
The physician and the butler are no evil men per se, as they don’t find pleasure in death and suffering. However, like the following idiom is revealing, people can change due to their decisions:
The way to hell is paved with good intentions.
That’s why in season 4, the tragedy won’t be repeated and the truth about Yoon Seungho’s martyrdom, strongly intertwined with the artist’s, will come to the surface. You are wondering why now. The reason is quite simple: The doctor revealed his knowledge to Baek Na-Kyum, 
(chapter 57) It doesn’t matter, if the butler told lies to the physician in the past, as they are now perceived as truth. Remember what Kim confided to the painter: 
(chapter 86) He believes that he is the only one left who knows the past. But he is wrong, since the doctor also recalls the past. Hence how can Kim prove that he is telling the truth, since he told a different story to the physician? In addition, we have also lord Song. Besides, by giving the drug to Yoon Seungho without his knowledge and consent, Kim committed a wrongdoing. His knowledge won’t serve him in the end. I am deducing that the saying “silence is a true friend who never betrays” will no longer be valid. Therefore we have to expect a betrayal, and that would be from the physician, especially after we recall the butler’s warning in the first season, which was addressed to a different doctor from my point of view: 
(chapter 33) Let’s not forget that in chapter 65, the servant tried to put the whole responsibility on the physician, making him feel guilty. And since Byeonduck is even using elements from the first and second season, I believe, we will have a reversed situation in season 4, where the doctor will speak up and put the whole blame on someone. Neither the physician nor Kim expected that the painter’s body wouldn’t remain silent (chapter 65), a proof that the truth needed to be unveiled. It was impossible to act, as if nothing had happened, just because the painter had been returned to Yoon Seungho. And it is the same at the end of season 3. The painter gave his husband a task: (chapter 102) He needs to find the answer, which stands in opposition to silence and burying the truth (sweeping it under the carpet). This signifies that this time, Yoon Seungho has to gather information himself, and he can not rely on Kim: 
(chapter 98) As you can see, slowly people are forced to talk
(chapter 99), hence their testimony can be questioned and perceived as lie.
(chapter 100). This is important, because by getting confronted with lies, the lord will be able to discern the truth! In other words, silence embodies darkness and as such death. 
(chapter 74) Thus there was only silence in the lord’s nightmare. And this contradicts this statement: (chapter 65) Because Germans chose silence, the Holocaust could take place.
Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for topics or manhwas, feel free to ask. If you enjoyed reading it, retweet it or push the button like. My Reddit-Instagram-Tumblr-Twitter account is: @bebebisous33. Thanks for reading and for the support, particularly, I would like to thank all the new followers and people recommending my blog.
Painter Of The Night: “It all started with…”
Please support the authors by reading the manhwas on the official websites. This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents: https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night
It would be great if you could make some donations/sponsoring: Ko-fi.com/bebebisous33 That way, you can support me with “coffee” so that I have the energy to keep examining manhwas. Besides, I need to cover up the expenses for this blog.
Now, you are wondering why I chose such a title, because it offers so many possibilities. And that’s exactly the reason why I selected this title. I didn’t want to reveal immediately the real topic of the subject. Furthermore, I desired to look at the manhwa under this aspect, since it helps the readers to get a new understanding of Yoon Seungho’s actions and behavior.
1. … A painting
It all started with a painting, which caught Yoon Seungho’s attention and aroused him so much, that he became slowly dependent on the erotic pictures made by Baek Na-Kyum to the point that he had to use them all the time. (chapter 1) However, the moment Baek Na-Kyum stopped publishing, the addicted noble realized his terrible situation. He needed to have the creator by his side, since he couldn’t give up on his “addiction”. The paintings had become his drug and the moment the author stopped publishing, it made the lord recognize, that he needed to become the supplier. He couldn’t remain a buyer, since he was put in a vulnerable and insecure position. Therefore we could say as well, it all started with the painter’s vow.
Because of Baek Na-Kyum’s resignation, the lord suffered immensely, yet simultaneously the latter didn’t want to change his habit for his nightly activities. That’s why he had to find the source of his addiction: the anonym artist. And now, the first image gets another dimension. His smile not only expressed his happiness, but also exposed his intoxication at the same time. In other words, his euphoria was more artificial, as he was in the presence of his drug. This explicates why the lord was so self-centered and selfish in the beginning. He was prioritizing his own needs. Don’t get me wrong… I am not saying that his feelings for the low-born were not genuine, it was actually a combination of both. His unconscious had sensed the painter’s sensitivity and felt a certain closeness, yet because of his debauchery, the lord had perverted it and was behaving like a drug addict. Now, it becomes more understandable why Yoon Seungho had already announced a death sentence, (chapter 1) in case his wish didn’t get fulfilled, and why he became so “bloodthirsty” after the rejection. Just like a drug addict who becomes violent, if he is unable to get his drug, he felt the urge to release his anger. 
(chapter 1) It was, as if he was in withdrawal and couldn’t bear the thought, he hadn’t obtained what he desired. So when I compare the painter and his work to a drug, it puts the low-born in a bad light. Nonetheless this is not my intention at all. For me, the painter represents his cure in reality. Let’s not forget that the powerful aristocrat’s heart has been poisoned, corrupted by his father, therefore in order to get cured, he needs to find another “poison”, it’s like fighting a poison with another poison.
First, the painter confronts him with his own reflection (beautiful, attractive), which he has never experienced before. This drug is even more addictive than before, procuring new sensations. He becomes so high that he can’t control his erection and feels the need to have sex so early. (chapter 3) We see here the lord intoxicated by the new drug. It did release him from his prison, his self-hatred. Moreover, it helped him to see more clearly for the first time. His eye in his mind was now free from any corruption. Nonetheless the next day, he is faced with a different image. More precisely, his ears have to hear a terrible truth. Now, he is a man consumed by sex, which causes him to become pensive and depressed. He is no longer feeling the urge to have sex with Jihwa.
And now, the manhwaphiles comprehend the true nature of the new drug: the painter’s gaze is liberating the lord’s senses, very similar to Jihwa. This is not surprising that the first two paintings (chapter 2) 
(chapter 10) he makes show our lord looking at the painter. Imagine, in the second image, he even has two sex partners by his side, yet his attention is directed at the creator and not his partners. This painting exposes their locked gaze and their growing intimacy. Baek Na-Kyum’s gaze has become the lord’s obsession, his new drug. The paintings Baek Na-Kyum creates exude warmth, beauty and naturality which stands in opposition to the world, where the lord is living: fakeness, superficiality, distance and coldness. But the lord’s attraction towards the painter increases so much that he would like to taste the artist. In other words, if he devours Baek Na-Kyum, he might get high again because the pictures are no longer enough to satiate his urges. Now, you can understand what this means. Having sex with the low-born signifies, he is “increasing” the dose. Note that this coincides with the third painting, where he is looking at Jihwa and not at the painter. During that night, he asked the commoner to join them. He was clearly expressing his interest in the artist. The locked gaze was no longer satisfying. This is also not surprising that the next day, he has no problem to cut ties with his long-time lover Jihwa. The artist has slowly replaced the sex partners. Without realizing it, the lord is becoming monogamous. Observe that from chapter 16, he has no nightly activity at all, contrary to the past. He makes a relapse in chapter 33, due to his guilty conscience. However, the moment he realizes that some nobles, especially Min, are looking at his “drug”, he recognizes what it really means, if he came to lose his new “drug”. His life and situation would be worse than before. Baek Na-Kyum’s gaze only belongs to him, hence he is willing to face a negative reflection.
Notice that the moment he is no longer obsessed with the paintings but with the artist’s love, he is no longer interested in his nightly activities. After chapter 21, he waits for the painter. He has already become monogamous. The long awaited picture serves a different purpose. Yoon Seungho would like to have a proof that he is loved by the painter. The image no longer represents his victory over a man and as such the noble he despises, but the mark of their love. He doesn’t feel the need to get aroused by the pictures.
2. … a kiss and embrace
Striking is that the moment he has sex with the artist, he discovers a new world: love and warmth. That’s the reason why this night still haunts his mind till the chapter 58. It all started with an innocent kiss but most importantly with the painter’s hug. 
(chapter 19) Notice that the moment the painter confesses to Seungho, he puts his hands on his shoulder and then he kisses him. But this doesn’t end here, later he puts his hands around his shoulders. 
(chapter 20) For the first time, the noble is embraced. And now, if you look at all the sex sessions he had with Jihwa or the others, the main lead was never truly hugged.
(chapter 8) 
(chapter 9) 
(chapter 15) [I am not quoting the paintings again which could be added to this list] One might argue that in the first panel, the sex partner is hugging the main lead from behind. However, this gesture reminds us much more of a fight than of a real embrace, corroborating my initial interpretation of sex sessions. In truth, they are battles, where the ukes are the defeated ones. It looks like the noble is restraining the protagonist from moving. It’s, as if he was trapped. From my perspective, there is always a distance between him and the sex partners, especially in the threesome. (chapter 10) The lower part is focused on Min, while the mouth is busy kissing the other aristocrat. Yet Seungho’s chest, eyes and mind are neglected. Striking is that the main character is portrayed with no arm exposing his incapacity to hug anyone. And now, you understand the importance of the hug. During their first night, the painter keeps hugging the lord, although his gesture is quite reserved in the beginning. This ignites a desire in Yoon Seungho, the latter feels the need to return the embrace and hug the artist.
(chapter 20) Yet, the more time passes on, the more the low-born holds the noble more tightly.
(chapter 21) The painter voices the wish to be embraced. That’s why the former puts him on his lap.
(chapter 21) You can sense that Yoon Seungho is willing to fill the gap and feel as close as possible to Baek Na-Kyum. He hugged him on his own first, yet the artist was the one embracing him fully at the end. 
(chapter 21) That’s why we could say that it all started with an embrace, the real cure. The painter’s gaze accompanied with the hands on Seungho’s shoulder created a new euphoria. This explicates why he was so obsessed with that night, why he attempted to renew this wonderful experience. In chapter 25, he tried to hug the painter from behind but failed terribly.
(chapter 26) This was a gesture of defeat and submission and never an embrace full of love. One might argue that the noble had already hugged the painter before, 
(chapter 16) hence the artist’s hug during their Wedding night can’t mark the start. Yet, if the manhwaworms look at the way the master held the commoner in chapter 16, they’ll notice that the lord is hugging Baek Na-Kyum from behind. He was definitely restraining him from leaving his bedchamber, like a predator catching his prey. Sure, there’s no doubt that there exist emotions behind his gesture. Nonetheless, the hug was more under the influence of the unconscious. Consequently it is different from the night in chapter 19. Here, the lord was more looking for sex, whereas in chapters 20 and 21, it was a mixture of sex and love. However, at the end love became triumphant and the lord was no longer interested in sex.
And now if you perceive the painter’s gaze and hug as “drugs”, you can imagine why Yoon Seungho became so infuriated, hurt and violent at the pavilion. Like a person on withdrawal, he couldn’t control his emotions and behavior.
Once he became sober, he realized his mistake. His mind had become clearer again. In my perspective, the “cure” helped him to release his emotions, which he had been repressing for so long. This explicates why he was reminded of his tragic past and relived his traumatic experience. He had decided to become numb in order not to feel any pain. The problem is that the moment he discovered love, he was not recognizing that he was allowing his heart to feel pain as well. Love and pain can’t be separated.
With this new perspective, it becomes understandable, while the lord hugged the artist while bathing.
(chapter 59) He became addicted to the hug. The problem was that the painter seemed to have forgotten their lovemaking. On the other hand, the lord couldn’t forget the painter’s arms therefore he often grabbed the artist’s arm 
(chapter 22) 
(chapter 30), as if they were a treasure to him. The roughness vanishes gradually, for the lord changes for the better as well. But more importantly, in the following gestures, the readers can sense his desire to hug the artist. And as time passes on, the gesture becomes more obvious and pronounced. It started with an arm,
(chapter 22) then it was the chest
(chapter 40) , 
(chapter 42) until it became a real hug.
(chapter 49) However, the real climax is reached in chapter 58. This time, the aristocrat in love is holding him so tightly with his both arms. 
(chapter 58) There is no gap between them, the artist is no longer putting some distance with his head, unlike in chapter 49 (third panel above) or the lord is grabbing the neck to make sure that the artist keeps kissing him (second panel above). Yet, while they make love 
(chapter 58) , the lord is no longer holding him and gazing at him, he is just grabbing his hand and whispering his love confession. This signifies that the lord has truly given up on his dream and has accepted reality. The painter’s gaze and hug were just an addiction and he is admitting that he will never be loved. He will see this night as a wonderful illusion but he won’t feel any anger, despair and pain after that night. We could say that the lord has finally defeated his inner demons and addiction. He is free from his past and can now use his mind clearly.
(chapter 61) Baek Na-Kyum purified the lord so that the latter has truly become selflessness and no longer needs sex. He won’t organize any sex session or any party with wine and opium. In my opinion, the last debauchery symbolized his final relapse. Observe that during that week, he had no sex and wasn’t even aroused, when a noble gave him a blowjob
. Sex has become irrelevant thereby we can conclude that his transformation is complete. He has become a truly reformed man. (chapter 61) And as much as it pains me that the lord won’t look for the artist right away [that’s my theory and since Byeonduck liked a tweet where I expressed this], I believe, this picture symbolizes something positive too. The lord’s mind and heart are at peace. Now, he can think and see lucidly and once he discovers Baek Na-Kyum’s painting and the tools left in the study, he will recognize his mistake.
3. … the arms and hands
And because it started with a hug, it becomes comprehensible why the lord loved hugging his lover. In reality, he wished to be embraced too and the hug in chapter 16 externalized his deeply repressed desires. This is not surprising that a hug from the painter could stop Yoon Seungho’s rage and fury. 
Imagine his emotions, when the low-born did this. In that scene, the master was acting like a monster, nevertheless it didn’t stop the artist to embrace him despite the slap and his ugly behavior. But for Baek Na-Kyum, it was the same as well. He also longed to be embraced hence for him, their Wedding night represented a dream, where he could express his desire and experience what he wanted to have. He wanted to express his love, shower his learned sir with his affection. Strangely, it started with a hand 
(chapter 30) forcing the low-born to accept him as his new master. However, notice that the painter’s hands become more decisive and grab more firmly Yoon Seungho’s wrist in chapter 42. 
(chapter 42) This reflects the evolution of their relationship. The painter is here accepting the aristocrat as lover. Simultaneously, he is touching the place where the lord’s unconscious is voicing his desires. And this gesture triggers the lord later to put him on his lap, attempting to embrace him. And the more the lord hugs the painter, the more the latter is affected by it. The reason is simple. Just like the main lead, the commoner was deprived from warmth and love for so long and receiving it for the first time, this could only move the main lead. The manhwaphiles should remember that the artist asked the master to hold him in chapter 41
(chapter 41), exposing his need for comfort and embrace. Yet back then, the lord was confusing love with sex hence he couldn’t give correctly what the painter desired. He was not able to distinguish the difference. In truth, both were lost persons mixing up sex with love due to their terrible fathers.
Nonetheless the latter rejected the affection from Yoon Seungho in chapter 49, as he had been reminded that a hug could be fake. So he was still doubting the protagonist’s feelings. The significance of the embrace explicates why the low-born is affected in chapter 58.
He keeps blushing displaying his emotions. He is really loved, displayed by the lord’s words and gestures. That’s why the hug is reciprocated but it is too beautiful to be true. Consequently the noble doubts its existence.
But because it all started with a kiss with a hug and love confession, we have to imagine that the artist will feel the same need than the protagonist in chapter 22. He will long for his lover’s arms, especially after that terrible experience. That’s why I am convinced that the moment Baek Na-Kyum returns to the mansion, he will definitely try to embrace Yoon Seungho, missing his warmth and protection so that we have a new version of the hug in chapter 53.
As a conclusion, we have two protagonists deprived from their own body due to their fathers’ abuse. Finally, both were able to find what they had been longing for a long time. And since the lord is no longer a man consumed by sex, he will be able to show his love differently, supporting his love in his education and his talent. Yoon Seungho will become his sponsor and drop the surrogate father for good.
Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for topics or manhwas, feel free to ask. If you enjoyed reading it, retweet it or push the button like. My tumblr-twitter account is: @bebebisous33. Thanks for reading and the support.
Protected: Painter Of The Night: Conscious versus unconscious (part 2) – third version
Painter Of The Night: 🖤 Black Heart (part 1) 🖤
This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents: https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/
It would be great if you could make some donations/sponsoring: Ko-fi.com/bebebisous33 That way, you can support me with “coffee” so that I have the energy to keep examining manhwas. Besides, I need to cover up the expenses for this blog..
In chapter 52, the manhwalovers witness the return of Min who dared to challenge Yoon Seungho on different occasions during the first season (chapter 33 and 41). In my two analyses about Min, I had described him as someone ambitious, jealous and manipulative thereby I started considering him as a villain for the second season. The lord with a green robe is led by his desire to overthrow the protagonist and to replace him as the new alpha among the local nobility. Thanks to this chapter, we definitely get to discover new sides of this villain called “Black Heart”.
But it is time to dedicate to chapter 52. In the beginning of this episode, we see Min smoking with a huge smile on his face. 
(Chapter 52)
He seems to enjoy it very much. However, to our shock, we discover that this aristocrat is smoking opium, a very addictive narcotic drug which was very popular among Chinese back then. Yet, you have to know that in reality opium trade was in the hands of British dealers. Already in 1729, the Qing emperor Yongzheng even forbade opium but this interdiction was useless as British merchants continued flooding the market of Qing dynasty with this drug, made possible by corrupted officials. Consequently during the 19th Century, according to historians, there existed around 12 millions Chinese addicted to opium so that the economy was affected. The high number of opium addicts forced the 8th emperor of Qing Dynasty Daogang to ask his Prime minister to confiscate opium from British sellers leading to the First Opium War between Great-Britain and Qing Dynasty (1839-1842). This info is quite relevant as it helps the readers to understand better the story. This explains why opium is imported from Qing and secondly why Min shouldn’t smoke it in the street. First, since Min shouldn’t smoke it in the street, I assume, opium was still forbidden so that we can conclude that this trade was certainly smuggled. Since Joseon was a vassal state of Qing, I assume that opium wasn’t legal in Joseon either. In other words, Min and his fellows are committing a crime.
Nonetheless, I deduce another info from this scene. Min is not the one who bought the opium but the other noble, for Black Heart asks him about the nature of the “tobacco”. Yet Min smokes it as if he owns it. From this single observation, I come to the interpretation, Black Heart is a profiteer and opportunist. He can enjoy opium without spending a high amount of money as his fellow was the one who bought it. He likes taking things from others, acts as if people around him were indebted to him hence he has the right to claim things from other aristocrats. As you can observe, Min is not just greedy and jealous of Yoon Seungho, he treats the other masters the same way.
The third observation is that Black Heart shows a disregard to others and especially to low-born. He doesn’t care if people see him smoking opium as he considers commoners as nobodies. This proves that Min believes, he is above the law as he is a noble. He shows no concern for his reputation, since he doesn’t fear any repercussion. No low-born will report him for smoking opium. On the other hand, he is not pleased to hear from the master with the khaki robe that he has to stop smoking the opium. He follows the fellow’s suggestion, however he can’t help himself criticizing him for his remark: “Do you have to be so difficult..?”. His comment is interesting because it indicates how Min views his companion, he is a killjoy. This reveals how much fun signifies to Black Heart. That’s why he likes manipulating people and even incited Jihwa to have the painter killed. This wasn’t just because he wanted to hurt Yoon Seungho and establish himself as the new king. He takes pleasure using people as his puppets. This was already palpable in the chapter 43,
(chapter 43) but this signification is reinforced with this chapter. To summarize, Min treats everyone as pawns, including nobles. This outlines his arrogance. He considers himself as a puppet master, a great mastermind hence he is superior to everyone, including Yoon Seungho.
Then, we see how the noble with the khaki robe leads our villain to the protagonist’s mansion. A single gesture, yet it is so full of signification. The aristocrat is behaving like a servant. He even addresses him as lord Min showing a respect but also a certain distance. Lord Min is treated as if he was superior to him. Yet, the noble doesn’t appear to be affected by his role as underling. He seems to be used to this situation. Therefore I come to the observation that lord Min seems to have imposed himself among nobles. He has become a high authority explaining why his actual position stands in conflict with Yoon Seungho’s.
What caught my attention in this drawing is the role played by Min’s fellows. They are his source of info. That’s how he learns about Yoon Seungho’s sponsorship and Jung In-Hun’s success at the first round of the civil service examination. As you can note, the arrogant noble is relying on his connections among the nobility in order to obtain new info about Yoon Seungho. This is also confirmed later, when he meets the painter at the mansion. He is so surprised to encounter him.
He had heard through nobles that Yoon Seungho had returned to his old self, and had started inviting nobles again. Black Heart explained the lord’s sudden change with the painter’s death. Furthermore, during all this time, the artist was never seen by the guests hence they had come to the conclusion that he had disappeared. So in Min’s mind, his plan had succeeded. This detail is quite important as his sources of information are not reliable. Min can only see and hear what aristocrats witness in the main lead’s presence. Besides, their observations are biased, like the following picture proves it. (Chapter 52) One aristocrat calls the main lead “a madman”. So he is judging the seme based on his perception and knowledge and in my opinion rumors about him played a huge part. All the info collected by the nobles and reported to Min are somehow filtered. They only pay attention to other nobles and to what matters to them. This is important as I believe that they are neglecting the commoners. Since they are low-born, they are nothing in their eyes. This explicates why Min didn’t even bother to ensure that Nameless was indeed hired and he would do his job. He only heard about Nameless through other nobles and maybe even used him too, yet he accepted the rumor about Nameless as truth.
(Chapter 43) Therefore I believe Min defends the values perpetuated among the aristocracy: titles give lords the right to consider themselves superior to commoners and to treat the latter as bugs. Min is the representative of this mentality, for him low-born have no value and no right. They can be killed or be mistreated, this is the normality for him. And this mentality is faulty as Min is neglecting an important factor: commoners. They represent the majority and play a greater role in the masters’ life. The result is that he made a huge mistake because of this source of info. He just relied on his fellows, however I have always said that Yoon Seungho used rumors and has always acted in front of other nobles. In other words, Min has a false image about the main lead and there is no doubt about it.
Pay attention to Min’s statement about the powerful protagonist:
For him, he is easy to read. Black Heart is contradicting his counterpart since he is saying, the main lead is no lunatic. Striking is the expression “watch closely”. This detail is important because it explicates why Min approached Yoon Seungho in the first place. He needed to observe him in person to make his own judgement. He noticed the locked gaze between the main lead and the low-born, he realized the preciousness of Baek Na-Kyum in Yoon Seungho’s life. That’s why I see a confirmation of my previous analysis about Min. He was never an uke in the first place. He had to play this role in order to get close to the protagonist. Therefore he acted like a whore in that chapter 8.
(chapter 8) Furthermore, after having sex one time, he remained by the painter’s side observing his expressions and reactions. He understood what the painter meant to the protagonist.
(Chapter 9) However, his judgement is only partially correct as his perception is also influenced by the reports he received through his connections, like I wrote above. After the two challenges, Min could no longer approach the main lead hence he had to rely on other sources.
But why does Min think like that? He has the impression that the lord is not a deep thinker. Black Heart has no idea that the protagonist read all the books in his library. He thinks, Yoon Seungho is led by his emotions and can’t anticipate people’s moves. He might be merciless towards commoners but he is not really using his violence against other nobles. So far, he has never attacked any aristocrat. He might have humiliated them but that was it. Even after Jihwa got caught, Yoon Seungho only punished the spy but spared his childhood friend. In his mind, the lord is no strategist. He didn’t anticipate that Min would manipulate Jihwa to have the painter murdered. He threatened Jihwa and even Min, yet nothing really happened.
The arrogant mastermind imagined that if something precious to the main character is destroyed, then he would either return to his old self or be devastated. He would never retaliate. He can’t be really in love with a low-born or if he really is, then he will never reveal it. For Min, the famous lord might have been intrigued and attracted by the low-born, yet in reality he is just like them. He is too attached to his social status. Besides, he is just a depraved man so his moves are quite predictable. The lord will never go after another noble because he never did it in the past. Besides, each time Min challenged him, the lord retreated(chapter 33) or left it with a simple thread.
(Chapter 41) Min never took it seriously. He only saw it as an empty menace. The problem is that Min’s perception is mostly influenced by the rumors existing about Yoon Seungho. I doubt, he is aware that the main lead has shadow guards. I even suspect that he never heard Yoon Seungho’s thread made in front of the painter.
Let’s not forget that in this chapter, Yoon Seungho was threatening to murder a noble which is quite daring. From my perspective, the aristocrat wasn’t making any empty thread. He was honest. As you can observe, Min’s words are revealing a lot about his false judgement about the main lead, which could be fatal for him. He believes that he is protected thanks to his title, Yoon Seungho will never dare to oppose him. He is not a real fighter. He became the ruler because of his infamous notoriety and there is nothing real behind it. He always avoided any confrontation.
Striking is that just before he contradicts his fellow, he has a strange reaction. He is looking up at the sky but not at his companion. It was as if his mind was elsewhere. Here, I see another sign of his blindness and arrogance. He doesn’t pay attention to his companions, he doesn’t need to. They are far so inferior to him… how can they perceive Yoon Seungho as a madman? He is so easy to manipulate… you just need to strike the right nerve, and the man will just back off. He will never dare to fight back like in episode 33. The man literally fled, when he was pressured to bring the painter. He is just a man consumed by lust, nothing more. That’s his biggest mistake in the end. He might have perceived Yoon Seungho’s weakness, but he hasn’t truly investigated his personality, his background and his past. More importantly, he is not aware of Yoon Seungho’s true mentality: he hates nobility due to his past suffering. Hence for him titles have no value. Moreover he has no problem to be in contact with commoners. The painter is the best example.
Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for topics or manhwas, feel free to ask. If you enjoyed reading it, retweet it or push the button like. My Reddit-Instagram-Tumblr-Twitter account is: @bebebisous33. Thanks for reading and for the support, particularly, I would like to thank all the new followers and people recommending my blog.
Protected: Painter Of The Night: Yoon Seungho’s traumatic past (second version)
Painter Of The Night: The window 🪟, the door 🚪, the air and their signification (third version)
This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents: https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/
It would be great if you could make some donations/sponsoring: Ko-fi.com/bebebisous33 That way, you can support me with “coffee” so that I have the energy to keep examining manhwas. Besides, I need to cover up the expenses for this blog
If you have already read my former analyses, you know that our protagonist Yoon Seungho is associated to the window, because he spends so much time in a room looking at his courtyard through the window. 
(chapter 35). But what does the window symbolize?
1. The meaning of the window
In order to answer this question, let us take a look at the definition of the window:
It’s an opening in the wall or roof of a building or vehicle, fitted with glass in a frame to admit light or air and allow people to see out.
Since our story takes place in Joseon, there is no glass, only thin paper or an open frame, yet it doesn’t change the definition. It’s an opening… that admits air and light and allows people to see out. Striking is that the window is connected to fresh air and sun therefore we can say that through the view, people can definitely broaden their horizon as they are able to witness what it happening outside.
However, let us not forget that their view is limited. Yoon Seungho can only see what is happening in the courtyard, but not in the servants’ room or in the painter’s room. Therefore we come to the next conclusion, the window can represent a barrier, a hindrance. That’s the reason why f. ex. writer Emily Bronte used the window in that aspect in her novel Wuthering Heights.
The window can even symbolize the boundary between the inner world of a character (room) and the outside. Therefore the room could be seen as the personification of the protagonist embodying his inner thoughts and feelings trapped in his darkness. Hence he is seeking light and air through the window. Consequently, I interpret that Yoon Seungho sitting or standing in front of the window like the following. The room seems to be a prison, it is suffocating for Yoon Seungho, hence he looks out of the window in order to be able to breathe and survive. He is caught in his darkness, yet the window allows him to escape from his dungeon, from his past. His passivity reflects his resignation, he is already thinking that nothing exciting in his life will ever happen, until he met the painter. That’s why he said in the chapter 18:
From the moment he met the low-born, he started acting differently. First he kept touching the painter and then he even started leaving the room behind and came to the door. It is interesting that in chapter 7, Yoon Seungho even followed the younger painter, after the latter had heard about the arrival of his admired teacher. Notice how the lord stands in the courtyard and looks at the welcome of the low noble.
This picture reflects the social hierarchy. Yoon Seungho stands at the top, and the teacher is closer to him. However, if you pay attention to Jung In-Hun’s gesture, he is turning his body in order to face the powerful noble. It was as if he was pushing away the young artist. Now, you realize that such a single picture can contain so much symbolism. But now let’s return to our main topic, the meaning of the room and the window.
So the room with the window represented the situation of the powerful lord at the beginning
(chapter 5) and it is still there at the end of season 1. 
(chapter 44). It looks like there wasn’t much progression, yet this time, the painter walks towards his mansion and remains by his side.
This is important, because I realized that with the vanishing of the learned sir, Yoon Seungho chose to remain in the lord‘s bedchamber. What caught my attention is that the lord always went to the courtyard because of the admired sir. We have two chapters for this interpretation: chapter 7 and chapter 35 
. What caught my attention is that when the lord visited the scholar for the first time, both were sitting in front of a door which looked like a window at the same time. 
(Chapter 7) This is not random at all, as from my perspective, it introduces the role played by Jung In-Hun in the main lead‘s life. He will be the one forcing the lord to move away from the window so that he can leave the bedchamber. Thus we had this scene: Yoon Seungho is observing the learned sir and his student from far away. 
(Chapter 19) This explicates too why the noble remained so passive in season 2 in the end. Baek Na-Kyum was the lord‘s love interest, hence his „place“ is the bedchamber. So how can the lord move away from the window and as such from the bedroom? Jung In-Hun is the trigger. And note that only in season 2, we discovered how the learned sir used walks through the countryside to console the painter. 
(Chapter 70) Finally, the main lead organized a hunt for the first time because of his honored guest. 
(Chapter 22) And if you recall the lord‘s behavior, you will notice that he left the city for the first time, when he wanted to meet the scholar. 
(Chapter 6) He encountered him in the woods. Under this new light, it reinforces my conviction that the learned sir‘s death will be the lord‘s motivation to become proactive and leave his past behind. Why? It is because of the painter‘s words. (Chapter 94) The painter still respects the scholar, but he already loves Yoon Seungho. He is not disloyal towards his former teacher despite falling in love with the protagonist. With the last incident, Yoon Seungho got aware how much the painter means to him, but at the same time, he realized the importance of the learned sir in Baek Na-Kyum‘s life. He needs to answer his question: (Chapter 102) And this question is strongly connected to the scholar, for the main lead was first sent to Jung In-Hun‘s home. 
( 100) Don‘t forget that the main lead saw the room covered in blood, though the latter had already dried. To conclude, the main lead was encouraged to walk thanks to the scholar, and as such to leave his window! 
(Chapter 100)
Therefore it is not surprising why Yoon Seungho remained in front of the window at the end of season 1. He no longer needed to seek him out and bid him farewell. 
(Chapter 44) It was the painter’s role. This signified that he was still trapped by his past and trauma, something that he hadn’t revealed to anyone. Since Yoon Seungho is still inside the room smoking in front of the window, it reveals that the lord had not really let go of his past at all, he had not expressed himself in front of Baek Na-Kyum yet. If he reveals his inner feelings and thoughts, this means he will disclose his secret and unveil his vulnerability. This explains why there was no confession from the noble’s side for instance [there were other reasons why he hadn’t confessed anything too], why he was still not sharing his inner thoughts and emotions to his partner.
First, he has never opened up to anyone before. Trust is needed and the artist needs to win that trust, because so far, Baek Na-Kyum had always pushed the noble away. There was still a gap between Baek Na-Kyum and the lord, hence the former didn‘t go to his room, but to his own study. My prediction was that Baek Na-Kyum had to open up first so that the lord could learn from him. And it became a reality. The reason was that the seme was very inexperienced, for no one had ever confided to him. Moreover, he had long internalized that weaknesses must be hidden. Unconsciously, he had already claimed Baek Na-Kyum as his bride, nonetheless this indicated that there was still this distance, this invisible wall between them. We have to understand that Yoon Seungho had never learnt how to share pain and express emotions verbally to others. He had to hide his secret, his past and trauma. 
(Chapter 37)
The shaking hand with the fist embodies his repressed inner feelings and thoughts. He had learned to keep everything to himself. Now, you are probably thinking that all this is not entirely new because I already mentioned his passivity. And now, you can grasp the origins of Yoon Seungho‘s silence and inactivity. This stroll through the mountain corresponds to his true revival. 
(Chapter 102) This signifies that Yoon Seungho will act differently in season 4: he will be proactive. Like I mentioned in the essay „Scandal(s) in Jemulpo“, he will become the scholar’s disciple and follow his footsteps: ruthless, but also caring and gentle. The only difference is that his affection for the painter is genuine.
2. Baek Na-Kyum‘s symbol: the door
However, I needed to describe this again in order to contrast Yoon Seungho’s position with the painter’s situation. What caught my attention is that Baek Na-Kyum is connected to the door, unlike the main lead. We have so many scenes where the low-born is seen close to a door or stands on the doorstep. This is what I could gather so far (I still might have missed some):
(chapter 10),
(chapter 12)
(chapter 20)
(chapter 29)
Now, you realize the importance of the door. But what does it mean? Why is Baek Na-Kyum related to the door? First, the window and the door have two common denominators: the room and the limited view to the outside world. However, since a door connects the outside with the inside, it allows to move. The person can leave the room behind, the painter has more possibilities, while with the window the person inside must feel more trapped.
Since I already pointed out that the room embodies the lord’s inner world, we have to imagine that for Baek Na-Kyum it is the same. However, the room represents something else: his unconscious, his hidden true personality and desires and not his past and trauma, like Yoon Seungho. That’s the reason why the room is not a prison like in Yoon Seungho’s case but rather a secret. The painter is hiding his secret behind the door. And now, you can understand the true signification of the door for the artist. The door embodies the doorstep where Baek Na-Kyum has to admit his homosexuality. Now, if we look back at the different situations where the door was seen. Byeondock even drew many pictures of the door in the same chapter underlining the significance and the true meaning of the door.
Now, I’ll interpret different scenes with the door which caught my eye. Little by little I am adding more and more images with the door. And this is what I found so far. I examined the following scenes: 8, 9, 10, 16, 20, 29, 35, 41 and 44.
When we look at the chapter 8, we have this situation. The young man is about to enter the lord’s chamber standing in front of the door. He has been asked by the lord to go there so that he can paint another erotic picture.
Here, the artist is opening the door. It was as if he was entering a forbidden world, where sex and homosexuality are indulged, where people enjoy their sexuality to the fullest. By entering this room, Baek Na-Kyum is reminded of his own repressed and natural desires. Then in chapter 9,
he leaves the lord’s chamber in a hurry after witnessing a sex session. Right behind the door, he can’t help himself and starts masturbating. Hidden behind the door, he feels his sexual urge growing and starts right away with his masturbation. Since he is touching himself so close to the door separating his room from Yoon Seungho’s room, it outlines that he has trouble to control his repressed sexual desires. His unconscious is urging him to become sexually active again. On the other hand, he ensures that the lord doesn’t see his erection demonstrating that he is still denying his own sexual orientation and attraction. On the other hand, the lord heard him which led him to the following conclusions: Baek Na-Kyum is somehow attracted to him and he has some experience with men as he shows no hesitation to masturbate very quickly. So the door served as a protection, he wanted to keep his sexual desires hidden from the noble. Notice how horrible he feels after his ejaculation. He is burying his face as if he was avoiding reality and his own sexual desires. He still wants to deny these urges.
Then chapter 10, the pavilion could be perceived as the unconscious hidden behind the painter’s body. (Chapter 10) Since the pavilion is open aired, it looks like there is nothing there… it was as if the true sexual orientation of the low-born didn’t exist but since there is a roof with beams, we can conclude that Jung In-Hun’s attempt to eradicate his true sexuality has in reality failed. There are rest of it. In other words, the pavilion mirrors Baek Na-Kyum’s denial and brainwashing through Jung In-Hun. This also explicates why Jung In-Hun used here emotional and cognitive techniques as a warning here. He was coercing him to drop the painting.
Then in chapter 16,
Yoon Seungho catches the low-born, because he wants him to experience sex. He has noticed the reluctance hence he just masturbates the young man. Striking is that the door is opened at some point by a servant. This opening of the door by someone else embodies the fear of being discovered. Baek Na-Kyum is determined to never reveal his repressed sexual desires. Consequently he wants the door to stay closed. So if he is seen then, he fears that his sexual orientation will be discovered, yet he wants it to remain a secret. Now, you can understand the meaning of the door in chapter 37. 
It is still the same. Despite getting a blowjob, he still wants to hide his homosexuality to the outside. Hence he still gets scared and would like the noble to stop from exciting him. So for the first time, he is experiencing sex with someone.
Here, the door is wide open and this coincides with the commoner’s confession. The young man was drunk, yet he was hiding behind the door until it got opened by the lord. So Baek Na-Kyum’s unconscious wanted to reveal his repressed sexual desires (homosexuality) and his love to the outside world.
In chapter 29, the low noble is bringing him back to the mansion. Striking is that the door is completely open too. This picture illustrates the role played by Jung In-Hun in the painter’s homosexuality. He is the one who “forces” to become an official sodomite, therefore he can no longer hide his sexual preference behind a closed door. I believe that this is related to this incident. 
Note the opened door. The learned sir caught him by surprise. That’s how the learned sir was forced to repress and hide his homosexuality. This is no coincidence that in season 1, the scholar had the opposite attitude. 
By feigning ignorance, he actually encouraged the artist to become a sodomite. After their return to the mansion, the teacher showed leniency. He accepted that his student would paint erotic paintings, but he was well aware of their sexual encounter. 
(Chapter 30) The moment he arrives back and the lord brings him back to his chamber, the nature of their relationship is no mystery any longer, though painting is used as a justification. (Chapter 29) Striking is the thickness of the wall. This symbolizes a long way for Baek Na-Kyum to admit his sexual orientation. Just because people know, this doesn’t mean that he is acknowledging his homosexuality immediately.
In chapter 34/35, there are three different scenes where the door plays a huge part. I have to say that the last scene was the one that caught my attention in the first place and that’s how I was able to connect the door to Baek Na-Kyum.
The first drawing shows the lord opening the door for Baek Na-Kyum. This signifies that the noble has somehow given up on forcing the painter to admit his homosexuality and his attraction to the lord. That’s the reason why Yoon Seungho spent the entire night thinking over how to convince the low-born to come to his side and become his partner.
However, the sex marathon has not left the young man unaffected. He hides behind the closed door, while his body is shaking and his heart is beating loudly. He eve feels butterflies. For the first time, we see Baek Na-Kyum confronting himself with his repressed feelings… for the first time there is a connection between his thinking and his unconscious. He is somehow admitting that the lord’s presence has left an impact on him. However, with his body he is making sure that no one will ever find out this secret. He is still denying his homosexuality to the outside world. He wants to keep it a secret, yet he is no longer denying the existence of these feelings.
Then in the same chapter, we see Jung In-Hun abandoning the low-born and he even closes the door in front of him.
This single action has so many significations. First, it visualizes the rejection of the teacher. He cuts ties with him. It also shows that Jung In-Hun is well aware of what happened 10 days before. It reveals his selfishness as he shows no concern. In fact, it was as if the low noble was pushing him back. It was as if Baek Na-Kyum was pressured to become a homosexual even without admitting it. The teacher is forcing him to accept his situation but at the same time, he is denying the responsibility. Imagine the hypocrisy of the lord’s action. In reality, he is the one who pushes the painter to sleep with the lord, since he needs a spy. But by closing the door, he ensures that Baek Na-Kyum doesn’t need to admit his own homosexuality. This scene symbolizes the prostitution Jung In-Hun referred later. The teacher wants to use the artist’s sexual orientation for his own needs and simultaneously he doesn’t need to require this from the painter. As a conclusion, Jung In-Hun is now pushing the low-born to become a homosexual without revealing it to the outside world. At the same time, he acts as if he has no idea what is happening to the commoner. That way, Baek Na-Kyum can never reproach him to have used him as a prostitute or to be a hypocrite.
Then in chapter 41, we see a certain progression. The door has been opened by Yoon Seungho but Baek Na-Kyum doesn’t care any longer. Since he is begging the lord to be held, he is finally admitting his true desires. He likes being embraced by a man. This marks a pivotal moment in Baek Na-Kyum’s life. And this explains why the door is wide opened at the end.
Baek Na-Kyum is no longer hiding his true sexual orientation. He is facing the world without being embarrassed. He waited for Jung In-Hun, hoping that the young man would still accept him, but he experienced rejection. He was literally left behind. However, his acceptance of his own sexual orientation doesn’t necessarily mean that he loves Yoon Seungho. In the beginning of season 2, he viewed himself as a prostitute. 
(Chapter 45) He just accepted him as his sexual partner, hence he went to his room and not to the lord’s side in chapter 44. If we compare their respective situation. Yoon Seungho hadn’t progressed much compared to the painter at the end of season 1, because he needed to express his emotions and reveal his secrets and vulnerabilities to Baek Na-Kyum. It took him a long time to open up, as he had been coerced to view himself as a bird of misfortune. He didn’t dare to voice any wish out of fear that these wishes would get ruined. (Chapter 96) In his mind, he had no right to voice any desire, as they would be perceived as GREED! 
(Chapter 96)
But like I had written above, the low-born was in a better position right from the start. He had more freedom, while for Yoon Seungho the room is indeed a prison. Under this new approach, it becomes comprehensible how the main lead could leave the window and as such the darkness of his nightmare. Because of the painter, Yoon Seungho met Jung In-Hun, and the latter made him feel superior, but also jealous. That’s how his attention got diverted from the window making him discover the existence of the door! We could say that the painter as the butterfly led the poor protagonist to the door, and thanks to his mind, Yoon Seungho could release Baek Na-Kyum from his cage, as his mind was also trapped by social norms. And this sexual emancipation could only take place in the bedchamber. This explicates why the artist’s liberation was the first step for the lord’s liberation. But by opening the door for the painter, Yoon Seungho could free himself. Therefore it is not surprising that the painter‘s final confession took place in front of a closed door, 
(chapter 96) and Heena could hear his words. Hence at the end, the door got broken: 
(chapter 96) This represented the final emancipation of the artist. He no longer cared, if he was seen. He was so moved that he didn‘t pay to his surroundings. 
(Chapter 96), while it was not the case for the noble. The latter knew about the artist‘s shyness. This truly shows that Heena was responsible for the sexual oppression of her brother. The painter was no longer hiding his affection for the main lead, when he decided to wait for his master‘s return in the bedchamber.
(Chapter 98) Observe that the artist was going there on his own will, and he was sharing his bed with his husband.
3. Heena and the opened door
How did the scholar discover that Baek Na-Kyum was painting erotic paintings of sodomy? 
(Chapter 1) This memory was from the learned sir. Why was he approaching the painter during the day? Secondly, note that he only scolded the artist in his house! 
(Chapter 34) So he had discovered a secret, he imagined that the painter had assisted to an immoral love session.
(chapter 6) In my opinion, the kisaeng was responsible for this incident. We have a clue for this interpretation: 
(Chapter 94) The noona is the one standing in front of the opened door with her donsaeng. Here, the artist was getting embarrassed and humiliated. That‘s how little by little, the artist associated the closed door to shame and safety. This is not surprising that the kisaeng is also standing behind the closed door, when she hears her brother making love to the main lead. 
(Chapter 96) In addition, she is constantly seen in connection with an opened door, but this opened door is linked to anxieties, pain, shame and guilt: 
(chapter 68) 
(chapter 66) 
(chapter 88) I have the impression that she was acting out of jealousy, and she had intended to tarnish her brother‘s reputation.
And this leads to my final words. In my first version, I had expressed the following thoughts:
„Does it mean that the lord needs to leave the mansion behind in order to liberate himself from his suffering? If so, then we have two possibilities. Either he gives up his title and everything for the painter or he decides to move to the capital and helps the artist to develop his career and even starts meddling in politics.“
And look at the progression of the story. Yoon Seungho did leave the mansion behind and went to the mountain with the painter in his arms. (Chapter 102) This symbolized the final emancipation of Yoon Seungho. He could finally move on from his past, and as such leave the darkness of his mental prison. He no longer needs a window to view life. This scene announced that he was starting living again. Thus I am expecting to see Yoon Seungho becoming more proactive and funny in season 4. He will show his intelligence and strength in order to defeat his enemies because so far, he never revealed his qualities to others, only to the scholar. His past had left him somehow paralyzed, hence he has laid a low profile. In his past, he believed that his prison was his protection, for he could observe and remain quite wealthy and powerful. For me, Baek Na-Kyum is in reality his strength, the reason why he will be able to leave his cage and shows his true colors and skills.
4. The true form of Jung In-Hun
But if the window symbolizes Yoon Seungho and Baek Na-Kyum the door, what is representing the teacher? In my opinion the open air. He is mostly seen outside.
(chapter 7) (chapter 10)
(chapter 19)
(chapter 29) 
(Chapter 22) (chapter 35) He often strolls through the courtyard. Therefore I would say that the air embodies him so perfectly. He is seen with his nose in the air
which shows his arrogance. Simultaneously, he gives himself airs. How can he be touched by this low-born? The picture shows both aspects. Then in the chapter 6, he is just hot air (this expression means empty talk in order to impress) , when he says that he was the one who taught how to read to the painter. Here, he tries to present himself as a good teacher to Yoon Seungho. Furthermore, he is overestimating his own skills and he is definitely daydreaming 
which is connected to the expression “castles in the air”. His aspirations are boundless, he is aiming at the highest position without being competent or even trying to improve himself. He also attempts to air dirty laundry, when he is hunting with Yoon Seungho. He wants to force the lord to admit his lie so that he can criticize him. But here he fails. As you can observe, many expressions with air reflect his personality. However, there is one scene that contrasts to this observation, that’s when he is in his library in the chapter 40. We actually see him at the library in two occasions:
chapter 7 and 40. However only the scene in the chapter 40 is memorable. Therefore I would say that he is linked to two spaces: open air and closed room like the library. It seems strange that Jung In-Hun is linked to a world with no boundary and the opposite, a closed room. Actually, it is quite simple. The outside signifies that he is actually empty and superficial behind his smile. He is so fake hence he has no real personality. Besides, since there is no limit, then it can also signify that he has no conscience as he knows no boundary. Furthermore, it also illustrates that he has no past and no trauma too. Finally, it also indicates that he will never change, there will be no transformation and as such no progression. Air remains air. Yet he only shows his true thoughts in a closed door in the chapter 40. 
His words there are suffocating the poor boy, that’s the reason why Baek Na-Kyum is left speechless. 
(Chapter 40) He can’t breathe properly. Since there is no view and no door to the outside visible in the drawing, we have to imagine this reflects his narrow-mindedness. He is surrounded by books (see the pictures from the chapter 7) therefore he lacks real experience and knowledge. He is literally buried behind his books, therefore his knowledge is superficial. 
(Chapter 27) Even in his bedroom there are books so his own bedchamber gives the readers a suffocating feeling. Since there is no window visible in his room and the library, there is no fresh air in the closed room which explains why it is asphyxiating. Usually, we say in a closed room that it smells musty. He only knows the world through his books and the moral standards. He is not even opened to the outside, only his words and thoughts count. Everything else has no value hence there is no life next to him. People living by his side will end up suffocated as he doesn’t allow them to breathe. He is stubborn and he will never change, a fake, empty and narrow-minded man with no conscience. Because of this connection, I realized that Jung In-Hun had no future in Hanyang. He would end up buried, and this became a reality. Because the moment he left for the capital, he ended up dead. And now, if you think carefully, you will recognize that the learned sir is associated to nature! Thus he was seen in the woods (chapter 6, 22) or in the countryside admiring the moon. 
(Chapter 70) Air means also breathing! Hence he represents the fresh air entering Yoon Seungho‘s bedroom, hence we had such a scene: 
(chapter 35) The lord witnessed the intimate interaction between the learned sir and the artist, thus he was incited to leave the bedroom. Strangely, we could say that he was the initiator for the lord‘s liberation. No wonder, why Kim wished to get rid of the learned sir in the end, and just viewed the artist as less annoying and evil!
So the moment he left the domain, the admired sir was confronted by reality. His stay in the mansion had made him dream 
(Chapter 18) so that he ended up letting his guard down. He was not so competent and intelligent like Yoon Seungho, he relied more on the stupidity on others. He could deceive commoners, but not spies. In my first version, I had envisioned that the learned sir had many tricks up his sleeves so he would survive, but I had not realized that he had met a fake servant 
(chapter 37) definitely a noble who could see through him. For me, it was the pedophile himself. I had predicted that he would disappear into thin air, and it became a reality, especially if my theory about his assassination is correct. We could see the transformation of the scholar into a ghost, 
(chapter 50) who would come to haunt the couple because of his resent. 
(Chapter 98) As the air, he became a spirit! And note that the lord was encouraged to stroll too!
Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for topics or manhwas, feel free to ask. If you enjoyed reading it, retweet it or push the button like. My Reddit-Instagram-Tumblr-Twitter account is: @bebebisous33. Thanks for reading and for the support, particularly, I would like to thank all the new followers and people recommending my blog
Protected: Painter Of The Night: Yoon Seungho and Baek Na Kyum, a comparison (second version)
Painter of The Night: Min, the introduction of a new villain? (Third version)
This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents: https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/
What caught my attention in the chapter 43 is the man with the green robe. His name is Min and just like Seungho, he is a noble. 
(chapter 43) Here he is described by his friend with a black heart. However, in the first season, he was shown in different chapters (8, 9, 19, 33, 36, 41 and 43), but he was among others and as such, he was never properly introduced. His presence increased until the chapter 43 marking a pivotal moment. In the first version of this essay, I desired to prove that Min would play a bigger part in the second season. And this was proven correct. Nevertheless, I still need to introduce him. But who is this man, what do we know about him in the first season?
But first let’s go back to the chapter 41, where he was shown hunting with Seungho.
This means that he is quite close to Seungho, as the latter spends time with him outside the sex orgies. Striking is that in this chapter, the man with the green robe was tasting the water, when he asked Seungho to confirm the rumor about the incident at the tailor shop. Seungho warned him not to cross the line, as he could share the same fate than Jihwa. During that scene, the author draw two pictures focused on the hands. The man with the green robe grabbed the wrist of our main lead 
(chapter 41) and even put his other hand on his waist.
And these pictures are not random as usually. Remember how Seungho reacted, when Jung In-Hun touched his shoulder, he was about to kill the teacher. 
(Chapter 30) He was so upset, hence imagine how he felt, when he sensed Min’s hand on his wrist and then waist. With such a gesture, Yoon Seungho could only get more irritated. And here, our main lead only pushed his hand and insulted him by comparing the man with a mouse . 
His gestures towards our seme revealed something in my opinion. The waist is a very intimate place. It gave the impression that Min was interested in Yoon Seungho sexually. It was, as if this man wanted to become Yoon Seungho’s lover as well. The gesture is quite deceiving, which explains why Yoon Seungho thought that lord Min was wooing him. However, the protagonist was misinterpreting the gesture and interest. In truth the noble was lusting after the painter. This explains why Yoon Seungho was not sensing the danger coming from the “friend“. But then why doesn’t Jihwa feel threatened by him? Then remember that he grabbed Seunho’s wrist. A man in Asia will usually grab his girlfriend’s wrist. In other words, the man with the green robe was treating him like a woman (the waist, the wrist). Everything was pointing out that he wanted Seungho to be his uke. Yet, the reality is that he wanted to “screw“ the main lead. He wanted to ruin him out of jealousy. He desired to have the painter. “Screwing“ someone can have two different meanings. But there‘s more to it which I will explain more below
However, like I had really sensed right from the start, Min was in truth a seme, just like the protagonist, hence Jihwa never felt threatened by him. If I look back at chapter 33, his sexual role was implied, as he was smoking and still had his topknot on, just like Seungho, while the ukes in this scene had all their hair down. (Chapter 33) As conclusion, anyone observing the scene in chapter 41 would come to the conclusion, that this man wanted to have Seungho as lover, just like Jihwa, but in a different role. He would like to be the top. As conclusion, the lord Min was a seme who seemed to be interested in Seungho. Thus he considered Baek Na-Kyum and the red-haired master as rivals, whom he needed to eliminate. And that‘s how Yoon Seungho perceived his gesture and words in the woods. This explicates why he compared him to Lee Jihwa. In the main lead’s mind, Black Heart was paying attention to his every moves and was always updated about his interactions with the painter out of jealousy. The reality is that Min was terribly envious of the main lead. His real center of interest was in truth Baek Na-Kyum. Thus he kept looking at him during their first meeting. 
(Chapter 8) 
(chapter 9)
However, the chapter 43 revealed more information about the master Min and his personality.
The readers could realize his dangerosity here. Why? First, it was revealed that this seme knew all along about Jihwa’s feelings for Seungho, and he played with them. He enjoyed toying the red-haired aristocrat. Black Heart misled the childhood friend so that the latter would run to Seungho’s mansion, especially if you recall that during the same night, Yoon Seung-Won visited his brother. This explains why he lied in the inn. The noble with the mole knew about the deception, as he had a drop of sweat on his face.
(Chapter 36) Naturally, here Kim had played a huge role in this deception too, as he allowed to leak information to the red-haired master’s servant. 
(Chapter 41) Yet, Min knew that Jihwa wouldn’t be able to resist and run to the lord’s mansion. He had already calculated that the childhood friend would discover the truth. He would be hurt and realize his mistake. He even ridiculed Jihwa by comparing him to a dog. 
(chapter 43) Here, he reminded me of Seungho with his sarcasm and his ironical comments from chapter 6. 
(chapter 6) He enjoys making fun of Jihwa and is as cunning as Seungho, though in reality the main lead‘s true personality is totally different. 
(Chapter 43)
Consequently, I couldn’t help myself associating Min to a snake… he was like the devil, inciting the stupid Jihwa to commit a murder. I would even say that he was employing the red-haired noble as his hunting dog. In my first version, I had suspected the man before to be jealous, as he was the one who had even asked Seungho to bring the painter to one of their sex parties. (Chapter 33) It was, as if he wanted to ensure that the artist meant nothing to the protagonist. As you can see, the vicious man gave the impression that he was jealous of the painter. His reproach towards the main lead sounded similar to the childhood friend’s. (Chapter 18) 
(chapter 41) It was, as if he wanted to play with Jihwa and get rid of Baek Na-Kyum at the same time. The latter is viewed as a source of danger, for Min keeps thinking about him. The noble considered the artist as a witch who put a spell on him, Here, he was projecting his own thoughts. 
(Chapter 43) It looked like both ukes represented a threat. He was definitely using Jihwa so that if anything would go wrong, only the red-haired aristocrat would be blamed. The man with the black heart tried to diminish the consequences of the murder. He said that the murder should look like an accident, hence this attempted murder can never happen at the mansion. Back then, I had envisioned that they would wait, until Baek Na-Kyum left the mansion, and this expectation was proven correct.
Now it becomes clear why the man with the black heart is doing such a thing. Although Min claims that he wants to be entertained, when he lied to Jihwa in the past, he had already prepared to set the trap for Jihwa. He knew where to hire the killer. (Chapter 43) He had already anticipated Jihwa’s reaction. While Min declared that it was funny, when Jihwa came crying, he added that he was disappointed that he only saw just tears. He wanted him to “come with his tail between his legs”. (chapter 43) And this outlines his cruelty. It was, as if he was “castrated”, had lost his masculinity and virility. As you can see, the guy was making fun of Jihwa and even insulting him. But the latter didn’t pay attention to these words, too wounded by the scene he had witnessed in the study of his friend. By acting like that, he gave the impression that he didn’t care. In truth, it exposed the antagonist’s naivety. He even didn’t see any danger coming from the man with the black heart.
But striking is that after Jihwa’s arrival, he proposed right away to the noble to have Baek Na-Kyum killed. He was indeed acting like a jealous man. (Chapter 43) Now, Yoon Seungho was neglecting him. But in order to convince the upset red-haired noble, Min added more fuel to the fire with his comments:
– His childhood friend had been bewitched
– At some point Baek Na-Kyum would become Seungho’s mistress
He was implying that the red-haired aristocrat was on the verge of losing his love. All this pointed out that the guy was manipulating Jihwa to ensure that the latter would decide to kill the lowborn. That’s the reason why we saw Jihwa’s imagination of that night. The Joker‘s words distorted the memory from the red-haired master. 
(Chapter 43) The words the man with the green robe said had a huge influence on him. Not only his mind is black, but also his heart which outshines this man’s evilness and dangerousness. Let us not forget that he is a seme… but since he has been forced to be the bottom because of Yoon Seungho, all his actions can be judged in a different light. People could see him as someone who has been longing to become the main lead‘s lover. Thus he said this in season 2: 
(chapter 52) and in season 3 
(chapter 92) But this was just a deception, his real target was the painter. However, after season 3, I realized that in truth, Black Heart had only been a puppet himself, though Min seemed to be like a personification of the devil… his lies, his words in order to incite Jihwa to commit a crime, his words ridiculising Jihwa and even Seungho.
Some questioned this perception in the beginning, for when Min appeared in chapter 8, he was an uke, he couldn’t be a top.
But the readers were overlooking that the main lead got raped and he even used to be a bottom. So roles can be switched. It becomes obvious, when you read this scene. (Chapter 16) Here, the main lead desired to discover the painter’s sexual preferences. So when Min stroke the main lead’s waist, he never realized the true signification of his action.
(Chapter 41) The main lead could only assume that Min was interested in him, he wished to become his only partner. Deep down, he desired to become the top, but since Yoon Seungho was not willing to change his position, Black Heart was willing to remain a uke. Note that Min invited the main lead in chapter 19 to the kisaeng house, and offered him wine, right after the main lead had cut ties with his childhood friend. (Chapter 19) It was, as if he was wooing him, hoping to take over Lee Jihwa’s place. Then in chapter 33, Min is the one asking for Baek Na-Kyum.
Striking are his words: “We would have all welcome him”… In the first version of this essay, I had demonstrated, that these words were the proof that Min was in fact a seme, but he was only a uke because of Yoon Seungho. The second season proved me right. He wanted Seungho to bring over Baek Na-Kyum so that they could taste him… I doubt that they would have allowed the painter to be a top. especially when sex sessions are viewed as battles. However, every action from Min were in fact ambiguous. He gave the impression that he was happy to be favored by Yoon Seungho (chapter 33), he would seek his company 
(chapter 51) 
(chapter 52) and he was jealous of the painter, for the protagonist was only paying attention to him.
As you can see, due to his words and actions, Min created the illusion that he wished to taste Yoon Seungho, especially when he acts like a hunter. Imagine how his reputation would change if Min was able to tame Seungho and have him become an uke. Min is a player and hunter because of his behavior and words (hunting scene, his offer, his manipulation with lies etc)… Thus, you comprehend why in my first version, I had the impression that his real target was not the painter, but Seungho. It was caused by the ambiguity of his actions. Striking is that in the shaman’s house, he never tried to taste the painter at all. He even allowed the other nobles to taste the painter first. 
(Chapter 101) Note that he even pushed Lee Jihwa to become a top. 
(Chapter 100) It was, as if Min was not interested in the painter at all. His true goal was to get rid of Lee Jihwa and Baek Na-Kyum, his rivals. But we know the truth… Black Heart wished to be noticed by Baek Na-Kyum, thus he said this to him in the shaman’s house: 
(chapter 99) But if he wanted to become his lover as uke, he would be not different from Jihwa. However, this man is definitely not seeking for Seungho’s love. His actions and words don’t fit the profile of an uke, of a person longing for Seungho’s love, rather he fits the profile of a hunter and player.
After season 3, I came to realize the cause for this contradicting attitude. In my eyes, Black Heart was already acting on the king’s behalf. The mysterious lord Song wished to keep the famous sodomite as his lover/wife, and the painter represented a hindrance. Using Lee Jihwa was the perfect tool to achieve his goal. He would get rid of two rivals at the same time. Yoon Seungho would blame his childhood friend for the painter‘s death, once alone again, the king could approach Yoon Seungho. Thus the latter was treated as a prey by Min in each season. But while he used the artist as an excuse to hunt his prey, the hell-raiser, he couldn‘t admit that he wanted to have the painter for himself. Baek Na-Kyum was a commoner. What appeared as a tool, became slowly a goal. 
(Chapter 56) But Min was still in denial, hence he justified his requests as an urge, while he was also longing for the painter’s affection.
Due to his words and the color of his robe, master Min reminded me of the snake in the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the one who brought misery to Adam and Eva, here in this case this seme is leading Jihwa to his own demise. Hence I came to develop this theory that Min would become the villain of the second season. My interpretation was just based on my own knowledge and European background. Striking is that this man persuaded Jihwa that nothing would happen to him, Baek Na-Kyum was a commoner and if this looked like an accident, then he wouldn’t get caught. 
(Chapter 43) And remember that Jihwa is a noble… and in the bible, God got aware of Adam’s original sin, hence the latter was banished from paradise. Thus I had been expecting that Lee Jihwa would lose his title as noble, as his crime would be discovered. And this prediction became true which the author revealed in the creator‘s note.
Finally, I would like to point out that Seungho compared Min to a mouse indicating that Seungho didn’t consider him as a threat, he even saw Min as harmless. (chapter 41) A mouse is small and has no real claws. This shows that Yoon Seungho was underestimating him, but also was misinterpreting Black Heart’s action. He was acting like a jealous concubine, thus he compared him to Lee Jihwa. Here, we had the impression that the protagonist was well prepared. He thought, he knew why Min asked him to bring the painter for their sex party and why the lord Min asked about the veracity of the rumor about the incident at the tailor shop. But no… he didn‘t detect the longing and envy from Black Heart towards the painter. I compared him to a snake due to his cunning behavior and his cynical and seductive words… But the reality was that he was a fool himself, for he had no idea about Yoon Seungho‘s past. The abduction did occur and this twice, but note that Min had to become involved himself in order to achieve his goal. The irony is that when Min said this to Yoon Seungho 
(chapter 102), he was again giving the impression that he had acted like a jealous man who was longing for Yoon Seungho‘s attention. He had acted like a vicious concubine, but in Joseon, „jealous concubine or queen“ would get sentenced to death, like the Queen Yun and the concubine Jang Ok-Jun. 
(chapter 101) No one in his right mind would torment a loved one like that. Yoon Seungho was not recognizing what jealousy and envy are and what these emotions could trigger people to do! Black Heart would torment Baek Na-Kyum, for the latter was rejecting him. So imagine the king‘s reaction, when he discovers that Min got killed. 
(Chapter 102) First, he lost his loyal helping hand, secondly he got misled and even betrayed by Lee Jihwa. In other words, the opposite had happened. Instead of obtaining Yoon Seungho, the king lost his “wife“ who decided to kill himself. To conclude, the villain from season 2 and 3 was in reality a pawn, the shadow of the true villain, lord Song. This explicates why Min‘s behavior was particularly ambiguous in season 1… All his actions and words could be perceived as a jealous man who desired to become Yoon Seungho‘s top!! The king would have never approved such a thing! And this could be the other reason why he will vent his anger on the Lees.
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Bebebisous33s' analyses in K-Dramaland and Manhwas 