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

Actually, I wanted to write about this topic much sooner but due to “Painter Of The Night”, I kept postponing it. Once again, I’ll examine the evolution of Joo Sooin and Park Chi-Hwan, yet under a different aspect: Emancipation. When both met and came to an agreement, both experienced deliverance. While the human was no longer exposed to abuse, the vampire was no longer forced to kill vampires in order to survive. Consequently, while liberation will be the topic of the essay, I’ll question at the end, if their emancipation just announces a positive change.

Before explaining Joo Sooin’s liberation, it is important to remember how the protagonist’s life was preceding Kwon Sungha’s death. Joo Sooin had no control over his own life. The abusive roommate supervised main lead’s every single move and word. For example, Sungha forced Joo Sooin to lie to his girlfriend.

Or he even ordered him to return from work at a precise time, well aware that Sooin would have to struggle in order to follow his order.

In that scene, Kwon Sungha was particularly vicious because he planned to set up a trap for his roommate, like the drawing below proves it. He knew that his “friend” would arrive at this hour.

When Sooin arrived two minutes later than ordered, he caught the so-called friend with his girlfriend in a embarrassing position. He interrupted them, while they were about to have sex. This gave the double-faced man the excuse to send away his girlfriend, avoiding to have sex with her, whereas he could accuse the poor “roommate” of embarrassing him and his girlfriend. Later he could even justify his abuse because Sooin needed to be punished for his wrongdoings (the interruption and his lies). Simultaneously, he ensured to make his former best friend feel guilty in order to underline his superiority and demonstrate his power. He was the master, the one deciding about Sooin’s fate.

Furthermore our main lead wasn’t even the owner of his own body, Sungha marked and bruised him like he wanted. The double-faced man even supervised their sexual encounters, he never took the uke’s pleasure into consideration. In fact, he actually enjoyed it, when the protagonist would cry. He abused the main character so much that at the end, Joo Sooin had even adopted Sungha’s worldview. As a homosexual, he was a dirty and filthy pervert. The red-haired man had succeeded to transform Sooin into a man with no confidence, no dream and no desire. That’s why I described him as a zombie in my first analysis about Dine With A Vampire (“What defines being a human?”). Imagine that for a brief moment his “only hope and dream” was to be thrown away, as if he was some garbage.

That’s how little he thought of himself, a vulgar and soiled object. Besides, Sooin would even use the same vocabulary than his abusive “boyfriend”, like for example “dirty”.

However, everything changed the moment Park Chi-Hwan helped him to cut ties with Kwon Sungha by killing the inhuman doctor. When the vampire got rid of the violent roommate, Soo Jooin could finally be free and could regain the control of his own life. However, this perception has to be relativized.

The problem with victims of abuse is, they need time to change completely as their thoughts and actions have been formatted by their violent partner. Since everything revolved around their partner before, the abused need to regain a new identity, to change their own behavior and as such to rediscover their own taste. That’s why the red-haired man’s influence still exists in the protagonist’s life, even after the perpetrator disappeared.

First, Sooin is reminded of Sungha, when he touches the vampire’s cheek in order to restrain him. The reason is simple: he did the same gesture with his roommate.

As you can observe, a victim of a toxic relationship has some issues to forget the ex-partner and his past habits, born out of fear and the need to protect themselves. This shows that many reactions have been internalized. This incident explicates too why Sooin finds it very difficult to choose his own food and clothes properly. Notice that he picks not only the least nutritious meal

but also something looking similar to Sungha’s porridge (white and sticky due to the butter):

Imagine, he doesn’t even look at the more delicious dishes and even feels awkward to receive so many expensive clothes, hence he has to be pressured to pick up some shirt and trousers. Here, due to the colors (dark blue and black) the selected shirt and the trousers resemble to the jacket he wore, when he was living with the future doctor.

His choice of clothes and dishes not only reflect his low self-esteem but also mirrors his problem to forget his life with his abusive friend. As you can detect, despite the disappearance of Sungha, Sooin is not truly liberated from his ex-best friend’s shadow.

Therefore during his sleep, our main character keeps having nightmares about Sungha, revealing that his fear of his former best friend has not completely vanished. (chapter 9 and 14). He recalls the way the monster had sex with him.

Fortunately, the man remembers Park Chi-Hwan in his dream so that the ex-partner is repressed. Yet, he comes back in form of a shadow, making him feel guilty. He is the one responsible for his death.

In other words, Sooin is still tormented, although he has someone nice by his side. Because of the long exposure to abuse, his angst and guilt are deeply engraved in him. This explicates why the young man keeps apologizing to Park Chi-Hwan. He imagines that the vampire might react like his ex-friend (see the chapter 12 too).

Furthermore while having sex with Park CHi-Hwan, Sooin’s requests are related to Sungha’s sexual habits. Sooin didn’t want the vampire to cum inside him during their first sexual intercourse. There is no ambiguity that this is again related to Sungha as the latter saw sperm as something dirty, especially when the manhwalovers recalls his remark made with the porridge. When Sooin asked the supernatural creature to grab his head so that he could take his whole shaft, I believe that this desire was influenced by Kwon Sungha too. What caught my attention is the main lead’s reaction, when he hears from his lover that he will do what Sooin wants. The quotation marks indicate a certain surprise and hesitation expressed by the sensitive human. At that moment, the new lover has no idea that the request doesn’t truly reflect the human’s wish, it is more linked to the violent internist. Besides, if you consider how rough the fellatio is (deep throat), even the vampire wonders how he can allow this, because he knows how delicate the human is. This would explicate why at the end, when the vampire declares that Sooin looks like a mess, the latter starts crying and apologizing. The deep throat fellatio and Chi-Hwan’s words triggered the main lead to remember about the negative image he has about him.

As the manhwaphiles can observe, time is essential for victims of abuse. That’s why this story is very interesting. It makes the readers understand how difficult it is for these victims to distance themselves from their terrible experiences and their past. Outsiders often don’t understand why abused people can’t cut ties with their controlling and violent partner immediately. The latter often uses guilt as a way to dominate their partner. In the manhwa, Sungha even blackmails Sooin and the latter had no way to protected himself. That’s why the victims of abuse have problems to leave their abusive partner, they sometimes think that they can even turn them into a better person. In other words, if they want to start a new life, they have to leave everything behind: their former habits and thoughts. It was, as if they needed to relearn how to live on their own. This is what people caught in a controlling relationship need to do in order to be truly emancipated:

1. Reclaiming activities
2. Being kind to his own body.
3. Connecting with people.
4. Verbalizing
5. Remembering
6. “You. Survivors need to learn to put themselves at the center of their lives. After structuring their time around the abusers’ demands, it can be difficult for survivors even to remember their own opinions and wishes.” quoted from https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/invisible-chains/201512/recovery-after-controlling-relationship

The murder might have helped Sooin to run away from Sungha, yet he has not truly cut ties with his past and overcome his trauma.

However, the readers get to see more and more small changes in the protagonist. For the first time, he is able to think on his own and even speak about himself, a huge step in his emancipation. . The personal pronoun “I” is quite central in order to detect the slow recovery. If you compare to the way he spoke much earlier, his sentences in the second picture above are much longer and without any break. Sooin is less reserved and more determined. There is a progression between the two pictures, the “I” becomes more and more important.

Sooin’s slow transformation and liberation is only possible because Park Chi-Hwan treats him with respect and tenderness. He ensures that the young man eats better. He lets him eat some meat so that the human is able to discover that he likes that dish. The supernatural creature doesn’t mark his lover with bruises and bites in order to claim the human as his partner to other vampires, he uses his scent. He even tells Sooin that he will always listen to his wishes and desires. Why is there such a huge contrast between this relationship and Sooin’s bond with Sungha? Sooin and Chi-Hwan call each other master hence there exists no superiority between them, unlike Sungha who was the only master. For him, Sooin was just his pet or his object. While Sungha planned to cage his sex partner in a studio for his own sexual desires, Chi-Hwan uses the expression “our home”.

The more time passes on, the more Sungha’s influence is fading away as the innocent human discovers how a real relationship works. Chi-Hwan and Sooin are open to each other, there is no secret between them. The vampire never lies or sets up his lover. They don’t hide their fear or thoughts from each other contrasting so much to Sungha’s manipulations and secrets. Besides, the vampire is determined to erase this monster from Sooin’s memory. This explicates why the more episodes we read, the more the human’s mind is focused on Park Chi-Hwan. Little by little, the young man accepts him in his heart. He is even willing to do anything for him. He is not even repulsed, when he sees blood on the ground. He just gets scared as his lover has blood on his face and he could have been hurt.

While Sooin wanted to escape from Sungha’s claws, the opposite is happening with the vampire. The human fears to get separated from his lover. He even envisions how to help Chi-Hwan because the latter could get arrested for murder. As you can detect, Sooin’s liberation is not complete as he is still concerned about Sungha, but the former has already made huge progress. He has found comfort and love in Park Chi-Hwan’s embrace and care. Consequently the moment Sooin discovers that his former lover has survived, he might get scared shortly. However, I am expecting that the victim will reject his former lover and no longer fear him, although he has become a vampire. His relationship with Park Chi-Hwan will become his strength and anchor to fight against his former best friend. The irony is that Park Chi-Hwan might be a vampire just like Sungha, yet the former metamorphosed into a “human” due to Sooin’s scent and blood (while keeping his supernatural nature), whereas this won’t be the case for Sungha. He was a monster as a human and I am quite sure, he will remain one as a vampire.

Now, it is time to focus on the vampire’s emancipation. In the introduction, I mentioned Park Chi-Hwan’s liberation and explained that thanks to Sooin’s blood, he was no longer forced to kill other vampires for his own existence. However, I see another aspect in his emancipation. His new lover has turned him into a human, being able to ooze warmth and tenderness. Notice that he smiles and even laughs more, while in the introduction, he appeared more grumpy. He was avoiding humans and even vampires. The reasons were quite simple. He disliked the scent of humans’ blood and he needed to avoid vampires so that he could hunt them without getting noticed. In other words, he was quite lonely. He couldn’t share anything with others. Affection and care were non-existent. I also believe that he also discovered sexuality and its pleasures thanks to Sooin. Notice his reaction, when he drinks the human’s blood for the first time.

The human’s reaction works like an aphrodisiac for the vampire too. His words in the picture outline that his knowledge wasn’t based on experience but on hearsay. His gaze and mouth express fascination and joy. This new discovery awakes the vampire’s appetite for excitement. Therefore he warns Sooin that he won’t be satisfied very quickly. We could say that for the first time, he felt thirst for sex and pleasure.

That’s why I say that his life has changed a lot too. Thanks to Sooin, he is no longer living in hell, can finally smell nice things, feel pleasure during intercourse. He is hungry and thirsty for love and sex. Observe that at no moment he questions his relationship with Sooin. Homosexuality seems something natural and normal for the supernatural creature. His mentality stands in opposition to the internist’s, the latter judging sodomy as filthy. For the first time, the supernatural creature is enjoying life and is no longer living in hell hence sodomy can’t be dirty. No wonder why Park Chi-Hwan calls it a miracle.

We have to imagine that before meeting Sooin, his life was quite empty but gory at the same time as he needed to kill his “fellows” for his own survival. Moreover, his comment in the drawing above lets transpire that he hadn’t expected to ever meet such a human in his life. We could say that the supernatural creature has come back to life. He has been set free from his life as vampire, now he is living like a human, without losing his supernatural powers.

We discover in the chapter 14 why Park Chi-Hwan is able to kill his fellows so easily. Since he eats vampires, his powers are stronger than vampires feeding on humans. And this could be the weakness the new vampire, introduced for the first time in the chapter 16, is referring to. Since he has bonded with a human, the origin of his powers is now Sooin and no longer the vampires. Does it signify that he will lose his supernatural powers over other vampires in the long term? Honestly, I believe the opposite. But we’ll see if this impression will be proven correct. Besides, as human’s life is so fragile, it is normal that Park Chi-Hwan’s enemy will target Sooin because he seems to be the weaker one. Once Sooin is removed from Chi-Hwan’s side, the latter will lose his happiness and joy.

Let’s not forget that the gentle protagonist keeps reminding Sooin of his mortal condition. Therefore the vampire’s liberation appears to be a source of danger. He might have found joy and love but these become his weaknesses thereby he could lose his immortal life for good. However, I doubt that the new vampire is taking into consideration that Joo Sooin is metamorphosing into a strong and reliable human thanks to Park Chi-Hwan. At some point, the human will become the vampire’s strength, the more he gets loved and encouraged to be his own person. They are already working together, worrying about each other very much

that’s why their liberation will help them to fight against their enemies. Sungha and the new vampire might be working together, yet they have different mindsets and goals in my opinion. Sungha will try to reclaim his “pet” and prey, while I can envision that the other vampire would prefer getting rid of Joo Sooin. I envisage that Sungha could decide to go after his rival but the white-haired vampire won’t permit it. For the latter, killing the loved one would be more effective than just removing him from Park Chi-Hwan’s side. We can also sense the white-haired vampire’s resentment and lack of emotions in the final scene. Observe the contrast between the supernatural creature’s words and his facial expression.

The secret beholder is far from showing any happiness and relief. He seems to be far from emancipated from the past. I believe that just like Sungha, he must resent Park Chi-Hwan for abandoning him. He is certainly jealous of his former friend who could live without him and he is now annoyed that he could find happiness with a human. I have the impression that this vampire wants to make Park Chi-Hwan regret his past decision. The latter shouldn’t have freed himself from his fellow and former friend.

While Park Chi-Hwan made a huge new experience with Sooin, the other seems to still live in the past, full of resent. He will make sure that Park Chi-Hwan’s liberation turns his life into hell.

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. 

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

In my first analysis about Dine With A Vampire, I pointed out that the vampire Park Chi-Hwan was behaving more like a human than the real humans Joo Sooin and Kwon Sungha because he showed more empathy and care for Joo Sooin than the human Sungha. Besides, Sooin had become a zombie due to Sungha’s hatred for homosexuality and the latter was in fact the real monster due to the emotional and physical abuse he perpetrated on the main lead. Now, I would like to examine the chapters 12 and 13 because both revolves around the new relationship between Sooin and Chi-Hwan. What are they to each other? Who is the master and who is the animal, the monster, in their relationship? This essay will try to answer this question.

What caught my attention in the two chapters is that the long abuse experienced by the main lead totally changed his perception about himself. He judges himself as a monster because he is a homosexual. That’s why he keeps using the words “weird” in the chapter 12 and in the chapter 13, he calls himself “a pervert, a fag”. Imagine, he is actually insulting himself. He sees himself as an anomaly, as a monster who is not allowed to exist. Hence he can’t attract attention. We shouldn’t forget in the chapter 10 and 11, Sooin felt so uncomfortable with the new clothes and the number of dishes proposed by Chi-Hwan because he was asked to choose. Since Sungha took away his freedom, our main character lost his ability to say what he truly likes and desires. The last image above illustrates the impact of the violence used on Sooin. It becomes clear that Sungha truly destroyed Sooin’s personality and identity. Just like Baek Na-Kyum (the main lead from Painter Of The Night), Sooin can’t voice his true desires and thoughts properly. Notice that there are a lot of pauses in his sentences, when he speaks. Besides, he uses the same idioms (pervert, fag) than the manipulator Sungha so that we can conclude that the former friend used coercive persuasion. The outburst of his self-hatred was caused by the single words said by the vampire: Striking is that the moment he hears this sentence, he starts mistaking the vampire for Sungha. Note that he is not even looking at his sex partner, because he hid his eyes with his arm. This reveals the importance of the gaze once again. Sooin can’t look at Park Chi-Hwa as he fears to see his own reflection in the vampire’s eyes. Will he see himself in the man’s gaze as a monster? Here, I feel the need to elaborate Jean-Paul Sartres’ theory about the gaze.

In Sartres’ theater play “No Exit” (“Huis Clos” in French), the three protagonists Joseph Garcin, Inez Serrano, and Estelle Rigault, are dead and their damned souls are brought to the same room in Hell where there is no mirror. As they are locked inside by a mysterious valet, they are confronted with their own reflection through the gaze from the others. Here, in this deformed reflection, the three sinners are unable to accept what they see that’s why at some point Garcin concludes that “”hell is other people” (“l’enfer c’est les autres”) because the judgement perceived through the gaze of people makes it unbearable for the “sinners”. They avoid the gaze because they can’t face their own wrongdoings and flaws. In other words, the gaze serves as a mirror, however there is a lot of subjectivity in it and the gaze doesn’t truly reflect the reality. Here, Joo Sooin never sinned but he was sent to hell due to Sungha’s gaze containing hatred and resent. As you can detect, Sooin’s fate resembles the fate of Garcin and the others. He lived in a cage like an animal with no hope to escape, yet he was innocent. Because he spent so many years with such a terrible reflection, he kind of became “blind” and relied more on his ears. That’s why the uke’s eyes were so lifeless, when the vampire met him for the first time. It was as if his eyes had died due to the constant confrontation with Sungha’s gaze. As a conclusion, the main lead sees himself as a monster, not deserving any attention and warmth. He is still surprised by the affection the vampire is exuding towards him. This explains why the main lead started fearing the supernatural creature, when Sooin heard chi-Hwa sighing after the uke had refused to comply to the vampire’s needs (drinking his blood). He heard Chi-Hwa sighing and misinterpreted this as dissatisfaction. Observe that the drawing doesn’t show Sooin’s eyes and at the same time, he is only focused on the vampire’s voice and not his eyes. We could say that the uke is still under the influence of the brainwashing operated by Sungha. Sooin has not regained his humanity, his true identity. The so-called monster is still under the ruling of Sungha, because he rejects to fulfill the vampire’s need due the ex-friend’s ideology. The innocent man still fears the gaze and the gossip from others. Now you can understand why Sooin became a zombie, a monster in his eyes. He saw a bad image of himself in Sungha’s gaze but at the same time he was manipulated through the friend’s doctrine that even others would perceive him like that. At some point, Chi-Hwa gets aware that Sooin needs to look at him, so he forces the man to look at him in the eyes. This is important because for the first time, Sooin is confronted with a different gaze and judgement. He recognizes the lord, his kindness.

Striking is that the moment Sooin shows himself with the new clothes, he awakes the vampire’s appetite. Surprising are the clothes Sooin chose. They are dark (dark blue, black) reflecting his actual state of mind: almost lifeless, very pessimistic. So the vampire’s excitement is not caused by the colors, rather by the form of the collar revealing his neck and his chest. This is very alluring for the supernatural creature. In Park Chi-Hwan’s gaze, the main lead is definitely no monster but a delicious meal. That’s why he gulps loudly and his fangs come out. He wants to taste the man’s blood. In this moment, Chi-Hwan seems to follow his instincts hence he approaches Sooin. It was, if the vampire’s true nature would surface, he is a monster led by his blood thirst. Remember that Park Chi-Hwa even described the vampires as predators or parasites, so one might say that they are indeed monsters. So do we have two monsters here?

While the main lead judges himself as a monster, Park Chi-Hwa calls him “master” and treats him as such. He listens to Sooin’s excuses and wishes. When the uke refused to give him his blood in the cabine, the supernatural creature questioned himself. The readers can witness how the so-called monster reflects on his behavior. He even kisses the man, comforts him twice, when he realizes the traumatized state of Sooin. He knows the importance of Sooin’s well-being. In the vampire’s eyes, the human is so precious and delicate as he represents his source of energy and life. Sure, he needs his blood thereby one might argue that Sooin is just a prey, the vampire’s meal and not a master. The reader could even confirm this judgement, Park Chi-Hwan is a monster because in the chapter 13, the author chose to reveals the creature’s inner thoughts showing his beastly nature. He wants to devour Sooin. All his thinking revolves around food and even death, the manhwaphiles can detect the brutality in his language. I chose as illustration the following image since it represents the peak of his hunger. The readers can even sense the increasing of his bestiality as the expressions are getting more and more violent: “I want to devour him”; “I just want to rip him open” … “and devour every part of him”. We have the impression that the vampire’s animalistic instincts are growing to the point he could lose the control of his bestiality. However at no moment, he changes his behavior. I feel that while his thoughts indicates the awakening of his “monstrosity”, he acts more humanly in reality. He stands in opposition of Sungha, who gave up on his humanity and his reason. He let social standards and religious doctrines ruled his behavior and his thoughts.

My point is that Park Chi-Hwa followed all the requests Sooin had in the chapter 12 and 13. One might dispute that he rejected to have a fellatio in the cabine, as Sooin wanted. However, his proposition to do it home represents the compromise between the concerns the uke expressed before (people might hear his voice, his fear of people) and the request Sooin had. All this mirrors how caring and attentive the vampire is. He might be an “animal”(when we analyse his thoughts), nonetheless he never lets his instincts cloud his reasoning and judgement. At no moment, he acts like a monster towards the human. Like I mentioned before, the vampire treats the human like his master. However, if you take a closer look at the following image, this reflects their relationship: Sooin is the master, yet he is below the vampire as if he was inferior to the vampire. Furthermore, the creature gives the order: “Suck it”. Besides, the man calls Chi-Hwa “sir” and this is how someone addresses to a master. So in my opinion, both are masters. The vampire is helping the man to become a human again, he is helping him to get a personality and identity. He knows that the man needs to discover that his homosexuality is something natural, that he is first a human. That’s why he promises Sooin to let him forget Sungha. For him, Sooin should never define himself based on his sexual orientation. They live in symbiosis, in perfect harmony. Sooin is receiving love, warmth for the first time and the other can finally enjoy life too. He is no longer living like a vampire but like a human because he shows his human side to Sooin. As conclusion, both are masters and monsters, although it is only a matter of time, until Sooin becomes a real human who can express himself perfectly and know his taste.

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 twitter account is: @bebebisous33. Thanks for reading and the support. Tomorrow, I’ll post about Painter Of The Night again.

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/dine_vampire  But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. Here is the link, if you are interested in more analyses about this manhwa and others https://bebebisous33analyses.com/2021/06/06/table-of-contents-of-analyzed-mentioned-manhwas/

Yes, I decided to write about another manhwa which caught my attention for two reasons. While reading this story, I couldn’t restrain myself from connecting this manhwa to Painter Of The Night and to the American series True Blood which I enjoyed very much. The latter has not only vampires as a common denominator but also uses vampires as symbol for homosexuality. In True Blood, the integration of vampires in the society is a terrible process because of the fight for legalization of vampire rights, paranoia and religious extremism leading to exclusion and even persecution. All this resembles the legalization of rights for homosexuals concerning marriage and even children. Moreover, while this American series questions the values of Western societies (role of politics, morals and Churches/religion), it also makes the viewers ask what defines being a human and how humans are superior to other species. And it is the same with the manhwa. Even after a few chapters, it becomes clear that the characters are not really human or better said, their humanity is questioned.

Before examining the definition of humanity through the manhwa, it’s important to summarize the story thereby the manhwaworms can better comprehend why I came to this topic while reading Dine With a Vampire. Our main lead Joo Sooin is forced to live with Kwon Sungha, his first love and best friend in the past, because the latter has been blackmailing him with his homosexuality by taking pornographic pictures of our protagonist. In their flat Sungha torments the young man physically and emotionally.

Sooin is so desperate that once he has the impression he will never be able to escape from this abusive relationship. However everything changes once he meets the vampire Park Chi-Hwan, his new boss. The latter discovers that Sooin’s blood is so special that he can drink it without any discomfort that he proposes to kill his terrible roommate in exchange for his blood. The poor man agrees so that the vampire fulfills his promise. After killing Sungha, Chi-Hwan brings the uke back to his home. From that moment, Sooin lives with the creature and his life seems to change for the better. Now let’s focus on the definition of human.

If we look up, this is what we find:

human: adjective

1. of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or having the nature of people: human frailty.
2. consisting of people:the human race.
3. of or relating to the social aspect of people:human affairs.
4. sympathetic; humane:a warmly human understanding. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/human?s=t

human being: noun

1. any individual of the genus Homo, especially a member of the species Homo sapiens.
2. a person, especially as distinguished from other animals or as representing the human species:living conditions not fit for human beings; a very generous human being. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/human-being

Based on this definition, a human being belongs to Homo sapiens and distinguishes himself from other species like animals due to his appearances and habits. Furthermore, being human is a synonym for having compassion. If we compare the definition human as noun with a vampire, the reader can detect a problem because based on the common legend about vampires, the latter used to be human beings but after their death, they came back to life. Therefore we could say that they also belong to the genus Homo but they evolved to something else.

The first difference with human beings is that a vampire is supposed to be immortal. Since he is already dead, then he can’t die. Yet both in True Blood and in Dine With a Vampire, vampires can die. In the series, they are weak to sunlight for example. In the manhwa, the vampire Park Chi-Hwan is a predator killing someone from his own kin in order to survive.

Since he can’t digest human blood which he finds repulsing, he has to eliminate other vampires in order to eat their heart and live on. In other words, a vampire can become the prey of his own brethren. Consequently, we can say that they are mortal and not invincible, just like humans. So immortality is not what really differentiates them from humans. In reality, they just don’t age but this is not obvious. Therefore I come to the first conclusion that vampires are not really different from humans. They can die and they look like humans. They might feed on humans but the latter are not aware of this because they are kind of hypnotized. That’s the reason why they don’t catch the attention of humans. The latter are usually not aware of their existence. Striking is that the introduction of the main lead in the second chapter gives us the impression that he is a ruthless monster. He has no problem to kill other vampires, shows a certain disdain for humans as well due to his intolerance to human blood. When the readers meet him for the first time, he looks cold and detached from the world. Therefore we can say that the first impressions the readers have about the vampire is not quite positive. He seems selfish, very particular and merciless. Hence we could define him as inhuman as he is not able to show any empathy and compassion for others.

Striking is that in the first chapter, the life of a vampire is compared to hell as they are shown as ruthless and brutal. What differs a human from a vampire in reality? Are humans better than vampires because the latter are actually parasites living on sucking blood from their prey? Based on the introduction of the vampire, it looks like their nature as ruthless and bloodthirsty creatures separates them from humans.

Striking is that Park Chi-Hwan reveals his true identity by showing Sooin his sharp canines. Therefore we could say that what distinguishes vampires from humans are the teeth. However this is not visible right away. This explains why vampires are difficult to discover. Nothing on the surface differentiates them from humans, although their personality could be the major divergence like I illustrated above. We could say that these fantasy creatures are not truly different from humans. In fact they have a lot in common: their origins and as such their morphology and even mortality. Furthermore humans are also predators as we are hunters too. We kill other species in order to survive. I could even say that humans are also parasites since we raise cows and chickens for milk and eggs. Here I am excluding vegetarians because historically speaking, the first Homo sapiens started eating meat before discovering agriculture. So the only big difference between vampires and humans is the aging and death due to illness that’s why their existence has something supernatural, only explainable with godly or devilish powers.

What caught my attention is that Sooin shares more common points with Chi-Hwan. While in the first chapter, vampires’ life is described as hell,

the main lead’s life is also like hell due to the abuse caused by his roommate. The irony is that although Sooin is a human based on the definition from the dictionary, the manhwaphiles can’t perceive him as a real human. He resembles more a zombie, even Chi-Hwan notices this. He describes him as « lifeless ». Furthermore Sooin has no control over his life because the abuser tells him what to do and what to say. Then if you look at the main lead’s body, you’ll notice how pale and thin he is. His eyes are also apathetic.

He is even covered with scars and marks due to Sungha’s cruelty and perversion. It was as if the protagonist had been sucked dry by his former best friend hence he looks more like a walking dead than a human. The only thing distinguishing him from a zombie is that he bleeds when he cuts his finger. Blood is the reminder that Sooin is not really dead. Striking is that the moment he accepts the deal with Park Chi-Hwan and is even willing to give his blood for real in exchange for a murder, Sooin becomes more lively. The death of Sungha seems to confirm my comparison of the protagonist with a zombie as we know that this kind of monster feeds from blood.

The main lead could even feel nothing under’s Sungha abuse. I interpret the vampire’s intervention that way. It was as if Chi-Hwan was taking away the pain and suffering brought by Sungha. I would even say that the vampire is erasing the shadow of death in Sooin’s body. The zombie can only return to his original state once the parasite Sungha has disappeared. Sooin became a walking dead due to his ex- best friend and the latter has to pay the price for his wrongdoings with his life. Funny is that both, Sungha and Sooin, are humans on the surface but lost their humanity because of their toxic relationship. Because Sungha didn’t view his friend as human but only as homosexual, he transformed him into a zombie. Strangely, the vampire has the opposite effect, although he doesn’t actually belong to the living.

Another important aspect is that Park Chi-Hwan keeps reminding Sooin of his mortality. Since Sooin is a human, he can die easily by chocking or falling hence the vampire wants to ensure that nothing like that happens. The creature fears for the uke’s life, whereas it never mattered to Sungha, which makes us see that the vampire acts more like a human than like Sungha (human = empathetic). Although the vampire is supposed to be cold as he died once, Sooin notices Park Chi-Hwan’s warm hand.

Compare the contrast between the vampire and Sungha. While the latter is a human and should be warm and empathetic, Park Chi-Hwan is in fact the one oozing warmth and showing care and compassion. The divergence is important because it already implies that the vampire will treat Sooin differently.

For the vampire, he is an important human therefore his homosexuality is irrelevant. He has no problem to accept such a relationship since blood and his life matter more than religious dogmas and social standards. Striking is that the supernatural creature even calls him master underlining who has the upper hand in the couple. Park Chi-Hwan has no problem to lower himself, to become a dog or a wolf for the human.

This indicates that the vampire is willing to renounce to be treated like a human. While this qualification displays a certain modesty, this also illustrates his determination to act like a guardian. He’ll become a wolf, a big predator, if it’s necessary, in case Sooin catches the attention of other vampires. That’s why the main lead marked Sooin as his possession through his scent. On the other hand, Chi-Hwan can become a dog if the uke is threatened by his own brethren, humans disregarding his master. Though the vampire is financially and physically stronger than Sooin, the former perceives the human as more significant because he knows that his own « life » depends on him. He is the first human being whose blood is so alluring thereby he can drink it. Notice the contrast between both treatments. For Sungha, Sooin was like an animal that he needed to tie up and put in a cage (the flat).

Both are parasites, yet for the creature of the night Sooin is more valuable because of his precious blood and humanity, whereas the uke was never a human, just a homosexual in the homophobe’s eyes. For the roommate, the main lead represented a sin, he could never see beyond his sexual orientation.

That’s why he enjoys to torment the poor man, turning him into a zombie.

As you could observe, the vampire in this story acts like a human (showing care and compassion) but at the same time, he gives up voluntarly on his status as human in order to protect his “master”. Thanks to Sooin’s blood, Park Chi_Hwan is no longer forced to kill other vampires, besides he can now feel pleasure. We could say that both perceive each other as savior. Thanks to the other, both could change their nature, one metamorphosed into a human, although it’s already announced that he’ll be a dog or a wolf for the uke in order to protect him. The other was a zombie at the beginning, yet with Park Chi-Hwan’s help, he regained his liberty and as such his humanity. Now he can choose his food and his clothes, whereas in the past his ex-best friend took Sooin’s liberty and as such Sooin’s human rights. He was ordered what to do and what to say, he was like a doll who wasn’t allowed to voice his own thoughts and emotions.

Just like in True Blood, religion plays a huge role in this manhwa. Striking is that Sooin has already lost hope until his encounter with the vampire.

The protagonist sees it as a miracle, calls Park Chi-Hwan a savior and describes his life with Sungha as hell.Hope, savior, miracle nd hell are terms referring to religion and especially Christianity. Imagine th iron, Park Chi-Hwan is like Jesus Christ for Sooin and it was as if Sungha had been acting as the Devil, Satan punishing Sooin for his sexual orientation.

On the other hand, Kwon Sungha visits Church,

seems to live like a perfect Christian so that a mother tries to set up her own daughter with the internist.

It becomes obvious that the future doctor, who is supposed to save life, is a hypocrite. Furthermore, the readers can also perceive the negative influence of religion condemning homosexuality. Sungha rejects his best friend,

curses him after hearing his love confession and starts abusing him at high school

because he represents temptation and embodies what the roommate should hate. Sooin made the friend realize that he was also a homosexual.However since he was raised in an environment where sodomy was condemned, he projected all his hatred onto Sooin. Notice that he calls his roommate filthy but he can’t help himself to have sex with him. The former even anticipates that at some point he will get rid of Sooin, the moment he gets tired of him, but it’s quite obvious that this is just an illusion and he is lying to himself. He is just a repressed homosexual who hates sodomy at the same time. Since he can’t hate himself, too selfish and too arrogant, he projects his hatred onto his roommate. In reality, he needs him hence he keeps him by his side. It was as if he could live out his true sexuality by hiding Sooin. Therefore he even plans to maintain his sexual relationship with the protagonist after his marriage. So on the surface, he lives like an exemplary Christian: he has already chosen his bride, the daughter from a rich and influential family, he is about to become a doctor and he has a good reputation. In reality, he is a sodomite with sadistic tendencies.

Now you can understand why he reminded me of Jung In-Hun from Painter Of The Night. First, they both wear glasses. This item symbolizes that these persons are wearing a mask and are not revealing their true self. Secondly, they both often smile, nonetheless they are selfish and vicious. They use moral standards and religion to insult and look down on homosexuals. Both are huge hypocrites, yet the only difference is that Kwon Sungha is himself a sodomite refusing to acknowledge his own sexual orientation. He resents Sooin so much because he sees in him the cquse of his deviation from the doctrine he has been taught. Since humanity is a synonym for benevolence, we can describe Sungha as inhuman as he is violent and cruel towards his best friend. He showed no empathy for him due to his sexual orientation. When we recall the uke’s question about Park Chi-Hwan, if the latter is a human, a person or a monster, the readers should apply this to Sungha. Is he a person, a human or a monster? The reply is quite obvious: Sungha is a monster, a parasite sucking on Sooin’s misery. This explains why the main lead’s body is covered with marks and bruises. These are the evidence of Sungha’s perverted nature, his monstrosity.

It becomes clear why Sungha is so inhuman towards the main character. For the double-faced internist, his roommate is just a homosexual. He can no longer perceive his ex-best friend as a human hence he is no longer bound to respect his human rights. Through this story, the author reminds us how important the legalization of homosexual rights is because they’re first of all humans. As humans, they should have the same rights than others: being able to find their own happiness and live openly their sexuality. It looks like Sooin could never reveal the abuse to his family since he feared the rejection and the criticism for his sexual orientation. Consequently, the main lead turned into a zombie because he was a human being in the beginning. This person can never be treated like an object as there is life in his body. blood is and was the proof of his existence, yet Sungha could never see it, too obsessed with his homosexuality and his rejection of his own sexual orientation. The vampire Park Chi-Hwan, who was introduced as a monster, acted like a real human as soon as he met the main lead and brought the latter back to life. The humans in this story appear more as different species (parasite and zombie) than the vampire himself.

As you can observe, this manhwa is interesting because it makes the readers question the definition of human and his supposed superiority. Is a vampire a human, when he helps a person in distress and shows a caring side, although he odes it out of selfishness? Or is Sungha a human because he is a mortal and sinned? Sure, Sungha is not dead and it is only a matter of time until he comes back to life as a vampire. There is no doubt that he will go after Sooin because he will need his blood and he will be attracted by him. The question is now: how will he perceive his ex-friend? Will he still resent him, especially after the protagonist ordered his death and betrayed him (in his eyes)? I doubt that Sungha will change for the better first.

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 twitter account is: @bebebisous33. Thanks for reading and the support. Tomorrow, I’ll post about Painter Of The Night again. The title is: Dreams.