Tag: Lee Jihwa

Painter Of The Night: Absence

~ Bébébisous33 ~ 11 Comments

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents:  https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/

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The chapter 67 caught me by surprise, because it proved me wrong in one aspect: Lee Jihwa is not like Baek Na-Kyum, in the sense that he is no orphan. The red-haired aristocrat has a father, an old-bearded man. (chapter 67) My first thought was: “Where were you all this time?”

I couldn’t help myself laughing, when Yoon Seungho barged into Lee’s mansion in chapter 67, because I immediately connected it to chapter 3, when the protagonist visited his childhood friend early in the morning. Back then, he barged with an erected phallus (chapter 3) and had sex with Jihwa at the pavilion, where both were not quiet at all. The red-haired noble kept even moaning. (chapter 3) Their intercourse was noticeable, but at no moment father Lee interrupted them. And now, the erected phallus was switched to a sword, and unlike in chapter 3, where the second lead was eager to meet his sex partner, the master chose to hide behind a windscreen. (chapter 67) However, this time father Lee intervened. Why all of the sudden? For the first time, his son caused a real trouble, because someone entered his house with a sword: a huge scandal! Furthermore, he must have realized that his son’s life was in danger, hence he had to intervene. The domestics couldn’t deal with such a powerful noble. And now, you understand why I couldn’t restrain myself from smiling, because the father Lee’s reproach sounded so hypocrite. (chapter 67) Where was he, when Yoon Seungho had sex at the pavilion? Why didn’t he intervene, especially if he sees the main lead as responsible for his son’s debauchery?

Because of this question, I was reminded of the song called “Papaoutai” from Stromae, a French speaking singer from Belgium. I am posting the video with the english subtitles.

In this song, the singer outlines the importance of fathers for children. However, he does it by criticizing their absence (Papaoutai = Papa où tu es?/ Papa, where are you?). Although this represents his main message, he also questions the role played by fathers in our modern societies. He points out that’s easy to become a father biologically, but being a father symbolizes responsibilities. He explains it, men don’t become fathers naturally, since it is a work process: “nobody knows how to make Papas” / Mister “know-it-all” would’ve inherited it, is that it? Does it come from sucking our thumbs, or what”. Moreover, for him many fathers don’t take their role seriously (“Genitors or genius, tell us who gives birth to irresponsibles”). The author exposes that a father needs to think a lot about his role as father. As a conclusion, the singer would like men to become more responsible for raising their children.

And it is time to return our attention to Painter Of The Night. Byeonduck utilizes her work to show the importance of fathers in sons’ life, as she exposes different types of negative behavior of fathers.

First, we have Father Lee. He only appeared after 66 episodes. His absence had given the impression that he was inexistent and Jihwa was an orphan. We could describe father Lee as ghost. And now, you understand why I chose such a title: Absence. What does it mean for children, when their father is not by their side?

Absence of parents is a synonym for parental neglect. What is child neglect exactly? There are 6 different types of child neglect:

  1. Physical Neglect or Deprivation of Needs Neglect
  2. Medical Neglect
  3. Educational Neglect
  4. Emotional Neglect
  5. Supervisory Neglect
  6. Environmental Neglect from https://www.kaplanco.com/ii/six-types-of-neglect

Many people think that this situation only happens in families with a low income, because it is related to physical and supervisory neglect which is more visible. However reality is different. We find neglected children in wealthy families. How so? The affluent children live in comfort, but they are often starved of love and affection (Emotional Neglect). This happens, when parents are too busy to spend time with their children. Therefore they hire personal to take care of their children or send them to boarding school. As you can imagine, Lee Jihwa is a child suffering from supervisory, emotional and educational neglect.

Since Father Lee relies on his servants to take care of his son, they are not qualified or responsible enough to care for him (supervisory neglect). Due to their lower status, they are not allowed to teach him or reprimand him. That’s why in chapter 9, only the servant asked Jihwa where he was going so early at dawn. Jihwa had not to justify his departure to his father. Then in chapter 41, one domestic finds the young man sleeping on the street, while looking for him. (chapter 41) He spent the whole night drinking and his father never asked about his whereabouts. He never showed any concern, as he has his staff to take care of him. In other words, he put the whole responsibility on the domestics. After confessing to Yoon Seungho in public, no servant shows up and takes care of him indicating that neither father Lee nor the staff heard about the scandal. Nameless was the one who was asked by the inn owner, if he could take care of the young noble. (chapter 59) He even gave him a dry robe and a home for the night. Since the servant only showed up the next morning in chapter 41 and he didn’t even appear during the night in chapter 59, it illustrates that the staff is more attached to the mansion than to the impulsive noble himself in truth.

This is not surprising that in chapter 67, the servant does his best to protect his master. Despite his rude behavior in chapter 50 (chapter 50), he is even willing to risk his life . (chapter 67) He simply follows his master’s request, as he feels, that’s his duty and lord Lee could ask for his accountability. (chapter 67) Amazing, when you compare it to Kim’s behavior. We could say that the staff does feel responsible for their young master to a certain extent. Why? I believe, they all know that father Lee doesn’t pay attention to his young son and they are now responsible for him. On the other hand, their care is limited, because they are domestics to the mansion. They are not obliged to give him the emotional comfort and the education he needs. As long as there’s no real scandal, then everything is fine in father Lee and the staff’s mind. Remember that in chapter 45, the town folks described the second lead as the “mistress”, showing that even they had noticed the lord’s movements, whereas father Lee has no knowledge about it. (chapter 45) That’s how isolated the father is cut off from reality and world. This is not surprising that his son resembles him, he also lives in his own world.

But what are the consequences of emotional neglect? I would like to quote a passage from a website in French (translated)

It can also be so because a lack of love and human contact hinders its development. In some cases, neglect traps the child in sensory isolation, slowly and continuously undermining his or her mind to the point where there is little desire to connect with others and explore the world. Thus, parental neglect is a terrible absence. http://educationsante.be/article/la-negligence-parentale-est-une-terrible-absence/

Remember how I had described the red-haired noble, before Nameless helped him to become more responsible: I compared him to a blind and deaf person , which corresponds to the expression “sensory isolation”. Back then, I had imagined that he had been abused as well. I was wrong, since it was just neglect which I had already detected. However, the consequences of such a severe neglect are as terrible as abuse. Consequently, abuse and neglect are often considered the same.

Now, I will list how neglect affects the child’s personality (I won’t add to each characteristic a picture):

  1. Extremely low tolerance for frustration (chapter 13) (chapter 13); aggression (chapter 17)
  2. Sense of entitlement (chapter 51)
  3. Lack of appropriate guilt (chapter 59) In chapter 56, Jihwa sent a fake letter reminding Yoon Seungho of his trauma, yet he acts as if the other is to blame and shows no remorse. That’s why many children suffering from emotional neglect have problems with rules and laws.
  4. Lack of coping skills: Jihwa is unable to accept any rejection or criticism. We could observe this in chapter 5, when the lord sent him away. He didn’t pay attention to the reason why Yoon Seungho couldn’t focus on him.
  5. Boredom (chapter 9)
  6. Lack of purpose: This explicates why Jihwa was so obsessed to obtain his friend’s love. Since he has been neglected by his own father, the main lead became his “surrogate” father, who gave him attention because he criticized him and even punished him.
  7. Blaming others (chapter 57)
  8. Reduced empathy
  9. Poor planning skills: When he enters Yoon Seungho’s mansion in chapter 17, he is not able to hide his frustration and starts assaulting the painter so that he creates a ruckus. That’s how Jihwa is caught. As for the kidnapping and murder, he left the whole responsibility on the commoner. He never paid attention to his actions and whereabouts. He believed the criminal and that was it. Sure, Nameless didn’t take advantage from Jihwa, but this shows that he relies too much on others. This is not surprising that the second lead listens to Min’s words and manipulation (chapter 67), although he had lied to him in the past.
  10. Difficulties with competition: this explains why he uses tricks to act behind the painter’s back.
  11. Problems withstanding peer pressure quoted from https://www.paracelsus-recovery.com/blog/affluent-neglect/
  12. depression
  13. Anxiety (chapter 67)
  14. Low self-esteem
  15. substance misuse (chapter 50)
  16. shunning emotional closeness or intimacy: That’s why Jihwa kept waiting for the main lead’s confession. https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/childhood-emotional-neglect#symptoms-in-children

The effects of neglect are such that it leaves sequels on so many levels: socially, emotionally, intellectually and psychologically. Children exposed to neglect are at a greater risk of developing conduct disorders and of participating in delinquent behavior, which is visible in the red-haired figure: he trespasses proprieties, ruins a painting, he even had the painter kidnapped. Due to his scheme, the vicious servant Deok-Jae was killed. Then their knowledge and cognitive capacities are diminished, which is also perceptible in the young man. The latter is not able to recognize evil at all, hence he can’t detect hypocrisy and manipulations. And this leads me to the following observation: Byeonduck chose the monkey as an animal for Jihwa. The manhwaphiles can see the singe in the windscreen. (red circle). Because of the character’s previous deafness and blindness, I immediately connected it to the wise 3 monkeys:

The Three Wise Monkeys Royalty Free Cliparts, Vectors, And Stock Illustration. Image 35588575.

In Asia, the monkeys are considered as wise, because they represent proper behavior. Confucius says:

“Look not at what is contrary to propriety, listen not what is contrary to propriety and finally speak not what is contrary to propriety.”

In other words, the 3 monkeys serve as role model. One should behave properly by avoiding any form of evil. Since Min is the Joker, also visible in the windscreen (yellow circle), it explains why Jihwa has become such a bully in the end. Min became his role model replacing the father. Consequently, the red-haired aristocrat can’t recognize evil. That’s why Lee Jihwa appeared as a spoiled child with a delinquent behavior in the end. Byeonduck is displaying the extreme consequences of a father’s the absence. And this leads me to the next question: what is the role of a father in the end?

“The function of the father is to separate the child from the mother. He must intervene between the mother and the child to allow the child to develop his identity outside the maternal symbiosis” from https://www.psycho-ressources.com/bibli/fonction-pere.html

And now, the manhwaphiles comprehend why the red-haired noble has such a low self-esteem. (chapter 67) This is is visible in this panel. The character can’t even stand. Min, the Joker and surrogate father, treats Jihwa as his servant and punishes him, because he had not followed his order. Jihwa has not entirely developed his identity, since he has always lived in his own limited world. A father has not only to provide security and comfort, he helps the child to learn self-control and boundaries. A father is associated to rules and should teach his child how to channel aggressivity. In other words, he serves as a role model for the child. But with the absence of a father, this is impossible. And since the domestics belong to the lower social class, Lee Jihwa always had the upper hand and could do anything: his father never appeared, when Jihwa was destroying his room with his sword in chapter 21. Besides, father Lee never paid attention to the friends his son had. He blames Yoon Seungho for his son’s debauchery, yet at no moment he intervened in the past. The main lead is correct to blame the father and put his son in a different light. (chapter 67) And now, the readers can understand the role Nameless is slowly taking over: he will be the father and lover teaching him how to recognize evil and even think critically. We saw Jihwa rejecting Min’s advice (chapter 67), but it was short-lived due to Yoon Seungho’s appearance. We have to assume that Yoon Seungho played the role of the father after the former had been abandoned by his own father. However, he could never assume this function properly, as he was suffering himself and couldn’t give him the emotional and educational comfort Jihwa needed. Let’s not forget that the protagonist chose to ignore his own feelings, to even numb them. Hence it was impossible for them to connect emotionally.

After discerning Father Lee’s behavior, I could easily portray father Yoon, who stands in opposition to father Lee. He is a controlling father using his sons as his pawns and tools for his own career. Here, I gathered the characteristics for a controlling parent:

  1. Interfering in nearly every aspect of the child’s life.
  2. Criticizing any choice a child tries to make independently.
  3. High, truly unattainable standards.
  4. Conditional love.
  5. Rigid (and unrealistic) rules.
  6. Lack of empathy and respect.
  7. Unreasonably harsh punishment. 8. 
  8. Lack of appreciation for the child’s individuality.
  9. Expecting the child to act like a parent.
  10. Manipulation through gifts.
  11. Playing on guilt and/or shame. https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/signs-of-controlling-parents-and-how-to-cope-as-adult

This explicates why Yoon Seungho had been longing to see admiration and love in his father’s gaze, always hoping that at some point he would get it. The existence of the rules I elaborated is a proof of this abusive parent. And now, you understand why Father Yoon described his eldest son as ill, suffering from wayward yang. (chapter 57) “wayward” is a synonym for rebellious indicating that Yoon Seungho had started questioning his father’s behavior and words. Simultaneously, I believe that the father judged his son’s behavior as too childish, thus he said that he had been suffering from an illness for a long time. The adolescence represents an important step in the child’s development. That’s the moment when a teenager decides to take his distance from his father in order to find his own identity. Since the main lead was described as intelligent, it was normal that the main character would decide to make his own decision and could sense his father’s flaws. Consequently father Yoon could only see the critical remarks as a sign of insubordination. This is not surprising that he blamed his son, when something happened due to Jihwa. (chapter 67) Since Father Lee never paid attention to his own son’s behavior, the former was more than pleased to hear that Yoon Seungho was responsible for an incident. Father Lee was following the rule:

The Three Wise Monkeys Royalty Free Cliparts, Vectors, And Stock Illustration. Image 35588575.

But unlike before, this is the Western interpretation: he acts as if he doesn’t see evil or hear evil. He will never talk badly about his son. That way, he escapes any responsibility for his son’s failures. But like Confucius wrote:

“The father who does not teach his son his duties is equally guilty with the son who neglects them”.

From my point of view, father Lee will pay a huge price for his negligence due to his son. I saw in the chapter 67 a confirmation that Jihwa will cause a huge tragedy which ends with a terrible punishment. It is getting more probable that Jihwa will lose his title as noble (chapter 67) and it is even possible that he gets a scar or a tattoo. (chapter 67) This scene was important as it represented a new version of chapter 18. This time, the lord aimed at Jihwa’s face and the servant was not harmed. The main lead put the whole responsibility on the former friend.

But since I had described the role played by the servants in the Lee mansion, it is also important to take a look at the domestic’s function, when father Yoon was the master of the house. What caught my attention is that father Yoon has been also represented like a ghost, very similar to father Lee. However, while the latter represents lack of interests for the son, the other stands in opposition to this. He is everywhere due to his servants. All of them were asked to pay attention to his children and their behavior. In other words, he is also absent. The domestics must have reported him everything. And now, you can understand why Yoon Seungho kept his distance from his staff as the lord of the mansion. He didn’t want to be observed by them, that’s why he relied more on Kim in the end. With his help, he could maintain a certain gap and escape their “monitoring”. There is another evidence for this theory: remember that Yoon Seungho asked his servants through Kim to pay a closer look at Baek Na-Kyum, but they didn’t take his request very seriously. Hence the painter could escape the mansion in chapter 29. And you all know that the artist is reliving the noble’s past. This explicates why Yoon Seungho targeted the amateur spy in chapter 18, he was reminded of his own past. He could only get furious.

However, there’s another huge difference in the role played by Father Yoon’s servants. Since they only had to report to him, that means that they didn’t need to take any responsibility, as the lord was the one who made all the decisions afterwards. And now, you understand why Kim rejects any form of responsibility by saying (chapter 65). Father Yoon put a lot of trust in valet Kim in the end, as he relied on his information. This is another evidence for me that Kim is responsible for the main lead’s suffering. Since father Yoon was relying on Kim’s eyes and ears, his perception got changed and this in a negative way. That’s how he became blind. He contributed to the terror ruling at the mansion, but since Kim was kind and caring, Yoon Seungho believed this illusion, while Kim was his biggest spy. I am quite sure that he played a major role, when Yoon Seungho got separated from Lee Jihwa and received his reeducation therapy. For me, there’s no doubt that his responsibility kept getting bigger, when he saw the main lead getting raped, and he decided to close the door and ignore the incident. He just needed to say that this was not his business. Another possibility is that he could justify his choice by saying that it was done for the main lead’s best interest. Let’s not forget that Kim was the one who presented the physician to father Yoon. (chapter 57) There’s no doubt that father Yoon put all his trust in Kim. This explicates why Kim acts, as if he had the authority to give orders. (chapter 67) He must have developed this habit, because father Yoon gave him some power. Observe that he sometimes dresses like a noble (chapter 57) due to the hat and the robe. What caught my attention is that he acts behind his lord’s back, when the latter is absent. (chapter 68) Besides, since this story is based on the principe that history keeps repeating itself, then Yoon Seungho is making the same mistake like his father. However, Yoon Seungho will realize it thanks to the painter and the head-maid. Father Yoon put all his trust in his valet, unable to recognize evil in his butler. Just a reminder:

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” from Edmund Burke

This is not just about silence and passivity, it is also about responsibility. Note that in chapter 67, Kim voices that he has been given the permission (chapter 67), so he is not assuming anything in case something happens. And in front of Heena noona and Baek Na-Kyum, he has the same attitude: (chapter 67) if Heena noona gets caught, then they can’t put the blame on him. He will feign ignorance. He has no idea how she entered the mansion. He is also applying the saying from the three monkeys:

The Three Wise Monkeys Royalty Free Cliparts, Vectors, And Stock Illustration. Image 35588575.

He didn’t see or hear anything. He won’t tattle too. Nonetheless, he is acting only like that, when it concerns Yoon Seungho. It is a different story, when it comes to father Yoon. That’s why Kim still keeps thinking about his previous master. (chapter 57) By examining Kim again, I have to admit that I suddenly had this question: who gave the painting to Yoon Seung-Won? Did the valet act on the lord’s order? (chapter 37) Or did he decide to act on his own? Let’s not forget that during that evening, the valet had been reprimanded by Yoon Seung-Won for lying to him. It is possible that the valet chose to give the painting in order to put the blame on Yoon Seungho, as he feared that the young master could report his lie and behavior to father Yoon. The latter might not be present at the mansion, but there’s no doubt that he asked his trusted servant to keep an eye on his eldest son, whom he considered as a troublemaker. This would explain why the main lead keeps taking the medicine. And now, you can grasp why Kim is more loyal to father Yoon than his actual master. The latter gives him more freedom, yet he expects from him more responsibility. Under the ruling of father Yoon, the butler could avoid any trouble by tattling on the young master Yoon Seungho or by faking ignorance, when it was necessary. Since father Yoon put all his trust in the valet, he was not able to see evil or hear evil in the end. Kim framed innocents or he feigned ignorance. As a conclusion, Father Yoon was put in the same situation than father Lee due to Kim’s actions.

As a final conclusion, Byeonduck’s work exposes the huge importance of a father in a child’s development. Unfortunately many people still think that mothers are much more important than fathers. This explicates why in many countries, mothers receive more often custody of their child than fathers. Yet, the judges seldom question the mother’s abilities. The irony is that mothers are not per se good mothers, exactly like Stromae described it in his song, although he only talked about fathers: “Mister “know-it-all” would’ve inherited it, is that it? Does it come from sucking our thumbs, or what”. This applies to mothers as well. Being a parent means work, dedication and affection. There’s nothing intuitive.

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Painter Of The Night: Valet Kim: a dog 🐶 , a matchmaker or a father? (third version)

~ Bébébisous33 ~ 8 Comments

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter   But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents:  https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/

As painful as the chapter 64 was, it revealed a lot about Kim’s personality and his relationship with Yoon Seungho. Therefore I decided to focus on the butler. On the other hand, this is not the first analysis I wrote about him. So far, I had described him as the helping hand and the best man. Then in other essays, I had compared him to a dog, to a matchmaker or even to a surrogate father. But who is he really, and more precisely, what is the true nature of his relationship with the lord?

In order to answer this question, it is important to gather all the info we have about him. Valet Kim is the servant who served the main lead since the latter was a young teenager. This means, he saw the sensitive and intelligent boy growing up into adulthood. (chapter 57) And if we look at the picture, the manhwaphiles can detect that Kim seemed to have the teenager’s trust. This is visible thanks to the domestic and Yoon Seungho’s gestures. They are talking to each other in a very natural way. We can conclude that they were close, especially if I include this panel in my examination. (chapter 57) The way the boy is looking up at Kim indicates that the main character is quite attached to him. And because of this scene, the manhwaworms could sense the domestic’s qualities: care, trust, affection and loyalty. But what many readers failed to realize is that servant Kim is actually following father Yoon in reality. This means that the elder master trusts this domestic. The latter is even the one who introduced the physician to the lord of the mansion. (chapter 57) That’s why I come to the conclusion that the butler Kim was in fact loyal to the elder master and not to Yoon Seungho. He might have had an affection for the teenager, yet in truth he serves the head of the family. And notice that valet Kim is still giving the expensive medicine to the protagonist, although this was ordered by father Yoon. (chapter 57) But more importantly, the manhwaphiles should question themselves about the nature of this medicine. It is a drug to mess up with the main lead’s health? And this clue reveals that Kim is not working for Yoon Seungho. One might argue that Kim is just following father Yoon’s orders, but the latter lives so far away, hence the eldest master has no control to threaten the butler. Hence Kim could have stopped feeding the medicine, especially after knowing how father Yoon treated the son. In other words, it looks like his loyalty to father Yoon is still intact. This is palpable in two occasions. (chapter 35) In this scene, the valet gives an order to his master and not an advice, since he employs the verb “must”. Why? Because he thinks, the letter was sent by the elder master. And Yoon Seung-Won knew that Kim was loyal to their father. Hence when he sent the letter, he used his father’s name and authority, but in order to maintain the illusion that father Yoon was the author, the brother also requested that valet Kim would bring back himself the reply. The deceitful brother used not only the butler’s fidelity to his advantage, but also gave the impression that father Yoon cared somehow for the black sheep. It was, as if the elder master was trying to rekindle with his older son. The readers can sense more his loyalty to the elder master, if they compare his reaction, when Yoon Seungho received the fake letter from lord Song.(chapter 56) Here, the domestic got scared, by just hearing the name. Nevertheless, he gave his master the advice to postpone the meeting due to his health. Yet, observe how he hides his discomfort and fear to his master by suggesting to postpone the meeting which exposes that he is hiding his true emotions. He justifies his advice by faking concern for his lord. Hence the lord can only have the impression, he is protecting his interest. Striking is that since we saw him scared, we have the impression that he is brave enough to propose not to the follow the invitation. My initial impression was to think that he got afraid of the name lord Song due to the lord’s traumatic past and he feared for his master’s mental health condition. However, the moment the valet realizes that the noble is on his way to meet this aristocrat, he gets so scared that he leaves the mansion immediately. So he doesn’t want them to meet. (chapter 56) Then in chapter 57, the butler expresses his worries concerning father Yoon. He doesn’t want the elder master to hear the news about Jihwa’s public confession, as the servant is well aware of father Yoon’s mentality. (chapter 57) He seems concerned for Yoon Seungho again. He knows that the head of the family hates homosexuality. He witnessed how the father separated Jihwa from Yoon Seungho with the excuse of an illness. He was present, when the teenager was imprisoned in the mansion. (chapter 57) One might question his loyalty to father Yoon, since the butler chose to remain by Yoon Seungho’s side after the topknot incident. However, I could respond that the valet saw it as his duty to keep an eye on the elder son on behalf of the head of the family. From my point of view, valet Kim decided to follow Yoon Seungho for other reasons than true loyalty to the protagonist. In the past, I used to think that he felt guilty for the main lead’s suffering. But I had to review my judgement. If he truly felt remorse, then he should have treated the eldest son differently in the mansion. Yet, he let him become a head-kisaeng. Moreover, the guilty conscience only resurfaces the moment he is confronted with a situation reminding him of his wrongdoing. (chapter 65) This shows that he has been successfully repressing it. In truth, he did it out of selfishness, while faking affection and loyalty to the Yoons. The readers shouldn’t forget that the head of the family decided to leave the main domain and live in the countryside. Therefore he abandoned the mansion to his eldest son. By remaining by Yoon Seungho’s side, butler Kim was ensured to have a quiet life. The man was a wreck, hence he couldn’t manage the mansion. (chapter 57) Furthermore, as an infamous hell-raiser, no powerful noble would be interested in him. When the purge occurred, the son had become the sacrifice and scapegoat, hence he was forced to remain at the property. And now, you can grasp where the butler’s loyalty lies. He is faithful to the mansion and property, and not to Yoon Seungho or father Yoon in reality. This explicates why he lies to Seung-Won and tries to stop him from entering the lord’s chamber. As Seung-Won is only the second son, he is not considered as the lord of mansion, while father Yoon is the senior and is supposed to be the head of the family. Because he is bound to the domain Yoon, he is definitely acting more like a dog than like a matchmaker or a father. He is able to find his owner very quickly, as if he was following his scent. (chapter 57) He barks like one, when he yells at Deok-Jae. (chapter 47) He is also sent to fetch the painter, when the latter is somehow “abducted” by the scholar. (chapter 24) But the most conclusive evidence for this association is his rapport to the door. He is always shown next to an opened door or even often stands on the door threshold. (chapter 64) (chapter 45) Since dog owners often put the sign “beware of the dog” on their door, you understand why I see it as an evidence that the valet is more as a dog than anything else. The butler is the guardian of the mansion, watching out for the owner’s safety. However, here we should comprehend it in a figurative sense. On the surface, the butler is looking out for the reputation of the Yoons, while in truth he is just focused on living a peaceful life far from trouble. (chapter 65) That’s why in chapter 45, he let the false rumors circulate in town, because his relationship to a commoner is not revealed. This would cause a real scandal. On the surface, it looks like Kim cared for his lord and as such for the Yoons. (chapter 64) The dog is not only a symbol for loyalty, but also it represents obedience and secrecy. He knows what is happening in the mansion, but he won’t let it transpire to the outside world. Therefore I deduce that valet Kim is quite similar to Jihwa. He knows the main lead’s whole past and tragedy, but he doesn’t truly feel sorry for the main character, for if he revealed the truth, because it would expose his culpability. (chapter 12) Simultaneously, he uses his knowledge to his own advantage, similar to Jihwa, although the latter was manipulated by Kim’s lies. And if you take into consideration the role played by the dog in different mythologies, you’ll note that they all have something in common: they are guardians of the realm of death, like for example Anubis (Egyptian) or Cerberus (Greek). And since I interpreted the mansion as Yoon Seungho’s prison and compared the master to a zombie, until he met the painter, the manhwalovers can now understand the butler’s real function. He is actually the guardian of the realm of death for the lord. To sum up, he is contributing to the lord’s misery and loneliness, as he keeps him bound to the domain and family. Moreover, the gentle valet is aware of his true role, as he has internalized the social norms. As a domestic, he is supposed to serve his master with respect and obedience, which he does on the surface. However, the reality is different, as he lies to him on multiple occasions. Hence he needs to act in the shadow. Why? The real goal of the butler is to live a peaceful life without any big responsibility. As a guardian of the kingdom of death, Kim is the one who allows people to remain by Yoon Seungho’s side or not, but since the painter is affecting the noble’s life, Kim can only perceive the painter as his enemy and source of danger. Yoon Seungho might decide one day that he would like to leave the property and join the capital.

And now, you are wondering why I believe that the butler feels guilty, but don’t forget that his bad conscience is not the real reason for staying by Yoon Seungho’s side. In my opinion, he is the one who abandoned the main lead, as he didn’t protect him from father Yoon and from the rape. Like I mentioned it above, the teenager trusted his butler and showed him his affection, therefore he must have considered him as his surrogate father. Yet the moment the former needed his help, the latter chose to do nothing and remained loyal to father Yoon. The young man must have felt abandoned and betrayed. How do I come to this conclusion? First, his attitude in chapter 64 shows him in a negative light. Out of fear and shock, he runs away and leaves the painter to a terrible fate. (chapter 64) This is not the first time that the butler had a similar reaction. In chapter 26, he tries to calm down the painter asking him to stop crying, and when the latter criticizes him, the domestic decides to leave the bathroom with the excuse that he needs to fetch him new clothes. (chapter 26) (chapter 26) He is leaving the artist behind, as he doesn’t want to be confronted with his wrongdoing: his passivity and cowardice. Then when he meets the protagonist in the main way, he sees his cold and distant gaze. So he knows that his master is in a bad mental condition, yet out of fear, he still leaves the artist behind, well aware that something bad could happen. That’s why he chose to intervene in the shadow (like for example, sending a servant to the scholar) so that I am now convinced that he even witnessed what happened to Yoon Seungho, but chose to close the door. There’s a reason for this assumption. First, he is connected to an opened door. Secondly, there’s this incident with the door in chapter 16. (chapter 16) The butler chose to open it in secret, because he desired to remain anonymous, so that his loyalty wouldn’t be questioned. As soon as it was opened, he ran away without looking back, fearing to see what was happening. That’s the butler’s trauma in the end. Back then, he chose to remain passive and close the door leaving his young master behind. But Yoon Seungho caught his terrified expression, which he can never forget, that’s why he pointed it out to the painter. (chapter 64) (chapter 64) He resented valet Kim for his betrayal and abandonment. That’s why I believe, in that scene, Yoon Seungho is using the same words than his rapist from back then. (chapter 64) In this scene he is reliving his own traumatic past, the first rape. And after it had occurred the first time, the valet must have told him this: (chapter 23) This idiom exposes his attitude, he will act, as if he knew nothing. And since I revealed that father Yoon trusted Kim and the latter was loyal to him, I am now quite persuaded that father Yoon is responsible for the sexual abuse of his son first. Striking is that my theory was confirmed in chapter 65 and 74. However, the valet acted, as if nothing happened, while the teenager was blamed for letting the servant see the rape. (chapter 65) It is even worse than I had anticipated, because he was even asked for assistance, but the valet turned a blind eye. The advice (“ignorance is a blessing”) expressed by the butler exposes his complicity. The valet became the willing helper of a rapist. In his eyes, he couldn’t stop it, as he was just a domestic. (chapter 65) Since Kim never revealed the secret of the “so-called conversion therapy” leading to the sexual abuse, father Yoon trusted his loyal servant. That’s the reason why he accepted to leave Kim behind. He knew that he would do anything to maintain the reputation of the Yoons. Furthermore, this trauma explains why the master keeps having sex outside the storage room. He is well aware that the servant will never remain there, hence he asks him in a cynical way if he wants to become a peeper. (chapter 64) Now, I can understand why Yoon Seungho has such abandonment issues. For him, valet Kim was his father, as the latter was nice and caring for him. Yet during the rape, he did nothing, as he was just a servant. And now, you understand why he feels that he has been backstabbed by his two fathers, why the main lead is using his position to keep a boundary between himself and Kim and why he is using his right as lord to keep the painter by his side. He has internalized that being a lord can protect him from pain and vulnerability. In his delirious fit, he believes that he can get what he wants. Back then, he was just a young master and not the lord of the mansion, and Kim was just a domestic. After coming to this perception, I see the chapter 64 in a different way. The chapter 64 exposes the valet’s cowardice, culpability and selfishness, hence I judge the lord’s behavior in a different light. The monster is the result of the betrayal and abandonment from two fathers, and both decided to avoid reality and see the consequences of their choices. Notice that father Yoon ran away just like the valet. But the chapter 64 could mark a turning point in Kim’s life in my opinion, as he sees the consequences of his silence. That’s why the valet decides to accept the new situation: (chapter 65) Baek Na-Kyum is now the lord’s companion, while in the past he used to plot against him. In that moment, the valet recognized that ignorance is not a blessing, because this doesn’t erase the event. Observe that Kim has a similar approach than Jihwa again. Since the painter returned to Yoon Seungho’s side, the noble has now the feeling that nothing happened. For the first time, Kim sees the true face of his master (chapter 64), and the former contributed to this due to his passivity. Now, he is facing reality, seeing the consequences of his inaction. However, the butler’s resignation doesn’t is short-lived. It even looks like the butler didn’t learn his lesson, he chose to turn an blind eye to that terrible night finding fake excuses, (chapter 65) even blaming the physician for remaining silent. And since Byeonduck has this approach that only pain can lead to changes, we have to imagine that Kim will have to suffer this time.

The chapter 16 exposes that Kim was well aware of his master’s action and decided to intervene. One might question the valet’s motives. If he intervened, why did he help the painter in the end? This would contradict my earlier interpretation: the butler is a dog and as such, he is obedient to his master. However, let’s not forget that he is a guardian of the Yoons and their reputation. By separating the commoner from his master, he ensures that Yoon Seungho’s reputation doesn’t deteriorate much more. Kim hates uproars, as they represent a source of danger for his life. As you can detect, the butler is determined to protect the Yoons’ notoriety, but out of selfish reasons. The manhwaphiles should remember that in chapter 17, he asks the maids not to approach the study like that. He is determined to keep everything under cover. He disapproves the master’s actions, as they are going against social norms. As a noble, he shouldn’t have a sexual intercourse with a low-born. That’s why he let the boy desert the mansion after the rape. He didn’t do it for the artist, but for his master’s respectability, because if this was known, then the valet’s good life would be in danger. Kim has deeply internalized social norms, any deviation represent a threat to his peaceful live. Moreover, he would attract attention again. But when he witnessed the master’s despair and fury after the escape, where all the servants had to suffer the result of his decision, he chose a different strategy. Back then, I described him as his matchmaker. He tried to present his master in a better light so that the artist would have a change of heart and accept Yoon Seungho’s advances. However, now I have to admit that I have a different judgement. He was not a real matchmaker, he was trying to turn the painter into a favored servant so that the appearances would be maintained. He decided to use a similar strategy, the aphrodisiac as a first step. And with all these new discoveries, I come to the deduction that the butler was a real accomplice of father Yoon’s schemes. If they became close sexually, the painter would become a servant and take over his role as close assistant. That way, his presence in the lord’s bedchamber could be explained. That’s why he lets the painter attend the noble during his illness and even allows his presence, when the doctor is here. In other words, he would like to hide the scandalous relationship with the low-born under the pretense that he is just a favored servant.

Now, you can comprehend why the butler let Deok-Jae sell the expensive dresser . (chapter 45) First, it symbolized that the painter was more than just a favored favor. But more importantly, he never cared about the item, since (chapter 65) He knew that the noble wouldn’t pay attention to it, since it was broken. His passivity and silence explain why the servants could talk behind their master’s back and spread gossips, sell his things and even not follow his orders. (chapter 32) Kim has no real control over the staff, although he is the right-hand of the master. His indifference and his fear for responsibility explains his lack of authority. That’s why in chapter 63, he doesn’t even attempt to correct the maids talking badly about Baek Na-Kyum, although he already knows that there’s more to it. His silence should be considered as a sign of admission, reinforcing the servants to think badly of the painter. The painter is a liar and betrayer. I have to admit that Kim’s passivity really annoyed me in that scene. (chapter 63) He is indeed a hypocrite, a selfish person, (chapter 64) although he doesn’t look like one. No wonder why the lord felt so betrayed and abandoned, and hates hypocrisy the most. He stands in opposition to Jihwa in the end. While the one did nothing, the other acted too much out of selfishness.

Furthermore, with this perception, the manhwaphiles comprehend why the domestic never tried to convince the painter directly that he was not a prostitute. Since the latter was no longer refusing his lord, then in his eyes he had achieved his goal. There’s no huge difference between a favored servant and a prostitute. Both are not allowed to refuse the sexual advances from the partner. They have no rights, their pleasure doesn’t matter. That’s why he saw no need to reveal the conversation between Jung In-Hun and Baek Na-Kyum. He only disclosed it, the moment he saw his master was able to get closer to the painter and the latter had overcome his heartbreak. Besides, this explains why he criticized the painter in chapter 52. He was not fulfilling his role as favored servant. (chapter 52) He was not the “wife”, the mistress of the house, just a servant. As you can observe, the butler is someone who abides to rules very strongly, he can’t accept a relationship between a low-born and a noble. That’s why I come to the conclusion that Valet Kim never understood the real needs of his master in the end. He never grasped that the noble was missing love and couldn’t cope with his betrayal in the end, because for him love is not important, only a peaceful life. And with this new approach, it becomes understandable why Yoon Seungho was never repulsed by the low-born. Since his childhood, he felt closeness to a commoner, and considered Kim as his father.

But after the abandonment, Yoon Seungho had learnt a terrible lesson. Kim was just a domestic. This explains why there’s no intimacy and closeness in the present situation. Their actual conversations are very limited, the master gives orders or asks questions, but he never expresses his feelings or thoughts in front of the butler. He even hides his sadness and pain in front of him. (chapter 56) He trusts him to a certain extent, because the valet took care of him, while he was delirious. The domestic even stopped him from committing suicide. (chapter 57) Yet their relationship was never the same like in the past. For the lord, Kim decided to remain by his side out of loyalty and duty, nothing more. That’s why he is so adamant to remind the domestic of his actual position. (chapter 50) This explicates why Yoon Seungho can’t trust Kim’s words in the end. (chapter 62) In his eyes, he betrayed and abandoned him once, therefore it is definitely possible that he is lying. The longer the lord lives with the artist, the more he senses that Kim shouldn’t be trusted. This explicates why the lord’s relationship with the valet is deteriorating. In season 1, he never doubted Kim’s words, but now it has changed. The painter’s genuineness makes Yoon Seungho detect the butler’s fakeness and hypocrisy. And since the lord threatened him with the sword, I am envisaging that he will do it, the moment he feels that his loyal butler betrayed him.

That’s why I come to the conclusion that valet Kim didn’t consider Baek Na-Kyum as his new adoptive son and when he “defended” him, it was always because of social norms, because of the master’s rights and position . Notice that after Deok-Jae had played the “prank”, Kim criticized him and mentioned Yoon Seungho. His gesture could have affected the master. (chapter 47) This explicates why the vicious servant never got punished in the end. Baek Na-Kyum was not considered as Yoon Seungho’s official partner, he was just a favored servant. This explains why he has no protection either and he could get kidnapped so easily. There was a motive behind his nice gestures. He desired Baek Na-Kyum to feel comfortable, so that he wouldn’t become greedy and not ask for more rights. He noticed his talent, when he saw his painting in chapter 44, hence he realized that painting meant a lot to him. Therefore he bought materials for him. (chapter 45) The purpose of this action is simple. On the one hand, he gave the impression that he was protecting Yoon Seungho’s interest, on the other hand he was pushing the jealous servant to plot something so that Baek Na-Kyum would disappear. Kim was well aware of Jihwa’s visit in chapter 43. He knew that the second lead would do something out of jealousy. Kim needed the painter’s submissive attitude, as this could only affect his lord positively, turning the mansion into a golden cage. And while I envisaged that the shock Kim experienced during that night would make change his mind, (chapter 64) chapter 65 even destroyed this expectation. He remains the same, because his philosophy is: (chapter 65) Sure, he feels guilty again, as he tries to justify his silence and passivity with fake excuses. (chapter 65) Yet, his guilt is towards Baek Na-Kyum, that’s why he is reminded of the past and his own cowardice. However, since he has always run away from responsibility, his remorse was never strong to make him reflect on his own behavior. Back then, he didn’t help his young master and remained silent and now the story is repeating itself. By connecting both events, it becomes obvious that Kim hasn’t changed at all. There’s a reason for that. He never suffered himself, like both main leads did. And like I wrote, for the author, pain is the driving force that pushes people to change.

As you could observe, valet Kim has internalized the values of his time and his social status. He liked Yoon Seungho, but not to the extent of considering him as his adoptive son. For him, he was just a commoner and a servant of the Yoons. Therefore he saw it as an act of disobedience, if he had protected Yoon Seungho back then and defied the master of the mansion. One might argue that he couldn’t have stopped it due to his vulnerable status. Yet people shouldn’t forget that Kim chose to remain, not only passive but also silent. Moreover, father Yoon trusted him so this means that the valet was his eyes and ears. He could have act behind his back. The result was that he became an accomplice of the perpetrator. By covering up the scandal, he contributed to Yoon Seungho’s misery. He chose reputation over a young boy, who truly loved him. That’s why the noble feels so insecure, even a commoner was not willing to show his love for him. The latter preferred covering up the crime, as reputation and norms seemed to be more important than a person’s life. He wanted to stay out trouble. And now, it is too late, as there’s a scandal which Kim couldn’t prevent. As you can see, no one in this manhwa is free from mistakes and huge flaws. Many admire the valet Kim for his loyalty and his secrecy (acting behind the lord’s back), yet under this new perspective these actions leave a bitter taste, because they all contributed to the misery of the two protagonists. In fact, I realize that this was done on purpose. Kim deliberately chose to ruin their relationship. But even if you can’t perceive Kim’s evilness, let’s not forget this saying, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, which would also fit the butler’s character. He means it well, yet his choices are terrible, as he prioritized the wrong values. Furthermore, willing helpers play a huge role in a dictatorship. Their excuses can be fear and cowardice, but also their adherence to the wrong values. Moreover, this truly exposes that internalizing social norms blindly can not be right, because people need to question them in order to bring positive.

That’s how I judge this character now. For me, Kim is not a father, but a black dog, the guardian of the realm of death. Hence the lord couldn’t come back to life. With this new interpretation, his death seems more imminent. By dying, the butler contribute to the lord’s emancipation. The latter can finally leave the mansion, his prison. It was the place where he lived a 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 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: The night of revelations – part 3 (second version)

~ Bébébisous33 ~ 20 Comments

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter   But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents:  https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/

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

In the first part, I had compared the chapters 62-63 to the scene at the pavilion in order to outline the progression of the OTP’s relationship and to announce Yoon Seungho’s imminent emancipation. However, due to the length of the first part, I didn’t get to mention that the scene in the storage room is also a new version of the sex marathon.

1. The signification of sex marathon

Back then, the lord used the mirror for the painter so that the latter would see his own appearance and realize the existence of his body. The true purpose for the sex marathon was to force the painter to accept his sexual orientation, and as such Yoon Seungho as his sex partner. It was, as though the master had employed the mirror for a hypnosis session. (chapter 31) Consequently in chapter 34, the painter sensed a change of perception about his body after the sex marathon. For the first time, he detected his heartbeat and the butterflies in his stomach, which were triggered by the main lead’s presence. (chapter 34) The parallels can be observed by the absence of the eyes of the protagonists in certain panels. Compare the picture with the mirror (chapter 31) with the following one: (chapter 63) Striking is that the character represented with eyes plays the role of the liberator for his sex partner. Due to the sex marathon, Yoon Seungho had helped the painter to free himself from his torpor, since due to the coercive persuasion, the artist had come to deny not only his sexual orientation, but also the existence of his own body. That’s why he could no longer admire his learned sir like before after the sex marathon. By recognizing the existence of his own body, the painter couldn’t feel the same attraction towards the teacher. And since the sex marathon played a huge role in his healing process, we have to imagine that the sex scene in the barn has the same signification for Yoon Seungho. He is on his way to be liberated from his self-hatred, but as you can imagine, it will be a painful process. Back then, the painter got ill and the lord ran away from his responsibility. That’s why this time, the blinded person will be the one suffering from the sex marathon: he will feel like dying, when he realizes that he wounded his lover blinded by his prejudice and anxieties.

2. Comparison between the two sex marathons

Nonetheless, there’s a huge difference between the two scenes. Unlike the painter, the aristocrat never denied the existence of his body as such, he just judged his body as a weapon and a armor. This explains why in the latest episode, the noble is so rough with the low-born. He is trying to defeat the painter, so that the latter will accept his submission, and won’t leave his side. He is too afraid to lose the artist, especially if he hears a love confession from him, that’s one of the reasons why he interrupts him. (chapter 63) He has no guarantee that this is true, and love is like a leap of faith. This isn’t something that you can grasp or see. Besides, he would have no control over him, if he accepts the confession. Loving means taking risks, which is linked to fears. This displays how much the master has been brainwashed. Since the painter disappeared in his mind, he came to acknowledge his father’s doctrines one more time before dropping them completely, when he discovers the truth.

The second sex marathon announces the imminent noble’s death. Contrary to the first one, Yoon Seungho has no idea about this. Unlike in the first marathon, he made only emotional decisions, which is normal. The manhwaworms shouldn’t forget that unlike the artist, who remained only one year with the scholar, the noble has been exposed to violence and indoctrination for years. And now, you can understand why I perceive father Yoon as another dictator, like Jung In-Hun. Power and strength are all what matter in their eyes. Finally, the main lead can’t imagine that his dream became true, that he is loved, since he considers himself as a monster. In other words, his self-hatred hinders him to lose his last principles taught by his ruthless and immoral father too. Therefore the lord uses his status as lord to claim the painter. (chapter 63)

As a conclusion, the “therapy session” for the main lead is still ongoing. From my point of view, the ending scene represents a turning point in the hypnosis session. The lord has already revealed his feelings and thoughts (chapter 63), so his love confession to never let the painter go symbolizes one of the last principles Yoon Seungho has internalized. As a master, he can decide about the painter’s fate. So if we consider this scene as a hypnosis session, where is the mirror? As you can imagine, the painter’s face and gaze serve as a mirror for the lord, where he can perceive himself. Therefore the last image shows our protagonist looking closely at the painter’s face and his eyes. (chapter 63) Unlike in chapter 55 or 58 or 62, he is no longer avoiding the artist’s gaze. And there is no doubt that what he will perceive is a different reflection he had received, when his father betrayed and abandoned him. This will help him to forget the father’s gaze engraved in his heart. The latter was full of hatred and resent, which the main lead internalized. And with this new interpretation, the chapter 63 appears in a different light. It gives the manhwaphiles hope.

3. The repercussions of this night of revelations

And now, you understand why Baek Na-Kyum didn’t leave Yoon Seungho’s side after this night. Though the lord acted like a common brute, the painter was able to see his soul through his gaze and sense his agony through his words. (chapter 63) With this strong “confession”, the artist’s own fears were addressed too. Let’s not forget that the artist has terrible abandonment issues either. The master’s words left a deep impression on him as well. That’s why he could use the same words the next morning. (chapter 65)

Then in the first version, I wrote this:

“On the other hand, we shouldn’t forget that after the sex marathon, the artist got so sick that some servants had already envisioned that Baek Na-Kyum would die. Therefore, we have to prepare our heart that Yoon Seungho will suffer, just like the low-born. I am expecting a return of his suicidal thoughts, when he realizes that he failed as lord and couldn’t even protect his lover.“

This took place, exactly like I had predicted. The noble was definitely pained and destructive after discovering the truth. He ransacked his own bedroom out of anger and despair. (chapter 69) He had ruined his relationship with the artist. Because he refused to make the leap of faith in the shed, Yoon Seungho decided to make the opposite choice. He let the painter decide about his own fate, yet he was definitely living in agony. The wounded, fearful and desperate gaze revealed his turmoil. (chapter 69) In my eyes, the absence of the lord’s eyes during the night of revelations stands in opposition to the lord’s gaze full of expressions in chapter 69. Note that in that episode, the author always drew his eyes, underlining that now the noble was using his own eyes finally. He is no longer relying on Kim and his information. I was also right that this night would affect Yoon Seungho’s relationship with the valet, yet I didn’t expect, it would unveil his true personality. For me, this second sex marathon was a real eye-opener: it made me recognize Kim’s hypocrisy and cowardice. From that moment on, I could no longer view him as a real father figure.

4. Betrayals, pain and sex

And since the painter’s gaze and facial expressions will play a huge role in the master’s healing process, it signifies that the artist won’t show any disdain or repulsion, in fact the opposite: acceptance. But how is it possible, when the master behaved like a rough sex-maniac in the barn, the very same image the aristocrat kept denying? The response is very simple. If you compare the scene in the barn with the chapter 40, which includes the incident at the tailor shop and at the library, the similarities will become so obvious that after the contrasting, you will realize the true meaning of this confrontation in the storage room.

Therefore I would like to point out all the common denominators in both scenes, accompanied with comparisons and observations:

  1. The length of the scene: 4 chapters (39-40-41-42). If we include the whole chapter 40, then we can add the chapter 39, since in chapter 40, the painter leaves the tailor shop and in chapter 41, we have a flashback with the scholar and the request of Baek Na-Kyum to get comfort from Yoon Seungho. And it looks like we will have two episodes in the storage room (62-63-64-65).
  2. The use of flashbacks (chapter 40) (chapter 62)
  3. The terrible wound afflicted on the protagonist: In chapter 40, Baek Na-Kyum is the one who gets wounded by his former teacher, which leads the artist to hurt the main lead as well in chapter 41. He rejected his concern and yelled at him. In chapters 62-63, the positions are switched. Yoon Seungho is the one upset and pained, since he is convinced that the artist abandoned him, therefore his anger is aiming at the commoner. Yet, the true culprit of his wound is his childhood friend Jihwa. Simultaneously both have a common point: Baek Na-Kyum gets hurt, because he becomes the target of Yoon Seungho’s anger, while in chapter 40, he is backstabbed by his admired sir and used the master to get some comfort. Yet, the situation is similar, as the real culprits of the wound never witness the consequence of their actions and words.
  4. Sex: tailor/painter’s study versus barn: The intensity diverges here. We had a romantic date in chapters 39/40 and a painter acting like a prostitute in chapter 41 due to his pain. Sex was used in order to cover the emotional wound and in chapter 62/63, it is the same. The roughness in Seungho’s behavior during the intercourse displays his wound and need for embrace, yet he can’t ask for warmth and love, since in his mind, the painter will never open his heart to him. (chapter 63) And if we take the chapter 41/42 into consideration, the painter did request that the lord should be particularly rough. (chapter 42) As you can see, the chapter 40 can not be really detached from the sex scene which follows the teacher’s betrayal. Another contradiction is that the painter is just asking the lord to stop, since Baek Na-Kyum is exhausted, while the aristocrat believes that the commoner is pushing him away, begging him to let him go for good. (chapter 63) But this divergence comes from the fact that this scene is a new version of the sex marathon, which I mentioned above. Back then, the painter made a similar request. As conclusion, the violence of the sex in chapter 62-63 is strongly connected to an emotional wound, a repetition of chapter 41/42. And in my opinion, the artist understood the situation and the lord’s motivation. Hence he doesn’t feel badly about Yoon Seungho. Notice that the next night, Baek Na-Kyum doesn’t think badly of this sex marathon.
  5. The question of responsibility: In episode 40, the lord desires to become responsible for the painter, while the latter desires the low noble to be his “guardian” and keep his promise. (For further explanations, you can read my analysis about chapter 39-40). In chapter 63, the powerful noble is using his right to claim the painter and as such, he becomes his guardian.
  6. An interrupted confession (chapter 40) (chapter 63) What caught my attention is the contrast between the two declarations. While the artist’s feelings for his admired sir seem to be very strong (I adore you), his words don’t really correspond to his affection, because his feelings have already diminished. He did lie to his teacher and protected the main lead in chapter 38. That’s why the “I adore you” should be judged as an exaggeration. It was, as though the painter desired to convince himself and his teacher that he was still attached to him. Besides, he needed to persuade him not to abandon him, after hearing so many reproaches. This observation leads me to the conclusion that Baek Na-Kyum made up his mind to still follow his teacher out of loyalty despite the harshness of Jung In-Hun’s words. On the other hand, the author used a litotes (“I do not dislike you”), implying that in fact his attachment is much stronger. And this is exactly what happens during this scene. Despite the harshness, the painter is forced to question his true feelings for the main lead and recognize them. He is even willing to confess, yet he is stopped. I doubt that Yoon Seungho would have perceived it as a love confession, as he hates meek words. I can use this panel as a reminder: (chapter 48). Yoon Seungho is exactly like the painter, he loves strong and metaphorical confessions, like “you’ve made me a wreck” or “I will never let you go”. But let’s return our attention the scholar and Yoon Seungho. Both nobles act the same way. Both can’t accept the artist’s declaration, yet their motivation diverges. The teacher finds it disgusting to be connected to a commoner, whereas Yoon Seungho is too afraid of being lied. He has the impression that this dream can never come true. Yet, while contrasting them, we see the painter’s determination who is willing to overlook the reproaches expressed before by both aristocrats. And he remains faithful till the end. That’s why he waited for Jung In-Hun at the gate in episode 44. He needed to see with his own eyes, how the learned sir had truly abandoned him. This represents another explication why the low-born didn’t react like Kim and Min anticipated. He didn’t follow his sister out of loyalty, compassion and a certain trust. However, Heena noona was able to sow seeds of doubts.
  7. A betrayal and abandonment: In chapter 40, the low noble refuses to take his responsibility and breaks his promise. (chapter 40) In this picture, the scholar leaves the painter behind, a metaphor for his abandonment. He even repeats this action, when he leaves for the capital. In chapter 62-63, Yoon Seungho sees in the commoner’s escape a rejection and betrayal. (chapter 62) This panel illustrates the thoughts of the protagonist: the commoner has turned his back on him.
  8. The recurrence of the question: “why” (chapter 40) (chapter 40) (chapter 62) (chapter 63) In both cases, the aristocrats questions the commoner’s motivations for his actions. While Jung In-Hun’s interrogation serves him as an occasion to break his promise by putting the blame on Baek Na-Kyum, the other character is more curious to know about the reasons for his desertion. From my point of view, this shows the noble’s desire to comprehend the painter better. And this illustrates that his obsession with the “why” is well meant. Why is he pushing him away? If he knows the cause, he could find a solution in order to bring the painter to his side.
  9. The importance of the commoner’s smile: (chapter 40) The painter became happy, when he heard that the civil service examination would take place soon. He immediately thought of his learned sir and envisioned that this would please his former teacher. Jung In-Hun’s excitement became the painter’s joy, this is how the painter was thinking in that scene. (chapter 62) (chapter 63) In the scene in the barn, there are two smiles, the first one is a cynical one. However, if the manhwalovers pay attention to Baek Na-Kyum’s smile, his gaze is missing. The absence of his eyes indicates that this picture represents the lord’s mind. Hence the smile full of “schadenfreude” and sarcasm mirrors the noble’s smile, the one he uses in front of people. We had an example in chapter 6, when he made fun of Jung In-Hun, because the latter fell so easily into his trap. However, in the second panel, the master reveals his biggest wish: he would like to smile genuinely too. If he sees a gentle and honest smile in the painter’s face, he will also return the smile. This shows the lord’s humbleness and desire to become honest and genuine to someone. He would like to make such a facial expression, something he has long forgotten. In the end, I believe with these words, the aristocrat would like to drop his mask of deception.
  10. The hope of both protagonists: (chapter 40) (chapter 29) By contrasting both panels from chapter 40, the readers can detect the painter’s lie. He expects something from the low noble. He is indeed hoping that Jung In-Hun will keep his promise and he will take his responsibility for him, since the painter supported him. In chapter 63, the noble confesses that the words said by the painter (going home together) gave him hope that he had achieved his goal, that the painter would smile for him one day.
  11. The painter’s fate: In chapter 40, Jung In-Hun declares that despite his efforts, Baek Na-Kyum has been destined to remain a prostitute. (chapter 40) Now, it looks like the lord is determined to keep him by his side, his fate has been also defined by another noble. The painter seems to have no saying in the end. Yet, there is a slight difference. Here, the main lead doesn’t consider Baek Na-Kyum as a prostitute, but as his sexual partner and lover. Yet, in both cases, he is treated like an object, a possession. This explains why the artist has no right to make a decision. So his “fate” has barely improved. Yet, there is definitely a huge difference between the two nobles. Whereas the scholar wanted to use him for his own benefits, while the other’s dream was not to get any concrete advantage: the commoner’s happiness will make the lord happy. And because of this divergence, the lord will realize that his order (chapter 63) stands in opposition to his wish. If his true goal is to make the painter happy, then he needs to let him go so that the artist can make his own decision.
  12. The jealousy is also present in both chapter. The lord witnesses the commoner’s smile in chapter 40 and gets so jealous, which the master is referring to in chapter 63. He wished to have been the cause of the artist’s smile. And Jung In-Hun is definitely jealous of the low-born due to Yoon Seungho’s care for him. He had to witness how a commoner was treated so well, unlike him, who is a noble. (chapter 40) The former had Yoon Seungho’s attention all the time, and we all know that Jung In-Hun’s desire is to get attention and admiration. Striking is that the comparison enlightens the materialistic and narcissistic side of Jung In-Hun, while Yoon Seungho appears purer. He is just content with a smile. Besides, he would like to be the source and recipient of Baek Na-Kyum’s smile, whereas the other wishes to get favors (clothes, a room closer to the lord’s chamber, the favor to spend the evening in the bedchamber etc). That’s why by contrasting both chapters, the protagonist’s purity and simplicity become even more palpable, which is hidden due to the violence employed during that confrontation.
  13. The role played by the hug: In chapter 40, Yoon Seungho hugs the painter in order to protect him. Furthermore, if we take the chapter 41 into consideration, since we have a flashback of the incident at the library, then the readers can recall that in this episode, Baek Na-Kyum was so heartbroken that he asked from Yoon Seungho to be embraced. He needed a shoulder as solace and comfort. The low-born literally begged him, while crying to be hold in his arms, but the noble didn’t know how to respond to this request. (chapter 41) He only knew sex. In chapter 62, the lord hold the artist in his arms, only to betray him afterwards. The warmth is faked. (chapter 62) Yet, if you pay attention, you’ll observe a second hug in the barn: (chapter 63) The painter is forced to cling onto the master. This position reflects the lord’s intention. He desires the painter to depend on him. Hence the hug is no longer a fake one, but the expression of longing. As a conclusion, the embrace mirrors Yoon Seungho’s need and is indeed connected to warmth, despite the rather cold expression.
  14. In both scenes, an important character reveals his true personality in front of the painter. This signifies that this figure shows his true thoughts and emotions. In chapter 40, Jung In-Hun unveils, how he judges the commoner, (chapter 40) while in chapter 63, it is the turn of our seme to reveal his expectations and desires. (chapter 63) Yet, unlike the low noble, the master keeps describing himself in such a negative way (f. ex. he is pathetic, a fool),(chapter 62) while the scholar calls the artist a fool (chapter 40) and a liar. Sure, when Yoon Seungho says “pathetic”, it could be perceived, as if he was insulting the low-born. Yet, like I had mentioned it before, since he is talking about himself right after, his description (pathetic) is in fact more addressed to him. He is still masking his true thoughts a little. (chapter 63) And here, we see his cynical smile accompanied with a gaze expressing agony. This stands in opposition to Jung In-Hun’s coldness and disdain, who shows neither pain nor compassion. . (chapter 41) He is just jealous, furious and repulsed. Yoon Seungho is seeking closeness and uses sex in order achieve his goal, therefore he is is refusing to stop. He is so desperate to remain intimate with the painter, while the other noble has only one thought: keeping his distance from the low-born.
  15. The importance of the gaze: The learned sir’s gaze was almost deadly for the painter. And this is accompanied with an indifferent facial expression and cruel words, hence the artist’s heart could only get wounded by such an assault. They were almost fatal for the painter. (Chapter 41) In the scene at the storage room, the painter’s face (chapter 63) and words (chapter 63) have a huge effect on the upset protagonist. They trigger the noble to open up and reveal himself. That’s why the chapter ends with a face to face: the aristocrat is not decided to look at the painter’s eyes directly.
  16. Then we have reproaches addressed to the commoner: Not only he is a liar, but also he is a scheming traitor. (chapter 40) (chapter 62) (chapter 63) The irony is that in chapter 40, the scholar is correct. The artist did lie to him, while it is the opposite in chapter 62-63, hence the Yoon Seungho’s reproaches are not valid. Baek Na-Kyum just didn’t tell him the truth, the existence of the kidnapping. Yet, despite the correct observation of the artist’s lie, the low noble’s words are full of falseness. They reveal his true thoughts and emotions. He is quite manipulative, by blaming the artist. With the lie, he can justify his criticisms. He resents the painter for his origins and his so-called immoral behavior. However, let’s not forget that the scholar actually asked the innocent man to sleep with Yoon Seungho in order to obtain information, but because he revealed nothing, he has become a whore according to the teacher. Here, the latter’s hypocrisy reached his climax, exposing that all his reprimands are unfounded in reality. Jung In-Hun is just jealous and infuriated, because he perceives the painter’s lie as a disobedience. And defiance means punishment, that’s the reason why he wounds the commoner with his words. What caught my attention is that despite all the reproaches expressed by Yoon Seungho towards the artist, the master is not willing to cut ties with Baek Na-Kyum. In fact, despite his wounds and the imaginary betrayal, he is willing to overlook all this, because his need and dependency are greater than the injuries the painter afflicted on him. In other words, he is accepting the painter with all his misdeeds and indirectly his flaws. What a statement! And now, the manhwaphiles can better grasp the true meaning of the lord’s confession. His words mirrors his true thoughts and feelings: his roughness, his despair, his possessiveness, but also his willingness to accept Baek Na-Kyum as a whole. He doesn’t care for his social background nor for his desertion. As long as he remains by his side, this is enough for him. Sure, with this kind of statement, he doesn’t promise him to give any special treatment. Since he utilizes his status as lord, this means that he can treat him however he likes, just like during the night. Nevertheless, the manhwaphiles shouldn’t forget that right before, the lord let the painter see his expectations. He will be satisfied, if he is granted to perceive a genuine smile on the painter’s face. In other words, he gave him the solution for the future.
  17. The location: the library versus the barn. Both rooms are closed and without any window. Yet, I detect two huge differences between them: the presence of light and warmth. While the library oozes a certain clarity (chapter 40), the grange exudes darkness. One might argue that this is related to the time. Baek Na-Kyum visited the teacher during the day, whereas the protagonist arrives during the night. Yet, I see another signification in the contrast. The purity of the white in the library illustrates the clarity of the teacher’s mind. He might be jealous, yet he is in possession of all his skills. He knows how to direct the conversation, how to embarrass and hurt the artist. Notice that during their conversation, there’s no real exchange, the teacher is leading the discussion. Baek Na-Kyum is barely able to finish his sentences (chapter 40), while the scholar held a speech about the low-born’s flaws and his terrible social background. Imagine that the teacher doesn’t allow the artist to finish his confession nor to reply to his origins. He leaves the library, before the artist has the opportunity to say something, so that his words are final and represent the truth. (chapter 40) As a conclusion, there’s no real exchange of opinions, and the teacher used his status as noble and teacher to shut the painter’s mouth. The latter is neither allowed to speak nor to make any claim. During this discussion, the room with its light reflects the true personality of Jung In-Hun: manipulative, cold, heartless but most importantly cruel and ruthless. (chapter 40) He uses his power over words to wound his rival, the one who is receiving the lord’s attention. The teacher didn’t employ physical violence to injury the low-born, but this doesn’t mean that there’s no violence. Byeonduck is actually here referring to the saying: words can kill. The scholar used his words to destroy the artist’s personality. And now, you comprehend the symbols behind the color and clarity. The library reflects the coldness of Jung In-hun and his mental abilities. And pay attention that there is neither candle nor fire at the library, a metaphor for Jung In-Hun’s heartlessness and coldness. With this new approach, the scene in the barn appears in a different light. The darkness of the room symbolizes the lord’s darkness in his heart and mind. He is not truly himself. He also wounds the painter with his words, (chapter 62) yet it is not entirely deliberated, he is another person. That’s why the moment he regains some of his senses, his face seems brighter, just like the room. The change is visible, if you contrast the two following pictures (chapter 62) (chapter 63) That’s why I believe that we should perceive beyond the harshness and sexual force employed by the lord. He is totally different from the scholar. And more importantly, his position in the room reflects his mental and emotional disposition. Yoon Seungho is turning his back to the light and as such to the truth, (chapter 63), yet he still manages to let transpire a certain warmth, which explains why the painter never expresses a reproach towards his lover or pushes him away. He just asks him to stop, because he is exhausted. He has a similar behavior during the next night. He keeps the lord at a certain distance, as he fears his own emotions (chapter 71) and Yoon Seungho’s outburst (chapter 70). Furthermore, when the painter is able to calm down the main lead by calling his name “Lord Seungho” and showing a blushed face, the aristocrat initiates a real conversation and lets the painter the opportunity to reply. There’s a real conversation, although it is interrupted the moment the artist desires to confess. (chapter 63) The lord can’t face the truth, he is in denial. But at the end, despite his relapse, he is finally able to voice his deepest desires: He wished the painter to show him a smile. And unlike the scholar, he doesn’t feel dirty or disgusted to touch a commoner. There’s no gap between them, unlike at the library, where the painter attempts to approach the low noble, only to be pushed away and left behind. And remember that at the end, they are both facing each other: (chapter 63)

The beholder can observe a switch of the positions. Notice that the lord is no longer standing above the painter, like in chapter 62 or during the chapter 63: (chapter 62) (chapter 63) Now, the painter stands at the same eye level with the master reflecting that the gap between them has diminished. Like I pointed out above, Yoon Seungho is forcing the artist to hold him, implying that he desires the low-born to rely on him. Hence the words gives us now another perspective. The first interpretation was to say that he is ordering, as a lord, the servant to remain by his side, in reality he is revealing his dependency and his need. That’s the reason why his last words should be judged in a more positive light. He is insinuating that the painter has much more power than it seems like.

As a conclusion, by contrasting the behavior of the two nobles in both scenes, the brutality in chapter 63 is diminished and lets transpire that the powerful protagonist is less vicious and hurtful than the teacher, although Yoon Seungho is revealing his dark side. The painter is able to perceive the agony and the despair in his lover. At the same time, the main lead shows to the painter that his person affects the noble in a positive way. That’s why you can now comprehend that I am less perceiving this chapter in a negative light. And this comparison was definitely correct, because it explains why the painter was reminded of the learned sir the next night and felt no longer a heartache. (chapter 71) There was a “love confession” in the barn, but the lord didn’t use the typical expression for that: and . (chapter 63) Baek Na-Kyum could no longer be in denial that the noble was in love with him.

After this analysis, I recognize that Byeonduck is a master of deception. She is asking from her readers to question appearances and behavior. People should detect disguised cruelty and brutality, words and manipulations can be as mortal as physical violence. I am not saying that Yoon Seungho did nothing wrong, it is just that he is not entirely responsible for this situation: the coercive persuasion, his disorders, his huge insecurities and his self-hatred are the causes for his brutality. He stands in opposition to Jung In-Hun, whose words and moves were all calculated to destroy the painter. Yet, the artist was able to distinguish between the seem and real. This explicates why he is able to move on and to rely more on Yoon Seungho. (chapter 76). The only problem is that Baek Na-Kyum is still fearing his own emotions for the infamous noble. Therefore he has not confessed yet, which will be the reason why both main leads will suffer again. The painter has just opened up and is not trusting Yoon Seungho entirely.

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: Brothers (second version)

~ Bébébisous33 ~ Leave a comment

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter   But be aware that this manhwa is 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/

In this analysis, I will focus on the main lead’s brother, Yoon Seung-Won, who has just appeared in three chapters since the beginning: 37, 44 and 55. On the surface, it looks like it is impossible to get much info about this character, yet this impression is incorrect for two reasons. First, I have already written two essays about this character, showing that by examining the panels and his words more closely, we could definitely analyze his personality and judge him. https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/06/30/painter-of-the-night-an-accomplice-a-pawn-or-an-innocent/ and  https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/24/painter-of-the-night-the-animal-representing-yoon-seung-won/ (Unfortunately, these compositions are the lest read essays)

Yet, back then, I had only two chapters to examine and now, we have a new panel, where the younger master appears. Secondly, the more we get to know Yoon Seungho’s past, the more we discover his family and as such the brother as well. I have already determined that Yoon Seungho’s traumatic past is not related to one incident, but he was exposed to abuse over a long period. I have even developed the idea that his father abused him sexually. Therefore, with this new knowledge, the behavior of Seung-Won needs to be reexamined. In my first analysis, I had questioned his role in the protagonist’s suffering: Was he an accomplice, an innocent or a pawn? And once again, this question will be in the center of this composition.

Back then, I had the impression that in this panel, we were seeing Yoon Seung-Won as a teenager: (chapter 55) Many readers were able to recognize the younger master trying to walk into Yoon Seungho’s direction, while the latter was lying on the ground. Why? It was, because of the brother and father’s gestures. Father Yoon stopped his younger son to join his brother’s side with his hand, while Yoon Seung-Won’s foot is moving. Due to these actions, the manhwalovers saw it as a good sign from Yoon Seung-Won’s part. The latter desired to help his brother, yet their mean and strict father requested him not to. It looks like Yoon Seung-Won had some affection for his older brother in the past, yet the father ruined their bound. However, what the manhwaworms shouldn’t forget in this panel are the two following aspects:

  1. This incident marked the beginning of Yoon Seungho’s trauma, which caused all his disorders. We should keep in our mind that when the lord confessed that he was sent back to his past, each time he saw the painter’s face expressing rejection, he was reminded of the moment, when father Yoon chose his younger son over him. This incident is strongly associated to jealousy, and the love triangle between the scholar, the artist and the protagonist was the trigger. The rejection from Baek Na-Kyum in chapter 25 made him think of the moment, when father Yoon pushed him away and even showed a disgusted face, while he could observe the father favoring Yoon Seung-Won.
  2. Father Yoon was teaching the younger master a lesson: his brother should be treated like a commoner, a servant. He had no right, hence he was just a possession. Since I have already established that Yoon Seungho was exposed to coercive persuasion and to physical abuse, this scene can serve as a proof that the young boy witnessed the violence used on his brother. Besides, the young boy saw, how the older brother was kept captive in the mansion for a long time. Even with a certain age gap (6 – 7 years), Yoon Seung-Won was old enough to understand that the father imprisoned his brother, when the latter was a teenager. (chapter 57)

Hence I can definitely state that Yoon Seung-Won was not ignorant of the harsh treatment his brother was exposed to. I believe that this panel represents the moment, when the main character lost his topknot. (chapter 55) It is also possible that during that event, the young man was punished with a straw mat beating, while the cut of the topknot represented the climax of his public humiliation and abandonment. Yoon Seung-Won looks like a teenager, since he is dressed the same way than his older brother was. (chapter 57). It was, as though father Yoon had chosen to replace Yoon Seungho with his second son, and was determined to see Yoon Seung-Won as his future heir. However, I believe, the special treatment started before this. Anyway, the younger master was old enough to witness the public humiliation and to comprehend the implication. He might have not known the whole truth behind the incident with the topknot (the plot and the purge), yet since the lord’s suffering is not connected to one incident, but happened over a long period, I doubt that Yoon Seung-Won was totally oblivious of his brother’s misery. I believe the opposite in reality.

On the other hand, it becomes comprehensible why the younger master didn’t intervene back then. He was just a teenager and had no power to protest or contest his father’s decision. (chapter 55) He was weak and vulnerable, just like his elder brother had been at the same age. He had to follow his father. Yet, this panel is important in my opinion for two reasons. It shows that Yoon Seung-Won was taught the same principles than his brother’s: strict obedience to the father and treat people like pawns and possessions, in particular Yoon Seungho. Secondly, we have to imagine that in the past, the main lead must have followed blindly his father’s orders in order to get recognition and acceptance, till he was treated like a commoner and a monstrosity, hence the dimension of the father’s abandonment and betrayal becomes significant. Imagine, he did everything in order to please his father (even prostitution), only to be left behind and treated like dirt. No wonder, why Yoon Seungho became jealous of his brother and why he felt so hurt by his father. This explains his obsession with the question mark: “why?”. Why did his father make such a decision, why did he choose Yoon Seung-Won over him?

The younger master had done nothing like him, yet he was never treated like him: captivity, abuse and prostitution. Even if the theory of the incest is wrong, there is no doubt that Yoon Seungho was exposed to a huge amount of violence from his father, like the bruised face displays it in the following panel. (chapter 57) What the protagonist failed to understand is that his father must have blamed him for the loss of his big dream. There’s no doubt that the father resented his son deeply, because he explained the source of his failure in the plot with his son’s behavior, especially if the main character became the tool for his own survival.

Finally, since I have already assumed that the main lead tried to flee the mansion once, the younger master must have heard about it as well and seen his father’s reaction. That’s why I come to the conclusion that by living by his father’s side, the younger brother became an accomplice in the end. At the same time, his thinking must have been influenced by his father’s words and behavior. Since the older brother was conditioned, then the brother must have been taught as well. Yet the methods diverged. While the one was the object of coercive persuasion, the other was a witness of that teaching. Since the main lead was treated harshly by the father, Yoon Seung-Won learnt the following lesson: his older brother is just a tool, a possession used for the family’s power.

Consequently, the lord’s words in chapter 37 mirrors the truth: (chapter 37) The younger brother was taught his father’s principles too, but unlike Yoon Seungho, the younger brother is NOT living according to their father’s rules. This means that he is living differently. And now we have to question this: how is his life different?

The first reply would be that he is no homosexual. Yet now with the new knowledge, I perceive the master’s words under a different perspective. Here, he is not just talking about sodomy, but also about prostitution. One of the father’s rules I could determine was: sex is a battle and as such an exchange of favors. That’s the reason why Yoon Seungho became the infamous hell-raiser, the biggest sodomite of Joseon. In his mind, he is applying his father’s principles to the extreme in order to humiliate his father and to point out his hypocrisy. And now, I believe that the prostitution took place in the mansion, hence the doors were closed. That’s the reason why the protagonist became a prisoner, as he could expose what was happening in the domain. The huge mansion became a brothel in the end. Envision the irony of the situation: while Baek Na-Kyum was truly raised at a brothel, where he was loved and treated like a real son, the other had to experience the opposite. On the surface, he was a noble living in comfort and surrounded by servants, in reality his position was the opposite. He was just a whore for the father’s interest. Since the father despised sodomy, the latter had another reason to act in the shadow. Now, we know for sure that the sexual abuse occurred during the nights explaining the protagonist’s insomnia. This signifies that the father didn’t abuse his son sexually, but he allowed it for his own selfish interest. One thing is sure that the young man was sexually assaulted for a long time and the perpetrator was the mysterious lord Song. Nonetheless, I am certain that the main lead’s traumas are linked to constant sexual assaults, prostitution, physical violence, and since everything happened at the mansion, there’s no doubt that the younger master knew about the existence of sex sessions and the role played by his brother. That’s why we need to take another look at the picture:

Here, he is telling the brother that it is his turn to follow their father’s doctrines. This can only be right, as Yoon Seungho as the eldest son had to live according to these doctrines first. Now, Yoon Seung-Won should become a whore, if necessary. And notice the brother’s embarrassment. He avoids his brother’s gaze. He can not deny it, for if he did, he would have to reveal the true identity of the “pedophile”. Hence the younger master is humiliated. The younger master can not argue with this point. That’s the reason why I come to the conclusion that the brother has already internalized his father’s values: Yoon Seungho should keep working for the family, like he did in the past. He should use his connection. He is truly viewing his brother as an accessory for the family’s benefit. And it is time to examine the chapter 37 one more time. In the first composition, I had demonstrated that the brother was selfish, insensitive and quite arrogant, since he never asked his brother about his well-being. All his business mattered. But I can add more layers to his description and it starts with the way he was introduced.

(chapter 37) The younger master sent many letters to Yoon Seungho, while using his father’s name. While the loyal valet had the impression that these letters were written by the elder master, the protagonist was well aware of the subterfuge. He could recognize his brother’s writing. That’s why he burnt the letter without reading the content. And this interpretation can be confirmed with the character’s confession in chapter 37. (chapter 37) However, I can bring up another evidence for this conclusion: the fake letter from lord Song. (chapter 56) The forged message was a new version of the letter in chapter 35. And under this light, we can judge the character in a rather negative way. He is acting like Jihwa, using his knowledge of the past to his advantage. He desires to use his father’s power over his elder brother to achieve his goal: getting the support from his older brother so that he can please his father.

From my point of view, Yoon Seung-Won attempted to get in contact with his brother in order to get connections, and as such to obtain a high position as an official, he wanted to take the easy way. Since the family’s power was declining(chapter 13), Yoon Seung-Won was asked by the father to restore the family’s influence. But since he had witnessed how his father obtained his support, he thought, he could employ the same method: using Yoon Seungho. One might argue that the poor boy is pressured now by father Yoon and the weight of the expectations can be extremely burdensome. However, here I would like to point out that unlike the main lead, Yoon Seung-Won was never trapped in the mansion and not hindered to participate in the service civil examination. Furthermore, he was never exposed to any kind of violence. He was allowed to roam freely, yet in my opinion, all this time the younger master relied on his father’s power and influence. Seeing that the letters didn’t provoke any reaction, the young noble paid the lord a visit, as he was pressured by the time. And what caught my attention is that once asked about the motive of his visit, he replied to the main character: (chapter 37) He mentioned his father directly, but he never answered to the question properly, since he didn’t announce the true reason for his visit. Why? Since he used the name of his father in the letters and in the conversation, I can only deduce that the brother knows the true power of father Yoon over the main character. He is actually playing with the protagonist’s fear and he knows it too well. Notice his hands: they show a certain discomfort, indicating that he is well aware of the signification of his words. One might argue that he has been pressured by the father and he is just a pawn. To this, I can only retort that he is doing the same to his brother. By asking him to visit their father, he is not just requesting from his brother to reconnect with their family, but also to submit himself to father Yoon. In other words, the elder master could utilize Yoon Seungho’s connections and wealth for their family’s interest. Besides, this would signify that the father would become the main lead’s pimp again. As the new head of the family, father Yoon could decide to treat his eldest son like in the past. And if my theory of the incest is correct, then this means that Yoon Seung-Won is asking his brother to relive a hell again. This is not surprising that the lord gets upset and becomes cynical: (chapter 37) Who would accept such a suggestion after getting treated like an sex toy, a prisoner and as a pariah at the end? And now envision that Yoon Seungho has been exposed to physical and sexual abuse because of his father. This scene reveals the selfishness and cowardice of the brother. This is not surprising that the lord clenches his fist, and his hand is shaking: there’s definitely fear due to the father and anger towards his brother. Yoon Seung-Won knows his father’s rules, but he doesn’t desire to apply them, as he is well aware of the meaning. And now the following panel gets another significance: He desires to have a private conversation and suggests his brother to send away the painter. His reason is simple: he would like to appeal to his brother’s compassion, he must be in a rather difficult situation. His father is now relying on him. But since the master of the mansion is not following this suggestion, the brother chooses to mention the father. The illness is an excuse, but Yoon Seung-Won is determined to maintain his image as a loyal and honorable son. Yet, like I pointed out earlier, the true intention with the father’s evocation is to put Yoon Seungho under pressure. And now, I would like to bring another evidence that the younger master is well aware of his brother’s fear in front of their father. He witnessed the constant abuse, and as such he noticed and internalized the brother’s anxieties. Remember that the moment Jihwa heard that the brother had visited Yoon Seungho, Jihwa chose to rush to his childhood friend’s mansion. Why? He knew that Yoon Seung-Won’s visitation would torment the main lead and provoke nightmares, indicating that this must have happened in the past well. And since the main lead is connecting his brother to his past trauma, then this reveals that the younger master is related to the protagonist’s suffering. Why? In my opinion, Yoon Seung-Won must have been favored all this time, whereas the powerful noble was just treated like a servant. In other words, even if the younger brother was weak as well, he never tried to help his brother behind his father’s back. This explains the resent from the protagonist. He can never consider him as a relative. Let’s not forget that when the elder master moved from the house, only valet Kim remained by the main lead’s side, showing that all the other servants sided with Yoon Seung-Won and the father.

Therefore I come to the deduction that the younger master has been negatively influenced by his father. He definitely treats his brother like a possession, acts as a righteous person (chapter 37), while in reality he is just a hypocrite. I would even add, he is quite immoral. He lies about the illness, fakes letters in the sense that he uses his father’s name and authority. Then he utilizes social norms (“the right thing”), though he is well aware what the visit would mean for his brother. I also perceive an evidence of father Yoon’s influence in the younger master’s behavior: his words and behavior. Remember that I connected the lies to the protagonist’s dissociative episodes, indicating that the elder master must have punished his eldest son, when he imagined that he had been lied to. Observe the reaction Yoon Seung-Won has, when he realizes that Kim has been lying to him: (chapter 37)He gets outraged and yelled to the butler, although he is not the lord of the mansion. Striking is that he would have opened the door(chapter 37), if the painter hadn’t screamed through the door. Not recognizing the voice from the inside, the young man got surprised and stopped. And this single gesture outlines his disrespect towards his elder brother in reality. I had already observed his selfishness and lack of sensitivity, but with the new elements, I can definitely determine that the younger brother has indeed internalized father Yoon’s values. He treats servants and commoners like people with no right. His tone is quite strict, authoritative and rude. (chapter 37) This is not surprising that he requests his brother’s assistance in the end. He has experienced it first hand, has envisioned that through his father’s influence, he could manipulate the brother and get benefit from his increased fortune and influence. However, this time the lord didn’t follow his suggestion, since he has already started moving on. In fact, the younger lord was mocked through the main character’s following suggestion: Yoon Seung-Won should also live according to their father’s principles.

And now it is time to pay attention to the letter given by the valet Kim. In the first analysis, I had perceived his smile as a sign of his naivety. (chapter 37) But now, I would add another layer to this description. This picture could be judged as an evidence of his ruthlessness too, like my follower @nonoboy-oops suggested it. He exposes a certain satisfaction, although he used the lord’s fear of father Yoon for his own benefit. In his mind, he has achieved his goal and it doesn’t matter the way he obtained it. The manhwaphiles should remember that the lord had even difficulties to breathe and speak properly after the visitation, indicating how much the main character suffered during that conversation. (chapter 38) This reinforces the immorality and ruthlessness of the brother’s suggestion. With the letter, Yoon Seung-Won has the impression that in the end, the main lead bent to his will. This means that he is ignoring his brother’s reproach and rejection. But since the brother used their father’s name in order to approach his brother, it looks like, it was Yoon Seung-Won’s decision to utilize the brother. Even if this idea is not correct, and the father did use the younger son as a pawn to approach Yoon Seungho, this doesn’t diminish the atrocity of the younger master’s gesture. He is not just a pawn, but a real accomplice, because he knows his past but prefers his own comfort over his brother’s life. However, let’s not forget that during their conversation, the younger brother never spoke in the father’s name, like for example: “Father Yoon desires to reconnect with you and asks for a visit from you”. Even that way, the father’s honor would have been maintained, since the main lead was asked to pay a visit to their father unofficially. My final point for this interpretation is the importance of reputation in father Yoon’s eyes. The latter chose to act behind closed doors and maintain his image as a respectable aristocrat. By sending letters to his eldest son who is well-known in the mansion as an infamous sodomite, his image as strong lord is kind of tarnished. He is the one asking for help from his son… a humiliation in his eyes. Now, you can better comprehend why I believe that Yoon Seung-Won is not just a pawn in reality.

But let’s return our attention to the letter given to the younger master. I can’t imagine that the second character didn’t take a look at the content of the paper handed over by servant Kim. Since his visit was connected to a request concerning him, the paper was concerning him too, even if it was possibly addressed to the father. That’s why I am now thinking that Yoon Seung-Won must have seen the damaged painting. There is no doubt that his visit is connected to sponsoring and only Yoon Seung-Won can request his brother’s help and support. That’s the reason why I believe now, he looked at the content of the message. And now, if we take this approach into consideration, then this means that when he gave the letter to his father, he knew how the former would feel. Father Yoon would get mad at Yoon Seungho for his defiance, insult and disobedience. The latter was violating his rules. That’s why he said this to the servant. By putting the blame on his older brother, he excuses his father’s behavior for not showing more concern for him. He didn’t leave the bedchamber in order to bid farewell, because the lord had been troubled due to Yoon Seungho. The latter serves again as an excuse to save the appearances. By giving the ruined painting, Yoon Seungho was indeed determined to provoke his father. He shows him his hypocrisy and the consequences of his principles. At the same time, the ruined painting illustrates his message: the Yoon family will never get a benefit from his sexual performances (“damaged image”).

But what about Yoon Seung-Won? Why did he deliver the letter? If the letter was addressed to his father, then he had to. But if he was acting on his own, it becomes a different story. However, in both cases, he must have known the content. And with this approach, we can imagine why the younger master chose to give it to his father. First, he acted as a loyal and obedient son, reinforcing the prejudices the father has about his eldest son. Besides, he could be hoping that the father gets so infuriated that the latter decides to take action and employ his impressive strength and aura to oblige the eldest son to bend to his will. Yoon Seung-Won can only benefit from this. Let’s not forget that the father is still paying attention to his son’s moves, like Kim mentioned it in chapter 57.

As a final conclusion, Yoon Seung-Won doesn’t appear as pure and innocent, as his handsome face suggests it. He was already paying attention the painter’s presence and curious about his identity, since he was sitting by the master’s side, as if he was his companion. (chapter 37) Here, he envisioned that the lord’s companion was a noble due to the green hanbok. He is definitely more than just a pawn, in my eyes he has become a willing helper of father Yoon’s dictatorship, since he could profit from his situation. He is like an indoctrinated child, since he behaves like his father in a certain way. On the other hand, he has not completely lost a certain sense of morality. Since he is showing a certain discomfort during the conversation in chapter 37, it displays that he recognizes the wrongness of his request. But his interests are prioritized over his brother’s well-being. Another aspect is that he is not so brutal compared to his model, Father Yoon. But he has a common denominator with the elder master. He is also quite naïve. Hence Yoon Seungho could see right through his brother and his lies, just like the father. The master of the domain was well aware of the true purpose of his younger brother’s visitation: sponsoring. In the end, the younger master is forced to take the exam, like the scholar Jung In-Hun. I had imagined that their paths would cross, unaware that the learned sir would die before. There’s no ambiguity that Yoon Seung-Won would get annoyed and humiliated to hear that his brother chose a scholar with no connection and wealth over him.

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: “It all started with…”

~ Bébébisous33 ~ Leave a comment

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.

Painter Of The Night: Yoon Seungho’s love confession: Wreck

~ Bébébisous33 ~ 8 Comments

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents:  https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/

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

After the release of chapter 57, I had predicted that we would have a new version of chapter 39-40 in the next episode and I was right. However, so far, I examined the love confession by comparing it to their so-called “Wedding night” and came to the conclusion, this wonderful night stands under the sign of reality. First, Yoon Seungho has now resigned to expect no confession from the low-born and considers it as just a mirage, an illusion. Moreover, there’s no confusion about the lord’s intentions and the lover’s identity due to the presence of the light and the painter’s clear mind. (chapter 58) Finally, Baek Na-Kyum’s deeply repressed desire and dream becomes a reality, his lord is in love with him. But since this wonderful chapter should be considered as a new version of the events related to the tailor shop, we need to examine chapter 58 under a different aspect: responsibility which was the main topic of chapter 39-40. [Here, this is my analysis about these chapters https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/06/03/responsibility-an-analysis-of-the-chapters-39-and-40/ ]

Back then, the lord made it clear that he wanted to take his responsibility for the painter and this in two occasions. First, it occurred at the tailor shop. Later, it was on their way back home. He put a red dot on the artist’s forehead, a sign that he was taking Baek Na-Kyum as his bride. (chapter 40) (chapter 40) However, we have now to understand that this gesture was under the influence of his unconscious and the lord had not recognized his own feelings for the painter so far. He was more under the impression that he was making decisions rationally. Furthermore, he was not taking the painter’s feelings into consideration, since he was well aware of Baek Na-Kyum’s “adoration” for Jung In-Hun. In other words, this gesture signified that Yoon Seungho would become Baek Na-Kyum’s husband and companion, even if the artist was not in love with him. Now, you might be wondering why I focus first on the red dot than the event at the tailor shop. There’s a reason for that. Here, the topic “reliability” is more developed and plays a huge role in their relationship.

In that scene, Baek Na-Kyum declares that Yoon Seungho is the cause of his reddening, when the lord couldn’t help noticing it and even emphasizing it. (chapter 39) Here, he accepts the blame, because he has now a reason to have some sexual interactions with the painter. Consequently, he proposes another fellatio (chapter 39) under the pretense of forgiveness, which the artist refuses by objecting that he is not blaming the noble at all. Notice that the painter is forced to become the accountable one and take the blame for the whole situation. And this shows that in that scene the lord is actually the one with the upper hand as he uses Baek Na-Kyum’s shyness and embarrassment in order to tease him and actually obtain what he has been longing: intimacy with Baek Na-Kyum.

Yet, the real cause for all the speech about responsibility is that the lord was jealous. When he entered the shop, he saw the artist’s red face, while the tailor’s hands were touching the sex partner’s body and misunderstood the cause of the reddening. Out of jealousy, he wanted to embarrass the commoner and at the same time to claim him as his lover in front of the tailor. (chapter 39) However, when the boy apologized to the lord and claimed that he was responsible for everything, the noble noticed the painter’s erection which could only arouse him. (chapter 39) In my opinion, the painter’s reaction must have been triggered by Seungho’s offer for a fellatio. Observe that, while he’s whispering to the painter, the latter’s face blushes again, but more importantly, there’s a sudden light in the artist’s eye. (chapter 39) One could argue that this was due to his shyness, however his visage was already red before. Besides, the lord had done it before and we have to imagine that it must have given pleasure to Baek Na-Kyum. Imagine, what it means for the master. This time Seungho is somehow sure that the painter is finally excited due to his presence hence he chooses to push the things even further, and sends the tailor and Kim away. He desires to seize the opportunity. As a conclusion, the painter’s erection leads him to kiss the artist. But since the painter is now stating that he is to blame for all this, the noble can ask him afterwards to take his responsibility. (chapter 39) He needs to satisfy him as he is now excited too. As you can observe, there was a shift of responsibility at the tailor shop. However, the lord shows a certain reliability as he just asks for a foreplay because of his concern that the painter could feel uncomfortable afterwards. (chapter 39) As a conclusion, the lord showed signs that he was willing to be responsible for the low-born, although at the end, the artist ended up as the one who had to become the accountable one. In order to compare both scenes (39-58), it is necessary to list all the important elements present in the chapters 39-40 again:

  1. The artist’s blushing
  2. Yoon Seungho’s jealousy
  3. The aristocrat’s willingness to become responsible for the painter
  4. Forgiveness
  5. The painter’s accountability for Yoon Seungho at the end
  6. Baek Na-Kyum’s erection noticed by the lord serves as a signal to initiate a kiss and have a foreplay at the tailor shop
  7. The lord’s desire to take Baek Na-Kyum as his bride, despite knowing that the painter is not in love with him

And now it’s time to focus our attention on chapter 58 and the lord’s confession.

The first parallel between the two scenes is the kiss. Notice that the aristocrat is also triggered to initiate a kiss, however this time the signal is not an erection, but the painter’s words combined with his red face: “home with you”.

Chapter 58

As you can sense, Yoon Seungho kisses the painter in the both scenes, as he has perceived a change in the low-born, as if he had finally accepted him. However, there’s a huge difference, as in chapter 58 physical attraction is no longer in the foreground. In fact, feelings are in the center now contrasting to the scene at the tailor shop. We could say that back then, this chapter marked a turning point in Baek Na-Kyum’s life, as he was no longer rejecting the lord’s advances and even showed a physical response to Yoon Seungho’s flirting. This stands in opposition to chapter 58, where the lord keeps rejecting the painter and even treats him like a servant.

Chapter 58

It was, as if the roles had been switched. Baek Na-Kyum is the one cornering the lord, since he continues showing care for the aristocrat and overlooks the harsh tone and gestures from the sick protagonist. Remember that in episode 39, Seungho pushed the artist against the wall reflecting their actual situation. (chapter 39) And now, it’s the opposite: Seungho is against the wall as he can no longer deny his feelings for Baek Na-Kyum.

Chapter 58

As a first conclusion, the panel above reflects the painter’s real position. The latter has actually the upper hand in their encounter and conversation, and his power is so immense that one word is enough to generate hope in the master. He had given up on the painter, yet the words “go back home with you” sounded so sweet to his ears and eyes that he had to admit defeat and succumb to his need to kiss the commoner. Sex is here not present at all. The lord detects that Baek Na-Kyum has developed some attachment to him, he considers him now as someone from the same home and family. These words lead to the kiss and notice that the painter’s blushing contributes to their continuation of their flirting and seduction. But now, you might ask where the topic “responsibility” is present in chapter 58, when it is not used at all.

We have the topic “responsibility”, disguised under the following expressions: (chapter 58) Note that both idioms have a similar connotation: destruction (ruins, wreck) and blame (you/don’t). However, Jihwa’s words contain reproach and resent indicating that he is not enjoying his situation. Since the main lead is to blame for Jihwa’s misery, the former should become responsible for him. As the manhwalovers can detect, Jihwa’s confession has a different signification. Jihwa is recognizing his defeat, which indicates that he indeed associates affection for weakness and a sex/love session as a fight. He never confessed before, because he didn’t want to surrender but preferred his childhood friend being the one. Jihwa was hoping that due to his loneliness, the main character would seek comfort by him as the only one remaining loyal by his side. That’s why he pushed away any possible rival before. (chapter 59) Consequently, Seungho would come to develop an affection for him and confess to him. This is the other reason why Jihwa was thinking, time would work for him and kept waiting, but got only frustrated, as his situation never changed until chapter 3-4. That sex session at the pavilion gave him hope (chapter 3), which explains why he treated the painter so arrogantly and even barged later at Seungho’s house in the chapter 12, a behavior which Seungho disapproved. The red-haired noble had imagined, his status had improved and he was on the verge of becoming his official lover. This analogy between love and demise/defeat is important, because it truly shows how much Jihwa and Yoon Seungho had internalized these values and why it took the lord a long time to confess to the painter properly. Therefore, when the red-haired noble admits his attachment to his childhood friend, he knees in front of his childhood friend, a symbol for defeat and submission. (chapter 58) Simultaneously, this explains why Jihwa’s words reflect resent and selfishness (chapter 57) contrasting to his humble position. He forgives the friend for hurting his pride, but he is pressuring his friend to accept his feelings, because he is responsible for his “ruined state”. (chapter 58) And now, if we contrast it with the main lead’s confession, we discover a different state of mind. The lord is definitely admitting his defeat as well, yet he is not blaming Baek Na-Kyum, in fact he is enjoying his actual situation. There’s a certain admiration for the “you” who has turned him into a wreck. The word responsibility has a different signification here. It’s no longer blame or accountability but maturity and trustworthiness. He’s no longer paying attention to his pride, there’s no resent. His only joy is to be able to show his love for the artist, since the latter is allowing him to express his feelings through words and actions.

Striking is that the noble utilizes the idiom “wreck” in another moment in his confession: (chapter 58) After reading it for the first time, the reader would judge “wreck” in a rather pejorative light. On the surface, it seems that the lord is referring to the painter’s drunkenness, yet it gets a different meaning after reading the whole chapter. Moreover, it becomes more obvious that the noble judges “wreck” as something admirable, since “wreck” is combined with absolute. Despite his terrible state and his first rejection, the artist was determined to confess no matter what. He was brave and strong, although he looked terrible at the same time: drunk, desperate and full of tears. Yet, at no moment he blamed his “learned sir” for succumbing to his feelings or saw his love as something terrible. Unlike Jihwa and Seungho so far, he was true to them. It was so pure that the lord could only be impressed. That’s the reason why he wanted to mock him in the first place, as he had been taught that love is a synonym for weakness and surrendering to feelings was like admitting his inferiority and his defeat. This explicates why the lord was haunted by the pure and genuine kiss in the first place, it was something new. (chapter 58)

Therefore the lord comes to a different conclusion than Jihwa at the end. He has decided to act differently, although both share something: their honesty. Just like Jihwa who finally revealed his true thoughts and emotions, the main lead does the same. He is brutally honest. (chapter 58) He expresses his thoughts and emotions hoping that this would move the painter. As you can observe, responsibility is in the center of this chapter but unlike in the past, the meaning has changed. The protagonist finds the artist trustworthy. Here, feelings are important and unlike in the past, the lord is now decided to succumb to his feelings without feeling any humiliation or resent. He is actually rejoicing his situation, as the painter has acknowledged and accepted his love for him, when they make love. He is now allowed to love him without any expectation, but at the same time he is asking the painter to take responsibility for him: (chapter 58) Now, Baek Na-Kyum is the one who has been entrusted with the lord’s feelings, which is very similar in the chapter 39. Back then, the low-born was somehow “responsible” for the lord’s erection. Now, he has to consider the noble’s attachment for him. As for Yoon Seungho’s jealousy which led to the speech about responsibility in chapter 39, it’s Jihwa’s love and jealousy which forces the lord to initiate the kiss. Furthermore, when he mentions the scholar, the main lead lets transpire the former teacher is the cause for his suffering. He was haunted by the kiss and the simple and emotional confession of Baek Na-Kyum. His first confession made a wreck of him (chapter 58), tormenting him but now, he has changed because he is no longer hoping that the painter would ever return his affection. The wreck has a different signification. There’s no blame but acceptance and the willingness to submit himself to the low-born. Hence “wreck” should be perceived as a synonym for “responsible” like in chapter 39-40, yet with a different meaning. At the same time, Seungho is hoping that the painter will accept him as his partner, although the commoner has not confessed yet, which corresponds to the scene with the red dot. However, this time the roles are switched. This time, Seungho is asking him to be responsible for him, although the artist hasn’t made any love declaration towards the powerful lord.

Simultaneously we shouldn’t forget that Yoon Seungho is also giving what the low-born has always longed for: love. He is realizing the painter’s wish, unaware that the low-born’s dream has changed: he is now dreaming to be loved by Yoon Seungho. I would like to remind here that the speech and the painter’s blushing are the reasons why the lord keeps pushing further and further in his wooing, just like in chapter 39. Nonetheless this time, he overlooks his own discomfort (his poor health condition) in order to fulfil the painter’s wish.

As you could sense, in this chapter sex doesn’t signify fight any longer but expression of love. That’s why we could say that sex is no longer present, while it was not the case in chapter 39. Here, the lord makes love to Baek Na-Kyum and since they belong to the same house, the painter needs to be the one responsible for the lord’s condition. He is the reason why the lord has changed and transformed into a wreck, yet he is not resenting Baek Na-Kyum, quite the opposite. He has finally been able to convey his feelings and was not pushed away, unlike in the past. Besides, he is loving the artist selflessly, hence he is able to find peace of mind and to sleep without having any nightmare. He’s truly relaxed as he doesn’t sense the painter’s caress. (chapter 59) For the aristocrat, Baek Na-Kyum embodies trustworthiness, therefore he can rely on him now and unveil his true self, full of vulnerabilities. In my opinion, the lord was a wreck in the past but now, he embodies the opposite. He has found his true self again, a very sensitive and gentle person, who likes to be honest and is able to open up and trust someone. In my opinion, the wreck is an allusion to the rebirth of the phoenix.

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Painter Of The Night: The spirit 👻 and the shadow 👤 (second version)

~ Bébébisous33 ~ 15 Comments

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents:  https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/ 

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

1. Mistake

While reading chapter 53, I discovered a mistake in comprehension, hence I had to change different analyses (BNK’s confessions, part 1 / realization part 1). Thus I had to revise Hearsay part 1 as well. I have to admit that it was a little more difficult for me to be accurate back then. I didn’t have all the info since the second season hadn’t ended yet. Furthermore, I would like to thank my reader Sol Lopez for her input and correction. [This truly shows how much I appreciate that people leave comments on my blog, this exchange of ideas and thoughts helps us to grasp the characters much better, so keep posting on my blog] Thanks to this follower, now I can definitely understand Yoon Seungho’s actions from chapter 50 to 53. Therefore I need to go back to chapter 49. What I mistook for Baek Na-Kyum’s thoughts was actually the lord’s thinking. (Chapter 49) This is important because for the first time, he is acknowledging his body as a part of himself. This indicates that in the past, he considered his body as a part of his mind, he only viewed himself as a spirit existing through his mind. This explicates why he abhorred the idea to be associated to the image of a man consumed by lust. (Chapter 5) That’s why in this scene he couldn’t get erected in Lee Jihwa’s presence, chapter 5] Remember what I said about him: he was like a zombie and this was indeed correct. He lived through his mind therefore he read so many books and owns a huge library. From this observation, the manhwalovers can now better grasp why he never cared about his bad reputation as hell-raiser. The image he had about himself was so different from what the beholders saw. He considered himself as a free spirit. Besides, this interpretation confirms my statement in the analysis “The heart and the mind” as well where I explained that he confused his heart with his mind. Since he never considered himself as a man but as a spirit, he couldn’t recognize the existence of his heart. This explains why he makes such a mistake in chapter 53. Moreover, I feel that my association of the eagle was so point on either, as the latter flies high in the sky. That’s the reason why this bird symbolizes free spirit.

(Chapter 49) During that night, he chose to acknowledge the existence of his body. This signifies, he couldn’t realize before that his heart had always been the trigger for all his actions concerning the painter. In other words, he always rationalized every decision he made in the past. I suspect that his trauma is the first reason why he refused to recognize the existence of his body. This could reinforce my belief that the protagonist had been raped in the past. The other cause for his denial was after the terrible experience he had, the aristocrat decided to view his body as a tool to harm others and to protect himself. These were his secrets. He’s just a spirit and his body his armor.

2. Yoon Seungho‘s transformation

Therefore I come to the conclusion that when he had this huge revelation, he was also coming back to life. He might have been hurt by the painter’s rejection, they were just sex partners and nothing more, yet in this moment he decided to follow his heart but thought, it was just his body. He was no longer a free spirit but a man made of flesh and blood. Therefore we can see in the next chapter (episode 50) this tender scene: (chapter 50) His mind was no longer controlling his body, he acted on his impulses. He let his heart do what it wanted. He no longer ponders like in the past. This explicates why he confuses the mind with the heart. We could say that he was deceived because of all the time he spent thinking. Imagine his reaction when he realized after making that decision that the painter was no longer reacting. He got scared that the painter had fallen sick again, he imagined for one moment that this was a repetition of the incident after the sex marathon. Now, you might be wondering why I bring up this scene again. I would like to point out that in chapter 32, when he said (chapter 32) he was already living under the illusion that he was just following his mind. He made the decision consciously that he would have more rounds with the painter, whereas in reality, he already was under the influence of his heart. He felt unsatisfied with the first round as he had just forced the painter to acknowledge his sexuality. Deep down, he wanted Baek Na-Kyum to accept him as his “husband” but despite the painter’s facial expressions and his climax, the noble sensed that there was something missing. So he kept having sex with him until the painter felt sick. In chapter 49, it was different, as he had already learnt to pay attention to his lover. Nevertheless, this indicates that the lord’s learning process was not complete. During that night he finally accepted the existence of his body. On the other hand, this also illustrates that he was slowly giving up on the idea that the painter could ever open up to him. Striking is that both made a similar decision during that night. While the painter chose to accept the lord only physically, the lord made the same decision. That’s the reason why in the end, I believe that when I confused the noble’s thoughts with Baek Na-Kyum’s, it doesn’t change much, as the thoughts are quite similar. Both acknowledge the existence and influence of the body. We could say that their expectations were aligned. This outlines how similar the two characters are. Both were living under the influence of their minds. One was brainwashed, while the other chose to live as a spirit in order to avoid any pain. Nonetheless, I believe that he was also brainwashed.

Yoon Seungho thought that he would be content with his actual situation. He could have sex with him without any other expectation. But the reality was different: the moment he accepted his body and as such his heart, he was already dying. (Chapter 50) His mind might have chosen to resign, yet his body was telling the opposite. His heart wanted more, but his wish was denied by Kim. The author revealed that Kim was selecting the lord’s hanbok. Consequently, I am deducing that the butler had predicted how his master would feel. His heart would be bleeding. Notice that the valet Kim only tells him the truth, after the lord is dressed up and not before. They meet at the scholar’s chamber, when he discovers that Baek Na-Kyum only views himself as a prostitute, hence everything changes. Now he can’t even let his body lead. If he did, then he would make the painter feel dirty. In other words, he would hurt him. (Chapter 50) How strange that the moment he comes back to life, he has to die a second time, he can’t let his body take the lead. That’s why he remembers the painter’s sleeping face. His mind is telling to distance himself from Baek Na-Kyum, yet his heart is showing him something else: the painter. (Chapter 50) The man gets torn due to the conflict. Therefore I have a different interpretation of the last panel. One might say that he becomes a ghost again. It was as if he was vanishing again… disappearing in the books. (Chapter 50) This symbolizes his second death. Thus we have the black and red hanbok indicating death and blood. However, he can no longer become a spirit like before. Due to the acknowledgment of the existence of his body, he can only transform into a shadow. In addition, he can no longer return to his former self: a spirit. His image has now changed, from a spirit to a shadow. How strange… Since I am an optimistic person, I still perceive a positive progression. He is slowly coming back to life, despite the hurt and pain. He is slowly materializing himself.

One might say that his concession (chapter 49) was the first step of his distancing from the commoner. This is only partially true, because he makes an important discovery before: he is indeed a man of flesh and blood. Although he confuses the heart with the mind, we shouldn’t forget that during that night the aristocrat recognized the existence of his body, This means that he is indirectly accepting the existence of his heart. All this will help him to understand what love is. In other words, he is one step closer to the truth. His body existed for a moment and at some point, he will come back to life for real, the moment he realizes that the painter is returning his affection. For me, this realization marked a turning point in the lord’s life despite the setback. Another observation is the lord only needs to distinguish the mind from the heart. As a conclusion, chapter 49 helps us to understand why there was a regression in the relationship between the painter and the aristocrat. On the other hand, it explains why the lord also couldn’t return to his older self too.

In chapter 51, we hear through the maid that Yoon Seungho has now returned to his older self. This is only partially correct again. Sure, he had somehow died for a second time after hearing about the incident. Kim was not telling the truth, for he only mentioned the scholar’s betrayal after the painter had had a change of heart. He was no longer perceiving himself as a prostitute. Nonetheless, Yoon Seungho couldn’t live like in the past, where he used his body as tool, because before he had acknowledged his body and even wanted to let his body take the lead. Furthermore these words implied that he could only react to the painter. That’s why he was a shadow of himself. People were upset because they imagined that the main lead would organize sex sessions like in the past. However, he couldn’t have sex like before, as his body could only accept the low-born. The painter was no longer a prostitute, so was the lord either. He could no longer use his body as a tool, for he was no longer a spirit. That’s why he invites many lords and spends his time drinking or even smoking. He was trying to numb his body, he needed to do that as he was masking his broken heart and soul. He couldn’t allow his body to feel the pain. But without the painter, he couldn’t take the lead. Thereforehe was entirely dressed in chapter 52 and had no erection, (chapter 52) when he got a fellatio. His heart was telling him that he could only get attracted to the painter, therefore he doesn’t feel the need to have sex with his guests. Striking was his passivity as a host. He said nothing and did nothing except smoking. He was not taking the lead literally speaking contrary to episode 8. Since he was only a shadow of himself, there was no real desire. At the same time, it also explains why he remained passive to Min’s attacks. The latter was acting like the guest of honor, and as such taking the lead. There was no fire in Yoon Seungho to fight back and this illustrates why he gave in in the end. (Chapter 52) Simultaneously his body was indeed taking the lead in his chamber too. The moment he discovered the painter’s presence at his door and even heard his guest’s words, he couldn’t help himself to react. (Chapter 52) That was his heart pressuring him to kiss Black Heart. He wanted to protect the artist. He simply let his body take the lead. To conclude, the lord‘s resolution in the study became a reality.

This was even noticed by Black Heart. Chapter 53

This proves that his body didn’t really die in chapter 50, he was just deeply hurt. His body was now acting on his own. Despite his relapse, his mind/heart still revolved around his “former lover”. While in the past, I used to think that this laugh belonged to Yoon Seungho, I realized that it was in reality the Joker’s laugh. However, this doesn’t change anything. (Chapter 51) Baek Na-Kyum from far away had the impression that this was his lover’s laugh. The lord was masking his wounded heart with these fake parties. Either he laughed so loudly in chapter 51 or ignored his guest’s remarks in chapter 52. (chapter 52) In the last picture, he still wondered why the painter came to his side, he must have heard about the rumors. But since Black Heart understood the lord’s actions perfectly, he kept rubbing salt into the wound so that the host finally gave in. (Chapter 52) Here, since his mind was the authority making the choice, I come to the conclusion that the lord was admitting his defeat. His retreat was explainable, as the main lead was no longer a free spirit, but just a shadow of himself. Notice that we only see the door opening violently, as if the noble was indeed a ghost. (Chapter 52) Nonetheless, there was a certain rage and brutality in his gaze. Thereby he might have been defeated in that moment, yet.he had not lost the war. Why? It is because he was boiling internally. He was furious. His mind chose to give in to prove Min’s words wrong. But why? It is related to his brainwashing and past trauma. He shouldn‘t take it to heart. (Chapter 50) If he does, it will bring him only misery. And in the bedchamber, it looked like Kim‘s words were correct. Black Heart had bothered him so much that the only solution he had was to give in. That way, he would no longer be bothered. He would be left alone and find his „peace“. However, deep down, he was so annoyed and angry. Notice that his rage changed him. He became proactive allowing his body to take the lead.

3. The conflict between the mind and the heart

However, the moment he left the chamber, his feet led him elsewhere. He was not looking around, his gaze was looking straight, just like his steps were guiding him to a different room. Strangely, he was indeed following his body and not his mind. The mind made the decision to bring the painter back, the body chose not. That’s why he stopped the moment he heard the scream from the painter’s room. That’s how the readers discovered the contradiction. That’s also the reason why this manhwa is not easy to understand after first reading.

I also detected another opposition between chapter 52 and 53. The lord refused to ignore Min’s disguised attacks and even gave in, because he had no reason. However the moment the lord discovered that his loved one was bullied physically and emotionally, he turned into a beast and beats the servant Deok Jae. He proved Black Heart‘s statement right. Baek Na-Kyum was precious to him.

Chapter 53

The artist was indeed the light igniting the fire or better said, the heart making the lord live. What caught my attention was this drawing:

Chapter 53

We barely sees the lord attacking the vicious domestic. He is indeed represented like a shadow. The noble materializes himself the moment he stands next to the painter. In front of others, he is a shadow, but he turns into a vengeful ghost, when the painter appears close to him. Baek Na-Kyum is the reason why Yoon Seungho becomes a man of flesh and blood, why he uses his strength against another man. The main lead is not only allowing his body to take the lead, he shows some fighting spirit again. Strangely, we never really see the lord’s beating the servant

Chapter 53

Either the manhwalovers hears his voice, sees a glimpse of his robe or a tooth rolling on the floor.

Chapter 53

This illustrates my interpretation: the noble had transformed into a shadow, but in the presence of the painter, he comes back to life and shows a fighting spirit. This explains why he intervened at the door with the kiss and why he attacked Deok Jae, when he discovered the assault on his lover. His love for the painter allows him to reconnect with his body. He feels the need to protect his loved one and to punish the servant for his wrongdoings. Therefore the hug in this chapter is so meaningful: (chapter 53) He feels warmth coming from Baek Na-Kyum. This also helps him to feel that he is more than just a shadow, he is a man in reality. Furthermore, the painter didn’t even resent him for the slap but instead even embraced him. (Chapter 53) He wasn’t even forced to hug him like that. The noble got shocked because he had hurt the painter again.

Chapter 53

He acted on his impulses and the result was that he wounded his loved one. He must have felt agony for one second, until he got embraced. The hug could calm down the beast, as the latter felt the affection. Furthermore, note how the low-born is even burying his face on the lord’s shoulder. That’s the reason why the latter touches Baek Na-Kyum so tenderly.

Chapter 53

From my perspective, Yoon Seungho wants to remove the white headband, which he always felt as burdensome. It truly represents a hindrance between them. However, he doesn’t have time to enjoy his time with Baek Na-Kyum as they are disturbed by Black Heart. Despite the embrace and the tenderness, the noble still doesn’t understand his own emotions.

Chapter 53

He still thinks, the mind and heart are the same. He hasn’t even realized that he is no longer an empty shell in the past. In chapter 52, his mind was busy pondering on Baek Na-Kyum, while his heart was racing the moment he detected the artist‘s presence at the door. He couldn‘t let Min see the artist.. That’s why Min, the cunning fox, becomes his teacher in chapter 53. He teaches him that his heart is influencing his actions. However, he does more than just teaching. He is actually mocking him the whole time. He compares Yoon Seungho to a killjoy. He should have wounded the servant much more, it would have been more fun. Then he describes his love for the boy Na-Kyum as a weakness

Chapter 53

We have to imagine that the noble is making fun of him here, because he listens to someone and the worst is that this person is a low-born. The latter symbolizes humanity and seriousness, while Black Heart stands for brutality and fun. He is no longer independent and strong. Min is laughing at his host and the “lesson” is actually a series of humiliating remarks. The kiss even represents the climax of the challenge. (Chapter 53)

The reason for all this is that Min senses the lord’s weakened condition. He thought that the painter had died therefore the lord had returned to his older self. Yet he anticipated that the man would only be a shadow of himself and he could seize the occasion to usurp the throne. Yet, the problem is that the painter isn’t dead. So the lord has not lost his strength for real. He might have lived like a shadow for a week, yet the mere presence of the painter brings back the lord to life.

Chapter 53

In the final panel, what caught my attention is the way the lord puts his hand on the painter’s head. His hand covers the artist’s ear. It was as if the aristocrat didn’t want him to hear Black Heart’s words. So does it mean that he doesn’t want the painter to discover his weakness (liking him)? From my perspective, I doubt it. His instinct is to protect his lover from Min’s poisonous words. Let’s not forget that the host knows Min’s personality: he likes saying poisonous and hurtful things. Seungho is well aware of the painter’s innocent disposition. He almost got killed by the scholar’s words so this could happen again. Yoon Seungho’s body ensures that the painter is protected. He will do anything so that the latter doesn’t get wounded. What sounds like a weakness in Min’s words represents the opposite in my opinion. The lord is no longer a spirit, but a man full of flesh and blood, when he is next to the low-born. Just like the painter became an empty shell for a while, the same happened to the lord, yet the length is different. The distancing lasted for one week.

People kept asking if the lord would deny this or not. Yet, what mattered the most was that Yoon Seungho had finally discovered the existence of his heart through Black Heart’s words. What he mistook for his mind all the time was actually his heart. Since he had initially recognized the existence of his body, he could no longer live like before.

4. The return of the shadow

Striking is that in the shaman‘s house, we have a reflection of this scene. However, the roles are switched. This time, the painter is Black Heart‘s teacher. Since the Joker viewed life as a game, he saw blood and pain as entertaining, the gods decided to teach him a lesson. In the study, Min had reproached his host to be a killjoy, he should have beaten the domestic to death. (Chapter 53) Thus in the shaman‘s house, the lord fulfilled his wish. He wouldn‘t stop because someone had asked him to. (Chapter 102) As you can see, Min was put in a similar situation, the only difference is that he was now the target of the protagonist’s fury. The gods decided to reveal to Black Heart how wrong his thinking was. A life of a commoner is not different than the noble’s. Yoon Seungho‘s heart got broken, the moment he saw the painter‘s bloody face. (Chapter 102) Therefore he transformed into a shadow with a bleeding heart. (Chapter 102) This is no coincidence that Min couldn‘t stop the main lead. How can a human influence a shadow? It is impossible. As you can see, Min‘s joke in front of his friends came to bite him in the end. (Chapter 101) In the shaman‘s house, he was not beaten to death, but stabbed to death. This was the usual punishment for a noble. The irony is that because the painter was unconscious, he couldn’t stop Yoon Seungho. The latter let his body take the lead and committed murder. He couldn’t act differently, as he had lost his reason to live. The main lead had once again confused the mind and the heart. This explicates why he couldn’t detect that the painter was just unconscious. And that‘s how Min became a spirit.

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: 🖤 Black Heart (part 1) 🖤

~ Bébébisous33 ~ 30 Comments

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents:  https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/ 

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

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.

Chapter 52

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.

Chapter 52

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:

Chapter 52

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.

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

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.

Chapter 52

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.

Painter Of The Night: Hearsay (part 2) – second version

~ Bébébisous33 ~ 9 Comments

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter  But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents:  https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/ 

In this essay, I’ll focus on the new character Nameless who appeared for the first time in the chapter 43. What caught my attention in the latest episode was the way how Byeonduck presented him, it was through hearsay. That’s the reason why I selected this title in the first place. (Chapter 51) (Chapter 51) And now, if we look back at his first appearance, he was indeed recommended by hearsay. Min was the first one mentioning him to Jihwa. So in the following panel, the speech bubble represents Min’s voice. He is the one describing Nameless to Jihwa.

Chapter 43

Nameless or No-Name is portrayed as someone greedy and ruthless. Because of the interruption of the intercourse, Jihwa has even the impression, Nameless is selling himself for money. It looks like he has no conscience, only money matters to him. That’s how the gossip portrays him. However, in the chapter 51, we also discover that he has another reputation. He is supposed to be a good lover or better said, sex partner. (Chapter 51) It looks like he has made a name for himself among people through hearsay, although he doesn’t have a name. How ironic! Since he doesn’t possess a name, it was as if he didn’t exist. A name defines a person as such, it gives an origin (family name, parents etc.) which is really important in Asia. Since this story takes place in Joseon, the importance of family and name is even more relevant. Without a name, the man has no root so that we could say, Nameless is like an orphan. In other words, he shares the same fate than Baek Na-Kyum, an orphan with unknown origins. I could even add he lives like a shadow through hearsay. I believe, there is no coincidence that Nameless was introduced through gossip twice. It is a part of his figure, he lives through grapevine for a purpose in my opinion.

Because of this detail, I couldn’t help myself connecting him to our main lead Yoon Seungho. The latter also uses rumors as a tool in order to deceive people. Remember my theory that Yoon Seungho acted as the biggest sodomite ever in order to hurt his father and manipulate people around him. At the same time, the aristocrat utilizes hearsay as a shield in order to protect himself. The least people know the true Yoon Seungho, the better it is as his weaknesses can’t be exposed. That’s why I called him the master of deception. Therefore I think that Nameless uses the same strategy, he hides behind hearsay. Note that we have two rumors in the chapter 51, the one about Yoon Seungho returning to his bad habits and the other about Nameless. Therefore I come to the conclusion that both gossips mirror each other and are no coincidence. This reinforces my impression that Nameless created this image about himself through gossips for a reason too. And here is the question: Why would he do that? What is his purpose to have such a “reputation” as greedy and ruthless? I doubt that avidity and cruelty are his true motivations. Just like in the noble’s case, we should question this hearsay. Hence I will examine Nameless, not through gossips but through the pictures Byeonduck gave us and make some speculations.

Chapter 43

When he appeared for the first time, he was dancing with another artist following the music played the musicians. This picture reveals that Nameless is working with others. His work as entertainer is just a cover, since he does dirty work behind the scene. We can definitely say that Nameless is the chief of the band because of the following picture: (chapter 51) The minions must be the musicians and the dancer. As you can observe, the man is not just some criminal driven by greed and brutality, he has abilities for he was able to impose himself as the leader of this band. I detect that he is methodical and quite decisive. Remember that he gave instructions to Jihwa in the chapter 50. (chapter 50) Strictly speaking, he is a strategist which is visible when he tells Jihwa that he has other channels.

Chapter 51

As you can observe, he resembles a lot to Yoon Seungho. Some readers started even imagining that they might be related because they look similar. However, this is for me too soon to adhere to this theory. What I can definitely announce for sure is that both characters have a similar thinking and personality. Hence this doesn’t surprise us that both are described as ruthless as well. When the manhwalovers read that Nameless was working on other channels, they immediately connected it to Deok Jae. The resentful servant is spying on his account as he wants to get revenge on his master. (chapter 51) They were not wrong with this association, however I feel that in that cabin, there was another channel that Nameless was working on. (Chapter 51) Why would he have sex with her? Why would she approach him? I have the impression that the hearsay (him being good at sex) was relayed to her intentionally. Remember that in Painter Of The Night, nothing is there by accident. Jihwa might have caught them randomly, yet there is no ambiguity that this intercourse has its importance. Therefore I tried to determine the identity of this woman. (Chapter 51) If you regard her clothes, you’ll note that her appearance resembles the one belonging to maids. (Chapter 47) The colors of the jacket and skirt are quite similar. However, there is a huge difference between the two maids. Although the servant in the picture above is the head-maid at the kitchen, she doesn’t own any expensive hair pin or ring, while it is different with the woman sleeping with Nameless. She possesses two jade rings and a golden hair pin. This is not something a maid would own. We have 2 possibilities. Either the woman disguised herself as maid by wearing such clothes and hid her real identity or she is a maid close to a lord and the latter gave her jewels for her sexual services. The third possibility is that she works as a gisaeng which would explain the contrast between the jewels and the clothes. She belongs to the lowest social class, yet she has to distinguish herself through her hair dress and jewels. This idea was proposed by one of my readers Anyway, in my opinion, Nameless approached her for a reason. He is digging for information. We have two possibilities: either he is spying on nobles (the clients of the gisaeng house) or he wants to know more about the painter. Let’s not forget that the latter was raised in a brothel. While Jihwa believes that Nameless is doing it for money, I think that he is using his body for information. Why do I come to this conclusion? It is quite simple. Since I sensed so many parallels between Yoon Seungho and Nameless, I am using the protagonist as role model. Because the noble used his body in order to defeat nobles and to hide his own self from others, I believe that the commoner is acting the same way. Both have a negative reputation through gossips and hearsay.

Because I explained that the lord hid his traumatic past behind his bad reputation, I have the impression that Nameless is also hiding his tragic past behind the hearsay. We have definitely proof that the “criminal” has a terrible past: his body.

Thanks to one of my followers, I was able to discover the signification of the tattoo on his chest. Notice, he has the same tattoo twice: Thief. So he was condemned because of theft and this twice. This is something he can never erase hence I come to the conclusion that this is the reason why he covered his whole body with tattoos.

(Chapter 51)

Chapter 51

By having so many tattoos on his body, he made sure that the tattoos “thief” wouldn’t catch the attention and be perceived as a weakness, there are tattoos among others. Sure, my problem is that I can’t discern the meaning of the others. On the other hand, I am quite certain that he uses tattoos as a cover to hide his weakness, his wound.

Another observation is that Nameless is quite observant, just like the rich noble. He realized how weak Jihwa was due to his gestures (the shaking hand, the noble biting his finger nails) (chapter 50) that’s why he ordered him to stay home in the chapter 50 and here asks if he has been drinking. He can perceive people’s personality very well. I would even add that Nameless’ heart must have been touched, when he noticed Jihwa’s bad habit: biting his finger nails. He must have sensed that this noble had still an innocent soul. Striking is that although the red-haired noble is just a wreck and even insults the “criminal”,

Chapter 51

the latter never gets upset. He always remains calm and still treats his “client” with respect. He continues calling “sir” or “my lord” all the time. Notice the contrast of Nameless’ attitude towards Jihwa and Deok Jae. He never threatened the aristocrat, while he had a killer gaze in front of the domestic. (Chapter 51) Even the evil domestic got scared, when he experienced this gaze.

Chapter 51

This attitude unveiled Nameless’ disdain but also mercilessness towards the domestic. He pays no attention to the servant, whereas he is treating Jihwa so differently. He shows a certain care, which is unveiled when Byeonduck lets us enter his mind. This image represents the commoner’s perspective. (Chapter 51) That’s the reason why this zoom on his chin covered with tears was preceded with the drawing of Nameless’ face. The latter looked at Jihwa’s mouth and tears, while the commoner allowed the noble to voice his worries and anxiety. His eyes don’t express any disdain or arrogance in the last painting. Here, we could say that Nameless is not cold-hearted, quite the opposite, he is sensitive. Sure, he doesn’t allow the red-haired aristocrat to mistreat him, yet he shows a certain curiosity and concern towards his client. In fact, this reflects the purity of his heart. He senses the noble’s sinlessness which stands so much in opposition to the criminal’s reputation. In this scene, the manhwaphiles can detect another similarity with Yoon Seungho again. The gaze and action reveal more than any word. And here is the next question: why would No-Name be quite nice to Jihwa?

Since I observed so many parallels between Yoon Seungho and Nameless, I couldn’t restrain myself imagining that both could be working together in reality. But I have to admit that as good as this theory sounded, it is now quite certain that they have no ties. On the other hand, I still believe that at some point, they will be working because both could be reunited by a common desire: their resent for the nobility. We know for sure that the powerful protagonist despises social hierarchy and judges people based on their skills and work. He had no problem to take a painter coming from a brothel as his “wife”, so why not having a “commoner” working for him? While composing the essay “White versus Black”, I realized that yin and yang symbolizes perfectly the main characters’ personality. While Yoon Seungho has still a pure mind (White), his heart has been corrupted due to his tragic past (black) that’s why he keeps hurting the painter over and over again. On the other hand, Nameless has a pure heart, yet he has a corrupted mind due to a traumatic experience. His “vicious” mind could be the reason why he is able to perceive a conspiracy and even plot a crime. He doesn’t lose his temper, when he is threatened.

chapter 54

From my point of view, he even envisaged this possibility. Striking is that his head is indeed covered by a black veil which corresponds to my association with the black mind.

Chapter 54

Surprising is that the manhwalovers discover the black cloth at the end of the chapter. Does this belong to Deok-Jae? If so, then this represents his vicious heart and mind. He resented the painter and bullied him in many different ways illustrating the darkness in his personality. This would also explain why the criminal has no remorse to kill the vicious servant. He really hates that kind of people. Let’s not forget that based on my theory, Nameless is sensitive to innocence and kindness due to his pure heart. Simultaneously, this could also belong to the ruthless criminal, a sign of his brutality. He won’t spare anyone standing in his way. So the rumored ruthlessness becomes a reality in the chapter 54. He has no problem to get rid of an annoying witness. He will dirty his hands, if he needs to, he feels no remorse to kill someone.

Chapter 54

What caught my attention in this picture is that Nameless is looking at Deok-Jae through his mask. It was, as if he was now transforming into the butcher he is supposed to be. The eye is looking at the domestic, the latter has already become his target. From my point of view, there are two reasons why Nameless decides to eliminate the servant. First, he has this desire to protect the red-haired noble whom he views as innocent. We shouldn’t forget that the criminal was the one who reminded his client of the gravity of the wrongdoing. Since Nameless has sensed that the aristocrat is plagued with huge pangs of conscience, he has become aware that Jihwa has been incited by someone else. Because the commoner has a corrupted mind, he can perceive the darkness in other people, like Deok-Jae, but also he can think like a vicious person. That’s why he has been working on other channels. I have the feeling that he is trying to uncover the conspiracy which led Jihwa to hire him. That would explain why he told Jihwa, he had to wait for a while. Nameless decided to look into the matter, when he noticed the red-haired aristocrat’s anxiety. He wanted to uncover why Jihwa would want to get rid of a low-born. Since he has a pure heart, it is definitely possible that he abhors the idea of murdering innocent people. Yet, his black mind is the reason why he is able to plot against others.

Since Nameless was convicted as thief, it is definitely possible that he had such a tragic fate due to the purge, since Yoon Seungho became a victim of betrayal due to the purge. In other words, if my theory is correct that the commoner suffered a traumatic past like Yoon Seungho, I doubt that he would let nobles manipulate him, especially if he was framed himself in the past. Therefore the suffered injustice could be the butcher’s real motivation. This explains why he is working on other channels. He needs to find out the identity of the mastermind behind this conspiracy. He wants to keep Jihwa away from this event. Besides, Nameless would be the perfect enemy for Min as he embodies White heart. So far, Yoon Seungho can’t defeat Min with his broken and corrupted heart. With his viciousness, the criminal can uncover the secret, while Yoon Seungho’s mind is too pure to even imagine such a plan. Moreover, his mind and heart are too preoccupied with the artist hence he has become blind and deaf to what is happening around him. Right now, the lord is in a weakened state, the perfect opportunity for Min to strike.

As you can observe, the theory of the protagonist working together with the ruthless commoner has been abandoned, yet I am quite sure that they will join forces at some point. Furthermore, since Byeonduck is using elements from the first season but has changed the chronology, I came to realize that Nameless’ actions (Chapter 54) reminded me of Jung In-Hun’s behavior in the first season. He used commoners in order to dig up some secret so that he could blackmail Yoon Seungho. (Chapter 29) Therefore I have the impression that the commoner is behaving like him, yet this time it is in order to unveil the identity of the mastermind. That way, he could protect Jihwa and at the same time, he would be able to get rid of a heinous person. On the other hand, since Min has become aware that his plot failed because the assassination didn’t take place, Black Heart can only condemn the red-haired aristocrat and Nameless. It is definitely possible that Min chooses to hurt Jihwa as retaliation which can only push the criminal to become very hostile to Min. From my point of view, Nameless will become a great helping hand for Yoon Seungho in the future. With his Black mind, he can even predict what villains will do. The protagonist’s mind is too pure to recognize the viciousness in the scholar. He might have perceived his hypocrisy and stupidity, nonetheless he still doesn’t know what Jung In-Hun afflicted to the painter. From my point of view, this explains why Yoon Seungho couldn’t defeat the scholar so quickly. He was too naive in this aspect. However, the main character needs to have someone with a black mind so that they can anticipate the scholar and father Yoon’s moves.

The final reason for my theory that Nameless will become the protagonist’s ally is the way Nameless is used. Byeonduck seems to have created a second OTP because Nameless keeps touching the noble’s wrist and is quite caring.

Chapter 54

Consequently I can’t imagine, the noble being involved with Nameless and the latter becomes Baek Na-Kyum’s real assassin. Their “love story” would be too tragic because there is no ambiguity that the influential noble would go after these two, if the painter or someone else close to him would get hurt. Besides, based on my theory (White versus Black), Nameless with his corrupted mind is the only one capable to defeat Min with his black heart. The darkness of the mind can fight against Black Heart. Furthermore, Nameless can help Yoon Seungho to defeat Jung In-Hun and Father Yoon later. Observe that so far, the main lead never attempted to get revenge on his father. He just hurt his father with his behavior and the rumors, yet father Yoon was never really attacked or defeated.

As a conclusion, Nameless will play a huge role in the future, not just as a killer but as a double-agent. I consider him as the alpha and the master of deception among the commoners. His mask as entertainer symbolizes his disguise. By meeting Jihwa, he realizes that there are still some pure people in the world which will lead him to change his life. Nameless resembles a lot to our protagonist Yoon Seungho, hence I felt their collaboration would be quite interesting, if my theory was correct. Nonetheless, after the end of season 3, it looks like Byeonduck doesn‘t plan to use No-Name and Jihwa a lot. So if the Joker appears in season 4, it will be brief.

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: Baek Na-Kyum’s confessions (part 2) (second version)

~ Bébébisous33 ~ 7 Comments

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents:  https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/ 

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 the first part, I demonstrated that the night in the episode 49 marked a pivotal moment in the painter’s life, for he was abandoning Jung In-Hun’s doctrines and cutting ties with the scholar for good. First, he had asked the valet Kim to get rid of the painting about Jung In-Hun’s inauguration, which showed that he was taking his distance from his former admired sir. (chapter 44) He saw it as a confirmation that the teacher had truly abandoned him, for he never bid goodbye to him. However, now I believe that Kim never informed the artist of the scholar’s departure. (chapter 44) He just delivered it in delay so that the artist would feel even worse than before. Without the farewell, he could only come to the conclusion that he had been truly abandoned by Jung In-Hun. Yes, the artist didn’t react like the butler had expected. He remained in the mansion despite the gate had been left wide opened. By getting rid of the painting, he was cutting ties with the learned sir. Yet this was a baby step compared to the scene in the chapter 49. Here, he has finally become the master of his own life and fate therefore he’ll live his life the way he wants. He is accepting his homosexuality and as such his sensuality. He views sex as a part of his life. He rejects abstinence and doesn’t view sex as an addiction. (chapter 49)

Furthermore I explained that he became a full-pledged person again, as he regained his own identity. We could even say that he had lost his identity as a painter. In the first chapter, the aristocrat was looking for the painter hiding behind a pseudonym and not for Baek Na-Kyum himself. Their first wedding night changed everything: from that moment on, Yoon Seungho wanted the man Baek Na-Kyum and not the painter- Hence the creation of new drawings became obsolete. For Yoon Seungho, only an image about their first night mattered, as he perceived as a validation of their marriage. But back then he was not realizing the signification of this wish. Yet as you can imagine, it is impossible to separate Baek Na-Kyum from his true vocation. That’s a part of his identity. So when he explained his reason for the “why”, he revealed many things. First, he accepted his homosexuality and his physical attraction to Yoon Seungho and indirectly that he was a painter, although he didn’t verbalize it loudy. Many readers were upset because they thought that Baek Na-Kyum was still acting as a prostitute at the end. The reason for their interpretation was the following picture: The lord’s thoughts were reflecting the artist’s mind-set. Yet, observe that in this scene, the real “prostitute” was more the lord. Why? It is because the painter had stipulated that it was the noble’s duty to lick him and as such make the painter feel good. Yet, there was a slight difference. A prostitute’s duty is to focus on the client’s pleasure and not on her/his own sensuality. Yet, observe that the noble’s thoughts are revealing that he will make sure that he enjoys their sex/love session too. Since he said that he would let his body lead him and his life, they thought that he was selling his body. But no, here he was saying that he would also pay attention to his own needs too. In other words, he was becoming a libertine, exactly like the painter. Both chose to live as libertines during that night. People would call it: a relationship with no string attached. However, what these readers failed to realize (in my perspective) is that Yoon Seungho and Baek Na-Kyum never mentioned any remuneration in exchange for sex, while it was different in the past (chapter 46). In fact, in this image, he was acknowledging his other part: he was a painter.

I regard this expression “my body take the lead” from Yoon Seungho as a reflection of the artist’s true and original belief, before he was brainwashed and almost destroyed by the teacher. It is strongly connected to his painting. Remember that when he was a child, he painted an erotic image of sodomy. (chapter 1) I perceive this image as an indication that the artist had dreamed about this love session. Note that all dreams about the painter were linked to sex and love. For me, this picture is a proof that the brothel had nothing to do with it. He was drawing outside and he had no model for such a scene right in front of him. In other words, the child allowed his body (his arm, hand, eye and brain) to take the lead, hence he was able to create such a sensual picture. Even Yoon Seungho wondered how a virgin could produce such beautiful drawings. (chapter 20) I have always pointed out that Baek Na-Kyum was a homosexual right from the start, which he accepted as something natural. He was also encouraged by his noonas. (chapter 87) He saw no crime in it, rather as something lovely and beautiful, hence he never felt the need to hide it. Notice that in this picture, he was creating such a lewd painting (chapter 1) where people can behold it, he feels neither shame nor embarrassment. He had no idea that he was violating social norms. That’s why I came to the following interpretation, when the painter said (chapter 49), he was rediscovering his old belief, he wouldn’t feel flustered if someone calls him a sodomite or whore due to his paintings. Notice that he didn’t blush, when he heard Min’s comment or when he saw the sudden kiss. (chapter 49) Now, you understand why I was really happy with this chapter. Baek Na-Kyum was slowly returning to the person he was in the past before the teacher and his noona Heena transformed him into a shadow of himself. He was accepting every part of himself: his sexual desires, his sexual orientation and more importantly his work as painter.

The commoner was already an empty shell, when he met the main lead for the first time. Let’s not forget that he was living as a drunk, since he had vowed to never paint again. By forcing him to drop painting, Jung In-Hun had already ruined the low-born’s life, as painting was a part of his soul. We could say that the low-born was already withering. However, back then Yoon Seungho was not interested in why the painter suddenly dropped his true vocation and why he lied to him too. The lord was more obsessed with the erotic drawings. The cause for this long explication is necessary as with this interpretation, I am predicting what is going to happen in the future.

This signifies that after this episode, Baek Na-Kyum’s talents will return with full forces and Yoon Seungho will even be his source of inspiration. The lord will become the artist’s new muse.

In order to understand this, we need to go back to the chapter 46. There, the beholder could sense that Baek Na-Kyum had lost his passion for painting despite his claim.

His head was down, his cheeks were red as if he was feeling ashamed. Furthermore there was no real passion in his eyes, when he conceded it to the head-maid. His confession about liking to paint was indeed meek. The lord’s observation made later was correct, although he never got to hear this revelation. Here, this drawing illustrated the frozen state of the painter, the loss of his soul and talent.

The artist was only able to produce a new painting because initially he masturbated. Striking is that this scene was a clue about the artist’s original belief. Here again, he allowed his body to take the lead, but it was once again behind closed doors and nobody was present. He was hiding again, indicating that he still wouldn’t admit his own sexual desires and his homosexuality. Until now, he had only asked for comfort and love from his counterpart (chapter 20/21 and 41/42). Remember that in the chapter 41, he just asked to be hold and as such, he only wanted to be embraced initially. However, due to his inexperience and pain, he confused love with sex. As you can see, the belief “the body taking the lead” had resurfaced indicating that little by little, the painter was changing. More importantly is that he hadn’t been triggered by an immediate sex session, unlike in the past (chapter 8/9). For the first time, Baek Na-Kyum’s sexual desires had come back to life. Unlike in the past, he didn’t judge the cum as something dirty and filthy. Moreover, Baek Na-Kyum could only ejaculate due to Yoon Seungho’s warmth and love. He had these flashbacks where the lord made love to him.

Thanks to these two elements (the body taking the lead and Yoon Seungho), he could paint again, however he could just create an unfinished and unrefined drawing because of the image he had of himself: a prostitute. His talents were diminished, even the lord’s influence couldn’t remove the false reflection about his identity caused by the scholar’s punishment. In this scene, we had another confession: Baek Na-Kyum was no longer hating the noble indicating that in the end, he had forgiven him for his wrongdoings:

  1. The brutality the painter was exposed to due to the noble (chapter 1, 11, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31-33)
  2. The rape
  3. The forced fellatio
  4. The sex marathon which made him really sick to the point that he could have died

Sure, he was only talking to himself but in the retrospective, I interpret this scene as the prelude of Baek Na-Kyum’s real transformation. By forgiving the protagonist, the painter has already started valuing the lord differently. The chapter 46 revealed the growing influence of the noble in the painter’s mind and body. He had already started being an inspiration for the artist’s new work. One might argue that this had already happened in the past, yet I have a different perception. In the first part of the first season, Yoon Seungho was forcing the commoner to paint, the latter had no choice to have the master as his model. Then Yoon Seungho was hopelessly waiting for the drawing of their “wedding night” which never occurred. The painter chose to ignore this night and to repress his memories. Then in the chapter 41, he painted so many images in order to ease his pain. That’s why his paintings lacked passion and warmth. He was working like a robot. As a conclusion, until the chapter 46, Baek Na-Kyum never considered his “husband” (I am well aware this is not how Baek Na-Kyum perceives Seungho) as his muse. He just used him as his model as he had been forced to or he wanted to smooth his agony.

In the past, I used to belive that Jung In-Hun was Baek Na-Kyum’s first love and he became his muse. However, later on I realized that the artist started painting for a different reason: survival. (chapter 1) He had no choice. He had to paint erotic paintings. Thus I conclude that the artist couldn’t fully show his true talent and express his passion for painting totally. Yet, his publications were still beautiful, since the lord’s heart and gaze were moved. On the other hand, the noona Heena sent her adopted son to Jung In-Hun, because she feared for her brother. (chapter 46) However, I believe that she was acting on the learned sir’s request. She justified her decision to send him away to the teacher, because she knew that by the learned sir’s side, the artist would never outlive his homosexuality. She imagined that the low noble was her son’s source of inspiration (chapter 46), whereas the artist had other motivation. Therefore she thought that it was for the best, if he was by the teacher’s side. I assume that the teacher wished the low-born by his side for two reasons: money and the prospect to benefit from Baek Na-Kyum’s talent. It is very likely that out of greed, the learned sir desired to sell the painter’s works for his own benefit. But for the artist had been requested to paint these erotic paintings for survival, I come to the conclusion that he had been asked twice to paint erotic pictures. The first time, it was for a precise client, and the second time it got sold among the commoners, which explains why the tailor knew about the identity of the painter. (chapter 64) There’s no ambiguity that the scholar’s prospect got ruined, hence he unleashed his jealousy and resent onto the painter, until the man vowed to follow the scholar’s doctrine. The poor man could never tell Heena about the physical and mental abuse, as he had already been abandoned. (chapter 34) He had to keep his promise to never return to the kisaeng house. I believe that the kisaeng must have used this incident (chapter 94) to send her brother away and exactly like in chapter 44, she made sure that the noonas wouldn’t be informed. That way, she could deceive her colleagues. It had been the painter’s choice. (chapter 93) For the man was his guardian, the low-born had to accept his situation. But since he was just a low-born, I doubt that he could sleep in the same room than the scholar. From my point of view, he had to sleep outside on the wooden planks, the older version of this scene. (chapter 1) Therefore it is not surprising why he didn’t leave the mansion in the end and why he said this to the head-maid. (chapter 46) He could live a normal life again. Besides, since the coercive persuasion, Baek Na-Kyum had been unable to paint, not just because of the vow in my opinion. Jung In-Hun had trained his body and mind to disregard his impulses. His body was not allowed to take the lead, hence he had to drink in order to numb his soul. (chapter 75) Painting was his passion, and the childhood drawings kept by the noonas clearly indicate that he didn’t paint erotic paintings, since he was a child. (chapter 94) He painted animals and as such nature.

This changes the moment the painter meets the protagonist Yoon Seungho. The noble is able to trigger his unconscious, therefore he is able to create a terrific painting, (chapter 2) although he hadn’t created anything for almost one year. From my point of view, this is the return of the painter’s passion. That’s why he paints under trance. Even the master was expecting that the painter wouldn’t be able to produce such a good work right from the start. However, he was proven wrong. Now, I am wondering if this gesture wasn’t the light igniting his repressed sexual desires and as such his dormant talents: (chapter 1) Sure, the painter’s mind was reminding him that this is filthy and vulgar, yet I sense that this affected the artist’s unconscious a lot. All the wet dreams Baek Na-Kyum had, the seme’s phallus played a huge part. Thus we have such drawings in the fantasies, where the protagonist’s sex is in the center of the painter’s imagination: (chapter 2) (chapter 6) (chapter 8)

Since in the chapter 49 he confesses to his “husband” that his body is affected by him, (chapter 49), it becomes obvious what this confession means. In front of his partner, the artist is declaring that he will use their sex session as a source for his creativity. On the surface, it looked like the painter was using the noble as his sex toy, since the latter is the one kissing, licking him so that he feels good. Hence the latter got upset while hearing this admission. However, the real message is that his interaction with Yoon Seungho will help him to create new paintings. As you can sense, Yoon Seungho is getting closer to his ultimate goal each time. From my point of view, this was only a matter of time, until the painter realized his true feelings for the noble. It would have come much sooner, if people like Kim, Jihwa and Heena hadn’t meddled in his life. From my point of view, when Yoon Seungho was thinking this , the painter had the exact same mind-set. Since he would follow where his body would lead him, then this meant that he would follow his heart. Thus we have this confession in the kisaeng house: (chapter 94) The painter followed his heart. Observe that the numbers have been switched: 49-94. The mirror effect and in the study we had a reflection too. Both main leads reflected each other’s minds: acceptance of a sexual relationship, but rejection at the same time, no strings attached.

The heart is a part of a body and soul. This means that the lord has already become the painter’s source of inspiration. (chapter 94) (chapter 94) So the lord is now associated to the moon and as such to nature. Thus I conclude that the noble will discover the painter’s true talent. From my point of view, his new paintings won’t be just erotic pictures about himself with the uke, but also about nature (animals, plants). The diversity of the topics will increase, yet I am sensing that the pictures will definitely reflect the painter’s love and admiration for the seme. (chapter 92) Yes, it is very likely that Baek Na-Kyum decides to recreate this scene, because we could see that Baek Na-Kyum’s heart and soul was moved. A new version of this scene: (chapter 36) Besides, the painter’s works will reveal what the protagonists feel and think about each other: love.

But let’s return our attention to episode 49. In my opinion, the last thoughts in this chapter illustrate the protagonists’ innocence. Both were deceiving themselves in order to protect themselves from pain. These confessions reflected their similar philosophy: “to let my body take the lead” and as such the acknowledgement of sexual pleasure.

First, the ” I feel good” symbolizes the climax of his disclosure. Note that “I” and the body “feel good” are what matter to the painter. The noble comprehends the low-born’s philosophy, hence he is annoyed. (chapter 49) But the kiss and the caress catch the powerful noble by surprise. These gestures stop him from complaining, because he is surprised by the painter’s initiative. Simultaneously, the kiss reminds him of the first Wedding night. This time, the artist is kissing him and not the scholar, so it is an improvement. He is recognized as his sexual partner.

Striking is that we see the lord making love to Baek Na-Kyum, for he is hugging the painter’s body . He is even protecting his head. He has never been so close to him before. Despite the hurt, the noble accepts his new situation, unaware that he has come one step closer to his goal. The tragedy was Yoon Seungho had no idea about his real wish. Unconsciously, he desired to be loved by Baek Na-Kyum. This explicates why it took so long for the protagonists to become a real couple. The lord had not recognized the existence of his affection. He thought, he was motivated by his mind, which is here reflected in the study. The reality was that he was motivated by his wounded heart. However, deep down he was lowering his expectations, for he had been hurt.

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: Drawings and emotions (part 3) 🎨

~ Bébébisous33 ~ 3 Comments

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents:  https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/

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

In the second part, I explained how the weather, the season and the landscape represented the painter’s state of mind and emotions (agony, emptiness). Now, it is time to focus on the time and the moon. Why? First, the title of this manhwa is “Painter Of The Night” indicating that the time has its importance. With night, we associate the moon and as for the day the sun. So I looked for the images with the moon in it. Thanks to the help of my followers, I could gather all the drawings where the moon was displayed. Before showing them in their chronology so that we can figure out if the drawings with the moon have a deeper meaning like the weather and the season, I have to say that if I analysed each picture separately, my interpretation would diverge each time, yet my goal is to find an explication valid for all the pictures illustrating the moon. Let me give you an example.

episode 1 Here, the full moon seems so far away, Yoon Seungho’s mansion is almost illustrated in its entity. My first thought was that the full moon personified Baek Na-Kyum and the latter is so far away from the powerful noble as they have not met yet. The sky is so dark (almost black) due to the light glowing of the moon. It was as if the noble’s world was full of darkness and his future meeting with the painter represents his only joy and hope in life. He is so eager to have the painter by his side and to have the artist painted for him. The mansion is so big, indicating his wealth and power, however it feels so big and empty at the same time. It was as if his domain was not a real home. The light coming through the windows doesn’t exude warmth, the beholder feels a certain coldness as there is nobody outside the building. So this image could be judged as an illustration of the main lead’s world: dark, cold, empty, lonely and lifeless.

But with this interpretation, I have some problem, when it comes to the picture from the episode 13. First, why is this a crescent moon unlike in the first image? Did the painter lose something hence he is no longer complete? Secondly, there is no building and the moon seems to glow stronger as the sky is lighter. If the moon is the painter and the sky Seungho’s world, how come that the moon is glowing stronger because even if the painter had felt excited before, he was still resisting the noble’s advances and attraction? Furthermore, in this chapter he is threatened by the master. Then we see no mansion, while we saw the roof in the image from the chapter 4. Why is there no building portrayed here? That’s why I saw it as a necessity to find an explanation that would fit to all the pictures. Hence I would like to show all the images in their chronology so that we can figure out if the drawings with the moon have a deeper meaning like the weather and the season.

episode 1

episode 4 (the end)

episode 13

episode 25

episode 32

episode 34

episode 43

episode 43

episode 46

The first thing people would pay attention to is the form of the moon: full or crescent moon and try to recognize if there is an evolution. But as you can see, the full moon is only in the first chapter, the episode 34 and the episode 43. So on the surface, we can’t see any progression. Honestly, I had to ponder a very long time before coming up with a solution. Like always, I would like to repeat that this is my own interpretation and anyone is more than welcome to think differently. Now, you are wondering about my theory.

Let me explain how I came up with this. What caught my attention is that Jung In-Hun is never meeting the painter during the night. In the chapters 19 and 24, it was sunset and rather early evening as they were on their way back to the mansion. We could even say that the scholar has always met the low-born during the day (chapter 7, 10, 22, 29, 35, 38, 40). Hence I came to associate the scholar to the sun which led me to the next thought. If the sun represents Jung In-Hun, then the moon must symbolize the main lead Yoon Seungho. Let’s not forget that this manhwa is entitled: Painter Of The Night. In other words, this could be seen as a synonym for “Painter of Yoon Seungho”. Furthermore I had already linked the main lead to an eagle, so the moon with the dark sky are elements embodying him.

I also observed two details before the form of the moon: its distance and the color of the sky. In the first picture, the sky is so black indicating that Seungho is not really living, while the moon shines so far away. Hence we could comment that the lord is so far away from people that he lives detached from everything. That’s why he has no pangs of conscience, when he announces that someone might die if the painter rejects his offer. I often compared him to a zombie due to his passivity. The night is the only time when he appears to be really active in the beginning. Notice that he meets the painter for the first time during the night(chapter 1), then he asked the artist to paint the next night. In my opinion, Yoon Seungho didn’t interact much with people during the day, as he was rather smoking and looking through his window. Therefore his appearance at Lee Jihwa’s mansion was something extraordinary. He couldn’t even wait for the next night which the red-haired noticed. Let’s not forget that this man is suffering from insomnia so he can’t sleep during the night. That’s why I have the impression that the moon and the dark sky are personifying the protagonist.

The other element is the distance of the moon. It seems to get closer (episode 4, 13) but then the distance increases again in the chapter 25. This coincides with his relationship with the painter, the closer he gets to the artist, the closer the moon shines in the drawings. Since the rape occurs in the chapter 25, it is normal that the moon is so distanced. That’s why in the chapter 46, we can observe the peak of their own intimacy. (chapter 46) This fits their actual situation. The lord heard a sort of confession and now the painter is not allowed to eat with the servants. His status has been elevated. However one might object to this conclusion because of the full moon in the chapter 43. Here the satellite seems to be further away, yet they are sleeping together. I can refute this argument because of the presence of the building. Here, the pavilion belongs to another noble hence the moon and the sky looks darker. The color of the sky mirrors the main lead’s feelings. He feels nothing for Jihwa and the other aristocrats, nevertheless, his affection keeps increasing from the chapter 4 and 13. [By the way, I doubt that in this picture above the building belongs to Yoon Seungho. For me, it could be a building in the street, while Jihwa is on his way to his friend, the aristocrat with the mole.] Even in the chapter 25, the sky is not so dark compared to the one from the chapter 1. We know that despite the rape, the lord was already in love with the painter. My thought is that while the lord is personified by the moon and the night sky, the painter is present in these drawings too. He is embodied by something as well: the mansion, especially the roof.

I came up with this idea since Bak Na-Kyum is longing for a home, for a family. In the first chapter, the mansion appears so big because Baek Na-Kyum only perceives the main character as a powerful and infamous lord. However, due to his attraction to the noble, his perception changes a little. The part of the roof becomes bigger each time, as if the artist’s place and influence were increasing. (episode 4); (episode 32);(episode 34);(episode 46)

Little by little, he starts owning more of the roof (even the walls). Observe that the snow is now covering the roof. That’s why we have the pavilion shown in his entity in the chapter 25. This represents the low-born who was raped. The building doesn’t have any wall, this is a fake house, not a real home. Yet one might argue that in the chapter 13, there was no building. So why? Remember that this is connected to the characters appearing in the chapter. In the episode 13, Jihwa enters the lord’s chamber right after this image. Baek Na-Kyum is not even present yet. However, the moon is closer and the color of the sky is lighter, blue. This illustrates the noble’s feelings and attraction to the commoner. We shouldn’t forget that during this night, he already has the intention to ask the low-born to join them in their sex session. He has already decided to taste the artist.

My other evidence that the moon and the building are personifying our main leads is the picture from the chapter 21. We never saw the moon during that night and the sky looked so bright. It was as if the moon was looking down on the building, while the noble is embracing and kissing the painter. This night was particular because it never looked like a real night… a mixture of day and night, giving the illusion of a different time. That represents the “dream”, something special is happening right now. The lord has discovered love and warmth hence the light of the moon seems warmer and closer. This was just an illusion and the reality came back in the chapter 25. However, although the moon is further away, the sky is not so dark compared to the one from the chapter 4. It is related to the growing feelings of the lord. He might have done something wrong, yet he did it because he wanted to obtain the artist’s heart believing that once he uses force, the low-born will surrender. Yet he failed with this stupid move. The forced rape created a riff between the two main leads.

Now, it is about time to explain why we have a full and crescent moon. In my opinion, this has something to do with his wishes. In the first chapter, he hears that the servant discovered the painter’s identity and he is about to get his wish fulfilled. In the chapter 34 , he has just realized that he can’t stay away from the painter, he really loves him and he can’t give him to others. It’s his “wife” hence he needs to return to Bak Na-Kyum’s side hoping that the painter might not resent him for risking his life out of selfishness (sex marathon). He granted the painter’s wish to leave his bedroom as he saw no real rejection coming from the commoner. Yoon Seungho never heard any harsh criticism after entering his bedchamber. Hence there is hope for him. On the other hand, there is this huge distance between the roof and the moon. Yoon Seungho has no idea how to reconnect with the painter after the sex marathon therefore he ponders the whole night about it. He knows what he really needs and wants and has to crack up his brain to come up with a solution. Hence during the night in the chapter 43, there is another full moon. The painter asked him to have sex together, for the lord this was as if his deepest wish had been fulfilled. They are together. But soon after he realizes that his sex sessions don’t bring him what he has been longing: love. Hence there is a crescent moon again. (chapter 46) He is missing warmth, yet the “confession” did affect the lord so much that the glow coming from the moon appears warmer. This represents the lord’s feelings, he is getting closer and closer to the painter… and to the building.

In my opinion, the artist is the “earth”, as the house symbolizes the painter. That’s why we have Jung In-Hun as the sun, since the Earth rotates around the sun. Since the sun abandoned the Earth, the painter’s heart is frozen. For Yoon Seungho is the moon, the painter was never able to notice it as it is not so visible during the day. We all know that the moon is a satellite of the Earth. Now, the painter is able to see that there is another planet circulating around him. Yoon Seungho has caught his attention, therefore he is no longer looking at the sun. In reality, Jung In-Hun is a fake sun, while Baek Na-Kyum thought, he was looking at the real sun… it was a fake source of warmth, an illusion.

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: Rumors and The Yoons

~ Bébébisous33 ~ 4 Comments

This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents:  https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/

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This won’t be a long analysis but the new chapter from the second season made me realize the importance of rumors. In one of my former essays, I discovered that there were two different kind of gossips:

  1. The one among the nobles, where Yoon Seungho is condemned for his relationship with the painter.
  2. The one among the commoners, where people believe that Yoon Seungho has now a fiancée.

After giving some thoughts, I realized that there were also rumors in the first season but I never really paid attention to the origins of the gossips. If we pay attention to the rumors about the Yoons, we’ll notice there are two different kind of rumors circulating about this family. In the chapter 13, Lee Jihwa insults Yoon Seungho as filthy libertine and describes that Yoon Seungho is from a declining family.

Then in the chapter 22, Yoon Seungho replies to the low noble that he knows about the existence of his bad notoriety.

Notice the contrast between these two rumors. On the one side, they are described as if they were losing their influence, on the other side the Yoons are called as wealthy but uncultured. This looks like a contradiction, yet there is none. The declining family is actually referring to Yoon Seung-Won and his father who are losing their influence because they have no official post, whereas the wealthy but uncultured family is an allusion to Yoon Seungho. Since he decided to keep his distance from the government, he put all his strength and knowledge in order to get power through trade. That’s how he became powerful and influential, while his father and his younger brother had no power any longer, as they were living too far away from the capital and the government. Now, the manhwaphiles understand better why the brother visited his brother and asked him to visit their father. By reconnecting to the eldest son, they hoped to use his money but also his connection to get some influence but they were turned down. With his help, they could have got a direct nomination as official, however the eldest son refused to follow the request. Through Jihwa’s curse, we can detect that the red-haired noble looks down on Yoon Seungho because of his father. Since the father’s influence is in declin, then

Yoon Seungho might keep his distance from the officials, however he has definitely power and can use his connection to get a government post. I doubt that he was lying to the painter, when he threatened him in the chapter 11.

Now, we can better comprehend why the nobles were attracted by Yoon Seungho despite his terrible reputation.

He was powerful through his trade and his connections and the nobles needed his help, either because of his wealth or because of his closeness to officials. It becomes even clearer why Jihwa claimed in the chapter 18 that in fact he had been using Yoon Seungho all along. Therefore the sex sessions with the seme were a sort of prostitution. They approached him for their own interests, however the main lead was aware of that and chose to humiliate them with his sex sessions. That’s why he abhors prostitution and was happy to have found someone so pure. Now, you realize the importance of the hearsay. The nobles are the ones spreading these rumors about Yoon Seungho. He is uncultured because he does commerce and deals with commoners. They need to spray this gossip in order to keep their dignity and remain honorable. They use grapevine in order to tarnish the main lead’s reputation as they can’t accept that they have to lower themselves in order to get what they need from the protagonist.

No wonder why Yoon Seungho is so confident about his influence and never looked down on Baek Na-Kyum despite his humble origins. Yoon Seungho is already an outcast among the aristocrats and Jihwa tried to use the rumor in order to force him to keep his distance from the painter.

As you can detect, the hearsay is among the young nobles and the red-haired lord is trying to use this as a weapon to weaken the rich master. This doesn’t surprise us that the seme refuses to submit to this kind of pressure and even replies that he will make sure that this rumor will become true. This would ridicule more the young nobles. Right from the start, the rumors are a weapon of the nobles targeting the protagonist. Consequently, the manhwaphiles grasp better why in the second season Yoon Seungho is also using gossip among commoners to get support, to change his reputation. He is a transformed man. At the same time, it outlines how powerful and influential Yoon Seungho is. He is not seeking for an official post because of his traumatic past, yet he learnt due to his bad experience that he needed money to protect himself and through his fortune, he could create his own network without getting too close to the government. This also explains why he hates nobility and even feels closer to merchants and commoners. This arrogance among the nobility towards Yoon Seungho doesn’t surprise me at all. In France before French Revolution, the bourgeoisie was also despised by the aristocracy, although the high bourgeoisie was even richer than some old families among the nobility.

The nobles needed to turn Yoon Seungho into an unrefined noble because they couldn’t accept that despite his declining family and his terrible reputation as sodomite, he was more influential than them. I don’t think that he lied to Jung In-Hun and Baek Na-Kyum about his power,

however the irony is that he never said clearly that he would give Jung In-Hun a government post. When he says “our”, he is actually speaking about himself and not his other relatives.

Because of this, I have the impression that once Jung In-Hun realizes that he has been abandoned by Yoon Seungho and Baek Na-Kyum, he will turn his attention to Seung-Won and his father as they represent the old and traditional nobility, whereas Yoon Seungho is a loner. Due to his family, he belongs to the aristocracy, yet he decided to develop his influence through commerce thereby I suspect that Jung In-Hun will look down on him for mixing with commoners and will attempt to help the Yoons (father and son) unaware that they might use him as his pawn and sell him to an old official.

As you can observe, with each new chapter, we get new info which helps us to perceive the older episodes in a different perspective.

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