This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhin.com/en/comic/painter But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. As for the psychology of colors, I used this website: https://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-blue.html
In my former analysis, I associated father Yoon to corruption due to the color of his clothes. Khaki is a synonym for dead water and rotting and in the chapter 57, the readers discovers how the young protagonist’s heart got poisoned by his vicious and cruel father. Sure, we just get glimpses of the main lead’s past but it is enough to establish the father’s responsibility and ruthlessness.
In my opinion, his corruption starts with the visit to the doctor. The father is determined that his son is ill, although the physician can’t confirm the sickness. In fact, he can’t make a real diagnosis. 
These panels are important for two reasons. First, we detect the physician’s reservation. He expresses his doubts about the illness: “It seems”, “he said strange things” and “he looked alert and his complexion was rosy”. Furthermore, it becomes more obvious that the doctor is repeating what father Yoon told him: “since a very young age”. However, we know for sure that the physician only met the young man, when he was a teenager so the expression “since a very young age” indicates that he is relying on the father’s information. According to the latter, the protagonist was ill very early on but fact is that there is no diagnosis confirmed by any doctor.
What caught my attention is the huge contrast between the doctor’s saying and father’s words: Note that Yoon Seungho has a very good reputation, yet the doctor had never heard any rumor about his illness. That’s why I come to the conclusion that father Yoon had decided to use medicine on his son because of his jealousy. The reason for this statement? This is no coincidence that his good reputation is mentioned altogether with his illness. Father Yoon couldn’t bear the thought that his son’s notoriety was exciding his own.
Notice that when the father describes the illness, the physician recommends a visit to a shaman, but the father refuses.
He keeps saying that Yoon Seungho is sick. In other words, the protagonist’s relative acts as if he was a doctor and he knows exactly the diagnosis. Yet the words “he said strange things” expressed by the doctor outlines the incompetence of the noble with “dragon eyes”. He uses technical words without knowing the true meaning. With this, I conclude that father Yoon’s real knowledge is superficial and he is actually overestimating his intelligence. The lack of knowledge didn’t get unnoticed by the expert. In reality, the noble with the khaki robe is just picking up the medicine for his son and needs the doctor’s collaboration. Here, it is important to point out that after this visit, the father never went to this physician again. The latter only became Yoon Seungho’s personal doctor again, after the latter had been abandoned by his own father. Let’s not forget that the physician only visits Yoon Seungho after the topknot incident.
Valet Kim must have decided to ask for his help remembering their first visit and how good and qualified the doctor was. The latter took his time and talked a long time with the father, like we can witness in this panel. The father had to sit down indicating that the doctor didn’t fulfil his wish right away. He had to persuade the expert. 
Unfortunately, despite his doubts, he did follow the father’s wish. So when the doctor visits the lord for the second time, he is able to diagnose that the young aristocrat is really sick. 
Here, he can observe the symptoms. As a conclusion, despite his doubts about the mysterious illness diagnosed by the father, he did prescribe the medicine and kept giving it to valet Kim. Strictly speaking, he has still not questioned the real use of that medicine because after his second visit, the patient was indeed unwell. It’s important to note that until now, Yoon Seungho has kept drinking this medicine, ordered by his own father. 
Valet Kim was the one taking care of it all this time. Yet this has nothing to do with insomnia, since Baek Na-Kyum asks if his “usual medicine” is related to his sleeping problems 
and the doctor denies it. He replies that he has been taking it since his youth and back then, insomnia was never brought up. All this indicates that the corruption is still effective due to the drug. No one has ever questioned the true purpose for that medicine, neither Yoon Seungho nor valet Kim nor the physician. That’s the reason why he is still agitated in my perspective.
In my opinion, since the father couldn’t force his son to fake any illness, he used “sodomy” as an excuse for his son’s sickness, although he never mentioned that explicitly. Yet, his description of the sickness “illness of the spirit”, “contagious illness” are all related to homosexuality. I think, he must have come up with this idea, when he saw the interaction between Lee Jihwa and Yoon Seungho. The father must have realized that his son’s friend was attracted to his eldest son 
and he saw the perfect opportunity to separate Yoon Seungho from Jihwa under the pretense of an illness and isolate his son.
By using the drug and his reclusion, he made sure that his son’s reputation would no longer overshadow his own notoriety. By banning him from leaving home, he hoped, Yoon Seungho would lose people’s attention, while he would get more support. I have the impression, he used this “illness” to submit his son too. However, I doubt that this was enough. At some point, he must have realized his lack of influence and power as he was a very ambitious man. I am quite sure that he must have dreamed of achieving greatness. There is another clue for this interpretation. Let’s not forget that Jung In-Hun did the same to the painter. He used “sodomy” as an excuse in order to pressure the artist to stop painting. It was immoral and filthy according to him. The low noble must have known that Baek Na-Kyum’s publications got famous among nobles, when he was asked to become the commoner’s guardian. Yet within one year, the painter stopped publishing due to the vow forced by the coercive persuasion. So this is how Baek Na-Kyum’s perversion started and here, the administration of the drug marks the beginning of the educated protagonist’s corruption.
The most upsetting is that valet Kim never questioned Yoon Seungho’s father’s decision and action behind this visit. He imagined that this was for the sake of the boy. Who would suspect a father drugging his son due to jealousy? Valet Kim has always liked the boy and this close relationship is visible in this chapter. He keeps company to the boy and the latter looks at him with such a tenderness and affection. This explains why the loyal butler remained by his young master’s side and why he accepted the mood swings later. He knows deep down the lord’s true personality. And since the corruption started with the drug administrated by valet Kim, this would explain why the lord has still mood swings in the end. This is not just caused by his trauma. There’s a combination of both in my opinion. However, by interacting with the painter, the lord’s heart and mind improved a lot, but his transformation and purification have not been completed yet, unlike with the low-born. The latter is no longer thinking about his former teacher, has dropped for good Jung In-Hun’s doctrine and is using his own mind and eyes, while he observes his lover. We could say, the painter’s thoughts are always revolving around the lord
(his dreams
,
when he takes care of him
,
when he is separated from him 
when he masturbates 
etc). Jung In-Hun’s influence and shadow has disappeared for real. Like I wrote once, the lord has been the cure for Baek Na-Kyum, so is the painter for lord’s. The artist will be the one who purifies the main lead. And now, I come to the second part of this essay: purification.
What caught my attention in the chapter 57 is the final scene and especially the final panel. 
For the first time after the lord’s confession, Yoon Seungho is looking at the painter’s gaze. He is no longer avoiding his eyes showing that he has regained some confidence. He no longer fears his eyes. he has gathered enough courage to face his lover. He would like to read the painter’s thoughts and emotions, as he knows about his transparency. Furthermore, both protagonists are quite close and this hasn’t happened since the chapter 54.
The other important detail is that the artist took the initiative to approach the noble, creating another precedence. We should remember that in the chapter 52, he did it because he was criticized by the butler and in the chapter 55, he was asked to take care of him by the loyal domestic. Sure, in the last case, the main lead would have done it on his own, as bringing the bucket of water was his own choice before. Nonetheless, I sense another progression as Kim never gave him any precise order here. While looking at the young master, he recognizes that the hat must cause some discomfort to the aristocrat hence he wants to remove it.
However, we could say that he is just looking for an excuse to approach the master as he keeps starring at him. Hence we have two pictures about Yoon Seungho’s handsome face from his perspective. 
Striking is that when he is looking at his lover and perceives the hat as a source of discomfort, we can detect the presence of two important items full of symbolism: A mirror on the left and a white candle on the right. This was noticed by my chingu @user4792569. This signifies that Baek Na-Kyum is no longer represented by the yellow candle on a candlestick, a symbol for frigidity and selfishness. Here, the manhwalovers can conclude, the artist has finally truly returned to his old self. He’s pure and selfless which is reflected by his behavior. As for the mirror, my interpretation is the following: the mirror just symbolizes the painter’s function. His face will serve as mirror for the noble in the next chapter. Yoon Seungho will be able to see his own reflection: he is worthy to be loved. The readers should keep in mind that the main lead still fears his own image. This would be a new version of the chapter 31 and this time, Yoon Seungho would be the one who gets liberated. Another possibility is that the painter truly uses the mirror to show the lord his true image. But honestly, I have more doubt about this probability.
In this scene, he observes his lover, prepares the bed and finally approaches very close to him. All this reveals how dedicated he is towards Yoon Seungho. That’s the reason why we have a white candle behind the painter. This is not surprising that he keeps thinking about the love confession in his dream, disclosing that he is no longer repressing his desires and unconscious. He is truly free. Surprising is that his knees are even touching the master’s robe, 
reminding us of the scene in the chapter 55, where he first kept a certain distance from the lord’s bed but at the end, his feet touched the sick man’s cover
.
While he tries to remove the hat, he is stopped by Yoon Seungho as the latter fears hands next to his head, a repercussion of the “incident with the top knot”. Until now, no one has ever been allowed to touch his head, except his loyal assistant. And this is relevant as it announces the transition, slowly the painter will replace valet Kim. I anticipate that Baek Na-Kyum will be permitted to touch his hat, displaying the increasing of trust between the two protagonist. When the lord grabs the low-born’s hand, it is just an instinctive gesture but what is different now is his reaction. He’s not pushing away the painter, like he did in the chapter 4, a good connection made by another follower, @kei_tsukishima. 
[As you can observe, my essays have now such an influence on my readers that the latter are able to notice and interpret details. This can only make me happy, it feels like my work as teacher is very successful. The analyses have affected so many people that they are now capable of helping me, that’s why I hope, people will decide to contribute with observations to my essays]
But now let’s focus on the hat again. The huge contrast between the lord’s attitude in the chapter 4 and 57 mirrors the evolution of their relationship. The aristocrat trusts much more the artist. Striking is that the hat played a huge role in another chapter. Can you guess which one? It’s the chapter 39. Here, the hat announces the arrival of the first romantic and tender kiss between the two main characters. 
Back then, the painter didn’t hide his pleasure and reciprocated the kisses making the lord so happy. That’s why I believe that in the next chapter we will witness a kiss, as the hat will be the trigger for the kiss. And since I’ve made a connection between the chapter 39 and 57, I also think that this chapter should be judged as a new version of the chapter 39:
- We have a visit to downtown. Kim and the painter went together and they are joined later by the lord. Here, the butler had to leave the low-born’s side in order to fetch his sick master. (tailor-doctor)
- The painter is wearing the clothes from the tailor. Like back then, he is no longer wearing the white headband. In other words, he has accepted his position as Seungho’s lover.
- We have a person who is trying to recover from an illness.
- The valet leaves Baek Na-Kyum and Yoon Seungho together and remains by the side of the owner of the house.
- The way Yoon Seungho is dressed is similar. Back then, he wore a pink inner robe (a man in love) covered with a black robe indicating that he was denying and hiding his feelings. Furthermore, we shouldn’t forget that in the chapter 39, the main character was suffering from jealousy, he didn’t like how the tailor was touching his lover. However, since he is wearing two robes in blue the choice of color is relevant. This is no coincidence that we have a rather pale blue which means creativity and the freedom to break free, a sign for liberation. Furthermore, if we look up at dark blue, this is what we discover:
Dark blue is the color of conservatism and responsibility. Although it appears to be cool, calm and collected, it is the color of the non-emotional worrier with repressed feelings, the pessimist and the hypocrite. Dark blue can be compassionate but has trouble showing it as its emotions run deep. Dark blue is a serious masculine color representing knowledge, power, and integrity, and is used quite often in the corporate world.
As the manhwalovers can sense, the lord’s mood and confidence have improved again. He’s compassionate but still fears to reveal his feelings. We can make another connection to the chapter 39, the recurrence of the topic “responsibility”. While in the chapter 39/40, Yoon Seungho kept saying that he would assume his responsibility for the painter, we have a switch of roles. The artist is now the one taking responsibility for the noble. He’s prepared the bed, wants to remove the lord’s hat, he would like him to lie down and rest properly.
That’s why I am quite certain that in the next chapter, we’ll have a new version of the chapter 40. The purification can only work if the painter is caring, selfless and gentle towards Yoon Seungho and since all the conditions are met, the manhwaphiles can prepare their hearts. They will witness how Yoon Seungho gets cured by Baek Na-Kyum’s love. Actually, the idea of purification came to my mind the moment I saw this picture: 
The colors of the bed contrast so much to the lord’s bed. I had already explained that yellow was related to sand and as such referring to a fight arena and red to blood and death. Here, while the blue reminds me of water, I link white to purity. The bed might look less comfortable and more simple, yet I consider its simplicity as a positive feature. And this is what I found about Sky blue:
Sky Blue: One of the calmest colors, sky blue inspires selfless love and fidelity. It is non-threatening and promotes a helpful nature that can overcome all obstacles. It is the universal healer. quoted from https://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-blue.html
As you can observe, blue is associated to healing and liberation. We have so many different blues in this chamber that it is now important to quote the positive aspects of blue:
“loyalty, trust and integrity, tactful, reliability and responsibility, conservatism and perseverance, caring and concern, idealistic and orderly, authority, devotion and contemplation, peaceful and calm.” quoted from https://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-blue.html
Hence I believe something important will occur in the next chapter: the renewal of the wedding night. I have to admit that when I saw this panel, I couldn’t help myself connecting it to the k-drama Dong Yi. In the k-drama, inspired by a true story, King Sukjong falls in love with a low-born named Dong Yi and the latter becomes a famous concubine, she even gets the rank of sook-bin . The irony is that in the k-drama the king has his first night with Dong Yi in a simple home, which is very similar to the room, where the two protagonists are.
But there are other elements why I think that we are about to witness a renewal of their wedding night. First, let’s not forget that during that fateful night, the color of the room was also blue 
, just like the night was light blue. 
They used a blue robe as bed. And we had also the presence of white as well in during their Wedding night: the white candles and the paper in the background and the white bottle. 
Back then, the painter was under the influence of alcohol, yet the lord once commented that the low-born was delirious, another reference to the lord’s actual sickness. Notice that in the final panel 
there is no distance between them, the painter doesn’t need to stand on tiptoes. They are now equal which is an indication that their relationship can work for real now. Consequently I am expecting a confession. Let’s not forget that the painter has just dreamed about a confession coming from Yoon Seungho and like I am pointed out before, his visions always became a realit. Consequently, I am quite sure, his wish will become true.
But when I read the chapter for the first time, I connected it to purification and to the chapter 40, the romantic date. Yet since Yoon Seungho is sick, I doubted that he would have sex with the painter. Furthermore, we had a masturbation at the tailor shop, so my initial thought was that there would be only foreplay. But by analyzing the scene more closely, I couldn’t help myself connecting to the Wedding night because of the bed and Dong Yi so that I somehow forgot my initial thoughts: they can’t have sex as Seungho is too sick. However, this morning, I had a revelation. The renewal of their wedding night doesn’t mean, there will be sex as such. Quite the opposite, it will be something very pure: deep love.
Let’s not forget that when the lord went to the painter’s room in the chapter 19, he really hoped to have sex with the painter but what he received was a love confession. The pure kiss led to a passionate one and the lord thought, he could finally taste the painter. Remember what I wrote: he went for sex but discovered love, when Baek Na-Kyum hugged him, declared one more time that he liked him. The artist even added how happy he was.
He couldn’t believe, that this was real, it was so beautiful that it felt like a dream.
Therefore we should expect a renewal of this scene: a hug, the reference to a dream and a love confession. The manhwalovers are well aware that Baek Na-Kyum had a dream and loved to be confessed. I have the impression that the painter will change his words: From “it feels like a dream” it will become “my dream has come true”. Back then, he was doubting if all this was true therefore I am expecting that this time, there will be no insecurity from his part. He will accept it as a reality which will make him happy. And he will shed tears of happiness again. That’s why I am even more convinced that the next chapter will be a renewal of their wedding night but quite different. After kissing, hugging and even caressing each other, they will share the same bed 
and this time, I have the impression that Baek Na-Kyum will be the one hugging his lover as the latter’s the sick one who needs comfort and care.
The purification had already started in the chapter 20/21 but the problem was that back then we had the presence of a third person. Now, the shadow of the scholar has vanished for good and the lord has already rejected his friend Jihwa. He made things clear, he wouldn’t accept his love. Simultaneously, thanks to his friend’s love declaration, he discovered that it was still possible for him to be loved, since Jihwa would accept him despite his flaws. As you can see, I believe that Jihwa’s behavior did help his friend in the end. And let’s not forget the presence of a witness during their first night, valet Kim.
It’s definitely possible that he interrupts them and has to leave quickly. We could have another whisper “close the door” or he just closes the door silently.
As a conclusion, since the readers witness the start of Yoon Seungho’s corruption in the chapter 57, it’s not surprising that the final scene announces the beginning of his purification. The lord will finally get what he has been hoping all along: feeling loved by the painter, being admired as someone respectful and trustworthy. In other words, the next chapter will be a new version of the chapter 40 and 20/21. And this is definitely needed as the enemies are gathering around them. We have the appearance of the lord Song, father Yoon and the planned assassination ordered by Jihwa, incited by Min. Only their love for each other can help them to overcome adversity.
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.
Observe that during the first real dream, the painter imagines the unknown man to be Yoon Seungho and not Jung In-Hun showing that his “love” for the scholar was actually more mental. In reality, his adoration was just the result of the coercive persuasion and the painter’s coping mechanism. In order to stop and forget the abuse, he idolized the scholar.
It reminds us of the night from the chapter 48 and 49 because of the disposition of the candles. That’s why the manhwalovers are not sure if this is real or not first. However, the black frame between the pictures is the clue that we are witnessing a dream. And if you look carefully, you’ll notice that this dream is inspired by that night. Not only the room is the same but also the words and the gestures. Compare the pictures from the chapter 49 to the ones from the chapter 56:
And now, you understand the lord’s words in the previous picture (chapter 49). He was right, he noticed the contradiction between the painter’s words and his physical reactions. And because of this rough session, Baek Na-Kyum was finally forced to admit that he liked having sex with the lord.
Remember what I wrote about the painter’s confession. It was the moment, he dropped the scholar’s doctrine for good. The “prostitution” was just the last defense Seungho had to defeat and he succeeded. And if you look at the words said in the painter’s dream, you’ll notice that he is in reality quite kinky. 
Sure, Seungho is the one saying it but let’s not forget that a dream expresses the repressed desires. So deep down, the lord’s words are in fact reflecting the painter’s unconscious mind. And what looked like a torture because the painter kept saying no and looked scared, in reality the artist was feeling pleasure. And this explains why the drawing he made later doesn’t reflect any negative emotion. 
Note that his mouth is open, it was as if he was moaning and there are no tears and no visible pain. As a conclusion, this illustrates that the readers should be careful with what they witness and hear in this manhwa. The spoken words and behavior don’t always reflect the true thoughts and emotions, especially if someone has been brainwashed. 
The commoner’s unconscious wants him to remember his first night as he felt loved and ecstasy at the same time.
(chapter 49, then he recollects Jung In-Hun’s fake hug so that he judges the warmth coming from Yoon Seungho as not real) 
(chapter 54) 
(chapter 55) 
which is quite intimate.
And this observation made me realize how similar both protagonists are in reality. One might have been a homosexual right from the start, while the other wasn’t, yet both have a huge heart hence they are really passionate. They both possess a strong will and used their mind for many years in order to control their unconscious and body. One did it because he suffered a huge trauma like rape and abandonment, consequently he viewed himself as ghost and the other started denying his sexuality because he was exposed to coercive persuasion and feared another abandonment. 
Now, the dream feels more real as the gestures are more precise. The painter has discovered his own heterogenous zones (the nipples, his ear, his butt). 
The lord entering his room during the night, while he is in his bed.
Here, we have the same expression.
They hug the same way.
Chapter 34 
The commoner dreamed to be called in an intimate way (Na-Kyumah) . What he doesn’t know is that the noble is already calling him Na-Kyumie which shows that for the noble, his social status doesn’t matter in their relationship. He doesn’t call him “Baek Na-Kyum” or “the painter” or the “low-born”. Observe that he always mentions him like that in front of Kim and he already did it in the chapter 11 (based on the English version). But the painter never got the chance to witness it.
That’s the moment where there is a switch. From that moment, the yellow candle will represent the low-born. He has neither affection nor hope nor desire for Yoon Seungho right now. However, I believe that the doctor’s words must have surprised and affected him. For the first time, he discovers that the noble has been ill for quite some time and needs to take medicine regularly. Until now, he had always thought, the protagonist was just a strong and healthy man, especially after witnessing and experiencing so many sex sessions.
In our opinion, this image announces the return of intimacy between the characters, the return of warmth and care contrasting to the coldness and brightness of the room in the morning, when the lord confessed to the painter.
In that picture, there were two people facing each other, yet there was such a distance and loneliness exuding from this scene. With the nightfall, the atmosphere in the room changes. Let’s not forget that the rich protagonist is associated to the moon, hence he is more himself during that time.
The burning bougie represents the painter. Remember that the switch occurred during the day. Sure, one might say that the burning candle is related to the night. Yet, let’s not forget that neither in the chapter 52, 53 and 54, the manhwalovers could see any candle. We shouldn’t forget that the position of the candle plays a huge role. Hence it is always important to consider the camera angle. Here, the candle stands between the painter and the aristocrat exposing a certain distance. Yet, the gap between them has considerably diminished compared to the morning’s. This displays the artist’s wish to get closer to the noble. But first there is a certain shyness and hesitation as his hands are on his knees. 
Why, especially when the painter is not present? One might now argue that our theory is wrong, since the painter is not next to the lord and the candlestick is actually associated to him. However, the manhwalovers shouldn’t remember that in this chapter, the painter is actually dreaming about Yoon Seungho.
(chapter 35) where Yoon Seungho had blown out the candles and we had explained that this represented his despair and his resignation. So why are the white candles burning, especially if he had decided the day before to give up on the painter? For this explanation, we have two possible interpretations: 
The fact that the painter had reacted to his presence had such a positive effect on the main lead that he started smiling a little 
and couldn’t restrain himself from stroking the artist’s hair. 
With the low-born’s little reaction, it was enough for the lord to regain hope and attempt to get closer to him through the paintings. 
And we have a blushing Baek Na-Kyum in the chapter 55. The latter is so surprised and moved by the lord’s nodding that he can’t help himself reddening. 
That’s why we have to wonder if during that night, the lord heard the painter’s question and witnessed his lover’s reaction giving him hope that he had been accepted and forgiven. The lord might have closed eyes but this doesn’t mean that he wasn’t truly unconscious. Remember that he couldn’t face the painter’s gaze in the morning, hence he looked down but since he is lying in bed, it is impossible for him to avoid the artist’s gaze. So with closed eyes, he could face the painter without looking at him. He could detect the commoner’s reaction, as the latter cleaned his body, even stroked his face. The moment the lord’s head nods a little, observe that the painter’s gaze gets more intense and then removes his hand from the main lead’s face. So during that night, Yoon Seungho could have sensed the painter’s attitude (his care and his question) making him realize that his desire could still come true. This is just a theory based on the observation made that the second season is inspired by the events of the first season. So it is definitely possible that we might get a flashback of that night. Furthermore, this would also outline the effect of Baek Na-Kyum’s actions. During his recovery, Yoon Seungho sensed the artist’s warmth and care hence this gave him hope. 
or chapter 16 
As you can observe, the yellow bougie on the candlestick symbolizes the lord, while the white ones embody the painter. 
But later, it has changed. The one on the candlestick symbolizes the painter, and the white ones the lord. The switch occurred in the chapter 32. 
Since Yoon Seungho is right next to the candle it represents his conscious. It indicates that all his thoughts are focused on Baek Na-Kyum. In this case, the fire of the candle symbolizes his desire and hope to meet the painter soon, since the young master has been really curious about his hidden identity. Furthermore, it also announces the role played by the artist in the future. The commoner is the “light in the lord’s dark life”. In other words, the moment the lord encounters Baek Na-Kyum, a honest and pure person, his life changes forever. However, observe that there is only one candle illustrating that the affection hasn’t grown that much yet. Moreover, the candlestick stands quite far away from the lord, which seems to indicate that the lord is controlling his emotions and thoughts. Finally, the candle is on a chandelier mirroring the frozen state of our main lead. He hasn’t been living like a man, rather like a ghost as he was most active during the night. 
The proximity of the candle reflects the lord’s thoughts. He keeps thinking about the painter’s criticism. It gives the impression that the light is almost coming from the protagonist’s head. It truly shows how important the commoner has already become in Yoon Seungho’s life. It was as if the noble had an illumination, had now a reason to ponder about himself and his own image. Notice the contrast to the picture from the chapter 2.
Why do the bougies have different colors? In my opinion, they mirror the protagonists’ purity. Yellow is linked to selfishness and white to innocence and selflessness. The lord is definitely attracted to the painter but his affection is more linked to sensuality and sexuality than real and deep love. He’s definitely selfish as he doesn’t pay attention to the artist’s emotions and state of mind. On the other hand, the two candles for the painter symbolize the innocence of his soul but simultaneously, his increasing and strong libido. On the one hand, he paints for the main lead as he has been forced to for his teacher’s sake. So his exposure to sex is not voluntary. Let’s not forget that during this sex session, he gets so aroused that he can barely control his libido. While he’s painting, he imagines himself replacing the two ukes. At the end, his urges are so strong that he leaves the chamber in a hurry in order to masturbate. Striking is that in the second picture, the candle burns differently compared to the one in the chapter 5. The light has not only increased but also the warmth as well reflecting Yoon Seungho’s growing attraction for the commoner. As you can observe, the candles illustrate the noble’s increasing desires. Not only he thinks more and more about Baek Na-Kyum but also he wants to touch him. Since there is warmth, this means that his feelings are much deeper as well. 
It was as if his wishes had been answered. He has found someone who would admire him. As for the painter, he expresses his admiration for his teacher and not for the main character hence there can be no candle with a light. Moreover, deep down he is also longing for sensuality so he is not entirely honest here either. He knows that this should remain a dream because his doctrine makes it impossible to have sex with another man. The lack of light is a signal that this event is an illusion. 
With this kiss, he is gentle and tender, he wants to take care of the artist but it is already too late as the commoner is seriously ill. From that moment, we no longer see the candlestick associated to the rich protagonist. He has learnt his lesson, he needs to be more caring and pay attention to the painter’s feelings. That’s why we have the following picture in the chapter 35.
when they have sex, the room is totally dark and there’s no candle. This symbolizes the painter’s loss of hope and love. That’s the moment his heart gets frozen hence there can be no fire. Their sex session is full of sadness and the lord’s attempt to warm up the painter with his embrace and passionate kiss can not stop the transformation. 
On the first panel, there’s one candle separated from the other 3. From our perspective, these candles represent the noble as they are seen parallel to his head in the next picture. He’s not entirely himself. Let’s not forget that until that night, he still saw himself as a spirit. Therefore the lord’s transformation is not completed. He’s not been reunited with his heart. His mind is so focused on the painter that he has not realized that his heart was the real trigger. Since the candles are burning, it illustrates the love and affection the main lead is oozing. Striking is that the noble is conscious of his own actions, as his words reflect his intention and care. The increasing number of candles reflect the depth and power of his love. Yet, since they are closer to his head, it is now more understandable why the master has not realized his feelings for the painter. His mind was under the influence of his unconscious as his thoughts kept evolving around his lover. And since he was just a spirit, he couldn’t sense his heart beating for the low-born. As the fire symbolizes “warmth”, the bigger the fire is, the stronger the desires and the affections are. Therefore, it leads to the conclusion that those candles represent not only Seungho but the strong love coming from him. Therefore it is not astonishing that the aristocrat is the one hugging the painter and even caressing his back. Simultaneously, the former is longing for affection as well, he is hoping to have his desires fulfilled. He wants to be seen and admired, to be embraced and loved for his spirituality. We shouldn’t forget that he has been waiting for that moment for a long time. 
observe how the room gets darker. As the light vanishes slowly, Yoon Seungho’s hope for love and admiration disappears as well. And this is no coincidence that when he has this realization, to accept his body to take the lead, the room is quite dark. He has lowered his expectations and he has the impression, he is slowly losing the fight. 
Here, the noble admits two things. First, he wants to be admired. Secondly, he would like to see the admiration in the painter’s eyes. This signifies that he desires to see a very positive image of himself in the painter’s gaze. He would like to be seen as worthy to be adored. This observation is important as it confirms the very pessimistic image the lord has about himself. Remember what I wrote about the main lead. He fears his own reflection and as such mirrors that’s why he needs Kim to dress him properly. As you can detect, for the main lead, the reflection is central and I would even say, it is vital. No wonder, if his gaze is also the mirror of his soul either. To him, the eyes are the only proof of his own existence, since he has been viewing himself as a spirit. A ghost can see but never feel or touch. They are supposed to be invisible, yet they observe the livings silently. 
We shouldn’t forget that transparency is related to reflection. Glass and water are transparent but also possess reflective features. This is no coincidence that eyes are quite similar to glass and water (tears). Strictly speaking, the painter’s eyes and face were so transparent that the lord could see the artist’s pure soul. At the same time, they were able to mirror admiration. In other words, the painter’s gaze reflected innocence and adoration, something the lord had been longing. That’s why the aristocrat could only become more and more attracted to the painter. In two occasions before their wedding night, he saw in the painter’s face love and admiration, in the chapter 4, where the painter cries
for the scholar’s poem and accuses Seungho of being a man consumed by lust and in the chapter 7, when Jung In-Hun arrives at the mansion. From my perspective, the low-born’s words, facial expressions and eyes made Yoon Seungho realize that the admiration and love he was seeking truly existed and was even possible. And he wished to be the recipient of that admiration.
The love declaration implies not only the gaze and the reflection but also the purity and selflessness. Moreover, the love here is spiritual and has nothing to do with beauty and superficiality. He adores the man for his talent, intelligence and education.
[I would like to thanks @masteryoonsimp and @shin_chan332 for their help to gather these] you’ll notice one common denominator. Yoon Seungho gazes at Baek Na-Kyum every time. For me, it truly shows the noble’s thinking. He has to see the painter’s gaze in order to seek approval and love, through the reflection of his eyes, he feels alive and loved. Without the painter’s eyes, he would remain a spirit with a terrible image of himself. It helps him to accept himself and since his eyes are always directed at the low-born, he will make sure that the painter feels secure and happy. As a conclusion, the lord’s leitmotiv is: “I see love and acceptance in the painter’s eyes, hence I am a man worthy of affection and adoration. I am neither a man consumed by lust nor a spirit”.
It was as if he had soiled the man. No wonder why the lord got shocked and pained after seeing this gaze. He felt so guilty and since he has such a self-hatred, he could only blame himself for this terrible situation. Therefore he had already imagined the artist’s reaction. He would hear the same words than in the bathroom. 
As a first conclusion, the painter’s purity, spirituality, honesty and abnegation reflected in the painter’s face are the reasons why Yoon Seungho was bewitched. It gave him hope to judge himself in a better light.
chapter 41
). He visits his friend without making an appointment and buys a spy in order to observe the lord’s moves. Finally he plays tricks in order to get rid of a possible rival. So he is very different from Baek Na-Kyum embodying spirituality, honesty and abnegation. And since he keeps looking at his own reflection, I come to the conclusion that he was actually waiting to see admiration in the lord’s gaze. The moment Jihwa would have sensed that adoration was reflected in Seungho’s eyes, the red-haired aristocrat would have become more honest and expressed his love for his friend. As you can observe, it was impossible right from the start as the lord’s low self-esteem and even self-hatred could never give such a reflection. The protagonist was looking exactly for the same admiration. Since Jihwa was scared to unveil his feelings, his gaze and facial expressions were never genuine. That’s why for example, in the chapter 12, behind his smiles,
he was actually upset to see how the incident with the ruined painting hadn’t ruined the relationship between his friend and the low-born. He tried to influence his friend by disgracing the painter but the main lead was no fool. He could perceive the intentions behind his words. Therefore the lord could never fall in love with his friend. The latter was never honest, hence his face was in reality a mask of deception. 
and not to turn into a stone. To summarize, our main lead is a person with huge psychological issues and the gaze plays a huge role in his life. It helped him to survive but at the same time, it was a curse as well because he never saw any positive reflection in people’s eyes. And deep down, Jihwa’s conscious has always known that his friend’s eyes were the mirror of his soul therefore in his nightmare, he sees his friend’s gaze empty of any expression.
He knows that if the painter is killed, the lord will lose his will to live. He will turn into a spirit for real. Deep down, Jihwa has always sensed it but ignored it because his desire to be admired was stronger than to give admiration and affection to his friend. 
even if the words and gaze were not what he wanted. At least, he was perceived as a person, while the others only interacted with the master of deception, who was a spirit in reality. Besides, Baek Na-Kyum who has already experienced abandonment and rejection can understand the noble’s fear better. Besides, the painter possesses another quality. Let’s not forget that Jung In-Hun has pushed the painter 3 times and the latter never gave up on his affection. It chnaged, the moment the low noble showed his true thoughts. The painter saw a very negative image about himself. So he has been put through something similar.
and insulted the painter foretelling him that he would end up as a prostitute.
But he got caught by Yoon Seungho. The protagonist was so infuriated that for each wound afflicted on the painter the mean domestic got punished. First, he lost a tooth for his insults 
and for the pretty face he envied, his face got bruised. Furthermore he could no longer walk properly, he had to crawl as he had some difficulties to stand up.
We could say that the fate he wanted to impose on the low-born became his punishment. He could no longer work as servant at the mansion (door guardian) and fled from the place. The lord acted as the judge, though we have to remember about his terrible emotional and physical state. The injustice the painter experienced gave the main lead the power and energy to intervene and protect his loved one. In that moment, Baek Na-Kyum could no longer see him as a man consumed by lust. He sensed the care in the master’s words, while he was beating the man. The painter could detect the positive emotions behind his violent outburst. He wasn’t just a brutal master, he did it for him because he cared for him. That’s the reason why Baek Na-Kyum could embrace the noble. Simultaneously, he recognized that the lord couldn’t control his emotions, the commoner knew that he had to calm him down because he would kill Deok-Jae. The painter didn’t want to have blood on his hands but this is not the only reason for his actions. Observe that the painter keeps hugging the lord after the latter has already stopped beating the servant. Baek Na-Kyum senses the lord needs to be consoled.
He doesn’t even complain about his own injury, the lord’s emotional pain is more important. However, the moment they get closer and more intimate, the guest Min ruins their reunion. 
His mouth was wide open and the beholder couldn’t see the aristocrat’s gaze and head. This image reflected the vicious man’s personality. He’s arrogant hence blind, but due to his Black Heart, he is able to hurt people with his words. That’s why I concluded that Min’s mouth was full of poison, just like the opium, and his words were like arrowheads. Consequently he keeps stabbing from a certain distance, thinking himself safe. However, the moment he stole a kiss from the painter
, he got slapped and pushed to the ground. Then he decided to insult the main lead in the chapter 53, 
so that he got punched by Yoon Seungho.
The irony is that Min misunderstood the reason for the host’s action. While he thought, Yoon Seungho was doing it in order to save his honor, he never imagined that the master was doing it for the painter’s sake. He never mentioned the painter’s name, just called the lord’s lover a low-born. In other words, he had insulted the painter too. That’s why Black Heart’s mouth was punched so many times, the host wanted him to shut his mouth and he succeeded. It was as if the noble’s hand had become the hand of justice for the painter and as such for commoners. 
With his actions, Min thought, he had won the battle and even the war therefore he smiled while leaving the place. In his mind, he had been able to separate Seungho from his childhood friend Jihwa, then he had put the painter in a terrible situation (gangrape) so that Baek Na-Kyum could only resent his master and would leave the house. 
he discovered the next morning why the artist was just an empty shell. Consequently the latter couldn’t perceive the lord’s warmth and presence. From that moment, the aristocrat knew that he could never seek the painter’s intimacy as the latter viewed himself as a prostitute. He had just resigned himself to never be loved the same way than the teacher was and to his horror, it was even worse than he had ever imagined. In that moment, his heart started bleeding so much that he needed to numb his emotions. However, neither the wine nor the opium could erase his feelings for the low-born. So this laugh is actually a cry of desperation and agony. As you can detect, the joy expressed by the noble reflects the opposite of the emotions he is feeling. He’s actually very sad and pained. The cry should be seen as tears he can’t shed. 
the beating of Deok-Jae and Min) but his feelings for him got denied by Baek Na-Kyum hence Yoon Seungho had the impression that he had been rejected another time. For him, the painter hadn’t noticed all his good actions and the painter’s gaze in that moment gave him the feeling that he was still a monster.
It was not the same gaze he gave to the scholar. Consequently he felt betrayed. It was as if the artist had backstabbed him hence he made a wrong decision. However, once he realized the consequence of his choice, he got shocked.
He realized his wrongdoing, he had allowed the nobles to rape the man. Since the lord had forced himself on the commoner once and the latter had expressed his hatred
However, unlike in the past (chapter 33-34), he didn’t run away from his wrongdoing. He preferred facing the artist
There is regret and pain in it. He admits that he has sinned. He is not hoping for forgiveness and accepts his fate, if the painter chooses to leave him. 
This is the result of Deok Jae’s misdeed. The wrist is swollen and the artist feels the pain. Yet during the whole day, he acted as if his hand was fine. Interesting is that when he looks at his hand, he is not upset at all. He could resent the vicious servant and even blame Yoon Seungho but he is neither complaining nor blaming someone for his strained wrist. In fact, the moment the lord fell sick, Baek Na-Kyum remained by his side and helped willingly. Like I have mentioned it before, he acted on his own, when he brought the bucket of water, since the valet Kim didn’t pay attention to him.
Striking is that the painter’s hand injury reminds me of the lord’s scar and his behavior in this scene. Notice the parallels:
He is washing his sins away: the head with the dark thoughts, the mouth saying rude things and the chest with his wounded heart. He cleans the places responsible for his mistakes. The water and the white cloth purify the lord’s body. It is a gesture of the painter’s forgiveness. The painter’s hand shows that he has accepted the lord’s confession and he is on his way to get redemption. That’s why his gestures give comfort to the sick main lead, like he caresses the aristocrat’s cheek with his hand through the cloth. 
And there is a reason why this new version of the chapter 26 has changed so much. This time, the lord’s face is no longer rejected because the painter has finally understood the main character’s suffering. He knows that the lord felt terrible and was pained. They have become much closer and the lord will be very surprised, when he wakes up to realize that his “farewell letter” or confession had the opposite effect on the painter. He remained by his side because he was brutally honest: he showed his doubts, fears and rough emotions. Baek Na-Kyum’s injury reveals how much he already values Yoon Seungho. He is not only his savior but he represents his salvation. His hands were always powerful as they could wound the noble’s face or stop him from killing someone but now, their power is the reason why the lord is cleaned from his sins. He can now start a new relationship with the painter. 
and already announces his final transformation. But in order to understand why I came to this interpretation, you have to read or remember the essay called “Drawings and emotions, part 3”. Back then, I discovered a link between the moon and the house. 
We have to imagine that the lord was the one opening the door so that the fresh air would enter the room, since we hear the sound of steps. It looks like the bubbles are entering the lord’s chamber and notice the change of colors. first, the number has increased there are 5 and the colors are different. One is red and the other white and glowing. Two are very small and the last one is even vanishing. From my perspective, the white one represents the lord’s mind, while the small blue one is the unconscious. As for the red, I would say that it symbolizes the lord’s wound and trauma which is still fresh, while the transparent bubble disappearing could embody father Yoon’s shadow. Little by little, the agony caused by his father’s abandonment and betrayal is diminishing. 
So he has been waiting for this moment, but since he sensed his condition worsening, he had to speed up the procedure. This explains why he left the door open. The opened door symbolizes the noble’s confession. He is now revealing himself to the painter and let’s not forget my association of the door to the painter. Finally, he is letting the artist enter into his mind and heart for real. 
(chapter 55) For the first time, Byeonduck chose the chimney and not just the roof or the walls. In my opinion, the change indicates the transformation of Baek Na-Kyum. The chimney is a metaphor for warmth and love. In French, the word “foyer” has two meanings: home and fireplace. As you can see, French relate home with the fireplace. And this is no coincidence. For Baek Na-Kyum, the mansion is slowly turning into a real home, where he can feel warmth and love. Simultaneously, we could say that the artist has become the fireplace for the lord, where he can finally feel loved and accepted. Since I have started analyzing this manhwa very carefully, I have no doubt that these two drawings convey much more than giving the info: the servants are preparing the medicine for their master during the day. Furthermore, this kind of picture doesn’t seem to contribute to the story itself. So why paint such drawings? It is because they serve another purpose: a metaphor for the next scene. Notice that shortly after this panel, we see Baek Na-Kyum bringing a bucket of water. He wants to take care of Yoon Seungho himself. 
This is the moon again which I had already associated to the powerful but sick aristocrat. What caught my attention is that for the first time, the stars are visible in the sky. The moon is more glowing as well and seems to get closer. If you compare it to the former image with the moon night 
, you can observe that the moon seems to be even closer than before. This reflects the improvement of the relationship between the painter and Yoon Seungho. Since the chimney symbolizes the artist, it is normal that this time, we don’t see the roof or the walls of the mansion. The chimney is closer to the sky and stands above the roof of the mansion. In other words, Baek Na-Kyum has not only become closer to the lord but also he is thinking only about the main character. We have to imagine, the commoner as the chimney is starring at the moon. 
As you can see, the pictures about the sky were important as they displayed what was going to happen. They announce the change in the sick main lead’s and the painter’s attitude. Baek Na-Kyum is no longer a servant but the fireplace of that mansion. That’s why the white headband disappears again. 
In the courtyard, he recognizes Seungho’s killing gaze hence he submits himself to the noble. Furthermore, he lived quietly despite the huge success of his erotic publications, until he vowed never to paint. Even after that, he becomes a drunk, until he is forced to paint for Yoon Seungho. After getting abandoned by Jung In-Hun in the chapter 40, he begins painting like a robot
, however at no moment he tries to get praise for his work and to get the lord’s attention. He remains humble and prefers being in the background. Due to the high number of abandonments (he was abandoned in front of the brothel, then by the head-gisaeng and finally twice by the teacher), Baek Na-Kyum feels abandoned and very lonely. Imagine, in the chapter 46,
he confesses to the head-maid that he escaped once again but returned because he had nowhere else to go. He fears loneliness and longs for a home. 
who renounced to his career for his twin brother’s sake Yoo Hong. 
The hero has many reasons to do so: he feels very guilty because he was adopted without his twin brother and couldn’t keep his promise to remain by his side. Secondly, Yoo Hong got sexually abused by the director of an orphanage and Yoo Chung feels responsible. If the latter hadn’t slept too long and had gone to the director’s office like asked, then his brother wouldn’t have become the victim. The main lead embodies innocence and purity which is indicated with the crane, the color of his clothes (blue-white), the hydrangea representing him and his habit to bite his finger nails, when he is stressed 
. When the other main lead Sha Hu Rong appears at the café where he’s working, Chung rejects the deal to be scouted. He doesn’t want to become a famous dancer. Although he never expresses it directly, it is clear that his twin brother is the reason for this decision. Yoo Chung doesn’t desire to ruin Hong’s dream for fame. He senses that his resemblance with his brother could become problematic for his career. The other reason for his action is that he fears loneliness and has abandonment issues, just like Baek Na-Kyum. His birth mother abandoned him, he lost his twin brother for a while and his adoptive parents died in an accident. 
In other words, he is another Belle and Baek Na-Kyum but in another century. Since Sha Hu Rong is here describing him, this exposes how well he knows Yoo Chung’s personality and how much he admires him for his purity. This explicates why the seme doesn’t give up on Yoo Chung after the first rejection because his real purpose is to have him as his lover. That’s why later, the man with the nickname Serpent
uses his company to pressure the Entertainment company where Yoo Hong works as a trainee. The CEO is postponing the signature of the deal between the two companies. Sha Hu Rong’s well aware that the twin brother will force his sincere and selfless hyung to contact him. As a result, the pure man begs Sha Hu Rong and asks for his help. 
That’s why Yoo Chun sleeps with the main lead after this. We could definitely say, he prostitutes himself for his brother’s sake. Despite this action, Yoo Chung remains so pure and Serpent is well aware of his real situation. Furthemore, I would like to add this is not their first sexual encounter. The hero had sex with Sha Hu Rong before and he did it on his own accord implying that he is a natural homosexual. Yet the next morning, he told Serpent that this was just an one-night stand. That’s why the seme used the deal with the Korean entertainment company in order to incite the hero to return to his side. As the manhwaphiles can detect, we have two semes using strategies to obtain results, similar to the Beast’s behavior. In order to get a wife, he manipulated the former merchant and made the offer that a daughter could take his place. He must have realized that the man must be close to a woman since he only intervened the moment the man picked up a rose. In my opinion, the rose was a signal that there existed a woman in the guest’s life. In order to get more info, he threatens the man and once he hears the whole story, then he makes the offer. As you can observe, all the Beasts are quite manipulative. 
He shows no respect to social norms with his actions giving the impression that he is living like an animal. He even instills a certain fear due to his ruthlessness, very similar to the Beast. Besides he’s also very rich and lives alone in his mansion, another common denominator with the main lead from that fairy tale. I am not counting the staff because the lord never pays attention to them. He’s also older than Baek Na-Kyum who has just become an adult. Furthermore, since Yoon Seungho has a very traumatic past which is somehow very similar to a curse, he can no longer live normally. Until the chapter 49, he considered himself just as a spirit. And as time passes on, he shows more and more kindness towards Baek Na-Kyum, thereby even the painter starts noticing it.
So deep down, the noble has a good heart but could never show it due to his terrible experience. Thus his actions are also similar: he uses threads and forces the painter to swear an oath of allegiance. Belle had to promise to return to his castle after 8 days. As the manhwaphiles could sense, he has many affinities with the beast. Let’s not forget that I even associated him to an eagle due to his behavior and gestures, like the hand looking like a claw. 
Imagine the irony, the boss has to run away from his own minions, dragged by this very agile and fragile man. And just like the beast, Serpent shows his care and kindness which doesn’t escape the main lead’s notice. 
I have the impression that the gangrape must have happened there. So he is also trapped in his mansion. He might leave his house in order to visit other nobles (chapter 3, chapter 6 and 33) or to hunt (chapter 22 and 41) or to follow the painter in the town (39, 40 and 45), yet he never travels far away, he always remains in the proximity of his mansion. This exposes the function of his house: it serves as a protection but as a prison as well. 
He can’t avoid Yoo Chung’s kidnapping and his gangrape. 
And just like the other protagonists, he is hindered in his moves. He explains that he needs to go where the crane’s nest is. Here, the seme is referring to Yoo Chung with this metaphor because while dancing, the innocent man reminded Serpent of a crane. In other words, the mafia boss is forced to follow his lover in order to win his affection completely. As a conclusion, Shu Ha Rong shares so many features with the main lead from the fairy tale and Yoon Seungho too. His “prison” is just different, it is connected to his position as mafia boss. Besides, he’s already bound to Yoo Chung. 
He made this decision at a very young age, as he knew his future. However, his choice for Yoo Chung is not random. First, he met him, when they were both young 
Furthermore he fell in love with him the moment he saw his Korean dance. Notice the age gap between the two protagonists. As you can observe, the age gap is indeed a parallel to Beauty and the Beast. Sha Hu Rong is well aware that the moment the former dancer chooses him as his partner, the man will be forced to live in a cage. 
As you can observe, the mansion from the fairy tale as a prison becomes here a cage. However, the order has been changed. Here, the seme wants Yoo Chung to love him before he puts him in “his birdcage”, while in Beauty and the Beast, love only comes at the end and she lives in a prison first. 
Yoo Chung cooked lunch for him and wished to meet his younger brother. Note Yoo Hong’s coldness towards him and how he pouts the moment he hears from his colleague that Yoo Chung could replace him due to their huge resemblance. Right after, he vents his anger at his hyung in front of the other trainee which surprises the latter. He never thought, Yoo Hong could become so rude. However, I believe, there’s another cause for his fury. “Replacement” reminded him of his past. From my perspective, Yoo Chung decided to take his brother’s identity as the latter didn’t want to leave the orphanage without his hyung. Baek Seung-Hyun, the adoptive uncle of Sha Hu Rong, adopted one of the orphans. 
The one crying on the left is Yoo Hong, while the other smiling is his hyung. By switching their identity, it explains why it took so many years before Serpent could meet his “crane”. 
He must have seen Yoo Hong’s face and mistaken him for his older brother. Since Serpent speaks about the real thing, he implies that there’s a copy, a fake. And this leads me to another observation: the presence of the mirror in Serene Bird. Yoo Hong is the reflection and as such indicates the existence of a mirror, the same procedure in Painter Of The Night, where the painter’s face serves as a mirror. 
It is directed at the gum on the floor. Due to these two pictures, I came to the observation that the younger brother must have been the one who stole the gum. Furthermore, if you pay attention to the colors of the clothes Yoo Hong, you’ll notice that he prefers green, orange and red.
Since he had no other place to go, he could never escape this hell. It became so terrible that his unconscious decided to repress this memory. These memories are so terrifying that he wakes up so suddenly.
Imagine, his unconscious can’t bear to view these images, hence it forces the painter to wake up. The artist’s conscious is here to help the unconscious to overcome the trauma. Many readers underestimated these drawings as they are shown only once and some thought, this was an occasional punishment. However, the artist’s reaction displays shock and fear. They were deeply buried in his unconscious. The Stockholm Syndrome explains why the painter started “loving” Jung In-Hun and neglected after the first abandonment. Let’s not forget that he became a drunk! His love was associated to the mind and never to the heart. 
And the fact that we see how Baek Na-Kyum fantasies about Yoon Seungho in a conscious and unconscious state clearly proves that the painter is definitely attracted by Yoon Seungho’s body. The Stockholm Syndrome has no effect on the unconscious. So the Beast’s ugliness in Painter Of The Night is more related to the image Yoon Seungho has created through his rumors than his body and face. Furthermore, we shouldn’t forget that the artist was the first one to discover the main lead’s true face: his huge smiles and happiness, when he met the lord for the first time. However, just like in the fairy tale, the artist starts discovering new aspects about the master: he can be caring and kind towards him.
Serpent knows that he needs Yoo Chung to fall in love with him in order to put him by his side, “his bird cage”. The uke is slowly falling in Sha Hu Rong but doesn’t realize it. On the other hand, he doesn’t know his lover very well and is not aware what awaits him: the bird cage. 
Since the lord speaks about a bloodbath in a calm manner, he appears cold and even heartless. The cause for his lack of sensibility is that his mouth is controlled by his mind and the latter is denying the existence of any emotion. Striking is that his hands are busy as they are focused on wiping the sword. I perceive a contrast between the tranquility coming from the mouth and the activity of the hands. This scene already implies the first inner conflict between the conscious and unconscious. Notice that he is neither smoking nor drinking so that his feelings are not numb. The movement of his hands displays a certain edginess. With this first introduction, Yoon Seungho appears bloodthirsty due to the association of the blood and the sword. However, if you look again at the scene, you’ll notice that he only threatens, after hearing that the painter is no longer working. So the trigger for his menace is the fear that his wish to get new erotic paintings might not be granted. He denies that this news should concern him, yet right after he comes up with this thread. Someone could die. The contradiction between the hands and the mouth and even the disparity between “that’s nothing to concern myself” and “surely he won’t insist on it once he sees some blood” actually betray the aristocrat’s eagerness to have the artist by his side. He wants Baek Na-Kyum to paint for him. In other words, right from the start the noble felt the need to have the painter and his unconscious through the hands revealed his true emotions. However, in this scene he has never seen Baek Na-Kyum. He has no idea how he looks like but through the paintings, his unconscious had been triggered. The erotic images had aroused emotions in him. 
From that moment, the lord’s visage changes. There is a huge smile on his face and grabs his hands with such a speed and strength that Baek Na-Kyum is unable to resist.
The lord is not even aware that he has dropped his mask of indifference. His eyes are shining, his mouth is even smiling. Striking is that the mouth lets even transpire a lot of affection: “very much enjoy”, “my boy”. His actions contrast so much to the first scene. In my first analysis of the first episode, I had compared him to a fan meeting his idol. However, from my point of view, his emotions are actually much stronger than I had envisioned. The mouth is not under the control of the mind, the conscious. Why such a reaction? It is because the painter has just spoken to him. Therefore I come to the observation that right from the start, the artist’s mouth plays a huge role in their relationship. Baek Na-Kyum’s mouth is the trigger for the unconscious to reveal itself. However, at no instant, Yoon Seungho realizes the contradiction between his body and his mind. He is so happy to meet the painter he admired so much, because he felt a connection through the creations. It’s as if his unconscious had sensed the power of the artist’s emotions (love, warmth) behind his pictures. The unconscious through the eyes recognized the sensitivity in Baek Na-Kyum’s works. For me, the lord had already fallen in love with Baek Na-Kyum, even before he met him for the first time. Yet, I believe, the moment he sees his face and hears his voice, his feelings become even more intense to the point he already has an erection.
His body, led by his unconscious, is attracted by the low-born. Interesting is that at no time, Baek Na-Kyum’s status as a low-born is relevant. The noble feels the need to touch his hands, even treasures them. He allows the artist’s hands to touch his loins. There is such a closeness exposing the noble’s desire: his body wishes intimacy, yet his mouth is still fighting the urges expressed by the unconscious. That’s why he keeps talking about the paintings and the effect they had on him. 
Why do I think that the powerful protagonist is so fascinated by the painter’s mouth and the latter serves as a trigger for his unconscious to reveal itself? Let’s not forget that I wrote that the low-born’s face serves as a mirror to the lord. His face symbolizes the mirror of the truth. Since the aristocrat’s mouth is under the power of his conscious, his mouth is never allowed to speak the truth. Due to his philosophy to live as a spirit and to never feel any emotion, the lord forced himself to use his mouth to disguise himself and to never let transpire any emotion: only rationality and coldness. Therefore his mouth is never honest in reality. Not only it lies to others but also to the main lead himself. The mind through the mouth is ruling his life, telling him and others that he is cold, distant and even heartless. However, deep down his unconscious wishes honesty and genuineness. In reality, Seungho is a very passionate person. 
the lord’s face slowly gets frigid and the smile vanishes gradually. 
For me, the lie triggered the return of his mask. Look at his faze: it was as if it was paralyzed. The conscious takes over the control of the lord’s face. He is disguising his emotions. He is deeply hurt. His feelings have been rejected, since the painter told him that he wasn’t the person he had been looking for. The conscious might control the face and the mouth for an instant, yet his hands are under the power of his unconscious. That’s why he grabs the sword so quickly. 
The manhwalovers only witness the sword leaving its protection outlining the rapidity of his hand. This gesture displays the anger he is hiding behind his frozen face. From my perspective, his hands and his feet are expressing what he is feeling inside. There is this rage and pain for being pushed away. He’s already the vengeful spirit, his unconscious feels the need to vent his inner emotions. However, since I observed the return of the lord’s mind, we have to imagine that the main lead has the impression, he is making decisions rationally. He is just following what he said the night before. If his wish is not granted, then someone has to pay. I believe, the speed of his hands and feet indicate that the latter are actually influenced by his unconscious, the lord can’t detect the power of his unconscious as they are actually obeying the order of his mind: someone needs to die. And note that soon after he rushes to the servant’s side. 
It was as if he was flying towards him, his feet are rushing demonstrating the intensity of his inner emotions. The painter’s mouth, which he is already treasuring, wounded his heart so deeply that he feels the need to punish someone but he can’t hurt the artist because he was somehow moved by the painter’s face. His unconscious must have sensed the innocence in the painter’s gaze. Let’s not forget that Baek Na-Kyum is sweating, when he lies to Yoon Seungho. As you can detect, there are many reasons why he didn’t touch the artist in the first place. Yet, since his mouth said that some blood would be spilled, he needs to find another target and that’s the domestic. Furthermore, the unconscious sees no problem with the killing. I would like to remind that the unconscious is something wild and knows no boundary, the emotions unleashed by the unconscious can be very violent. The mind might have decided that he would kill someone if his wish wasn’t granted and the unconscious might have agree to this in order to vent his fury. In other words, the lord’s body might seem now under the control of the mind, yet from my perspective, the lord’s emotions, led by his unconscious, are playing a huge role in this scene as well. Observe that the moment he is about to kill, his gaze is cold and ruthless, but his face seems like frozen.
For me, he is here wearing his mask again. However, his eyebrows and mouth are betraying him. He has a frowning face. 
(Chapter 102) 
Only after the murder, he sees the painter’s tool, while he explains the reason for his action in a rational and calm manner. My question is: Why didn’t he check out who lied in the first place? Why did he have to kill someone? From my perspective, in this scene, the lord’s heart played a huge part in his behavior. In my opinion, he’s already developed some feelings for the painter, hence he didn’t vent his anger on him. Deep down, he knew that his servant had deceived him, though he couldn’t tell how. He didn’t notice the servant’s discomfort. 
(Chapter 1) Thus he was portrayed with no eyes. Sure, not everything was a lie, yet the commoner mixed a lie with the truth, turning his testimony into a deception. What appeared as trivial was in truth betrayal. What the domestic didn’t know is that the lord hates lies, for they were the reason for his downfall. He needed to hurt someone, because he had been wounded by the painter’s lie. But the latter was just a white lie. So in the picture above, I see the lord’s conscious attempting to justify his action. 
Yet his gaze and smile contradict his mouth right after. There is a glimpse of a smile, his eyes are showing an interest. The idiom “the boy” illustrates a certain closeness. I mean, he could have called him “the low-born” but he didn’t. For me, this picture illustrates the lord’s satisfaction. He has obtained what he wanted: the painter. 
It looks like the sword would remove the cloth so that he can see the artist’s naked body. The way he uses the weapon exposes that his unconscious doesn’t want to hurt the artist, although he is actually displeased to be lied again. This gesture expresses a certain sexual desire, but the counterpart is not noticing it due to his uncomfortable and frightening situation. That’s why there is no rage unlike at the tavern. The sexual desires have returned. Furthermore, we could say that the main character has got used to or that he is well aware that Baek Na-Kyum has the creator of the erotic paintings by his side. He feels less betrayed. 
First, he wipes the painter’s tears and later he even grabs his hands again.
I would even say, the gesture with the sword is another caress showing the power of his emotions. His unconscious feels the urge to touch and caress his face and his hands. Both have already become Yoon Seungho’s weaknesses. Notice that he even lowers himself to the painter twice and gets very close to him. 
His feet always lead him to the artist’s proximity. He remains by his side, until he is lied a second time. From that moment, he stands up and starts walking revealing a certain uneasiness and edginess. He is troubled and frustrated because he has been indirectly rejected again. Yet, unlike at the tavern, his reaction is less violent and this for two reasons. First, his unconscious is definitely more attracted than before. Secondly, his mind is well aware that the painter is not telling the truth. In other words, his heart and mind are not fighting each other. Their goal is the same, they want to have the painter by their side. Yet the conscious doesn’t realize that behind its decisions, the heart is already influencing his mind. Why does he want the erotic drawings?
Striking is that he even sent his staff away, creating a certain intimacy. He definitely wants to get close to Baek Na-Kyum physically and mentally. But since he’s just a spirit, he doesn’t notice that his hands and feet have been acting on their own… led by his unconscious. 
(chapter 11)
(chapter 53). Notice that although these drawings are illustrating the same gesture, the perspective diverges. In the first one, the focus is on the lord, while in the second, the recipient of the slap is in the center. Why did Byeonduck switch the perspective? I could use my earlier explanation that in chapter 53, the creator wanted to let the noble appear as a vengeful ghost and not as a human. However, there exist other explications. 
(chapter 53) The gaze, the mirror of his soul, reveals his shock and agony. The hand hurt the loved one, although it was meant to defend him. At the same time, by putting the painter in the center of the drawing, the author enhances the painter’s bravery.
(chapter 23) Note that here the lord is taking away the apple from the painter. He’s eating his frugal meal. Furthermore he stands above him and his gestures clearly indicate that he has been following and observing the artist before eating his fruit. Here, he appears as selfish and self-centered. He takes without asking. This stands so much in opposition to the shared meal in chapter 47. 
(chapter 47) This time, the roles are switched, the aristocrat is willing to renounce to his own meal. Besides, he is also giving up on his own seat to Baek Na-Kyum. In other words, the latter is now the one standing above the aristocrat because it was as if he had become the master, since he is sitting on the lord’s seat. Even the noble reminds him to remain seated so that he can keep eating. This contrast emphasizes so much the powerful protagonist’s huge transformation. He is selfless, benevolent and really caring. 
(chapter 47) Now, there is a direct contact between them. One might argue that this is related to their sex sessions, which is true. However, let’s not forget that the unconscious is voicing itself through the hands, hence despite the experienced intimacy, his unconscious is still unsatisfied. Therefore in chapter 47, the hand feels the need to touch his mouth. Sure, someone might say that he wants to ensure that the painter is not hurt. However, he could have used his eyes and just look at the mouth. That’s the reason why I feel that the gesture was revealing something else. The hand is expecting something from the mouth! Deep down, the lord is wishing to hear something from the painter but nothing has happened so far. At the same time, observe that the lord is smoking right after. It was as if this gesture (caressing the low-born’s mouth) had bothered him so much that his mind decided to control the hand again. Consequently he starts smoking. He needs to act as if he was indifferent. This explains why right after his mouth is revealing the thoughts of the mind: 
. The smoke is helping him to calm down and control his emotions, yet the mouth can no longer mask the influence of the unconscious because of the choice of words. As you can detect, the use of the smoke is no longer effective. Notice that “hurt, “embrace” belong to the vocabulary field of emotions. So the mouth is not truly rationale. As a conclusion, the mouth is revealing little by little the truth. Furthermore, the hand displays a certain longing: the lord’s unconscious is expecting to hear something from the painter’s mouth. What is it exactly? 
(chapter 11)
(chapter 12)
(chapter 31)
(episode 48)
his mind didn’t allow his mouth to become emotional and confess his love to the painter. 
But the painter’s mouth is telling the brutal truth. The lord has never confessed to him hence it is a lie that Yoon Seungho loves him. At some point, the Queen gets defeated by Snow White, however I am not expecting the same ending here. The lord will be forced to confess. He has to be reveal his true emotions if he wants to hear a love confession from the artist. We shouldn’t forget that the artist works as a mirror. The moment Yoon Seungho declares his affection to the painter, the latter will reciprocate his feelings because he will mirror his emotions. 
(chapter 25) and in that bathroom. Each time, he spoke, his sincerity hurt the lord. With his words, the artist confronted Yoon Seungho with reality. The lord could no longer lie to the painter and to himself: the love confession was addressed to someone else and he knew that. I could even say that the slap in chapter 11 was a violent reaction because with the ruined paintings and with his words (refusal of working for him), he had rejected Yoon Seungho which the unconscious could not accept. Hence the constant rejection was always very painful for the lord, the painter’s mouth kept wounding his heart, the unconscious, since the conscious was denying the existence of any feeling. Baek Na-Kyum’s mouth is the mirror of the truth. The lord’s conscious has to accept the crude honesty: he is in love with Baek Na-Kyum. As long as he continues denying it, his unconscious and heart will always be wounded by the painter’s mouth. That’s why he needs to stop denying this. Simultaneously, this explains why the artist’s mouth has a calming effect in chapter 53 
. For the first time, the painter’s mouth is showing concern and care. There is no rejection, the artist’s voice and words let transpire feelings which the unconscious has been longing for a very long time. That’s why in that moment, the lord can’t help touching the painter’s cheek and white head-band. The unconscious has finally received something it had been longing: acceptance and warmth. But this is just a brief victory as the moment is ruined by Min’s appearance. However, through this examination, it became obvious that Yoon Seungho needed to confess first. And this observation was proven correct. Yoon Seungho admitted his attachment to the painter in chapter 55. 
or in the chapter 35 
In the last one, he places a red dot on the painter’s forehead. What do all these images have in common? The lord’s hand. Through his hand, the noble externalizes his emotions and his desires. 
(episode 20)
(chapter 31)
(chapter 5) 
(chapter 12; here he is blowing the smoke into Jihwa’s face) , in the chapter 33
, in the chapter 35
and in the chapter 44
. Now, I’ll use other pictures from the first season, where the feet betray the lord’s love for the painter, in order to confirm my perception. In the chapter 15, he can’t help himself walking to Baek Na-Kyum before asking him to join him and Jihwa in their sex session. 
He is definitely longing for the painter’s closeness. Then in the chapter 16, he hinders the painter from leaving his room by hugging but for that he had to stand up quickly and follow the low-born. 
In the chapter 19, he stops in order to observe the scene and later he visits the painter’s chamber.
Here, he wants to take care of the painter, be by his side, hoping that the latter has forgiven him.
In the last two pictures, he can’t stand the thought that the artist is so close to the scholar. He needs to separate them. In the second drawing, although he claims that he would have killed Baek Na-Kyum, if the latter had left with the teacher, I doubt that he would have done that because of the way he is carrying his sword. He has no strength left. His hand is betraying him and we shouldn’t take his mouth too seriously. This mouth represents the conscious and as such his mind. The mouth externalizes reasoning and rationality so that he can be cold, manipulative and distant. In this scene, I suspect that with his words, he is actually trying to convince himself and the painter that he isn’t attached to the low-born. This explains in different occasions, he says painful things, as the reason stands in opposition to the emotions.
In this scene, his mind decides to kill his rival because he prefers being hated for a real cause. In the chapter 39, he teases the painter for his blushing. 
With these three examples, you grasp the importance of the mouth. Yet, if the readers compare the three scenes altogether, they will notice that the mouth lets transpire more and more the noble’s feelings. First, he seems detached, then in the second panel his words reveal his resent and in the last one, they will observe his jealousy behind his joke. His mind told him to cover up his negative feelings, he couldn’t act like that in front of the painter, like he did during the night after the rape. In fact, the mouth never truly embodied the lord, it just represents his reasoning and calculating, standing in opposition to his other body parts, where the emotions can come to the surface, unfiltered. As a conclusion, I determine that the hand, the lips and the feet embody the lord’s unconscious, while his mouth symbolizes the conscious. Striking is that the gaze is related to the hand, the lips and the foot so that I come to the observation that the eye serves as the trigger for the unconscious to express itself.
All this was triggered by the painter’s “confession” and his facial expressions. That’s why we always had a love session at the end of each sex session. Remember that right after that scene, the painter has to eat in his chamber and not at the kitchen. As time passed on and with the painter’s facial expressions and gaze, the lord’s hands and lips were always able to express the unconscious:
In the last two pictures, he rushed to the scholar’s former room, his feet exposed his inner thoughts and emotions. He was really enraged hence he felt the need to destroy the book, the latter representing the vicious low noble. His feet led him there and his hand wanted to do something as he was terribly pained. Both body parts revealed the noble’s unconscious.
In the chapter 52, he rushed to Min’s side in order to protect Baek Na-Kyum from Min. Observe that in this scene, the feet, the hand and the mouth are working together. 
hence his mouth is voicing his agreement. These words mirror the cold and rational mind, the conscious. Since this is his conscious speaking, he will show them that he feels nothing for Baek Na-Kyum, however his eye is actually betraying his inner emotions. Yet the moment he is outside his room, his thoughts are revolving around the painter and his denial that the latter is special to him. 
Nevertheless, while he is talking to himself, his own feet lead him to walk straight because of his gaze. 
Sure, one might say that his feet led him to the painter’s chamber as he was walking in the right direction, yet he only stops walking the moment he hears the painter’s scream coming from his chamber. Strictly speaking, the aristocrat would have continued ambling, if he hadn’t heard the painter’s shout. This shows that the lord has no control over his own body. Note that his heart is telling him the opposite of his mouth revealing Yoon Seungho’s dilemma. Moreover, since he is talking to himself, it discloses that he needs to convince his mind with his mouth. Even his own mind is wavering. In other words, we could even say that he is trying to brainwash his body and mind that he feels nothing for the artist and the mouth represents the final instance of the mind. Furthermore, he is so focused on his mind that he doesn’t even realize where he is really going. The heart expresses itself through the feet, while the mind uses the mouth to fight the noble’s unconscious. This is not surprising that Byeonduck even drew two pictures of the lord’s feet
underlining here the meaning of the noble’s feet. They represent his unconscious. I have the impression that they reflect his inner conflict either. We have to remember that the noble hasn’t been in contact with the painter for a week, thereby he has been missing Baek Na-Kyum’s closeness. On the one hand, he would like to be close to him again, yet since his mind and mouth said that he would offer his lover to his guests, he is torn apart. That’s why he walks in the direction of the painter’s room, yet he is actually about to pass by the low-born’s study without stopping, until the yell pulls him out of his torpor. 
We could say that this flashback symbolizes the noble’s inner conflict. While his hand and eyes are affected by the painter’s presence, he remembers the voice of his mind contradicting the gesture of his hand. From my point of view, this hallucination is the first visual expression of his unconscious. For the first time, his repressed desires are revealing themselves directly. That’s why his mouth attempts to convince his body and his wavering mind that he doesn’t love the painter. The sudden appearance of this memory reveals the growing influence of his unconscious on the mind. This explains why right after, the lord’s mouth expresses the opposite. To summarize, little by little, the noble’s unconscious is getting the upper hand, nonetheless his mouth is still resisting.
who was the first to note the difference between the servant and the lord. While Deok-Jae didn’t take off his shoes before entering Baek Na-Kyum’s room, the main character did. And I see it as a confirmation of my judgement about the feet. They express the noble’s deeply repressed desires: he loves his lover so much that even in a hurry, he still took the time to remove his shoes. 
Yoon Seungho appears all of the sudden 
and starts pushing and slapping the servant. I compared him to a spirit or ghost in my former analysis about this chapter 53, yet simultaneously these drawings reveal the strength of his unconscious. This reflects not only the depth of his love for the painter, but also it exposes now that the unconscious has taken control of the noble entirely. Even the mouth is now revealing his true desires: Who are you 
Finally, his deeply repressed desires have been satisfied. He is now able to sense the painter’s warmth and love. He even hears his voice reminding him that he needs to calm down. However, in his embrace, the lord is still under the influence of the unconscious. Therefore the manhwalovers can observe the lord’s tenderness. In his embrace, the aristocrat’s hand starts touching Baek Na-Kyum’s hair and white head-band
, a displeasing sign for his eyes as it is a reminder of the huge social gap between them. Let’s not forget that the unconscious rejects any form of social norms. The gesture of his hand exposes his deepest desires. Right now, he would like to caress the man’s face and if Min hadn’t appeared, the lord would have kissed the artist. The separation affected the lord so much. His urges for closeness kept growing, although he tried to fight these with drugs and the fight with the servant triggered the lord to act on his instincts. So by beating the servant, his unconscious was finally able to express itself. At no moment, the mind intervened as the lord’s body was controlled by the conscious. However, at the end of the chapter, Min ruins the reunion because he ignites a fight by kissing the artist.
Yoon Seungho can’t bear the thought that someone might take away Baek Na-Kyum. The idea that someone else even kisses his loved one can only infuriate the noble. Let’s not forget that during the season 1, he got so resentful that he even wanted to kill Jung In-Hun. From my point of view, this push could be perceived as a new version of the event in the chapter 26, when he grabbed the sword in order to eliminate the scholar. The hands were already the ones voicing the unconscious the best, especially if you recollect the first chapter, when the noble grabbed the artist’s hand and put them on his loins. Furthermore, the eyes were the trigger for his unconscious hence we see this 
His unconscious is well aware of Min’s black heart, hence he needs to do anything so that the artist doesn’t get hurt. Furthermore his gaze is aiming at Min, it was as if he was expecting an attack from his opponent. But by unleashing his unconscious, he is actually exposing his vulnerability. His heart is indeed in the open, furthermore his body is acting on his own. He guards the loved one, unprepared that the next attack won’t be directed at his treasure but at himself. 
in the chapter 54 as a new version of the sex marathon 
because if it had really happened, the artist would have been forced to satisfy 4 aristocrats: Seungho, Min and the two others and it would have become a sex marathon in the end. I could even add the kiss in the chapter 50 
as the painter is not awake. Back then, he did it in order to have the painter drunk some water, in the second season, he just feels the desire to be tender, show his affection. He is no longer pressured, he is just following his heart. I could keep comparing like that but since the main goal of this essay is to elaborate my conjectures, I would like to stop here. However, this explication is important as it was the reason why I came up with the ideas.
I have the feeling that this shaking is not really the result of fear. For me, it looks like Baek Na-Kyum is rather more emotional and agitated by the commotion. The hug illustrates his growing influence on Yoon Seungho. Now, he is able to calm down the protagonist, while in the chapter 30 he couldn’t at all. The scene in the chapter 54 displayed how much power the low-born has over Yoon Seungho therefore this is not surprising that Min is now eyeing him. The commoner has indeed become the lord’s weakness in the enemy’s opinion and the best weapon to harm his opponent. By contrasting the two gestures, it becomes clear that love is in the center of the second season, while in the first one, it was more to separate the painter from the scholar’s influence. 
But since Min has no problem to have sex with men, he doesn’t feel any shame to kiss the painter’s lips. Since Min is called Black Heart, it confirms my conclusion that love is in the center of the second season, since the heart is the symbol for love. 
Observe that she didn’t show the mouth or the cheek, which would have been a clue that the painter had been hurt and now we would be able to place the picture in the evolution of the story.
Let’s not forget that Min is now well aware that his plan with Jihwa’s failed. Hence I believe that he will do something on his own. He has two reasons to remove the painter from Yoon Seungho’s side. First, he knows that once Baek Na-Kyum disappears from the protagonist’s side, the latter will collapse. Secondly, he envies Yoon Seungho hence he can only get even more curious about Baek Na-Kyum, his greed will lead him to organize a kidnapping. In other words, one might come to the conclusion that Nameless will do something against the painter first. And let’s not forget that based on my examinations, Jihwa is similar to the painter. He is an innocent man whose soul has been tainted by the negative influence coming from Min and his minions. Since the painter caused a servant’s death in the first chapter, I can imagine that something might occur due to Jihwa’s decision to hire Nameless. He might become responsible for valet Kim’s or the painter’s injury. Another possibility is that the vicious noble tries to organize something huge twice in order to get the artist. Let’s not forget that Jung In-Hun did try to use the painter 5 times (10-24-30-35-38) and only succeeded once (10). The same occurred with Min. The latter created a situation where the innocent painter hurt the main lead with his words 
and mentally 
I couldn’t help myself associating the painter’s departure with the scholar. Let’s not forget that in the chapter 29, the low noble convinces the commoner to return to the mansion as the former needs him so that he can still be sponsored by the lord. Besides the vicious man hopes that the low-born can discover secrets about Yoon Seungho. With “second desertion” and “Jung In-Hun”, I had this idea. What if the painter decides to leave the mansion due to the return of the scholar? We shouldn’t forget that now the teacher is aware of the lord’s feelings for the painter and he has already decided to use this info for his benefit. 
He plans to use the painter again and this time, he won’t hide his true thoughts. Since in his eyes, Baek Na-Kyum is a prostitute, he will ask the painter, that the latter should behave like one and serve him. While in the chapter 40, the low noble rejected the painter and refused to take his responsibility for him, I imagine that the scholar will do the exact opposite in the second season. He will ask the painter to take responsibility for him and spy on the lord. Because the painter refuses to betray Yoon Seungho, he has become attached to him, he prefers leaving the mansion so that he is no longer forced to act against him. Let’s not forget that in the first season, Baek Na-Kyum decided to lie to the scholar and protected Yoon Seungho. With this idea, we would have a new version of the chapter 38, 40 and 44. This time, the artist is escaping because he thinks that’s the best way to help Yoon Seungho. And just after his desertion, the second assassination or kidnap takes place. On the other hand, once the flee is discovered, unlike in the past, Yoon Seungho doesn’t beat his servants but instead run after his loved one which would contrast to his passivity in the chapter 44. Once he catches the painter, he has to fight against Min. This is where I imagine that the lord gets hurt or the valet. So what do you think about this theory of Jung In-hun being the cause for the second escape? First, this would mean that with this action, the scholar ruins all his chances with Yoon Seungho so that the teacher can only seek support elsewhere and ends up meeting father Yoon. Because of these terrible experiences, both main leads would be able to see beyond their intimacy and sense their spiritual attachment. On the other hand, I have to admit that for me, the lord was already spiritually attracted by the painter through the paintings and once he met him for the first time, his heart started racing. He became physically attracted by him hence he grabbed his hands and let him touch his loins.
, yet I believe that the painter will only discover it at the end. We should remember that the poem started the whole drama. Without this miserable copy, the main lead would have never invited the low born to his mansion and decided to sponsor him. Then the artist would realize what the separation truly meant at the beginning of the second season. 
Striking is that this picture indeed displays Suha’s loss of freedom. Not only the latter should belong to him but Park Jiwon desires to even imprison his loved one. Because he is using the idiom “cage”, Suha appears to be perceived as an animal. Because of this statement, some people might judge the second protagonist as too possessive and obsessed with Lee Suha because he is wishing the main lead to lose his freedom. But this is not really true for two reasons. First, Park Jiwoon is not the only one claiming that Lee Suha belongs to him. Many people involved in Lee Suha’s life act as if the protagonist was their possession or a tool to their disposition. 
In the framed picture, all these persons intervened so much in the main lead’s life that Lee Suha was no longer the true ruler of his life. From the right to the left, we have Park Do-Hyeok, then president Lee, Suha’s sister Minseo, Suha’s mother and finally Park Jiwoon. Therefore in this analysis, I will examine how the meddling of these persons affected Lee Suha’s life so much that he felt the need to build a huge wall around him and kept people at a certain distance.
Suha’s mother gives her son the order to serve Do-Hyeok, although we have to remember that Do-Yeok and Suha are just high-school students. The mother requires her son to treat the grandson as his future boss, hence he has to follow him everywhere and obey Do-Hyeok’s orders. In other words, the protagonist is already treated as an adult, not allowed to argue with his mother or Park Do-Hyeok. He can’t enjoy life as a teenager and make new experiences. He can’t refuse the mother’s request because he is not even asked. He is actually receiving an order from his mother. This picture is also interesting because it shows that the mother is actually responsible for Suha’s suffering and unhappiness too. First, she didn’t even question her son if he wanted to assist Do-Hyeok. Secondly, she is the one who pushed her son to the villain’s side, unaware of the repercussion of her action.
Consequently for him, the main lead is either just a body or a toy, but at no time a human with rights. 
This leads him to the belief that as the real owner, he rules over Suha’s life.
In this drawing, the antagonist states that he is the one deciding about Suha’s fate and he is just letting Park Jiwoon borrowing him. Besides, when he mentions raising, he could mean that he will turn Lee Suha into a good secretary and assistant, yet in my opinion, he is implying something else. From my perspective, he is declaring that he will change the main lead and turn him into the obedient person he was in his youth: blindly following his orders. As you can observe, the antagonist has not the impression that their long separation affected Lee Suha’s status. The latter was and is still his object and his slave. Thereby “My Suha” could be also referring to Park Do-Hyeok’s thoughts. This explains why Park Do-Hyeok sent his “boy” to his friend Kim Young-Wu in the past and the latter considers the secretary as a communal property.
Note that she doesn’t feel any shame, when she announces herself, she will be in their life for a long time. Since the family lived at the huge mansion with the president, the mother must have felt indebted towards her benefactor hence she couldn’t reject her request. From my point of view, when the mother introduces the vicious grandson to her son, she is already acting on president Lee’s wish. Secondly, we discovers that president Lee has already determined Lee Suha’s path and future right from the beginning. 
She envisages that Suha will become her favorite grandson’s assistant, hence she wanted to send the young man abroad for his studies along with Park Do-Hyeok. However, the former rejected the offer because he had just been betrayed by his “boss” and lover and realized his wicked side. Strangely, the president Lee accepted his refusal but this doesn’t mean that she gave up on her plan. So with her return, she tries to send the protagonist to her grandson’s son (chapter 34). 
What caught my attention is that Minseo requests her brother’s presence revealing their closeness. Furthermore, it truly shows that in her eyes, Suha has always been a father figure for her. Due to the huge age gap and their familial situation (a widow raising two children on her own), we can clearly perceive that since his youth, Suha had to act as a responsible man. He had to take care of Park Do-Hyeok and his sister. Therefore I come to the conclusion, he didn’t have the time at his disposal. He could never enjoy his youth and his liberty.
She is bothered that Lee Suha is not married yet, hence she organizes a blind date without her son’s consent. She felt the need to act behind his back as the son had already rejected the idea of a blind date. As you can detect, she is living through her son’s life, choosing what looks right for her. This is not surprising that due to her action, Suha decides to leave home and live at his best friend’s flat, Siwoo hyung. 
of having a serious relationship isn’t just the result of Do-Hyeok’s betrayal and emotional abuse. For me, it is also related to his loss of freedom. He has already sensed that relationships could become a burden and even restrain his liberty, hence he is determined not to get attached to someone, out of fear that this person might “imprison” him because the partner meddles in his life.
Imagine, that they almost get caught which scares the protagonist. Strangely, the director Choi Jeong-Min, who belongs to another company but works with Park Jiwoon due to a project, reminds Park Jiwoon that he should not treat his secretary like that. She is even imagining that the main lead is more or less sexually harassing Suha. On two occasions, she pressures the man to respect more Suha’s life.
For her, the director is pressuring his secretary to have sex with him and Suha has no real choice. He can’t refuse to have sex with him due to their respective position. Park Jiwoon is Suha’s chief. And her words leave such an impression that Park Jiwoon decides to listen to her words so that he starts distancing himself from Suha. Because of his reaction, the main lead feels the need to approach Park Jiwoon on his own, he is longing for sex and warmth. In other words, Suha makes the decision that he wants to maintain his physical relationship with him. The more time passes on, the more the second main lead allows Suha to make his own decisions. In other words, Park Jiwoon is actually the one who always gives Suha the liberty to choose. The latter is the one determining the evolution of their relationship. 
In this scene, the black-haired man accepts that they are not dating, they have just a physical relationship, although he has just confessed that he likes Suha very much. In the chapter 49, he gives the protagonist free reins in their relationship. 
As you can observe, the more their relationship deepens, the more Jiwoon gives him liberty that’s the reason why Suha can only fall more and more for him. Simultaneously he can open up as well. For example, he invites his boss at his flat which he has never done before.
At the end, he is willing to accept Jiwoon’s love confession and to get committed to their relationship. This explains why Suha gets more and more happy because thanks to Jiwoon, he rediscovers freedom and can finally breathe. As a conclusion, Jiwon’s love helps the main lead to discover that relationship and freedom don’t represent a contradiction. In fact, love is liberating him. Thanks to Park Jiwoon, Suha is slowly forgetting his traumatic past. When Jiwoon declares this 
, he is showing that love is motivating him to give everything to his partner. This stands in opposition to Park Do-Hyeok’s request. The latter used Suha’s love for him to require from Suha to give him what he wants: 
This explains why Suha didn’t want to fall in love after his first bad experience. For him, relationship and love were just an excuse to restrain his liberty and make him miserable. And because of Jiwoon’s love confession, Suha is freed from the past. He remembers Do-Hyeok’s words, making him realize how selfish and vicious the young man was. On the other hand, the protagonist can enjoy more his life thanks to Jiwoon’s affection and regain the liberty he lost due to president Lee. Yet, his struggle is not over, because like I mentioned above, I am quite sure that president Lee is still determined to have Suha worked as Do-Hyeok’s secretary. That’s why I believe that Suha will have to become more firm in front of president Lee and even starts defending his lover, as he has already witnessed how biased her view is about her second grandchild. 
Back then, the lord got surprised and pleased with the drawing because he saw the vividness of his own gaze. He saw desires, beauty and attraction therefore he could finally see that he was alive and even desirable. That’s why he was finally able to enjoy sex for the first time at the pavilion. With the first painting, Seungho was able to see his own reflection, a proof of his life. This outlines how big his trauma is that he fears to confront himself in a mirror. You might argue that he used a mirror during the sex marathon and as such could view his own image. 
However there was the painter between him and the mirror. Secondly, his gaze was always focused on his sex partner and his facial expressions. As a conclusion, he never looked at his own gaze and reflection the whole time.
Due to the water, Seungho’s facial expressions and his gaze were destroyed. Jihwa’s petty action had a devastating effect on Yoon Seungho. It was, as if he had been personally attacked. Someone wanted to erase the evidence of his life. No wonder that Yoon Seungho went totally berserk, when he saw the painting ruined.
This explains why he kissed the painter’s eye so tenderly. 
He treasured them for they mirrored beauty and tenderness. The positive reflection in the painter’s gaze made him feel lovable and alive. But Yoon Seungho was confronted with two issues after their wonderful night. He knew that the love confession was addressed to the scholar. The second problem was that during the first season, Baek Na-Kyum was so focused to deny his sexual orientation and had such a low self-esteem that he never drew his face properly which bothered the noble extremely. He desired to see his own reflection in Baek Na-Kyum’s eyes and in the drawings. Therefore the lord was annoyed with the fourth drawing
not just because he had imagined that the commoner had painted their wedding night but also because he noticed the absence of the low-born’s gaze. Before the rape, he even complimented that the artist had a vivid memory. Striking is that he used the word “vivid” which is an allusion to the lively master’s gaze. Therefore I have the impression that while the lord was pleased with his own reflection, he was also annoyed that the painter had no eyes and facial expressions in the drawing. Consequently he imagined that if they had sex there and this time, the painter could remember their intercourse, then the low-born would produce a work where both gazes are viewed: vividness and admiration. But what the aristocrat failed to recognize is that he confused vividness for love. Right from the start, the protagonist had fallen in love with the painter but he didn’t get aware of it due to his inexperience and his philosophy (he is just a spirit). He had no idea that his heart had been racing for the painter. As a rational “spirit”, he explained everything with the need to see his vivid gaze in the works again. He was longing for adoration in the painter’s gaze because his need for recognition and love was so strong. As a conclusion, he was longing to experience the lovely gaze coming from the painter, a sign that he was lovable and admirable. This need implies how much he must have detested his own image that he has to look at the painter’s gaze to feel loved. 
or he is full of expectation, when he looks up at him in the chapter 49.
He really hopes here to hear the “admiration” confession hence his eyes are directed the painter’s. He wants a confirmation in the painter’s gaze that he is desirable and admirable.
, I am somehow expecting that the last painting represent the painter’s love for Yoon Seungho contrasting so much to the one with Jung In-Hun. In the picture, the painter would be in the center. His eyes would be directed at Yoon Seungho and the latter would look back at him. In my opinion, the final picture will contrast so much to the inauguration picture the painter produced for the low noble. This would become the ultimate symbol of their mutual love.
The lord was the one who helped the painter to liberate his mind and body from the doctrine imposed by Jung In-Hun. He represents the White Mind. Thus Jung In-Hun became his enemy. Strangely, the lord has the impression that he didn’t win against the scholar, because he has not been able to get the painter’s heart. But he is wrong in the sense that Baek Na-Kyum has already realized the learned sir’s fakeness. The scholar never liked him, hence all his words and actions were fake. His mind is no longer poisoned, and became white again. On the other hand, this doesn’t mean that he has really perceived the scholar’s true personality, like the painter’s confession displayed in chapter 75: 
He has no idea that he has been manipulated. 
and asking questions. 
. Because of my first observation, I came to the following conclusion. This image shows that Baek Na-Kyum will be the one assisting the lord to free his heart from the past and trauma. His heart has been poisoned, therefore he can’t love the artist properly. This interpretation explicates why in the past and in this season the lord’s actions were and are terribly wrong (rape, the forced fellatio, etc…). The corruption of his heart is the cause for all the artist’s suffering, but at the same time, the painter symbolizes his cure. And due to the kidnapping and its consequences, the lord was forced to face his own fears and traumas. That’s why I consider the night of the revelation (chapter 62-63-64) the lord’s medicine. Let’s not forget that despite all the noble’s words 
(chapter 62), he wasn’t able to follow his own doctrine. The next morning, Baek Na-Kyum was lying in Yoon Seungho’s bed. 
This scene exposes that the painter was definitely more than just a sex toy. Therefore the manhwaphiles can grasp why I associate the painter to a white heart. The commoner embodies purity, love, generosity and kindness, whereas Min as Black Heart represents corruption, hatred, greed and jealousy. Note that the more Yoon Seungho secluded himself from the nobility, the more he became tender and nice to Baek Na-Kyum. Notice that he was even considered as a reformed man by the folks in the chapter 45, as he was no longer meddling with the other aristocrats. This confirms my interpretation that nobility embodies corruption. 
, Seungho’s heart got manipulated and brought the painter to the other nobles for a sex orgy. Because of these two significations, I came to realize why Min claimed that the main lead was so easy to understand. From my point of view, Min discovered the reason for the protagonist’s extravagant behavior, when Jihwa insinuated the existence of a secret concerning Yoon Seungho’s past.
(chapter 36) Min didn’t need to know what kind of trauma the lord suffered, for him it was enough to know that the lord’s heart had been terribly wounded. Because of this revelation, Min got aware of Seungho’s weakness. Back then, I was relieved that Jihwa didn’t say much but now, I perceive it differently. Min with his black heart understood the signification behind these words.
(chapter 53) Black Heart had many reasons to wish his death. He sensed that he was getting obsessed with the painter. With his death, he would remove the cause of his own suffering. In other words, he recognized that Baek Na-Kyum was dangerous to him. Besides, I believe that Min had a similar perception of the painter than Jihwa’s portray of Baek Na-Kyum 
in chapter 43. The manhwaphiles will certainly recall his words about the artist:
(chapter 43): A witch had seduced a noble and could fool the noble. 
(chapter 52): Baek Na-Kyum was consumed by lust. From my point of view, The Joker had already detected that he had not the upper hand in his relationship with Baek Na-Kyum. And when he described Jihwa in chapter 66 
, this portrait was actually mirroring his own personality. He had not the courage to kill the painter himself, he needed Jihwa’s hands to do so. That’s why he convinced the second lead to hire a killer. That way, he wouldn’t become responsible for Baek Na-Kyum’s death, he wouldn’t be plagued with remorse. But his plot failed, because Nameless didn’t act in the rush. Notice that in the chapter 54, the vicious noble used the painter again in order to wound his enemy. When Black Heart started laughing and declared this, 
He was even left speechless. Unlike the main lead, the painter was physically and socially much weaker, hence he could never use force against his master. Because of Baek Na-Kyum’s firm denial, Yoon Seungho’s heart get wounded leading him to make a bad decision. In his eyes, he had been rejected one more time, hence he could only offer the boy to his guests. The wounds in his heart (
the straw mat beating, the seclusion 
, the gangrape 
) explained why he kept hurting the painter over and over again. This was the result of corruption, thus I come to the conclusion that he is very similar to Jihwa. Yet the difference between them is that Jihwa kept his innocence and naivety, while the main lead turned into an adult because of this traumatic experiences (gangrape, betrayal and abandonment). Since we have two corrupted hearts (Seungho and Jihwa), it is now understandable why both have similar hallucinations. 
(cr. to @PrincessJihwa) They represent their fears. The red-haired aristocrat has the impression that his friend became a victim of a seducer, while the other envisions, the painter has become a prostitute and is enjoying sex with others. And my assumption that the protagonist’s illusion was mirroring his own past and trauma was finally confirmed in chapter 74. In this picture
And this gesture reminded me of the painter’s reaction with the mirror. In the chapter 28, he saw a vision in the mirror 
which he despised thereby he destroyed this image by damaging the mirror. 
This represented the painter’s fear. 
(chapter 64), which the “loyal” butler witnessed but never revealed. 
(chapter 65)
(condemned for theft twice) as well, but unlike the main protagonist, he has kept his heart pure. That’s why he was moved by the second lead’s torments. He will be the one helping Jihwa getting rid of the corruption. The purification has already started: he convinced Jihwa not to kill the painter by confronting him with reality. He made him face the brutality of a murder: 
(chapter 60) Yoon Seungho was able to defeat the teacher in reality and I believe, Nameless will be the one who can defeat Min too. And this prediction was confirmed with the final episode from the second season: 
(chapter 76). The Joker got upset, because he witnessed how Jihwa was indeed to Nameless’ words. Black Heart had to close the commoner’s mouth. As you can see, the strong link between black/white and mind/heart made me think of the yin and yang
. We could say that this image represents the main characters in the manhwa: Seungho/Jihwa (black heart, white mind) and the painter/Nameless (black mind, white heart). Put together, they complete each other, they help each other to heal their wounds. At the same time, it is a fight because they need to remove from each other that poison: a process full of heartache and tears. This explains why Painter Of The Night is not a manhwa for entertainment. The manhwalovers can feel the pain of the characters. What made me smile is the following: 
(chapter 74) When I saw this picture, I instantly connected it to Ying and Yang. As the manhwaphiles can witness it, many of my interpretations got verified later. And if you contextualize this panel, you’ll realize the meaning of Yoon Seungho’s position. Just before, he had woken up from a nightmare, a sign that the poison from his past was coming to the surface and as such was slowly leaving his mind and heart. So by facing the painter’s face, the noble is actually taking his cure: the painter’s face is helping to find peace and get purified. From my point of view, although the main lead has ready transformed into a phoenix, the noble’s purification is not truly finished, as he hasn’t dealt with his traumatic past. None of the culprits from his past got punished… none of them met their karma!
(chapter 74). It is possible that the king heard from someone that Yoon Seungho had been asked to spy on him. Due to the purge, the main lead lost his mind, hence he was sent to the mansion. However, for the father, this incident meant that Yoon Seungho had revealed the truth. That’s why he humiliated him as a sodomite. At the same time, it helped him to maintain his good notoriety. By cutting ties with his son, he could keep his dignity (black heart). Besides, this would also explicate why Seung-Won is acting like that. 
(chapter 37) The latter wanted to use Yoon Seungho’s connection to get a position in the government. His heart and mind have been exposed to corruption, since he decided to live with his father. Sure, this is an interpretation based on my theories, but this would explain why father Yoon has been barely introduced, but his shadow is omnipresent. The other ultimate villain is naturally the king, since he is like a ghost in the second season. Let’s not forget my latest theory: Lord Song is in reality the king, but Yoon Seungho has not realized it yet. Since Yoon Seungho and Nameless resemble so much, I am expecting a fight between father Yoon/King and Yoon Seungho/Nameless. However, this ultimate battle won’t occur in the season 3. In my eyes, the two protagonists need to defeat Black Heart and Jung In-Hun first. Besides, both main leads have still issues with their surrogate father and mother: Kim and Noona. On the other hand, we should still expect suffering, as the main and second characters (Jihwa, Nameless) haven’t healed all their wounds. 
(chapter 76). The reality was The Joker got more furious and glared at Black Heart. 
From my point of view, Min’s weakness will be the painter. I have always said that Min could understand the powerful protagonist so well, as he had the impression that they were similar. However, he is wrong, it is just that he envied the alpha so much that he started copying him: the clothes, the sex orgies, the erotic publications, the opium etc. He mixed up cause and consequence. And in chapter 76, the readers can already sense Min’s downfall: he vomits due to the abuse of opium. 
In order to appear calm and normal, he gives a fake explanation about his nausea. For me, there’s no doubt that Black Heart got so upset and jealous, when he witnessed this embrace: 
The lord proved to Min that he was brave. He felt no discomfort and shame, when he hugged the commoner in front of people. Black Heart’s mockery from chapter 54 has become now inefficient. And Min’s words clearly proves to me that during the night of the gangrape (52-53-54), The Joker was determined to ruin the relationship between Yoon Seungho and Baek Na-Kyum, so that the latter would live the mansion. But he failed, just like he didn’t succeed in chapter 66 as well. 
(chapter 53). Furthermore, he questioned his master. Besides, he denied the lord’s love. 
(chapter 66) Baek Na-Kyum refused to leave his side. He anticipated that the painter would follow his sister, therefore he waited for him at the kisaeng house. 
(chapter 69) But nothing happened like expected. The painter chose to stay at the mansion. Hence I believe that Min will envy the noble even more than before, so that he has a new plan: taking away the painter from Yoon Seungho, which would have the same effect: destroying Yoon Seungho. While The Joker imagined that would help them in a second abduction
, he never anticipated a rejection from the so-called ruthless and greedy criminal. In the shed, he even discovered that Jihwa had sex with the commoner, a sign that the second lead was moving on from his first love. Since a second abduction is no longer possible, Black Heart will have to find a new method to get the painter. What caught my attention is that all the attempts from Min have something in common: he is refusing to take any responsibility for Baek Na-Kyum (for the murder, the gangrape, the rape and the abduction). If the painter had returned to the kisaeng house, the aristocrat would have asked to taste the artist, because this place is similar to a brothel. In other words, he would asked the commoner to treat him as a client. This explicates why he is Nameless’ enemy who stands for responsibility. As for the latter, his meeting with Min made him realize that there was in reality a conspiracy. 
(chapter 76) and Jihwa had been manipulated by his acquaintance. There’s no ambiguity that Nameless hates plots… that’s why I am expecting that the criminal approaches Yoon Seungho in the 3rd season. Besides, Baek Na-Kyum has already revealed his involvement: 
That’s why I have the impression that the commoner will even confess on his own that he played a role in the abduction. As a conclusion, we should see white as a symbol for courage and responsibility, while Black for cowardice. If this comes true, then the painter will forgive Nameless, as Baek Na-Kyum’s strength is forgiveness. At the same time, the manhwaphiles should remember that such a gesture could help the artist to overcome his trauma: he won’t get scared,
if he sees another jester. That’s why I view this manhwa as a good example to show a huge trauma can be overcome: the past should never be buried, and the victims should face their traumas. Simultaneously, the culprits should admit their responsibility and be punished for their wrongdoings. 
The former is pushed away, the moment the protagonist witnesses the painter’s return. Among the victim of the physical abuse, there is Deok-Jae. The manhwaphiles discover his face for the first time in the chapter 30. The domestic’s face is covered with blood and bruises, when he opens the door to Jung In-Hun and the painter. 
However, the author introduced him for the first time in the chapter 29 
which didn’t catch my attention as I was too focused on the lord’s behavior and reaction. [I want to thank taeminiebaby for her tip, this shows that everyone is welcome to contribute to my analysis] This gradual introduction is quite important for two reasons. First, his face gets more and more features. While the man has no visage in the first drawing, Byeonduck gave him eyebrows and a mouth in the second drawing. And the climax of his presentation is in the chapter 30, when Deok Jae opens the door. Striking is that in the two scenes, he always stands close to a door. These two observations are quite important because I’ll refer to it later. 
The explication is quite simple. Baek Na-Kyum was a low-born hence he couldn’t be a guest. On the other hand, his job was so different from the servants’ as he painted erotic pictures of sodomy. Due to all this, the staff could only disapprove the artist. In other words, due to his undefined position, the servants couldn’t view him as a part of the staff but just as an outsider. That’s why the low-born could escape. On the other hand, they never witnessed how the noble started having a relationship with the artist (chapter 20/21; chapter 25/26/27) therefore they just thought, he was only important because of the paintings.
What caught my attention in this drawing is the first comment. His words reveal that the domestic must have stood by the door of the bedchamber, when he heard the artist’s moans. Therefore we should ask ourselves when and why he was spying on his master and the painter. Striking is that he mentions the lord’s chamber and the moan sounded similar to pain. Thanks to this info, we can already reduce the number of probabilities and almost figure out when he was observing the painter. Naturally, I can only mention the sex sessions that we could witness. 
Remember that during that night the door of the lord’s chamber got open and no one could see the perpetrator of this wrongdoing. Every reader speculated that a servant must have opened it but we wondered about the reason for this action. Many manhwaphiles complained about the lord’s leniency. Furthermore since we didn’t see any face, we were clueless about the motivation behind this action. From my point of view, during that night Deok-Jae could have been the one observing the door. Since no one talked about the event happening, then it is clear that Kim must have been the one opening the door and he left it open in order to force the painter to leave Seungho’s side. However, I am quite sure that the loyal butler wasn’t the only one who paid attention to what was happening in the lord’s chamber. Why? It is because of Jihwa’s words in chapter 17. 
With his statement, it is clear that someone was observing the door and the painter’s move. Jihwa is using the expression “servants” in order to hide the identity of the informant. There is no doubt that the domestics had no idea how Seungho felt attracted to the painter, since he kept organizing sex sessions (8,12-15). Besides, observe how the noble implies that the spy must have observed the low-born, until he returned to the study, while I doubt that Kim would have kept observing the artist till the end. The heard footsteps indicate that the valet was running away. From my perspective, Deok-Jae must have witnessed how Jihwa left Yoon Seungho’s chamber but he didn’t see or hear the painter leaving the master’s room and worried that Seungho would make a move on the commoner. Annoyed, he could have misled the butler so that the latter would interrupt them. He knew that if Kim intervened, the master would never scold him. Besides, he had no right to open the door. We shouldn’t forget that during that night, the lord hugged the painter before the latter tried to leave the bedchamber.
Imagine that their shadows were visible from the outside due to the candles light hence Deok-Jae could have seen how the master had got close to Baek Na-Kyum. The other reason for this supposition is that the painter cried during the masturbation… which is also related to pain. We shouldn’t forget that the low-born felt embarrassed to have an erection. He was still in denial about his homosexuality. This could explain why the moans were so similar to pain. 
From my point of view, Deok Jae was spying on his lord for an important reason and used valet Kim to stop this event. Now, you are wondering why as well.
Even valet Kim wears one. He thought if he had no white headband, this would reduce the distance between him and his master. Furthermore he might catch the lord’s attention that way. The second observation is that he is often seen next to doors. We can see him standing next to the door of Jung In-Hun’s chamber in the chapter 29,
in the chapter 45, then in the chapter 47
in the chapter 52 and finally in the chapter 53. 
Sodomy with a commoner is considered as degrading and filthy. I have to admit that I was totally wrong concerning Deok-Jae’s resent.
The painter mentions that he has been tipped off by a servant. He says no name but if you contrast this to the following picture.
He acted as a jealous concubine we can see in Chinese or Korean historical dramas. Killing the rival is another typical trope too hence this is not surprising that he is determined to have the painter killed so quickly. This discloses Deok-Jae’s urgency, he needs to act now as the painter is no longer favored. His action to ransack the painter’s room reminds me of the concubine’s plot trying to ruin clothes. Now, I understand better his jealousy and resent for both protagonists. 
(chapter 38), he is now determined to remain in this mansion as a servant. This outlines how much the mansion means to him. It has indeed become his home. If he’s a servant, then he can’t be called a prostitute. For Deok-Jae, it is really important to perceive him as a prostitute because he has no other explanation for the lord’s behavior. How could he fall for someone like him, when he on the other hand had worked at his place for a long time and paid attention to his appearance? That’s why he can only insult the painter
Observe his look. He is not disgusted by the drawing as such, he is not rejecting sodomy. He resents the artist, he wished, they would have switched places.
The domestic must have witnessed it but due to his jealousy, he resented the artist too much to accept this truth. The painter wasn’t willing to become the lord’s partner but he was forced to. The servant is using the image of a prostitute in order to wound the artist. He claims that everyone is saying this, yet we are all aware that the head-maid of the kitchen declared the opposite. From my point of view, the servant is using every possible mean to make the painter leave the mansion. First, he creates a mess in his chamber out of revenge and enviousness. When the boy appears so suddenly, he has to change his plan, he needs to make him leave the place so that his wrongdoing won’t be revealed. He uses violence to pressure the artist to depart from the domain. But this doesn’t stop here, he needs to become more vicious so that the artist will give in. That’s the reason why he mentions the rumor about the painter in front of him. Notice that Baek Na-Kyum is more hurt by his words than by his brutal gesture of his hand. But the servant doesn’t stop there, he keeps envisioning the painter’s future: he will become a whore. He definitely wants this to happen.
While some readers think that his death is unsure because we only see a black veil next to blood, I believe to see another evidence for Deok-Jae’s death in the presence of the door! 
We shouldn’t forget that secret and door are strongly connected to each other that’s why in many languages there are expressions linking a secret to the door: coming out, behind closed doors, sortir du placard (French), à huit-clos (French), hinter verschlossenen Türen (German), detrás de puertas cerradas (Spanish), a porte chiuse (Italian) etc. Furthermore, since I have already explained that Nameless mirrors Yoon Seungho and the second season is inspired by the events in the first season, we should see Deok-Jae’s death as a new version of the lord’s killing in the chapter 1. Unlike Yoon Seungho, Nameless has to hide the servant’s body as he is just a commoner, while the noble had used his right to dispose of the low-born. Besides, let’s not forget that Baek Na-Kyum was responsible for the domestic’s death in the chapter 1 due to his lie. As I have already declared that Jihwa is the noble version of Baek Na-Kyum, then his order to have the painter killed is the reason why Deok-Jae ends up dead. 
Bebebisous33s' analyses in K-Dramaland and Manhwas 