Protected: Painter Of The Night: The night of revelations – part 2 (second version)

December 21, 2020October 12, 2021 ~ Bébébisous33

Painter Of The Night / Dine With A Vampire: Yoon Seungho’s obsession and its origins (second version)

December 20, 2020May 5, 2021 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 5 Comments

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

Due to the title, I am quite sure that you are all expecting that my focus in this essay will be about Yoon Seungho’s last confession, since his last action and words remind us more of obsession than of love. First he corners the painter against the wall, making him visualize what his future situation will look like. He won’t be able to escape from Yoon Seungho’s control and monitoring. The lord will always stand within his reach. Secondly, the expression “I will never let you go” indicates that the rich main lead will cling onto him, he will remain sexually close to him. That’s why they are still connected through their bodies. By clinging onto the artist, the aristocrat reveals his dependency. He can’t live without the painter, hence all his thoughts are revolving around him. This definitely looks like an obsession. The reason is simple. Baek Na-Kyum has now given a certain sense in his life, his presence makes him feel emotions, positive and negative. In my opinion, the artist made him feel less lonely and empty. Consequently, he can’t bear the thought of being separated from him. This exposes that the core issue has not been solved: his Dependency Personality disorder which is strongly connected to his abandonment issues. Since the butler had become his helping hand, the lord’s statement “I will never let you go” lets transpire a change. The lord is now dependent on Baek Na-Kyum. It was, as if he had just replaced the butler with the painter.

However, what the readers shouldn’t forget is that the master’s behavior is actually unveiling his own past and mirroring his past traumatic experiences. The main lead is acting the way he was taught, or even I would even say, the way he experienced it himself. There’s no doubt that he is replicating father Yoon’s gestures. The first evidence for this deduction is the way he grabs the artist’s neck in chapter 62. (chapter 57) Let’s not forget that he was trapped in his own house, like the doctor pointed out in chapter 57. In other words, his moves were controlled and he was forced to remain by his father’s side as well. However, I realized at the end of the second season that these traumatic experiences are not just related to father Yoon. This night from chapter 62 to chapter 65 exposes all the crimes the young protagonist was exposed to. First, we have the imprisonment (chapter 61) (chapter 74). Then he was raped in the shed and butler Kim was a witness who betrayed and abandoned him. (chapter 65) Hence, later the main lead questions the butler’s appearance and interruption: (chapter 64) That’s why I come to the conclusion that the main lead isn’t just utilizing the same expressions and actions from his father’s, but also from all the perpetrators: the rapist in the cabin and his main sexual partner, the king. (chapter 74) Consequently, I come to the conclusion that this statement mirrors the king’s obsession for Yoon Seungho. Yet, unlike the main lead, the monarch was unable to keep his “promise”, as his obsession, blindness and selfishness led him to make terrible decisions. He ended up destroying the young man, hence he was forced to send him away. (chapter 57) The protagonist had lost his sanity and there’s no doubt that the king didn’t want to be confronted with his own wrongdoings. In the first version of this essay, I had assumed due to Yoon Seungho’s behavior, that the latter had been sexually abused by his father. This theory was developed based on previous observations, like for example, Jung In-Hun, as a new version of father Yoon and the painter’s surrogate father, seemed to be a pedophile due to his strange behavior in chapter 29. However, now I believe that the real sexual predator was the king himself, who was definitely an old-bearded man. Since he is mentioned in episode 76, it becomes more obvious that Yoon Seungho’s tragic fate is intertwined with the monarch. Therefore I deduce this. The king is a combination of Jung In-Hun and father Yoon. He’s an arrogant, stupid, selfish, emotional, violent, jealous, impulsive and obsessive man. Why? First, jealousy is a common denominator between the two fathers, like it is palpable in the following panel: Hence the eldest master Yoon had to diminish his son’s good reputation by describing him as ill. However, if I hold this theory, the nature of the king’s jealousy gets a different signification. He decided to held the teenager captive in the palace, so that the son would stop attracting attention from other men. That’s why no one knows their special relationship. As for father Yoon, the house arrest was justified with the excuse of illness, because he couldn’t stand the idea that his son’s notoriety was better than his own. However, when the first rape occurred in the shed, the eldest master Yoon saw an occasion to use his eldest son in a better way: a prostitute. The manhwaphiles should keep in their mind that the learned sir witnessed the artist’s rape. This means that father Yoon must have been aware of the king’s preferences. For him, it looked like the perfect solution. He didn’t need to do anything, yet he would get benefit from this exchange of favors. Through Yoon Seungho, he could get more power and influence thanks to the monarch’s support. One might argue that the father hates sodomy, hence he can’t have sold his son to the king. In chapter 1, we hear from the painter that father Yoon cut off his son’s topknot in public because of sodomy. Yet, the disgust for sodomy is not a real argument in reality. In order to collaborate my theory, I will introduce another manhwa called “Dine With A Vampire”, created by Pangin and Pinko. The characters serves as an example.

Here, the antagonist Kwon Sungha is in a hidden relationship with his former best friend Joo Sooin, although the former hates homosexuality. Just like Jung In-Hun, Sungha is a hypocrite. Yet, he abused his schoolmate physically and sexually for so long that at the end, the main lead became a shadow of himself, a zombie. Therefore there was no light in his eyes. Kwon Sungha resents the protagonist, because he can’t accept his own sexual orientation and blames the poor uke. That’s why the antagonist is rough and violent during the intercourses. He even shows some sadistic tendencies, because he enjoys it very much, when the victim is crying due to pain. Therefore it signifies that each time the main character sheds some tears, his behavior will incite the seme to become more brutal. As a result, it is better to repress tears.

The reason for his violence is simple. This represents his antipathy for sodomy. He has internalized it so deeply that he can’t hate himself due to his huge ego and selfishness. He can only turn his resent towards the object of his obsession. He sees in Sooin the cause for his deviation and his “misery”, as he can’t live normally and follow the social norm which is that homosexuality is repulsive. That’s why in the end, Kwon Sungha gives such a negative reflection towards Sooin. What the victim sees in the abuser’s eyes, is only resent and the image of being a monster, while in reality Sooin is not perceiving his own true reflection, but the picture the former friend has about Sooin and homosexuals in general. This explains why the main lead has such a low self-esteem and self-hatred as a result. He despises his own image and has the impression, he is not lovable. He has the feeling that he is nothing worthy, hence he has no goal in life. He has given up on himself, since he sees no hope and no way out. Each time, he tried to run away, he was caught and tormented even more than before. His life is already controlled by Sungha, who tells what he has to eat, how he has to dress and when he should come home. The villain is ruling Sooin’s life like a vicious tyrant.

Hence when Sooin has sex with the vampire Park Chi-Hwan, who helped him to get rid of Kwon Sungha, the uke is triggered by the vampire’s word and is reminded of his past experience with Kwon Sungha. He is reliving his past. Notice how he avoids the other main lead’s gaze. He hides his eyes behind his arms and apologizes to his lover. He is already imagining that he will get punished. His behavior is so conditioned that in order to escape a punishment, he apologizes, although he knows that Sungha is dead. Even in his sleep, he is plagued with nightmares.

The villain views sodomy as filthy, therefore he rejects any intimate and tender gesture from the uke. As a conclusion, Sooin is not allowed to touch him. As you can envisage, Sooin is never kissed nor hugged. However, despite his hatred for sodomy and the abuse, he is not willing to give up on his sexual partner. He is so obsessed with Sooin that he even envisions to keep him captive in a cage, though he plans to marry a woman coming from an influential family. The irony is that after getting betrayed by the main lead, the former “lover” is not questioning the reason behind the treachery. In fact he blames Sooin for everything. He reproached him that the latter never smiled in front of him, but now he is giving his smile towards another man. The antagonist, who has now become a vampire himself, definitely perceives the uke as his possession. The description of Sungha’s behavior indicates that Sooin was his obsession, but not his love.

And now it is necessary to summarize all the elements indicating that Sooin has been abused sexually, physically and emotionally:

The lack of light in Sooin’s gaze, his self-hatred, a negative image about himself, plagued with nightmares, words can trigger the victim and he is reliving his past, his entire life is controlled by the abuser, the attempts to flee, the lack of warmth and tenderness, punishment if the abuser is angered, the feeling of being trapped, living a hell. Like I described, Sooin had become a zombie, was no longer living his own life.

And now, I am quite sure that the manhwaphiles will recognize these symptoms in Yoon Seungho’s behavior. And this is no coincidence that Yoon Seungho is so obsessed with the painter’s tears. Due to the repetitive abuse, the main lead had to stop crying, if he didn’t want to infuriate his father and later the king. That’s the reason why he can no longer cry and Kim and the noble asked the painter to stop crying. Moreover, the main character is dressed like his father. Both wear a robe with long sleeves without any pattern and even the color is quite similar in the beginning. This shows that he has internalized not to draw attention through his clothes. However, the moment he wants to impress the painter, he starts wearing a different color (blue), like in his youth. And the more time passes on, the more he dresses up in order to attract the artist’s attention, which is already visible in chapter 23. This evolution displays that his original taste for clothes was influenced by the abusive sex partner. Striking is that the beautiful hanbok in chapter 52 reminds us of the king, as the phoenix is a symbol for the Joseon monarch. That’s why I am more and more convinced that the traumatic past causing abandonment issues is caused by the father and the Joseon monarch. And it becomes more understandable, why the lord could only fall for the painter during their Wedding night and desired to renew this night. He was hugged for the first time and he was the source of happiness of his partner, something he has never heard before. Neither his father nor his “sexual partner” embraced him. Why? In my opinion, it is linked to the way the lord was offered to the king. Due to the position of the candles, it looks like the noble’s fate is already determined. He will be a sacrifice for the monarch. He will become his plaything. However, in order to ensure that the favored courtesan would never get power over the monarch and would remain under the control of his father, the latter had to indoctrinate his son. Thus the father created these rules: sex was just a battle and the teenager was not allowed to confess. Then I remembered the scholar’s words: Striking is the word “courtesan” in this picture. It’s here linked to the kisaeng-house, however the expression as such implies the royal court. This definitely shows that there’s a strong connection between the brothel and the palace. Since the learned sir mentioned it in Yoon Seungho’s library, I am more than ever convinced that father Yoon transformed his mansion into a brothel in order to train his son as a future courtesan. Let’s not forget that the nightmare in chapter 74 takes place in the mansion: We never see the palace, only the hands of the nobles. That’s why I come to the deduction that father Yoon must have asked the noble families close to him for help. They were supposed to train his son. After getting drugged and gangraped, the noble’s strong will was broken. The father did it intentionally. He needed to turn him into a obedient puppet who would never make any request or even try to escape from his father’s claws through the king. That’s why I believe that when he went to the capital, his heart had already died. He was in a similar state than Baek Na-Kyum in the beginning of the second season: passive and submissive. Since we have two rapes with the painter (one is planned), I assume that the lord had this terrible fate:

The rape in the shed
The gangrape leading to the sexual education as prostitute:
The second rape which I associate to the king : that’s why he couldn’t yell or defend himself. Who could help him in front of the most powerful person in Joseon? He was like a low-born next to the monarch.

However, like Sungha from Dine with a vampire, the king was a very possessive and jealous man who hid his homosexuality. Nevertheless, I guess, he got fascinated by his plaything that at some point, he wanted to possess the main lead’s body and heart. Let’s not forget that Yoon Seungho’s obsession in the beginning of the second season was this: And since we have a repetition in the story, it means that this must have happened in the past. Besides, I doubt that father Yoon would have questioned such a behavior. He definitely hated Yoon Seungho’s strong will. Consequently, I believe that the king must have had a similar attitude. He wanted to obtain the main lead’s love, yet unlike Yoon Seungho, the king became violent and angry by such a submissive behavior, which could only contribute to the protagonist’s silence and fear.

From my point of view, father Yoon was too simple-minded to realize that among the palace, there were rivals and enemies who would target his son. Since I have developed the theory that Yoon Seungho’s painting had been stolen by Jeong Seon, his special relationship to the king could have been perceived as a source of threat for the painter. The theft could have been discovered. I had stipulated as well that a painter could have been kidnapped and killed, especially if we take into consideration Nameless’ words who seems to know how to deal with artists: (chapter 60). Besides, the readers should remember that the main lead tasked the artist to paint his sexual intercourses, therefore it is definitely possible that Yoon Seungho’s request was influenced by the king’s. The latter could have had the desire to have his sexual intercourses with Yoon Seungho portrayed as well. However, since father Yoon hates sodomy and doesn’t want to be associate to this, he had every reason to hate the painter. The pictures were a proof of the eldest master’s hypocrisy.

Moreover, it is also possible that the main lead tried to escape from his hell, but he was betrayed and abandoned. The fact that his description of the flee is so vivid makes me believe that he could have done it himself once. He thought, he had succeeded, before he was caught, because he had been betrayed by the person whom he trusted the most: Kim. Moreover, the main lead had another enemy in my opinion: the culprit of the first rape, as the latter had not been caught. There’s no doubt that in the shed, Yoon Seungho is acting like father Yoon and the king. Both mistreated him, but were unable to give him love, whereas they expected from him total obedience and even attachment.

To sum up, when the lord was brought to the capital, he was confronted with a bearded man again, hence the second rape occurred. That’s why the king thought that the teenager had lost his virginity to him. Let’s not forget that during the Wedding night, the lord never expected this, therefore I am expecting the opposite with the king. The latter imagined that they would send him a virgin. Besides, it is a custom to send virgin concubines to the ruler.

I have to admit that this idea came to my mind, when I wrote the essay “The birth of the zombie”. This panel symbolizes the purge which the main lead witnessed. It started with the following question: Why would the monarch eliminate the families close to the Yoons? In my opinion, someone revealed to the sovereign that the protagonist had been trained by the nobles close the eldest master Yoon. They had tainted his sex partner and even ruined him, although there’s no ambiguity that the ruler’s attitude (jealous, violent and possessive) contributed to this evolution: the main lead was slowly becoming a zombie. From my point of view, there are three persons who had a desire to destroy Yoon Seungho and through him his father: the culprit of the first rape (my theory is now that it was father Lee), the butler who witnessed it, and like I mentioned it above, the artist who stole Yoon Seungho’s work. This leads me to the following conclusion: the butler could have revealed it to the king, faking his care and concern for his master. “Imagine… the poor boy was gangraped by the families close to father Yoon.” But he never mentioned the training, as Kim’s MO is always to tell half-truths. This would divert attention from the other perpetrators. When the king confronted Yoon Seungho, the latter couldn’t reveal what had truly happened, because this would mean that his father was involved. Hence he remained silent, which was perceived as a confession. As a revenge for the dirty trick, the ruler ordered the purge which the main lead had to witness. The latter was so devastated that he was literally destroyed. The king didn’t expect such a reaction, hence he sent him back to the mansion, only to hear later that father Yoon had punished his own son. The latter believed that the main character had betrayed him by revealing the indoctrination and prostitution.

And now, you are wondering about lord Song. From my point of view, when Kim realized that Yoon Seungho was suffering from memory loss and had even forgotten his relationship with the king, the butler decided to use lord Song as the scapegoat for the lord’s suffering. He created fake memories, a mixture composed of half-truths. Father Yoon and lord Song were blamed, while the real perpetrators for Yoon Seungho remained hidden.That’s why he doesn’t want them to meet. He never expected that the noble would write a letter to his master, although the letter was fake. Lord Song was definitely father Yoon’s rival. Another possibility is that it was indeed lord Song who had decided to betray lord Yoon and expose the plot. But like I mentioned it above, I am suspecting that this is just another lie from the valet. For that, he used the main lead’s situation in order to divert father Yoon’s attention. Father Yoon was too mad at his son, hence he didn’t realize that in the mean time, the other noble had revealed the plot to the king. Therefore the father could only resent more his son and chose to punish him by betraying a second time. He abandoned his son and punished him in the worst way: not only he castrated him, but also he ruined his reputation for good. That’s why the terrible reflection is engraved in Yoon Seungho’s memory. Under this new approach, it becomes understandable why the butler encouraged Yoon Seungho to lead a life in debauchery. That way, he wouldn’t attract the king’s attention: The latter had killed many people due to his obsession for Yoon Seungho, whom he treated very poorly: full of mistrust and violence. The latter was not able to take care of the young man properly.

It is also possible that after the purge and huge revelation, the king decided to offer Yoon Seungho to his officials as retaliation. Observe that we often have two events of the same nature: two rapes, two incidents with the door, two “escapes” etc. Since the protagonist had been tainted, then he was nothing more than a prostitute which led to a real breakdown. Hence the young man was sent away from Hanyang. One might argue that this theory is not possible, since I had already stipulated that the king was obsessed with Yoon Seungho. How could he offer him to his officials? Let’s not forget that Yoon Seungho almost did it, when he got rejected in chapter 54: If he was so obsessed with the main lead (mind and heart) to the point he wanted to keep him away from others, then he would have never used him as a whore. However, even this point can be refuted. First, even Jung In-Hun, who hated homosexuality, was willing to betray his own doctrines for his own interests. Let’s not forget that in the other manhwa “Dine with a vampire”, the antagonist has no problem to use his sex partner for his own interests. In one incident, he makes sure that Sooin interrupts him with his girlfriend, so that the villain is not forced to have sex with her. At the same time, he uses this as an excuse to punish the uke. Furthermore, I portrayed father Yoon as especially greedy and ambitious, hence despite his jealousy and obsession, he had a big dream. Besides, he hates sodomy so by using his son as a prostitute, he can remain clean and perceives his son as dirty, since he is the source of his “misery”. As for the king, notice that the latter doesn’t have a bad reputation. This shows that his sexual orientation and even perversion is a secret. The king could have a similar attitude than Sungha: he hates homosexuality, but he can’t stop his urges. So for his own career, father Yoon taught his son that sex is a battle, therefore he described love as a weakness. However he made him believe that if he obeyed him, then he would benefit him: . He requested that his son would never fall in love with a man so that he would have the upper hand in front of the king. Only the father was somehow able to control him. That way, he would bind his son’s mind and heart to him. This would explicate why the lord chose to become as a ghost in the end. Imagine, he had been ripped apart by his own father and by the king. The body was possessed by the other nobles, while the father was still possessing his mind and heart. He had no freedom at all. After writing this, I feel so horrible. Father Yoon was definitely ruling his son’s life and the monarch tried to change this, but failed as he was himself too selfish, violent and ruthless.

This theory also explains why valet Kim wondered about father Yoon’s reaction in chapter 57. First, this indicates that the eldest master Yoon is still paying attention to Yoon Seungho’s behavior, and Kim is well aware of it. Imagine that Yoon Seungho used his bad reputation as a notorious hell-raiser in order to torment his father, yet the latter never intervened. This signifies that he could bear the humiliation, because the truth had not been unveiled. The father turned his own son into a black sheep, a sign that there’s actually something wrong in a family. However, it becomes a different story, when he hears that Jihwa has already confessed in public. It means that his son could definitely fall in love and this could also reach the king’s ears. If the lord maintains a terrible reputation, then no one will try to become his partner, hence the king’s position remains untouched. Notice that Kim is worried that the elder master hears about the confession, indicating that he is well aware about his doctrines. Love is a taboo. I doubt, he is referring to sodomy as such, because it is well known that Yoon Seungho sleeps with men. As a conclusion, this panel reveals that the lord was keeping an eye on his son all this time. Since he never meddled before, in his eyes, his son’s rebellion was nothing to worry about. Consequently, this is not surprising that the father and Seung-Won imagined that once asked by them, Yoon Seungho would obey and help them, because he had always done it before. Yet, this time, the main lead refused.

Although the damaged painting wasn’t sent to his father by the father, it is important to examine its signification. In fact, the painting showed the main character having sex with other men. For the first time, father Yoon was confronted directly with his hypocrisy. In the past, he was never present, when he sold his son, hence in his eyes, he was still someone honorable. However, the painting confronts him with his true nature: He was his son’s owner and pimp. In other words, the father is facing reality. He let men to touch his own son, while in his mind, he justified his action by saying that he was an educated man. He thought, he still possessed his son’s mind and heart. He became infuriated, because he had the impression that he was losing the control over his son. Yet, since this is a threesome, it still looks like Yoon Seungho is just fooling around. And with this theory, his love for the painter gets a different significance. For the father, it would mean the end of his ruling over his son’s life. He would lose Yoon Seungho as his pawn for good. He would use the low status of Baek Na-Kyum in order to separate the lovers, while in reality he would try to regain ownership over the main lead.

If we take this aspect into consideration, then the story gets another dimension. Byeonduck would show us, how a sexual abused victim becomes a perpetrator himself later, which is often the case. And this would explicate why the lord never acted before towards his sexual partners. He might have cut Jihwa’s hair or dragged them by the topknot, yet he didn’t rape them. And since the painter is a low-born, he is put in the same situation than Yoon Seungho in the past, vulnerable and defenseless against the authority of the king, the supreme lord. And remember that he asked the painter to call him “my lord”, and his sex partner might have requested the same calling. However, when the painter whispers “Lord Seungho” for the first time, it pushes the main lead to act differently, like I pointed out in the former analysis. In this perspective, the chapters 62 and 63 get another signification. The painter’s expressed apology is the expression Yoon Seungho used himself in the past, when he had displeased his father and the sovereign, or even worse, when he got caught after his escape attempt. This would explain why he saw it as a confirmation for the painter’s flee. He was definitely sent back to his past, therefore he turned into the shadow of his father and the king. That’s why when the painter started confessing, he stopped him, because back then the lord had a similar reaction. He proclaimed, he loved the man, while deep down, he only feared and even detested him. We know for sure that the main lead has never been in love before, father Yoon ensured this. That’s the reason why his third love confession resembles more to an obsession than to love. This is how the king treated him. And read the last two chapters under the perspective that the king is Yoon Seungho and the powerful noble the painter, now you understand why Kim has the intention to intervene this time. He knows why the noble is acting like that. Then we understand why the lord chose to become blind and deaf to the truth, as he was reliving his own past and he knew very well what he had done back then. The painter’s words can only be lies, since he was forced to lie in front of his abuser. Therefore he can not use his brain like during the first season. As for people asking a punishment for Yoon Seungho’s wrongdoings, I can only reply: if my theory is true, then the man needs therapy more than anything else. He is a perpetrator, because he has been conditioned by his father and the king, and since he is willing to change and even shows remorse, he needs help more than anything else.

I have to admit that my initial intention in this essay was different, although I chose the title “Yoon Seungho’s obsession”. While reading the last two chapters, a detail caught my attention: his obsession for the painter’s motivations. (chapter 62) Then in chapter 63: In fact, I noticed that the lord was fixated on “why”, although he doesn’t use it constantly, he often makes allusion. It is already palpable in chapter 21, when the lord wonders about the artist’s reaction: With these words, the lord is actually questioning the reason for the painter’s behavior. Why did he push away the lord before? The artist replied that this had nothing to do with him, he didn’t dislike it. Then in chapter 40 and 41, he pushed the painter to question his own motivation. Why would he support his former teacher? What does he expect from him? Then we have the chapters 45 and 47, where the main character keeps asking about the artist’s reason for his behavior. Why did he remain by his side? Why is he so indifferent and submissive unlike in the past? I judge it as his obsession and there’s a reason for that. Sure, one might say that he would like to know why the painter stayed by his side. He is so desperate to be loved, he is still wishing to feel loved. However, there’s another motivation behind this obsession. In my opinion, this obsession to the “why” is related to his past and as such to his father and the king. He saw his negative reflection in his father’s eyes, the man he wanted to please at any cost. He must have wondered why his father tormented him so much, why he betrayed him, why he lied to him, why he was so fixated on him, since he had the impression that he was unlovable and even a monstrosity. The lord must have been young back then to perceive his father’s true motivations: jealousy, obsession and his immense greed and ambition. And after being sent to the capital, he met a similar person: the ruler who didn’t treat him better.

By meeting the painter and falling in love with him, the lord is forced to reflect on his past and indirectly on his father’s behavior. I perceive the recurrence of the “why” as a sign that Yoon Seungho is changing. He definitely affected the painter with his critical thinking, just like the artist affected his life as well. Both are forced to question themselves. Slowly, the aristocrat is liberating himself from his father’s claws and the king’s obsession. However, in order to transform totally, he needs to realize that he is making Baek Na-Kyum suffer the same bad experiences than his father did. At the same time, he needs to remember that the king was just a selfish and possessive monster. The image he saw in the king’s gaze was the reflection the ruler had for himself: too selfish and arrogant to resent himself for being a sodomite. Hence the words lord Seungho said to the painter didn’t reveal Yoon Seungho’s obsession, rather the king’s. But the latter betrayed and abandoned him, when he discovered that he had been lied to. This observation explicates why the protagonist’s so determined to use his position as lord to claim the painter as his possession. Experiencing this terrific experience, where he couldn’t escape from his father and the king’s tyranny, he came to the conclusion that his position as a lord and master was the only way to protect himself from danger and misery. If he was a powerful lord, then no one would be able to abuse him like in the past. That’s why it is urgent that the lord realizes that his approach is wrong. He needs to get rid of this doctrine: relationship is a balance of power. The moment he is no longer a lord and he treats Baek Na-Kyum as his real lover, he can experience the artist’s happiness and love. As a final word, I would like to point out that the main lead is not a new version of his father or the king. He is definitely different, since he doesn’t see the artist as dirty and filthy, though he is a commoner. Besides, he was caring enough to give up on his own bed, pay the visit of the doctor and the expensive medicine for him and even wash the painter himself after their intercourses. And this actually shows that when he was the uke, no one cleaned him. He had to do it himself. That’s how he learned the basics.

That’s why I believed that Yoon Seungho could redeem himself and could change for the better. Just like Sooin from Dine With A Vampire, the main lead must find a purpose in his life, must gain more confidence and realize that he is lovable. More importantly, he has a different disposition: he has always reflected on his own actions, whereas I suspect it is not the case for the king and the eldest master Yoon. In my eyes, both seem to blame others for their own misery. Even after leaving his abuser behind, Sooin hadn’t still found his place in life. He thought that his only value was to give blood to the vampire, therefore he refused to become a vampire. His goal in his life was to help the vampire, however this could not be right. Sooin and Yoon Seungho needed to love themselves, so that they could become independent and love their partner. The moment Yoon Seungho treated the painter with respect, the latter showed more confidence again. He could play pranks again. As long as they were full of insecurities, they could never love their partner properly.

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Painter Of The Night: The night of revelations – part 1 (second version)

December 19, 2020July 18, 2021 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 4 Comments

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

The story doesn’t progress much in chapter 63, as it is still the same night, where the painter is with the main lead in the storage room. Yet, this doesn’t signify that there’s no change in the relationship between the two protagonists. In fact, we could say that this is the night of revelations. In chapter 63, the manhwalovers get to hear two love confessions, although their form diverges: Baek Na-Kyum and Yoon Seungho’s. Here, the painter is on the verge to admit his affection for the lord, yet he is stopped by Yoon Seungho. The latter can’t believe his words, he only trusts the painter’s physical reactions. As for the master’s love confession, it couldn’t appease the readers and please them, since they were upset with the way the main character was treating the painter. The reason is simple: they identify themselves with the painter and as such, they would never accept abuse, which is totally normal. However, I believe that it is important to read this manhwa with a certain detachment and analyze the main lead’s words very carefully. The portrayed brutality overshadows the lord’s words, hence his opening up and gradual transformation doesn’t catch the readers’ attention. That’s why I will focus on the lord’s behavior and words in this essay, because through them, the artist discovers new aspects about his lover.

1. Interpretation of the landscape during that night

But before starting with the analysis of chapter 63, I would like to examine this night, in particular, how Byeonduck introduced it. This panel comes from chapter 62, and here what caught my attention is the dimension of the house compared to the sky and the moon. In the former similar pictures, it was the opposite. (chapter 33). Besides, the moon was rather in the center of the image. Here, the satellite seems so far away, while the mansion occupies the biggest part of the image. Since I had interpreted that the house is a metaphor for the painter and the moon for Yoon Seungho, this picture reflects the importance of Baek Na-Kyum in the aristocrat’s life. Baek Na-Kyum represents his whole world. However, since the moon is so small, I sense that this reflects the lord’s emotional and mental state. Yoon Seungho isn’t really himself, he is lost in his fears and insecurities.

2. Yoon Seungho the master

Another possible interpretation is the coming disappearance of the moon, announcing the rebirth of the phoenix. Furthermore, the moon is so distant illustrating the gap existing between the two lovers. At the same time, the huge mansion also reflects the cause for the distance between them. One is a lord, a noble who can treat the artist as he pleases, since the former is a servant. And this issue is actually visible in chapter 62 and 63. Yoon Seungho is using his right as master to define their relationship. That’s why he expresses his firm refusal to let the painter go on two occasions. And if you compare the two idioms, you’ll observe a progression, the increasing determination of Yoon Seungho to keep the painter by his side. In the first sentence, Yoon Seungho puts “That” as first, which indicates how much the artist means to him: he can not permit the artist to leave him. On the other hand, we could say that this sentence mirrors Yoon Seungho’s treatment towards the artist. The latter is considered as a possession, an object (“that”). I would even add that this sentence illustrates his actual position. Baek Na-Kyum has no right, hence he is not even mentioned here. The lord doesn’t say here: “I can’t allow you that”. Then in the second sentence (“I will never let you go”), the personal pronoun “I” appears first showing his strong will to make it happen. His needs are prioritized and the painter has to submit himself. The personal pronoun “you” referring to the low-born is used as an object, once again the expression mirrors their relationship: the one is a master and the other a servant. As the manhwalovers can detect, both sentences have something in common: it revolves around permission, reinforcing my conviction that the noble’s one of major issues in their relationship is his status.

This third love confession is strongly connected to his status as master. And there’s a reason for this sort of love declaration. In his eyes, he has no other way to keep the painter by his side. He is not expecting a sense of loyalty or duty from Baek Na-Kyum, as he believes, the latter ran away. As the lord of the mansion, he is the one with the upper hand.

Nonetheless, in the last panel, Yoon Seungho reveals his true thoughts and feelings, demonstrating that he is definitely opening up. For the first time, he shows his need for the painter. So far, he had never attached himself to others, even confessed a certain dependency on others, though he was definitely relying on Kim and his knowledge. On the other hand, he has always perceived the painter as a servant in the end, despite his claim that he didn’t consider him as such. (chapter 47) In my opinion, the painter could definitely confront him with his own lies, just like he did in chapter 26.

3. Yoon Seungho’s love confessions

And now, if we compare the aristocrat’s “love confession” in chapter 63 to the previous ones, we can detect a huge progression. (chapter 55) (chapter 58) and (chapter 63)

First, the manhwaphiles can observe that when the lord admitted his love for the artist for the first time, he kept his distance from the painter. The physical separation indicates his fear to reveal his true emotions. He definitely views this as a weakness and has the impression that he is exposed to danger. He is definitely protecting his heart by maintaining a space between them. In the second love declaration, the noble trapped the painter under his body displaying his fear that the painter might run away after a love confession from him. As you can observe, both love confessions had a huge difference. On the one side, the master encouraged the low-born to desert the mansion by opening the door and keeping his distance from Baek Na-Kyum. During the second love confession, Yoon Seungho was no longer willing to accept the artist’s escape. Since he had admitted his feelings and as such his dependency, the painter was forced to remain by his side. He had no other choice than to obey to his master.

However, both scenes have a common denominator. During these moments, the noble avoids the artist’s gaze. In chapter 55, he looks down, and in chapter 58, he only whispers it to the artist’s ears. Even when they are physically so close, the lord is attempting to hide his face on the painter’s chest. (chapter 62) For the first time, he hears Baek Na-Kyum’s heart, yet he is not ready to face the artist. This illustrates his huge insecurities. The main lead fears his own reflection. Nevertheless, in episode 63, this is totally different, as for the first time, the lord is looking at Baek Na-Kyum’s face directly, while admitting his dependency on the commoner. There is no physical distance and the master is starring at the artist and waits for his reaction. But here, he comes out as a strong person, because he utilizes his position as a master. This gives him the strength to face the painter. Yet, this is not what the latter desires too. He doesn’t want to be treated as an object or as a servant. That’s why I think, a real discussion is needed here. Does he really love him or does he just view him as a domestic? Furthermore, being in love is not a weakness and that’s what the low-born needs to show him. As you can observe, the lord utilizes now his position so openly to face his loved one. Only as a master, he has the power to claim Baek Na-Kyum as his partner.

Striking is that when the lord declared his feelings for the artist for the second time, he never said these words: I love you. Instead, he chose this: He admitted his defeat. Since he had lost the battle, he had become a wreck, making him very vulnerable. Whereas we all took it as a metaphor, the noble meant it literally. And now, we see the result of this defeat: he is indeed a wreck, hence he is blind and deaf. Moreover, it looks like the lord is unable to use his brain and notice the bruise on the painter’s wrist. He is emotionally unstable, because he had been forced to reveal his affection and vulnerability (dependency). According to his father’s doctrine, sex is a battle, therefore by confessing his love, he surrenders. And now, you understand why his father gave him such a role, absence of love is a synonym for independency and liberty. By attaching himself to the artist, he is in truth trapped himself. Now, the manhwaphiles can grasp, why the noble acted like that. The lord already viewed himself as a servant and object due to his love for the artist, but he was refusing to accept his position. In other words, he was in denial. That’s why he acts like a lord so openly.

On the other hand, by abandoning this rule (absence of love), we have to imagine that the lord must feel confused. He still thinks that every relationship is a balance of power and the painter’s confession did reinforce this impression. Remember that the artist treated the master as his sexual object, the one who will give him pleasure. The master could only perceive it as a power of force. Yoon Seungho doesn’t know, this is not correct, as he has never experienced it differently. Power relationship was the nature of his rapport with his own father. Just like he said, he has been living according to his father’s principles. In other words, the noble is no different from Baek Na-Kyum in the end. He was also exposed to coercive persuasion. This explicates why his last resort is to use his status as master to force Baek Na-Kyum to remain by his side. This is the only power he has over the commoner in his eyes. He is no longer expecting to be loved by the painter. Simultaneously, he is also revealing his true position: he is no longer free, dependent on the low-born.

4. Sex and power

Nevertheless, you can sense his powerlessness despite the use of his physical strength during this night, which the manhwaworms can detect in the following panel: The reason for his frailty is that in reality he is longing for something else. He wanted to obtain the painter’s love, hence he desired to be gazed with admiration and to see a smile on the painter’s face. However, he has no hope any longer. Just like I wrote it before, a confession from the painter was just a dream that would never come true. And his “escape” confirmed his doubts. Their magical night was just an illusion, and he became a victim of deception. The more he made positive experiences, the more he doubted his senses and reality. But the cause for this lack of trust and confidence is his self-hatred, which I had already pointed out. And now, I understand why he chose to impersonate the scholar. That way, he could feel love for the first time. By replacing the scholar, he could drop his self-hatred, for he was someone else. However, he got caught in his own trap. After this first experience, he longed for more and hoped for a renewal. But he imagined that by having sex would be enough, and realized the falseness of his belief. He imagined that his wealth and power would impress the artist, but he was proven wrong. His self-hatred is the reason why he is blind and deaf in the end. He has the feeling, he is not lovable. Yet, like he states, he was never able to receive a smile from Baek Na-Kyum. This shows that he would have treasured a smile from the low-born, revealing that despite owning the artist’s body, he has no control over Baek Na-Kyum’s heart and mind in the end. The tragedy is that he didn’t witness that his confession made the painter blush. He was definitely moved and happy. The rich main character’s impotence in front of the artist explains why he is using his sexual potency to submit the commoner. This is no coincidence why the lord is particularly rough in chapter 63. He is trying to compensate his impotence by using sexual power. Many readers could sense that this chapter was a new version of chapter 25, the rape at the pavilion.

However, this time, it is different for many reasons. First, the artist didn’t reject the lord, unlike in chapter 25. Here, the lord is reminding the artist, how he behaved during that night. He scratched his face and pushed him away. He even confessed that he loved the scholar Jung In-Hun. This panel reveals that the lord could never forget that night. He still remembers the rejection, which left a deep wound reinforcing his self-hatred. Yet, since the lord is wearing his mask of deception, we shouldn’t take the last sentence as face-value. If you recall that night at the pavilion, you could see, how mad, sad and pained the lord was for the rejection and how much he disliked the situation. He did feel remorse for his action later. That’s why I see this comment as a proof that he is surprised by the lack of resistance from the artist. He was expecting a different reaction.

The second difference I noticed is the following. Since the painter declared that they had just a sexual relationship, the master is using this aspect to torment the painter. Because they are just two naked bodies and he is a lord, he can treat the partner as a toy. He has the right to do so. It was, as if Baek Na-Kyum was getting punished for his lack of honesty in chapter 49 due to his fear. His lack of trust caused the lord to mistrust the painter either. This is the second wound Yoon Seungho is confessing. The lord imagined in chapter 25 that if they had sex again, then the artist would come to accept him and even love him. Back then, the lord had no idea, what he was expecting exactly. He couldn’t tell that he was looking for love. In his mind, he was longing for admiration in the gaze, for a smile and for a blushing face. He had the hope that he could get, what he desired, if they renew their Wedding night. Here we have the opposite. He is so convinced that he is not loved and will never obtain the painter’s heart, although this time, Baek Na-Kyum is truly loving him. Yet both incidents unveil the lord’s major flaw. The lord is again too dwelled in his own thoughts to perceive reality. He has lived for too long as a spirit in his mind that he is not able to see the truth in front of him.

The third divergence is that there’s actually a misunderstanding. While the painter is just asking the noble to stop, because he is exhausted and fears to show pleasure, the lord has the impression that Baek Na-Kyum is rejecting him totally, begging him to let him go forever. That’s the reason why the noble replies later that

5. “Never”

And now, you can understand what my next point will be: the word “never”. Striking is that this idiom is constantly present in Yoon Seungho’s mind. Here, it is implied due to the utilization of the different tenses (simple past – present). When he rejected his childhood friend, there was an allusion to never too (“not the slightest chance of ever”). And in chapter 63, it appears twice. This unveils the lord’s true mind. He will never be loved. However, while revealing his true thoughts, he expresses a positive emotion for the first time. He felt joy due to the painter’s words This is a huge step for the lord, which doesn’t escape Baek Na-Kyum’s notice. The painter is indeed surprised and moved in my opinion, although he doesn’t have the time to reply to this admission. The fact that the painter is looking at Seungho’s eyes without any fear or disgust indicates for me that Baek Na-Kyum is slowly grasping the noble’s state of mind. For the first time, he is discovering the lord’s insecurities and wounds. In the past, it was different, since the artist was himself blind and deaf due to Jung In-Hun’s abandonment and betrayal. He also avoided his lover’s gaze and didn’t pay attention to his words (chapter 49) Besides, during their rough sexual encounter, the painter’s mind is neither polluted by the scholar’s doctrines nor influenced by his negative emotional state. Even the idiom “never once” outlines the lord’s despair and pain. I believe that the artist is able to sense that the noble was in a similar situation than himself. Besides, let’s not forget that the artist heard about the main lead’s past from the doctor.

6. The significance of the shed scene

In the first version, I had voiced that the painter wouldn’t react, like the lord had anticipated and I was proven correct. When he got the opportunity to leave the mansion, Baek Na-Kyum refused to follow his sister. In my opinion, their interaction in the shed was the reason for his stay, while every one imagined that this would be the cause for his departure. Imagine the irony. Kim, Min and Heena all saw the wrecked Baek Na-Kyum, therefore they could only see it as mistreatment. Nonetheless, the painter heard, saw and sensed the lord’s despair and affection during this intercourse. Besides, observe that in the following picture, Baek Na-Kyum is neither avoiding nor fearing the aristocrat’s gaze. I couldn’t help myself connecting this to the scene in chapter 52, where the artist was wondering about the lord’s impenetrable gaze and his indifferent expression. By showing himself entirely, with his self-hatred and longing for love, the artist was sensitive enough to comprehend the lord’s state of mind. That’s why I see here another difference to the scene in chapter 25. This time, there is a real conversation, even if there’s a misunderstanding from Yoon Seungho. The lord is communicating his thoughts and emotions, although the conversation doesn’t start right away. In fact, the chronology differs. First, they have rough sex, but the moment the painter whispers Lord Seungho, the latter decides to turn around the artist and face him. This is the first time that Baek Na–Kyum calls him like that in his presence. This did catch his notice. Then when he detects the painter’s blush, he starts talking but this time, this is no longer a dialog of the deaf. This time, the lord is listening more to the artist’s words, exactly like I had anticipated. When the picture of a blushing Baek Na-Kyum was briefly released, I couldn’t restrain myself from associating this picture to the scene in chapter 35, where the lord decided to give it another try, after witnessing the painter’s blushing. After hearing “Lord Seungho” and seeing his red face, the lord is opening up, however his doubts and self-hatred are too deeply rooted in the aristocrat to have a huge revelation. He can’t believe that the painter is in love with him…. especially after the lord made him cry so much. That’s why at the end, he prefers relying on his status as master to claim the painter. His deep lack of confidence is strongly intertwined with the idea of happiness. He has the impression, he will never be able to make someone happy. The importance of the artist’s smile in his life illuminates two aspects:

Yoon Seungho had no goal in his life before meeting the low-born. He was just living as a ghost. After their Wedding night, the noble hoped that he would become the source of happiness for someone. Making his partner happy would become his goal.
He saw no meaning in his life. He was just the source of misery, shame and hatred. If he is able to make someone smile, then his life has a sense. That’s why he can start living properly.

As a first conclusion, the chapter 63 announced the coming breakthrough and this interpretation is proven correct. The painter was able to get a glimpse of Seungho’s true thoughts and emotions and accept it. He was no longer in denial about his lover’s adoration. After this night, he was more struggling with his own feelings. Exactly like I had predicted, this final transformation was accompanied with a tragedy and with huge pain. Yoon Seungho had to admit that his self-hatred led him to commit wrongdoings towards his loved one. Hence he was forced to give up on his title. He could no longer be a noble, as he had behaved like a “savage”. On the other hand, the painter had proven his “nobility” by remaining faithful and loyal despite the harsh treatment. Baek Na-Kyum’s empathy, endurance and courage pushed the lord to get rid of the terrible reflection the aristocrat had about himself. As the painter’s servant, Yoon Seungho is less pressured and he has the artist as role model.

Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for topics or manhwas, feel free to ask. If you enjoyed reading it, retweet it or push the button like. My reddit- Instagram- tumblr-twitter account is: @bebebisous33. Thanks for reading and the support.

Painter Of The Night: Fire and darkness : Valet Kim – part 2 (second version)

December 13, 2020June 3, 2021 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 6 Comments

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

In the first part, I pointed out that the butler Kim was acting more and more on his own, leaving his role as servant behind. In other words, as time passed on, he was behaving more and more like Baek Na-Kyum and Yoon Seungho’s guardian. Striking is that guardian has two significations:

1. a warden –

2. “Guardian” means the person who, under court order, is the guardian of the person of the child or the public or private agency with whom the child has been placed by a court. This means that the guardian is responsible for the well-being of the child.

The irony is that in the first version, I used this word “guardian” to describe the butler, though I had the second meaning in my mind. For me, it was a synonym for surrogate father. But after chapter 65, my perception about valet Kim changed dramatically. Yet, the more I examined the manhwa, the more I could already discover new symbolisms related to the butler. I only realized in chapter 62 the true role played by valet Kim in the manhwa. In this terrible but terrific episode, two panels stroke my attention making me recognize, Kim would play a huge part in the noble’s liberation from his prison. To sum up, he would contribute to his release. Nonetheless contrary to the first version, the butler would free him against his will. How did I come up to this idea of the release? Observe the following panels:

What do they have in common? Yes, Kim is linked to doors, but more precisely to open doors. And now, if the manhwalovers recall all the episodes, where the valet appeared, they will confirm this observation. First, it starts with the episode 7 . Then in chapter 11, he is seen in three different panels, standing next to an open door. And notice that in the second drawing above, he even opens the door in order to bring the meal to the painter’s study, where his master wishes to eat. And this picture announces his future role as doorman, because he is the one, who opens the door in chapter 16. In my essay about Deok-Jae, I had explained, how the latter had used the valet to stop Seungho from having sex with the painter. The jealous servant had manipulated the butler letting him think that the lord was alone and had asked for him. Since Byeonduck liked the tweet where I mentioned his involvement, I saw it as a confirmation for my theory. However, during that incident, the loyal butler hid his identity in order to escape a possible punishment. His master could have punished him for opening the door without his consent and order. Hence he ran away. Simultaneously, the valet hoped that with the open door, the painter would be able to escape, and no servant would get punished except Baek Na-Kyum who had run away from him. He chose anonymity to cover up his wrongdoing. In this moment, he had become the invisible hand, which I noted as well, when I examined his involvement during the night of the rape. Note that Kim was the one, who allowed the painter to run away, yet he hid his participation again, as he was never present in the panels. Then I could add this panel from episode 56 , episode and episode 67: He kept opening the door.

But in order to prove my theory that Kim is a porter and as such Yoon Seungho’s jailer who will be forced to release him, I’ll bring up more pictures. But I won’t respect the chronology of Painter Of the Night, because I will need to examine certain scenes necessary for my interpretation. We can sense the connection between Kim and the door opening in chapter 37, where he attempts to stop Yoon Seung-Won from opening the master’s door . And this is no coincidence that the butler didn’t want the door to be opened. Since the lord was no longer acting like an obedient child , the valet recognized that he needed to keep Baek Na-Kyum by his master’s side so that the latter would become obedient again. This meant that the butler desired to offer the low-born as a plaything to his lord. That’s why the artist was drugged and had to be imprisoned next to Yoon Seungho. Then in chapter 17, Byeonduck created such a panel: In this scene, the butler kept the protagonist’s door closed. He acted, as if he had opened the door, while in reality he had never delivered his master the food. In this scene, the butler was indeed acting like a prison warden. And this observation led me to the following conclusion: the butler is only connected to door opening in the presence of Baek Na-Kyum. Therefore in episode 44 he waits by Baek Na-Kyum’s side in front of the open door. In this scene, the butler hoped that he would run away and abandon his master. He imagined that after the betrayal and abandonment from the scholar, the artist would be so heartbroken, that he would desert the mansion. Remember the noble’s words in that chapter: Why should he stay, if the learned sir had betrayed him?

During the second season, Byeonduck even used this function more obviously. In chapter 45, he is seen twice on the threshold of a building. And note, in the second panel he enters the mansion by pushing the door. And in this episode, the butler’s actions were related to the artist. Therefore I am presenting this theory. Kim would like the low-born to disappear from the mansion in the end, consequently the open door is a visualization of this mindset. That’s why we had this panel in chapter 67: Baek Na-Kyum’s presence in the mansion caused more trouble for the valet. He was indeed the artist’s warden. However, for the painter’s fate mirrors the master’s, this signifies that Kim played a similar function towards his master. He was his guardian, and as such his jailer. Moreover, I had connected the painter to the door which implicates that the noble would be associated to the door as well. And this means that little by little, Yoon Seungho’s position was affected. He would no longer be connected to the window, but to the door opening. This explicates why the open door is more and more related to the wealthy main lead.

But in order to be able to leave his prison, the protagonist had to not only remove the butler from his side, but also to open the door himself. And if you pay attention to the lord’s position to the door in the second season, you’ll remember certainly these panels:

: the noble opened himself the door and note that during that incident, Kim was not present!! This scene was important, as it already announced the lord’s liberation. This explicates why the second season ends in the town: He is now free just like the artist. The mansion is no longer a prison, but a home. This stood in opposition to the end of the first season, as it symbolized that the painter was trapped too. Since Yoon Seungho couldn’t leave the mansion, the painter became a prisoner as well.
Chapter 47: The door was open, but the readers never see him opening the door. He remained in the bedchamber too.
Chapter 48: He went to the painter’s study on his own, indicating that he was moving now more freely. Let’s not forget that during the first season, he often was accompanied by Kim (chapter 20 , chapter 22 the hunt , chapter 25 ). He was keeping an eye on his prisoner while faking he was there as his protector.
In chapter 50, the manhwaworms viewed him on the threshold of the scholar’s room. Here, the artist was not present, but he was the main topic of the discussion. What caught my attention is that the door was wide open, yet the lord was standing far away from the door. The readers didn’t even see him opening the door. Furthermore Kim’s position changed gradually, because he came closer to his lord and even entered the room. And the switch of position reflected his change of attitude. In the last picture, he was giving his lord an advice. He was no longer acting as the submissive and obedient servant, but as his advisor, which annoyed Yoon Seungho. Hence the lord has to remind him of his true position: he is just a domestic and not an advisor, a place reserved to a noble. But despite his scolding, the noble did listen to his “loyal butler”. With his words, he persuaded his master to keep his distance from the artist. Out of pity, the noble should resign. And now you comprehend why the noble had a relapse after this conversation. The butler was able to keep him in his cage. That’s why we never see him leave the room, a symbol for his cage. And this interpretation reinforces my theory that Kim was indeed responsible for Yoon Seungho’s Stockholm Syndrome. The chapter 50 truly showed that despite his social position, the butler saw himself superior to his master. He was not just the lord’s right-hand, but his heart and his mind. He got closer to his master and even gave his opinion, though he had not been asked. He had in reality usurped his position. To sum up, behind his submissive attitude, he behaved the exact opposite.
And now, if you compare the scene from chapter 50 with the pictures from chapter 62, you’ll detect the progression: The butler was outside of the shed, entered the room, while the noble was standing in front of the threshold. His face was in the darkness, because he was misled by Kim’s words. Triggered by the idiom “I do not believe”, the main lead was encouraged to think that he had been betrayed and abandoned by the artist, for belief and knowledge stands in opposition. However, their position mirrored the noble’s liberation. His mind was still trapped in the cage, but his body was slowly moving towards the door. Besides, let’s not forget that in that scene again, the noble had also opened the door, but the manhwaphiles couldn’t witness it one more time.
And the manhwaphiles can grasp the signification of the incident in chapter 64: The noble was actually overcoming his trauma. He opened the door which was strongly connected to his rape from his childhood. (chapter 65) Back then, the butler had not opened the door symbolizing that the domestic was covering up the crime. He only opened the door after the incident and made sure that this secret would remain in the room. (chapter 65). Consequently, he had to blame the victim and make him feel guilty. By reliving his trauma and exposed to his biggest fear, the lord was able to move on. This explicates why he had sex with Baek Na-Kyum in the open afterwards. This was strongly connected to his huge guilt caused by the butler’s manipulations after the first rape. He needed to show that there was nothing wrong and he shouldn’t feel guilty. Yet, there’s no ambiguity that this action was done unconsciously. While the painter was using the closed door to hide his sexuality and homosexuality, the closed door for Yoon Seungho represented the noble’s trauma: the first rape which marked his road to hell. This elucidates why the butler is associated to the darkness which is perceptible in the following panels: (chapter 33) (chapter 37) (chapter 62) (chapter 65) His face or body is always standing in the shadow. This explicates why he often works in the shadow. This is an evidence that the butler is related to darkness.
But the final liberation from his jailer happened in episode 68: This is no coincidence that the noble was even seen opening the door. The butler was able to escape a punishment from his lord with his words (pity for the painter and his terrible portrait resembling his father), yet at the end the butler ends up in the backyard. Note the absence of the door, a sign of his loss of power. He has to lie low, as the main lead is no longer trusting him. This picture represents the butler’s position. He kept his master captive, but the moment the latter liberated himself, the butler could no longer rule the courtyard. That’s why he lives in the backyard which was already announced in chapter 65. Out of fear for his life, he prefers living in a secluded area. Yet, this doesn’t mean that this is the end for Kim… the noble has not discovered his multiple betrayals yet. Remember that the lord has not even recovered from his amnesia.

However, this essay is also referring to light. Striking is that the butler is linked to light as well. How is it possible? In chapter 20, Kim was the only witness of their “Wedding night” and strangely, he was standing next to the open door with a light. And his connection to fire is even shown in another scene. (chapter 36) The domestic is not only related to the open door, but also to light. Light is often associated to knowledge and wisdom, hence the philosophical movement in 18th Century in Europe is called “Enlightenment”. The philosophes and scientists desired to transform their society and government into better ones, bringing technological progress, knowledge, especially liberty and equality to people. They wanted to free the people’s mind from obscurantism imposed by absolute monarchy and Church. On the other hand, you’ll notice that Kim’s light is covered by glass or paper. (chapter 25) This is important, for it symbolizes that the butler is not only possessing knowledge, but also he is not sharing it. Moreover, the readers shouldn’t forget that Church in Middle-Age was the owner of knowledge. Only clergy could write and read. Universities were in the hands of clergymen. Besides, in many religions, candles are used for prayers. I can’t help myself thinking about Karl Marx’s quote: “Religion is the opium of the people“. Therefore I come to the following conclusion. Kim is also a priest, but he embodies the Church from Middle-Age. Since I am a teacher in European History, my readers can understand why I am drawing parallels between the butler and Christian Church from Middle-Age.

These were the functions from Church in Middle-Age:

a protective and social role: Charity towards the poor (chapter 68), care of the sick (chapter 33) (chapter 57), channelling the violence of the “bellatores” (those who fight) thanks to the Peace of God and the Truce of God. Remember how he stopped his master from killing Jung In-Hun in chapter 27 by sending the white-bearded domestic.

judicial role: ecclesiastical justice. This means that the clergy could order the arrest of heretics, but for that the religious institution needed the intervention of the local lord. That’s why we have this scene: (chapter 65) The lord is the butler’s sword. While the butler was judging the physician, Yoon Seungho was presented as the executioner of the sentence. Besides, the Church could also exercise seigneurial justice on its lands. Therefore the manhwaphiles could witness how the valet gave a punishment to Deok-Jae: clean up the mess. (chapter 47) Both sentences had a common denominator: hypocrisy, because in the first case, the butler was covering up his own participation and in the second case, the vicious servant didn’t feel remorse after that sentence.

Economic role: the Church became rich thanks to its levies (the tithe), donations, and the role of landlord that it held on its lands, while preaching humbleness and selflessness. You could detect the butler’s power and wealth, as he could dress up like a noble (chapter 45) (chapter 57) and even walk around without his master’s authorization.

Cultural role: The Latin language was preserved by the Church. The Church taught through libraries and scriptoria. And knowledge is power, that’s why Kim keeps preaching this philosophy: . Ignorance is a blessing for him, since he could manipulate his master and the staff, a similar attitude of The Church from Middle-Age.

Political role: the power of the king is sacred. The threats of excommunication displayed the power of the Church on the political life and on Kings. In The Holy Roman Empire (Germany), Henry IV. got excommunicated by the Pope Gregory VII in 1066 which marked the beginning of Investiture Controversy. I won’t go into details, but this battle between the German Emperor and The Pope was important, as it was to determine which authorities was higher: The temporal authorities (King/Emperor) or the religious institution (The Pope). In the long run, the Church could only lose its power. It started with the Renaissance and the invention of letterpress printing which allowed people to have access to books and as such to knowledge. But the increasing loss of power of The Church reached a new peak with the new philosophical current Enlightenment. And if you pay attention to the protagonist, you could perceive a parallel between the fear of excommunication in Middle-Age and Yoon Seungho’s abandonment issues.

And this comparison made me realize this. Kim is also a priest, but he should be more associated to the Middle-Age and as such obscurantism. This explicates why he is alone and dislikes sex and homosexuality. That’s the reason why why he is single reminding us of the vow of chastity and his video was in black and in white: a combination of darkness and light. Besides, as a priest, it explicates why he is a reinforcer of traditions and social norms. Just like the Church in Middle-Age, he knows a lot but he keeps it to himself. He only reveals certain elements, when it serves his own interests. From my point of view, his “knowledge” is used for deception. The light is a diversion, he only revealed semi-truths or he was paltering, meaning that he delayed to expose the truth to his master. We had the perfect example in chapter 50. When he explained the content of the conversation in the library, he created the impression that the painter had not chosen his master. He has not run away, as he was wounded. The truth is that he had indeed selected Yoon Seungho as his master. He had remained by his side, though the door was wide open. Kim never exposed the event at the door in chapter 44 and the escape in chapter 46. He couldn’t divulge this, since this would represent a confession of his crimes: encouraging the artist to leave the mansion or not following his master’s order properly. That’s why I see here another confirmation that Kim’s knowledge and light is a symbol for his manipulations. Furthermore, the lamp doesn’t ooze warmth, a sign that there’s no genuine affection between the domestic and the main leads.

One might argue that in chapter 25, Kim is associated to a closed door, hence this would refute my theory. However, if you look carefully, the nice servant is actually opening the door, visible thanks to the sound. In fact, this image mirrors Kim’s actual situation and disposition. He tried to bury the truth, and it ended in a disaster. Here, he was running away, because he didn’t want to face his guilt. At the same time, this image reflected his role in the manhwa: He was the jailer and the invisible hand, which would pull the strings in the shadow, helped the painter from the shadow for his own interests and not for Baek Na-Kyum’s sake. That’s why I judge the chapters 62-63-64 as a new version of that fateful night in the first season (25-26-27-28). This significates that Kim contributed to Yoon Seungho’s release with his actions. Let’s not forget that in chapter 29, he remained silent and was sweating, because in his mind, the scholar and the painter were now on the run. They acted, as if they had no idea. And this situation occurred again in chapter 64: He feigned ignorance and blindness, nonetheless the truth is that he recognized the nature of the incident. He was reminded of the past. That’s the reason why the butler’s memory resurfaced in the next morning. The only difference to the first season is that during the sex marathon the liberation was not physical, but mental. The noble was freeing himself from the shackles from his past.

However, the most significant connection to the open door occurred in chapter 35. Here, he opened not only the door, but also the windows. Furthermore, he even let the door open while tidying his master’s room. Whereas this scene didn’t seem to have a huge signification, it became a different meaning now, when we associated the valet to a warden. Due to Kim’s actions, the lord witnessed the intimate interaction between the scholar and the artist in the courtyard. By opening the window, the lord was confronted with a certain reality. Despite the sex marathon, he hadn’t won the painter’s heart, as the latter was still affected by Jung In-Hun’s gestures and words. But Kim did it on purpose: the so-called light and knowledge created the illusion that the painter was unfaithful. In fact, Seungho could never witness the low-born’s several disappointments. Due to Kim’s intervention, the lord became so jealous and infuriated, that he grabbed his sword, ready to kill the artist. In my mind, the lord was also suicidal here. However, nothing happened back then, as the artist didn’t leave the mansion. Like lord Seungho pointed out, if he had stepped out, he would have killed him. This scene had another signification: the lord was slowly getting closer to the mansion’s door. And since the valet was by his side, he saw his master’s jealousy and insecurities. The latter was again on the verge to become mad and suicidal. The domestic recognized, how desperate and dangerous the aristocrat was during that morning and hoped, the noble would kill Baek Na-Kyum with his own hands. This situation happened again in chapter 61: However, this time the lord’s murdering tendency was triggered by the servants’ statement: he had run away. The assistant had in reality manipulated the staff. He had learned that he could no longer feign ignorance like in the past (chapter 29). Hence he used belief for his scheme. That’s why I believe that in chapter 62, the butler chose to influence his master directly , for the first attempt to manipulate him through his domestics had already failed. The lord hadn’t killed the artist, but brought him back to the mansion. At the same time, it becomes comprehensible why Kim is also associated to light, for belief is a synonym for religion. With “belief”, he is able to manipulate people, therefore Jihwa keeps repeating “I know”. He believes that he possesses knowledge, while in truth he knows nothing, for he can not understand the main lead’s suffering.

And now imagine, the protagonist had the impression that the artist had left his side, although this time he had confessed for real. Since the artist was no longer refusing his advances and even called his name during the night, he came to the conclusion, that the artist must have faked everything, which is even worse than before. And now, the manhwaphiles can comprehend why I came to the idea that the valet would be linked to the opening of the door. Notice that during the last two chapters, he entered the room and spoke to his master. (chapter 61) (chapter 62). In the last picture, he was even siding to the artist, since he was kneeling next to Baek Na-Kyum. Not only his words, but also his position seemed to reflect his thoughts. But this was a subterfuge. It looked like he was defending the artist, while in reality, he was encouraging his master to “believe” his “fears”. No wonder why the lord was infuriated. Deep down, he sensed that he was pushed to punish the painter for his betrayal and abandonment. The aristocrat threatened him with a terrible punishment. He might lose his tongue, if he kept encouraging his mistrust towards Baek Na-Kyum. In my opinion, the butler feared that his involvement in the abduction could be revealed. Remember my observation that the butler covered up NAmeless’ traces. This is not surprising that the butler kept looking at the door and visited his lord later. (chapter 61) The reason for his visit was the painter’s reaction. This time, the domestic could observe the artist was still alive, but more importantly he could move freely in the shed. For me, although it appears like Kim was showing concern for the low-born, the reality was that he was worried about his own safety and survival. Baek Na-Kyum could reveal how he got abducted and the noble might question his butler’s whereabouts and actions.

In the first version, I had predicted Kim’s intervention which turned out to be true and false at the same time. He approached the barn, but he didn’t help the poor commoner. This night revealed his true personality: his hypocrisy and cowardice. Exactly like I had envisaged, he had been a witness of the noble’s first rape, but he chose to forget this event. If he didn’t take it to heart, he wouldn’t feel terribly guilty. In that chapter he truly acted like a prison guardian, and we could say that in truth the light was only following him and not the main leads. Under this new aspect, the manhwaphiles can grasp why Jung In-Hun and Kim are so similar. Both are like priests using social injustice and social norms to their own advantages. That’s why they were seen together in chapter 7: Both represented the darkness of the mind. The readers will certainly recall that the scholar is not attempting to teach the commoners and Baek Na-Kyum properly. And this leads me to the final conclusion: Baek Na-Kyum and Yoon Seungho are in reality the light and fire (chapter 57) (chapter 62), this explicates why the lord could find the door and open it.

But he couldn’t open the painter’s study in chapter 68 for one simple reason. Baek Na-Kyum had to do it himself too. Yoon Seungho had liberated himself thanks to his lover. The painter had to make the same experience. By opening the door and not following his sister, he was making the following statement to the protagonist: he was no prisoner, he had chosen Yoon Seungho as his master. Moreover, he was accepting his homosexuality and his relationship with the main lead.

On the other hand, the butler’s retreat in the backyard doesn’t mean a complete defeat for the domestic. He still represents a source of danger for the two protagonists. That’s why I have the feeling that he could collaborate with the scholar, for I believe that their desires will be aligned. First, Yoon Seungho could abandon the learned sir so that Min approaches the scholar. Since Kim’s biggest wish is to remove the painter from his master’s side, he will work again for Black Heart.

Painter Of The Night: “Fire and darkness – valet Kim – part 1” second version

December 11, 2020May 8, 2021 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 2 Comments

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. If you want to read more essays, here is the link to the table of contents: https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/table-of-contents-painter-of-the-night/

The main topic of this essay will be the butler Kim, as I believe that he will play a huge role during this fateful and tragic night. However, before writing any prediction, it is important to analyze the evolution of his relationship with Yoon Seungho. The gradual change of their bond explains, why there’ll be a confrontation. As we are about to witness a turning point in the main lead’s life, it signifies that this will affect Kim as well. That’s why in the first part, I’ll focus on the change of Kim’s attitude towards his lord, before imagining a possible continuation of chapter 62. From my point of view, the rebirth of the phoenix, which is another clue for the fire, is strongly connected to valet Kim, because the latter represents a part of his past. In order to get reborn, you need to cut ties with the past. Yet, at the same time, the servant is connected to the future [see for that, the essay called “Past, present and future – part 3”], as he keeps scheming. Consequently, I come to the conclusion that the butler will be the trigger for the lord’s final metamorphosis, whereas Baek Na-Kyum is the cause for Yoon Seungho’s change.

In my first essay about Kim entitled “The helping hand”, https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/06/16/painter-of-the-night-the-helping-hand/

I had described, how the butler would act as if he was helping his master from behind the scene. Nevertheless, initially he disapproved the main lead’s desire to have the painter as his lover, hence he advised Baek Na-Kyum not to remember anything. He didn’t desire Baek Na-Kyum to recall their Wedding night, because if he did, this could definitely affect Kim’s position. Striking is that with his advice, he acted as a father rejecting the son’s choice for his partner. But he couldn’t do it so openly due to his social status: he is just a servant, a commoner, therefore he has no right to meddle in his master’s life.

What caught my attention is that during the terrible night of the rape and its consequences, the valet played a huge role. First, he was the one who brought the low-born to the pavilion, just like he was the one who had to fetch him and bring him to the bathroom. Hence he became the only witness of his master’s wrongdoing. However, like I mentioned it before, the butler is responsible for the forced sex due to his words. First, he gave the impression that he showed concern for him, when he discovered the scar on his face. Secondly, once he met him in the hallway, he didn’t dare say anything and even avoided his gaze. He looked definitely uncomfortable and even scared by him. Why? It is because for the first time, the butler had to face himself his master’s mood swings. So far, the painter had been the only one facing the noble’s bad temper. In my opinion, when the butler claimed that he feared his master, he was definitely lying, for he had always been his right-hand. That’s why he never criticized his lord before. He didn’t have the need to do. However, Kim’s position got affected with the rape. Due to his involvement, he triggered the lord’s trauma, hence he was confronted with the lord’s terrible mood. Therefore many readers and me included thought that Kim’s words from chapter 12 were true. Yet, the reality is different, as this situation only appears in episode 25 and 26. Hence he decides to act behind his master’s back after his last meeting in the hallway. He got surprised by the lord’s action, nevertheless he knew that the lord’s emotional state hadn’t returned to normality. The butler recognized that the main lead was still boiling inside due to his anger and pain, though his expression was cold and detached. Kim sensed that another fight between the master and the low-born would occur, since the latter couldn’t calm down and even reproached him his silence before. Because the painter was brave enough to resist the noble (the scar) and criticize the butler, the latter could already imagine the artist’s reaction. Furthermore, the domestic knew about the existence of the love triangle, since he had heard the artist’s love confession addressed to his learned sir. As you can observe, each time Kim was the only witness of Yoon Seungho’s actions and wrongdoings. First, he impersonated the scholar and slept with someone, who seemed not to love him. Secondly, he forced himself on the painter in order to obtain what he was longing: love. Yet, at no moment, the butler criticized his master, he chose to remain silent. One might say that he was in no position to express his opinion, as he is just a servant. However, like I described it in the analysis “The birth of the zombie”, the lord relied on Kim’s suggestions and actions all the time. This explicates why the head-maid keeps asking for Kim’s help and advice. (chapter 17) (chapter 65) For he could act as his advisor, this means that he could have told the truth to his lord. There’s no doubt that through his conversation in the woods, he recognized that there could be a misunderstanding between Yoon Seungho and Baek Na-Kyum. Yet, he chose not to reveal this information, because that way, he would create a situation, where the lord would be rejected. In other words, the scene in the pavilion was a new version of the Wedding night. Besides, the manhwaphiles should recall that the butler played a huge role there as well, because he created an incident: the disappearance of the expensive wine.

But let’s go back to the reprimand expressed by Baek Na-Kyum towards the servant who seems so gentle and caring. Since Kim has never told the artist the truth, the former can be accused of lying by omission. Kim envisioned that if the past was buried and never mentioned, then it was, as if nothing had happened. And this reminded me of Nameless’ behavior and thoughts. Since the painter had been sent back to Yoon Seungho, it was, as if no crime had been committed. In other words, the criminal is actually trying to bury the truth as well. He is also asking the victim to lie by omission. Unlike the loyal servant, Nameless threatened the painter. And now, you can understand why my connection to chapter 26 was correct in the end. However, there’s a huge difference between Nameless and valet Kim, both representatives of the future. The butler wasn’t feeling sorry for the victim and the perpetrator at all, while it’s the opposite for the hired assassin: (chapter 60) (chapter 66). Valet Kim only fakes concern and care, because his motto is: The contrast is surprising, because one would expect that after spending so much time with Baek Na-Kyum and his master, he should have come to like or pity them.

This explicates why hearing these words, the butler could only feel guilty. Hence he didn’t reply. To be more precisely, he was almost left speechless, because he was stuttering. At the end, he just added that he would bring him new clothes. With his lack of response and his desertion from the bathroom, it is clear that the servant was running away, for he didn’t want to face his own responsibilities. He was literally leaving the artist’s side. The change of clothes was a good excuse for him not to witness Baek Na-Kyum’s tears. I am quite certain that the low-born’s reaction must have reminded Kim of Yoon Seungho’s past as well. Striking is that both characters, Kim and Yoon Seungho, were annoyed by his cry and tears. Why? It is because the tears Why? It is, because the tears expose the wound and represent the proof of a misdeed. And their common reaction leads me to the following deductions:

The main lead was asked not to cry, when he was wounded in his past. No one provided him comfort as well. His father had already rejected him and the valet thought, it was not his business to do so. He was just a servant in the end.
During the first and second season, we encountered a wounded main character, who could only become infuriated or laugh in a cynical way. Remember his reaction, when he received the fake letter. He was hiding his eyes from his assistant, while he was somehow laughing. In this scene, it becomes visible that the lord is hurt, and this represents a proof that Kim must have requested from him to stop crying in his youth too. The noble has already internalized the gesture: he is not allowed to show his tears in front of his assistant. Moreover, although he is deeply wounded, he can’t shed tears, since he has long forgotten how to do so. And this was for me another clue that the main character must have encountered so many bad experiences that he could no longer cry. This assumption was proven correct, when Byeonduck allowed the readers to witness the noble’s nightmare: his past is indeed very tragic and painful. (chapter 74) The absence of the noble’s tears made me realize this: Yoon Seungho stands in opposition to his childhood friend. While the latter could cry so easily, the other lacked the ability to do so. Yet, the protagonist compensated his disability with his mind’s eye. (chapter 3) Thanks to his invisible mind’s eye, the lord was able to reflect on himself and recognize his wrongdoings. Unlike the red-haired aristocrat, the protagonist felt huge pangs of conscience very early on, while it took his friend a long time to recognize his mistake. He was the one responsible for losing his lover.

Now, you might criticize me for mentioning all this, while I had written above that valet Kim was in the center of this essay. The reason for this is the following: I believe that the tears will be the symbol of Yoon Seungho’s rebirth. Since Jihwa expressed regrets for the first time, I have the feeling that we will see the lord crying at some point. And remember that I had already announced that Jihwa and Seungho were put in the same situation, hence we had two similar panels. (chapter 61) (chapter 62) And observe that the moment, Jihwa realizes his huge mistake and expresses remorse, he drops his doctrine about the distinction between nobles and commoners. He doesn’t mind being embraced by a low-born, even a criminal. Notice what Yoon Seungho is experiencing happens the next night after Jihwa’s emancipation. Since we had a scene with three persons in the woodshed, then I had the feeling that in the grange, we could have a scene with 3 people as well (past, present and future). So I predicted that this night would have the same impact for the powerful protagonist, yet that his rebirth would be accompanied with pain and a tragedy. And my predictions were correct: during this night, the third person in the shed is the perpetrator of Yoon Seungho’s rape which was witnessed by the butler.

And now, let’s return our attention to the so-called loyal butler. Once the latter saw his master returning to the bathroom, he detected that a terrible incident would happen. Therefore he must have witnessed how the lord went grabbing his sword. This explicates why he made sure that the scholar Jung In-Hun would leave his room. He sent the white-bearded servant in order to lure the teacher outside the building, so that his master wouldn’t be able to kill him. I mean, why would the domestic answer to his question during the night, while we clearly saw that the teacher was already lying in his bed before? My first explication was that Kim was trying to help his master, because the scholar’s death would have caused a real scandal. Nevertheless, my interpretation has changed. He did it in order to secure his position: if Yoon Seungho had killed a noble, he could have been persecuted and as such the butler’s fate would have been affected. There’s no ambiguity that after the rape, Kim knew how his lord was thinking and feeling. However, if you read the manhwa, you’ll never see him acting behind the scene. You come only to this observation after examining the chapters carefully. The sudden appearance of the old servant who asks the low noble to follow him outside, while the former wonders about this action. Besides, I had clearly pointed out the theory that the assistant must have been responsible for the painter’s first escape. It was his first direct involvement, and his disobedience could have been noticed by his master. We have to envision a new version of this situation: Kim encouraged the painter to flee by telling him where the scholar was. (chapter 12)Since the butler had always acted in the shadow, he imagined that he would success like in the past. Yet, he never expected that Jung In-Hun would ruin his plan. While the valet acted as a selfless and genuine person, the learned sir behaved the opposite. However, their attitudes have something in common: fakeness and selfishness. There’s no doubt that the butler envisioned that he could act like in the past, thus history is repeating itself. Yoon Seungho had been exposed to the same situation, where he was abused sexually and couldn’t escape. Yet, contrary to the past, neither the painter nor the scholar acted like the butler had anticipated, because the valet didn’t judge the scholar’s personality correctly. He thought, the former teacher would fear for his life after hearing from the painter that his life was in danger. He never anticipated that as a low noble, he would mistrust the low-born’s statement. And if you pay attention to the evolution of the story, you’ll notice that Kim’s actions are gradually revealed during the first and second season. During the night of the forced sex, Kim acted behind the scene, yet the chapter 29 marked a turning point in the butler’s life. He got punished for his betrayal, although the protagonist got unaware of this: Why? For he was the lord’s right-hand, he was forced to beg for Yoon Seungho’s forgiveness. All the staff expected this from the valet, since he was the closest assistant to Yoon Seungho.

The domestic had imagined that once the artist had deserted the house, Jung In-Hun would follow him after hearing from him about the events of the previous night. His involvement was visible the moment he remained silent, while Deok-Jae claimed his ignorance about the whereabouts of the low noble. Kim never refuted the vicious servant’s words, when the latter spoke in his name (“we”). Notice that Kim was sweating and looked pale, indicating a huge discomfort. He never imagined their return, just like he never expected the noble’s outburst. Nothing could stop him, he became so infuriated and violent that he wasn’t even spared. Why this miscalculation? From my perspective, it is related to the butler’s judgement about his master. In his mind, Yoon Seungho is just a man consumed by lust, hence he envisioned that the painter was just a plaything. He believed that once out of the sight, out of the mind.

That’s why from that moment (chapter 30), he changed his strategy and chose to treat the painter as his master’s sex toy or prostitute. Hence he provided the artist with an aphrodisiac, so that the painter would get an erection in the lord’s presence. Due to the sex marathon, Baek Na-Kyum almost lost his life, hence he thought that if this sexual intercourse was renewed: the noble couldn’t restrain himself and would have sex with the artist, until the latter dies. Consequently, he brought back the artist to the lord’s bedchamber just before the commoner woke up and he portrayed his lord in a positive light. Yoon Seungho had taken care of him himself and had left the house, because he felt so guilty. As a conclusion, he decided to use the lord’s thirst for the painter to get rid of Baek Na-Kyum. Observe that he never asked for his master’s approval for the aphrodisiac. He already started giving orders on his own: Deok-Jae was asked to let the painter leave the mansion, then he bought the expensive medicine. But since he was just a butler, he used the closeness to his master to obtain what he wanted. This exposes that Kim already abused his position, in season 1. He claimed to the doctor that his master would have given his approval, because he knew that the aristocrat would never investigate his moves and whereabouts. However, we all know that Yoon Seungho’s desire is to be loved for himself and not because of his status, wealth or a trick. When the valet went so far to buy ink and brushes for the painter, it gave the impression that the butler was caring and gentle. Yet, this scene revealed the butler’s deceptive personality in reality. He spent his lord’s money without asking. He left the mansion on his own and I doubt, his master was aware of his actions. Then he kept sending Deok-Jae to the artist’s study so that the vicious servant would get more and more jealous. If you examined Kim’s behavior more carefully, you would notice that he was acting more and more on his own, to the point that he was no longer waiting for his master’s authorization. That’s why he brought the painter to the physician. (chapter 56) (chapter 58) Under this new light, it becomes comprehensible why the lord questioned his presence at the physician’s While many readers, including myself first, thought, was attempting to bring them closer and as such to play cupid in the end. The reality was the opposite. He always created misunderstandings and problems.

In the past, the butler had always acted as his advisor and assistant through his suggestions, but it was no longer possible. The more time passed on, the more the master recognized that the butler was overstepping his boundaries. The aristocrat was slowly distancing himself from Kim. Hence each time the domestic acted above his position, his master got angry and reminded him of his own position. And now, if the manhwalovers compare both panels, they will note the increasing of violence expressed by Yoon Seungho. While many resented the protagonists for his brutal words, they actually indicate that the main lead is already sensing the manipulative side from the butler. Let’s not forget that in chapter 62, Kim declared this: “I believe” stands in opposition to “I know”. For the domestic is well aware that Yoon Seungho has huge insecurities and as such has an immense mistrust, he will never listen to Kim’s words. By saying “I do not believe”, the valet was influencing the noble to imagine the opposite. From my point of view, he wanted the main lead to kill the painter. Why do I believe this? First, the panel above illustrates that Kim’s head and body stand in the dark. That’s why Yoon Seungho’s face and eyes are in the shadow as well. Secondly, chapter 62 should be a new version from an episode in the first season. The painter was sent to the shed in episode 1. And look what do we have here: A sword! And remember that I have already pointed out that there’s a strong connection between the butler and the sword due to chapter 1, 26, 35, and 50. That’s why I come to the deduction that Kim desired to get rid of the painter through his master’s sword. Hence he said those words: But it backfired on him. He was the one who got threatened with the sword. That’s why the domestic kept monitoring the door of the shed. (chapter 61) (chapter 62) (chapter 64) He was curious to know if the lord had executed the low-born. As a conclusion, Kim represents the darkness, which is totally understandable, because he embodies Yoon Seungho’s traumatic past.

In chapter 50, the weapon was cutting the book and as such Jung In-Hun, yet the noble was definitely angered by Kim’s words, and his gesture was not random. In chapter 62, the menace was much more precise: he would cut off his tongue. This exposes the gradual loss of the butler’s manipulations. From chapter 62 on, Kim is no longer protected from his master’s fury and criticisms. Yet, at the same time, we could observe why the lord’s threads became more visible. It was related to the servant’s words. While in chapter 50, Kim was quite reserved and his advice was full of respect, in chapter 62 he is no longer hiding his true thoughts. Here he is openly making a statement and “criticizing” his lord indirectly. Kim is slowly leaving his status as domestic, he is acting more and more as a senior, just like Yoon Seungho called him “the old man” in chapter 23. As the manhwaphiles could observe, during the second season, the valet is more and more perceived as a servant and no longer as a surrogate father. This means that from chapter 50 on, Kim and the lord just have a master-servant relationship and nothing more. On the other hand, the domestic has always considered Yoon Seungho as his puppet, although he didn’t show it so openly before the appearance of Baek Na-Kyum. There’s a reason for that. Yoon Seungho never tried to have a relationship and never fell in love before. Until his encounter with the painter, Yoon Seungho only had eyes for his butler. First he was with him, when the latter was still innocent and sensitive. He knows his past and secret. In the main lead’s mind, Kim remained by his side out of loyalty and concern. While in the first version of this essay, I imagined that Kim would stop his master from committing another wrongdoing out of worry and care, I only realized my mistake, when the chapter 64 came out. In my opinion, this was a deliberate decision from Byeonduck. She wanted us to hope that Kim would help the painter, only to discover his cowardice and selfishness at the end. However, if you reread the story again, the abandonment and betrayal were predictable in reality. Why? In two occasions, he didn’t intervene… the Wedding night (chapter 20) and the sex marathon (chapter 33). However, each time the painter had to pay a huge price for Yoon Seungho’s misdeeds. In chapter 33, he was more concerned that the painter would reveal his involvement in the escape. This explicates why Kim declared this in chapter 65: He had tried to harm the commoner through his master, but his scheme always failed. As for the remorse, they were always short-lived, like we could in the same episode: The lord was in reality the fire and because Kim spoke to him in chapter 62, the noble was full of mistrust and pain.

And notice that Kim’s attitude towards the painter was never free of criticisms and order. (chapter 36) He dared to scold Baek Na-Kyum blaming him for his relapse. He reprimanded him for acting like a master. He reminded him of his own status: He was just a low-born, hence he should approach the lord. Kim could do so, because both are commoners and the butler stands above the artist. Nevertheless, don’t forget that in that scene the lord had guests. Making such a suggestion was not the right thing to do: it would expose him to danger… one of the nobles could request the artist as a sex partner. That’s why I come to the conclusion that Kim had intended to create a situation where the artist would get gangraped during the night of Min’s visit. That way, Baek Na-Kyum would get so upset that he would flee the house. In other words, this would have become a new version of the night of the rape. Yet, Yoon Seungho protected his lover which Kim hadn’t anticipated.

To sum up, the fire in the cabin symbolized the lord, hence he couldn’t transform totally into a vengeful ghost in a long term. Despite the valet’s manipulations, the lord did follow his heart, hence he provided some warmth for his lover. Kim was the darkness, consequently the noble turned his back on the light, but he could still feel some warmth through the painter’s words and genuine facial expressions.

Protected: Painter Of The Night: “Fire and Darkness: Yoon Seungho” (second version)

December 6, 2020August 2, 2021 ~ Bébébisous33

Painter Of The Night: “Crime and Punishment – part 3”

December 2, 2020December 2, 2020 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 3 Comments

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.

In the first part, I mentioned that Yoon Seungho was a combination of Svidrigailov and Raskolnikov. In this essay, I’ll underline the parallels between the main leads from Painter Of The Night and Crime and Punishment in order to define Yoon Seungho’s future path. The affinities are not random, as both works are actually portraying a society shaken in the grip of decadency, injustice and misery.

Before starting the comparison, I need to introduce briefly Rodion Raskolnikov. He is a poor 23 years old student, who has a loving mother and sister by his side. Yet he had to drop his studies due to his financial struggles. The young man is unfortunately influenced by Nihilism, a mode of social criticism in Russia in the 19th century. This political doctrine didn’t acknowledge any constraint from society on the individual, refusing any religious, metaphysical, moral or political absolute. In other words, for Raskolnikov, he is neither bound by family, nor restrained by laws, social norms and faith. Hence he perceives himself as superhuman. This mentality leads him to plan the murder of a pawnbroker. With this crime, he wants to prove the veracity of his belief. He stands above society. However, what he never expected is the torments following the crime. His guilty conscience represents the center of Dostoevsky’s novel, showing there exists another form of punishment, the stress, doubts and anxiety of trying to avoid punishment and later his remorse.

Due to his crime, he alienates himself more and more from others to the point that he finds his actual situation unbearable. This makes him realize the emptiness of his belief and his actual true condition: he is a human after all and no superhuman. The torments of his guilty conscience pushes him to confess his crime to Sonya, a prostitute. He imagines that their situation is similar, because as a whore, she lives on the margins of society too. She would stand below society, while he would stand above it. However, he recognizes his mistake, since she is sacrificing herself for her family. So her so-called sin, a symbol for selflessness, stands in opposition to Raskolnikov’s, the climax of selfishness. But thanks to Sonya’s love and support, he decides to confess to the authorities and with time he comes to accept himself as a man. In fact, only Sonya’s love was able to move the protagonist to drop his contempt for humanity. We could say that the superman transforms into a human, recognizing his true condition: full of flaws and in no way extraordinary, compared to others. Simultaneously, he becomes more humble and caring.

His condition as superhuman explains why first Rodion pushes away anyone trying to help him to the point, he ends up completely alienated from society. The start of his growing isolation is the result of his pride and intellectualism. The young man considers himself superior to others, so that he can not relate to anyone. Because of this mentality, he views people as tools and uses them for his own interests. He is cold and detached, since he differentiates people into “ordinary” and “extraordinary” which legitimates him to judge them if they are valuable or not for society. Because the pawnbroker abuses her position to let people suffer, Rodion Raskolnikov decides to eliminate her. He justifies his murder as an utilitarian act, he helped society to get rid of someone with no value and utility. Yet, Sonya as his “teacher”, forces the main lead to question his nihilistic belief in the end.

As a conclusion, the Russian protagonist has the impression that he is very different from others, he stands above everyone because of his intelligence and his belief. But at the end, he is forced to drop his doctrine and is transformed into a human, able to love and admit his wrongdoings. He rediscovers his humanity and as such he loses his arrogance.

Striking is that his portray is very similar to Yoon Seungho’s. Both are anti-heroes because of their actions. While the Joseon version commits rape and kills a servant without blinking an eye, the other murders a pawnbroker by justifying it as an utilitarian act. Because Rodion Raskolnikov didn’t expect the presence of a witness, he is forced to assassinate the sister. The student is even brutal in the way he kills the two women: they are both cut by a axe. The protagonists’ wrongdoings symbolize the epitome of selfishness and violence and both legitimate their actions with a reason. In Yoon Seungho’s case, killing the servant was to demonstrate his power demanding respect as he had been lied to. He could do so because as a lord he had the right to decide about his servant’s fate. Then concerning the rape, Yoon Seungho imagined that if they had sex again, the painter would submit himself and acknowledge his superiority. As you can observe, both wrongdoings are related to power and superiority, very similar to Rodion’s philosophy. However, there is a huge difference. Yoon Seungho is entitled to think so because of his actual social position. He stands indeed above others due to his family’s origins and his wealth, whereas the Russian main character is just an impoverished student, who considers himself superior due to his intelligence and skills. Nonetheless they are quite similar in their mentality. Since the Russian student considers himself as superhuman, it means, he is closer to a god than to “normal, mortal” humans. And now, if you focus on the main character from Joseon, you’ll detect a parallel. In the beginning, the lord considers himself as a spirit hence he lives detached from others. This signifies that he doesn’t acknowledge the existence of his body. Since he is only living through his mind, his body is only a tool to defeat his enemies. That’s why he is so cold, distant and indifferent towards others which reminds us of Rodion’s personality. One is a superhuman and the other a spirit, hence they feel so superior to others. Furthermore, the lord was also influenced by his intellectualism. Since he had read so many books, he had the impression, his immense knowledge was surpassing all the other nobles. However, the irony was that he could never show his education and his free spirit as he was totally alienated from society. And his isolation is also visible in the manhwa.

What caught my attention is that he seldom leaves his mansion and if he does, it is always related to Baek Na-Kyum. The latter forced to change his habits. He had to go to a tavern (chapter 1), then he visited his friend Jihwa at dawn (chapter 3) or visited the low noble Jung In-Hun and later strolled through downtown with Baek Na-Kyum (chapter 40 and chapter 45) As you can observe, the painter is the one, who puts an end to his alienation from society, although the lord is not aware of this. We have to question ourselves if the hunts are not the result of Baek Na-Kyum’s positive influence on Yoon Seungho too. It is definitely possible that the latter felt the need to hunt because he was so happy after having experienced their “Wedding night” (chapter 21) and sharing his bed with the artist for the first time (chapter 38).

And now, if we look at the reasons why the protagonist hired the artist in first place, the manhwaphiles realize that it is connected to his unconscious but also to his conscious. In the first case, his gaze and heart were moved by the warmth and love exuding from the images. In the second case, the master wanted to have his victories immortalized. Moreover, the paintings would serve as a proof of his own existence as a spirit. Finally, he couldn’t bear the thought that he could never get new paintings, he needed stronger stimuli. That’s why he told to Baek Na-Kyum in chapter 55 . Note the similarity with Rodion’s thinking. The low-born’s function was first defined by his utility. Yoon Seungho desired to use him as his new toy in order to entertain himself. Striking is that even the words outline the lord’s loneliness and burden. He wasn’t happy at all, he needed distraction. Therefore, I perceive, Yoon Seungho’s brutal honesty as a proof of his own overestimation. He considered himself so superior and level-headed, while in reality he was deeply hurt and isolated. He was deceiving himself. Besides, he could never show his education to others which explains why his own image diverges so much to the one Jihwa and the others have about him. He never recognized the real nature and consequences of his actions. For him, he was just focused on fighting the nobles, while for others, it looks like he was obsessed with sex. Yet we all know that he never felt sexual pleasure before seeing his first portray with his sex partner. What caught my attention here is that the lord doesn’t even acknowledge the artist as human, he is a toy. He has neither rights nor feelings. And this cold and detached judgement corresponds to the lord’s mentality from back then. He was just a ghost hence he didn’t need to pay attention to others and their feelings. They were just tools for his own interests.

Just like Rodion who saw himself as a superhuman in the beginning and accepted his true condition at the end (being a normal man), I see a similar evolution here. Little by little, the noble is transforming into a human. He is slowly dropping his doctrines and belief one by one:

It started with the liberation of his body, the lord realized that with his body he could feel pleasure. Everything is related to his self-hatred. Thanks to Baek Na-Kyum’s picture, the lord was able to perceive a different image of himself. His gaze, as a mirror of his soul, revealed attraction and beauty. In my opinion, Yoon Seungho stands in opposition to Raskolnikov here, because the latter never hated himself in the first place. In fact, we have a reversed situation. Rodion comes to hate himself with the mental torture and the realization of his wrongdoings and true personality. Yet, just like with the noble from Joseon, the main lead from Crime and Punishment comes to accept himself again thanks to Sonya’s love.
Then when the aristocrat tasted the painter for the first time, he experienced love and warmth for the first time as well. He met someone who could love someone else spiritually. Secondly, the main lead discovered sensuality too. That’s why he was no longer interested in having sex with other nobles and was waiting for a renewal of this wonderful encounter. In that moment, the master’s heart was determined to gain the artist’s love, while he was thinking that he was just asking for a spiritual love through a lovely gaze. However, the main lead believed that his decision had been made by his mind. He rationalized and justified each action rationally, until he was confronted with reality.
In that moment, he could no longer repress his emotions, which he had been numbing all this time with the wine and smoke. The rejection reminded him of his traumatic past hence he couldn’t control his outburst. He felt helpless, angered and painted therefore he couldn’t decide rationally. He acted on impulses. Yet this terrible experience made him realize at the same time that he was powerless. Neither his force nor his caring side (he brings his own robe himself) could move the painter’s heart. And if you observe the lord’s behavior, you’ll notice how he makes decisions more and more on affect (from chapter 25 to chapter 33). His emotions are clouding more and more his judgement. It was, as if his heart was taking possession of his mind or his mind was put off. Nonetheless, the readers observe the return of his rationality, which is linked to his huge pangs of conscience. Because of the painter’s sickness, he was faced with the painter’s fragile constitution. Since he was a spirit, he hadn’t taken into consideration the painter’s true condition. The latter was a human and could die. That’s why the lord felt such huge pangs of conscience. Reality was showing him that his dream (spiritual love) was just an illusion. And his remorse and guilt remind us of Rodion, this is his actual punishment. He is forced to change in the end, although he is not really realizing the gradual metamorphosis. That’s why he had sex with nobles again. He imagined that since it was just an illusion, he could return to the way he lived before. However, he was wrong. Notice that between the chapter 33 and 34, we observe the return of Yoon Seungho’s rationality. Once separated from the painter, he realized Baek Na-Kyum’s importance in his life due to Min’s challenge. What caught my attention is the words he said to Min. He declared the painter his possession (“what’s mine”). Yet, this time the lord was seeing the commoner more than just an object, he was his servant. Like I explained in the first part, Yoon Seungho didn’t realize, he was considering him as a servant. His unconscious and heart desired him to be a free man, while his mind was treating him as a domestic. During this evolution, we have to keep in mind that the lord was still denying the existence of his body. That’s why he had problems to comprehend his negative feelings (f. ex. chapter 27), he was unable to distinguish his mind from his heart and couldn’t discern the contradiction between his words and actions. Therefore I come to the conclusion, the lord was still living like a spirit in chapter 48 and could only be offended by the painter’s words: “He is a man consumed by sex”. In his eyes, he was never a man but a ghost. All this time, I had imagined, he was only bothered by the expression “consumed by sex”. However, I perceived it a differently now. He was annoyed too that he was perceived as a human.
However, it changed the moment, the painter decided to accept him as his sexual partner. In that moment, the noble was cornered. If he couldn’t share his mind with the painter, then at least they could connect physically. Back then, I considered this decision as the following: he was lowering his expectations. He was giving up on the painter’s heart, which is only partially correct. In my opinion, this choice was actually important, since it meant that the lord was accepting the existence of his body. He was renouncing on his identity as a spirit. Soul and body were now together. He was becoming a human. Furthermore, it also signified that he was no longer forcing the painter to become a spirit (“share their mind”). He had imagined that if he was gazed by Baek Na-Kyum, like he desired, then the artist would recognize his spirituality and the existence of his good and impressive “soul”. However, this didn’t work like he had anticipated, because the next morning he was told that the artist viewed himself as a prostitute. So now he was trapped in his new body but couldn’t even connect physically with the painter. That’s why he had a relapse but this time, it was different. He needed to numb his body, as he desired the painter so much but he couldn’t even touch him. That’s why he had no sex with nobles, but consumed drugs. What caught my attention in this scene is the absence of Seungho’s response to Min’s questioning and mocking. It was, as if his body was present and his mind elsewhere. From my perspective, this symbolizes that the mind and the body are still separated from each other, mirroring the struggle between the conscious and unconscious. This signification explicates why the noble behaved so differently. In one moment, he was cold and detached, willing to offer the painter to his guests, although he was infuriated, and the next moment, he was protecting him from the vicious servant. Yet, the result of his bad decision was caused by the dichotomy between mind and body. The noble might have acknowledged the existence of his body but he was still denying the existence of his heart. If he had feelings for the painter, then this meant that he was a human after all.
That’s why the moment he recognized his huge mistake in chapter 54, he decided to give up on the painter. He was finally accepting his condition as a human. No man would ever love someone like him. He was selfish, brutal and very emotional, putting the blame on the painter. His reasoning was so that the commoner would run away. As you can see, I consider the first love confession of the master as the end of the separation of body and mind. The lord has finally accepted his condition: he is a man made of flesh and blood with a soul. However, he still considers himself as a noble, something he has internalized due to his father’s principles. So from a spirit to a ghost inhabiting a body to a noble, the lord’s condition has changed a lot. However, his transformation is not complete.
But since he considers himself as a noble, the status of Baek Na-Kyum hasn’t changed yet. He is still viewed as a servant. That’s why he imagined that the artist had remained by his side out of duty. And now the chapter 58 marked another turning point, the lord was finally giving up on the following doctrine. He admitted his defeat, the painter had won the battle and the lord was no longer a victorious champion. The artist was so powerful that his master became a wreck. However, note that the notion of battle has not entirely vanished, the struggle is still present. He is willing to love the painter selflessly, but he expects respect for his gestures. And now, imagine how he must have felt, when he is told that the painter escaped and was even suicidal, since he abandoned the warm clothes. Yoon Seungho had the impression that he had been rejected again. That’s why he was on the verge of killing Baek Na-Kyum and himself. He had the impression, all his changes had brought nothing. It was, as if it was never enough. So he sent the painter to the storage room and chose to calm down. Notice that his emotional outburst is quite controlled and short-lived, compared to the first explosion of negative emotions (chapter 25). Only one word can bring him back to reality. This shows that little by little, the lord is learning how to control his heart and find the right balance between his mind and his heart. When he starts smoking again, he is trying to dominate his urges. However, let’s not forget that he gave his robe to the painter, revealing that his love for the painter is still intact. What caught my attention is that he is not running away either or trying to numb his pain with drugs. He seems more collected. And since his mind was in the second part of the series more clouded than before, I believe that we will see a different master in the next chapter. He won’t react like in chapter 26, when he couldn’t even handle a small gesture of refusal. . As you could observe, the rebirth of the phoenix hasn’t occurred yet. The lord is slowly accepting his condition as human, seeking for love and companionship. Just like Rodion who could change for the better, the main lead is transformed thanks to the painter. Only he could transcend the protagonist’s philosophy, his contempt for humanity. Baek Na-Kyum ignites the lord’s desire to live normally and to show his true side: he is in fact caring and sensitive. Yet, the lord has still a lot to learn: he needs to give up on their master-servant relationship. In fact, I have the impression, he is using it now, because if he didn’t, he would have no connection with the artist in his mind. What he hasn’t realized yet is the change of the artist’s gaze. Since the painter is rejecting him, he can only act as his lord. That way, the painter can’t cut ties with him entirely. However, this situation puts the noble in a difficult situation: if he loves him, why would he punish him like that? If he loves him why would he treat him like a servant? I am expecting a good outcome in the next chapter. Both sides will be forced to define the true nature of their relationship. Nonetheless, there’s no doubt for me that Yoon Seungho will renounce on his title at some point. So if he spends the night in a storage room, we could interpret it as a symbol of his renunciation and humbleness. His desire to stay by his lover’s side is stronger than his pride and his principle taught by his father. The end of his journey will be, when he has found the right balance between his mind and heart. He will become a real man, a human full of knowledge and positive emotions. This signifies, he will be at peace with himself. However, as long as this metamorphosis continues, the lord’s mind and heart will be too busy to focus on his enemies. As a conclusion, Yoon Seungho’s path is resembling Rodion’s, both are characters destined to recognize and accept their humanity thanks to the support of the love of their life.

Feel free to comment. If you have any suggestion for topics or manhwas, feel free to ask. If you enjoyed reading it, retweet it or push the button like. My tumblr-twitter account is: @bebebisous33. Thanks for reading and the support.

Painter Of The Night: “Crime and punishment – part 2”

November 29, 2020November 29, 2020 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 18 Comments

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.

In my first part, I had briefly described, how the manhwa Painter Of The Night has similarities with the Russian novel “Crime and punishment”. The anti-hero Dorion Raskolnikov, a poor student, is plagued with a guilty conscience after committing two murders. One might think that the student killed the pawnbroker due to his terrible financial situation, yet in reality it is different. Since the protagonist considered himself superior to others, developed the idea of superior humans, who were not bound to society norms and rules. Consequently, he justified his crime as an utilitarian act. However, during the assassination, he was forced to kill the pawnbroker’s sister, as she witnessed his misdeed, already revealing that he was no god. Moreover, after committing the crime with a certain brutality, he started feeling guilty, reminding him more and more of his true condition. He was just a human after all, like all the others. The burden of remorse became so heavy that he felt the need to confess. First, he admitted his crime to Sonya, a prostitute, and finally to the authorities.

Like I mentioned in the first part, Jihwa reminds me a little of Dorion Raskolnikov because of his terrible guilty conscience. Yet, there is a huge difference between them. Dorion Raskolnikov is a nihilist and he is totally alienated from society, which is not the case for Jihwa. The latter trusts people, especially his fellows from nobility. That’s why he talks to his friend and Min about his special relationship with his childhood friend. His immense trust is palpable, when he takes their words as face-value (chapter 37). That’s why despite their similar situation, the burden of a crime, Jihwa’s torment is different in reality. He is not planning a murder because he considers himself superior to others or due to his philosophy. In fact, he feels remorse and suffers anxieties, even before the murder has taken place. And this reveals his purity in a certain sense. His conscious knew very well the gravity of the crime but his heart, blinded by his selfish desires and his trauma, chose to ignore it. Therefore Rodion’s course diverges so much from Jihwa’s path. While the former discovers his true condition and reconnects with his humanity, the red-haired noble will lose his innocence, chased away from Garden of Eden, and the readers will witness his transformation into an adult, into a real man.

It all started with a simple sentence. Although Jihwa had the impression, it was just a suggestion, in fact it was an order, as lord Min was using the imperative tense. And this is no coincidence. The snake had to deceive the naive noble by letting him think that he was making a choice. In order to seduce to commit a sin, Black Heart tried to diminish the gravity of the wrongdoing with the idiom “Just”. First, it creates the illusion that this is an easy solution to his difficult situation. Secondly “Just” is so short and yet so deceptive, because it hides the horror of reality. The most interesting part is that during that meeting, the second lead acts like a child. He doesn’t speak with the personal pronoun “I” but “we” showing that he is not differentiating himself from the others. It was, as if he considered Min and the others as his parents and had not his own identity. He is not able to make the decision on his own. This scene shows his lack of maturity. Sure, he questions Min’s words with this interrogation. Realizing that his first attempt was not successful, Black Heart knows how to trigger the naive man by turning Yoon Seungho into a victim of a low-born, a seducer bewitching his friend.That way, Min gives the lord a justification, he will do it as an utilitarian act and save his friend from the greedy commoner, while in reality Black Heart is well aware that jealousy is actually the real reason for the assassination. And here, I see another similarity with Dorion’s justification. The latter used his nihilistic philosophy for the murder, while in truth, it was a gesture of selfishness and arrogance, since he believed he was above law and faith.

However, since the murder didn’t take place, then it means there’s no crime and as such no punishment. It looks like Jihwa was able to maintain his innocence and purity. And that’s exactly how Nameless is thinking. The criminal’s words have an impact on the aristocrat, leading him to think that nothing happened. However, both are totally wrong. The abduction was a crime and the horror the painter was exposed to and what he had to hear and fear, will leave terrible marks in the painter’s mind. Let’s not forget, how he was suffocated till he fainted and Byeonduck truly outlined the gravity of the misdeed. sure, this image comes from a nightmare but it is influenced by his traumatizing experience. This will definitely leave a huge trauma on Baek Na-Kyum, which will be followed by nightmares. And Seungho will realize, how his loved one was hurt and since he was exposed to a similar situation, his thirst for revenge and punishment will be definitely huge. Besides, he will blame himself again. First, he was unable to protect the painter from the nobles, and secondly he punished him himself, though he was truly innocent. That’s why I am expecting a purge, organized by the protagonist. However, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying, he will act like with his staff. He will use his power and connections.

Since there’s a crime, there’ll be a punishment. And in this chapter, the manhwalovers can observe Jihwa’s “immaturity” once again. “It [the murder] is of no consequence”. Observe that Jihwa didn’t renounce on the assassination, because he realized the real gravity of the crime. Nameless described the killing as horrible as possible so that he would get a shock, unable to face the brutality of reality, and it worked. However, Jihwa decides to give up, as he recognizes the futility of the action. He will never obtain, what he really wanted. And for me, the expression “it is of no consequence” shows Jihwa’s lack of maturity. The abduction and the horror he was exposed to made him run away, while the painter couldn’t. While Jihwa was able to escape and to vomit to overcome the shock, Baek Na-Kyum never had the chance to do so. So there will be consequences, which neither Jihwa nor Nameless are expecting. Why? First, Nameless has the impression, Jihwa acted as a jilted lover and imagined, he had acted on an impulse. That’s why he feels sorry for him. He looks like he was a passionate and genuine lover. Nonetheless, he has no idea what the red-haired noble did to his childhood friend and why Yoon Seungho rejected him. But more importantly, he is not aware of Min’s participation and manipulation. He has no idea that Jihwa was the puppet used to hurt Yoon Seungho, so that the latter would be humiliated and lose his place as alpha among the nobles. Remember what I wrote before, Min gave Jihwa an order and nothing else. So when he visited the noble in chapter 56, he actually reminded him to give the order for the murder. At the same time, Min knew that there would be an abduction, as Min had recommended to make it look like an accident. Notice that when he asks to be part of the plan, he is acting, as if he was only a participant and Jihwa was the mastermind. He wants Jihwa to take the blame, in case something goes wrong. However, since he is using the imperative tense, this signifies that Min is giving an order and this is really important in my opinion. He is truly a puppet master, letting people think that they make their own decision, while in reality he corners them and forces them to decide what he really wants. Even Seungho fell into his trap in chapters 52-54.

While Nameless doesn’t know about Min’s involvement and request, the red-haired noble is unaware that his hands are already tainted by blood. Yes, he is responsible for Deok-Jae’s death. And in my opinion, the servant’s death will become a tool for Yoon Seungho’s vengeance and justification for punishment. Let’s not forget the friend’s words during that dinner: Even Min could face punishment, if they are caught which reveals Yoon Seungho’s true power. However, Black Heart dismisses the point by saying that they just need to make it look like an accident. However, the way Deok-Jae was killed doesn’t look like an accident. Since the condition is not met, this means, Yoon Seungho has a justification to go after them. And now, here is the question: who will be framed for the crime? Jihwa could definitely been betrayed by Min, which will symbolize Jihwa’s Fall of Eden. However, there is another possibility that Jihwa doesn’t face any punishment immediately and someone else becomes the target. Let’s not forget that in “Crime and punishment”, a painter is framed and we have a false confession too.

I have the impression that the noble with the mole could become Yoon Seungho’s target. Why do I come up with this idea? First, Jihwa seems to admire the relationship he has with Min. Besides, the red-haired aristocrat seems very close to the man dressed in purple. The latter visited him after the humiliation suffered in chapter 8, so did the second lead after discovering Yoon Seungho sleeping with the painter in chapter 43. So they both confide to each other. Secondly, let’s not forget that Byeonduck’s work contains a certain pattern. Min challenged the main lead twice during the first season (33-41) and the second season (52-54). Then Jihwa was humiliated once in season 1 (chapter 17-18) and it occurred in chapters 56-57 in season 2. Yet, the man with the purple role was dragged away in chapter 8 but nothing has happened to him yet. Imagine Jihwa’s reaction, if something like that happens to his friend. He will definitely agonize, because he will feel responsible for his friend’s misery and will blame Min for abandoning him. The admiration expressed above outlines his innocence one more time. Finally, Crime and punishment is also my source of inspiration. Due to a false confession and accusation, Dorion decides at the end to confess his involvement. And this could definitely happen in Painter Of The Night. Jihwa takes his responsibility and decides to confess the crime. This would turn him truly into a man. But okay, this last part is just a speculation.

Nevertheless, right now, Jihwa has no idea that his decision to abduct the painter has consequences, just like Nameless is not considering an abduction a crime. Both are living in an illusion, though Nameless believes, he knows the world so well. Their short-lived peace will end soon and the comfort experienced with Nameless will leave a bitter taste first, the moment Jihwa hears about Deok-Jae’s death and its consequences. There’s no doubt that Jihwa will resent Nameless for the murder. He already criticized him for involving the vicious domestic in their plan. I believe, Jihwa will blame him for this and Nameless will confront him with his initial decision. He was hired to kill someone. Even if the money was returned, it doesn’t mean that everything is erased. Jihwa made the decision to hire Nameless and as such, he needs to take his responsibility.

Protected: Painter Of The Night: Crime and punishment – part 1 (second version)

November 28, 2020October 28, 2021 ~ Bébébisous33

Painter Of The Night: “It all started with…”

November 26, 2020March 30, 2023 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ Leave a comment

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

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

Now, you are wondering why I chose such a title, because it offers so many possibilities. And that’s exactly the reason why I selected this title. I didn’t want to reveal immediately the real topic of the subject. Furthermore, I desired to look at the manhwa under this aspect, since it helps the readers to get a new understanding of Yoon Seungho’s actions and behavior.

1. … A painting

It all started with a painting, which caught Yoon Seungho’s attention and aroused him so much, that he became slowly dependent on the erotic pictures made by Baek Na-Kyum to the point that he had to use them all the time. (chapter 1) However, the moment Baek Na-Kyum stopped publishing, the addicted noble realized his terrible situation. He needed to have the creator by his side, since he couldn’t give up on his “addiction”. The paintings had become his drug and the moment the author stopped publishing, it made the lord recognize, that he needed to become the supplier. He couldn’t remain a buyer, since he was put in a vulnerable and insecure position. Therefore we could say as well, it all started with the painter’s vow.

Because of Baek Na-Kyum’s resignation, the lord suffered immensely, yet simultaneously the latter didn’t want to change his habit for his nightly activities. That’s why he had to find the source of his addiction: the anonym artist. And now, the first image gets another dimension. His smile not only expressed his happiness, but also exposed his intoxication at the same time. In other words, his euphoria was more artificial, as he was in the presence of his drug. This explicates why the lord was so self-centered and selfish in the beginning. He was prioritizing his own needs. Don’t get me wrong… I am not saying that his feelings for the low-born were not genuine, it was actually a combination of both. His unconscious had sensed the painter’s sensitivity and felt a certain closeness, yet because of his debauchery, the lord had perverted it and was behaving like a drug addict. Now, it becomes more understandable why Yoon Seungho had already announced a death sentence, (chapter 1) in case his wish didn’t get fulfilled, and why he became so “bloodthirsty” after the rejection. Just like a drug addict who becomes violent, if he is unable to get his drug, he felt the urge to release his anger. (chapter 1) It was, as if he was in withdrawal and couldn’t bear the thought, he hadn’t obtained what he desired. So when I compare the painter and his work to a drug, it puts the low-born in a bad light. Nonetheless this is not my intention at all. For me, the painter represents his cure in reality. Let’s not forget that the powerful aristocrat’s heart has been poisoned, corrupted by his father, therefore in order to get cured, he needs to find another “poison”, it’s like fighting a poison with another poison.

First, the painter confronts him with his own reflection (beautiful, attractive), which he has never experienced before. This drug is even more addictive than before, procuring new sensations. He becomes so high that he can’t control his erection and feels the need to have sex so early. (chapter 3) We see here the lord intoxicated by the new drug. It did release him from his prison, his self-hatred. Moreover, it helped him to see more clearly for the first time. His eye in his mind was now free from any corruption. Nonetheless the next day, he is faced with a different image. More precisely, his ears have to hear a terrible truth. Now, he is a man consumed by sex, which causes him to become pensive and depressed. He is no longer feeling the urge to have sex with Jihwa. And now, the manhwaphiles comprehend the true nature of the new drug: the painter’s gaze is liberating the lord’s senses, very similar to Jihwa. This is not surprising that the first two paintings (chapter 2) (chapter 10) he makes show our lord looking at the painter. Imagine, in the second image, he even has two sex partners by his side, yet his attention is directed at the creator and not his partners. This painting exposes their locked gaze and their growing intimacy. Baek Na-Kyum’s gaze has become the lord’s obsession, his new drug. The paintings Baek Na-Kyum creates exude warmth, beauty and naturality which stands in opposition to the world, where the lord is living: fakeness, superficiality, distance and coldness. But the lord’s attraction towards the painter increases so much that he would like to taste the artist. In other words, if he devours Baek Na-Kyum, he might get high again because the pictures are no longer enough to satiate his urges. Now, you can understand what this means. Having sex with the low-born signifies, he is “increasing” the dose. Note that this coincides with the third painting, where he is looking at Jihwa and not at the painter. During that night, he asked the commoner to join them. He was clearly expressing his interest in the artist. The locked gaze was no longer satisfying. This is also not surprising that the next day, he has no problem to cut ties with his long-time lover Jihwa. The artist has slowly replaced the sex partners. Without realizing it, the lord is becoming monogamous. Observe that from chapter 16, he has no nightly activity at all, contrary to the past. He makes a relapse in chapter 33, due to his guilty conscience. However, the moment he realizes that some nobles, especially Min, are looking at his “drug”, he recognizes what it really means, if he came to lose his new “drug”. His life and situation would be worse than before. Baek Na-Kyum’s gaze only belongs to him, hence he is willing to face a negative reflection.

Notice that the moment he is no longer obsessed with the paintings but with the artist’s love, he is no longer interested in his nightly activities. After chapter 21, he waits for the painter. He has already become monogamous. The long awaited picture serves a different purpose. Yoon Seungho would like to have a proof that he is loved by the painter. The image no longer represents his victory over a man and as such the noble he despises, but the mark of their love. He doesn’t feel the need to get aroused by the pictures.

2. … a kiss and embrace

Striking is that the moment he has sex with the artist, he discovers a new world: love and warmth. That’s the reason why this night still haunts his mind till the chapter 58. It all started with an innocent kiss but most importantly with the painter’s hug. (chapter 19) Notice that the moment the painter confesses to Seungho, he puts his hands on his shoulder and then he kisses him. But this doesn’t end here, later he puts his hands around his shoulders. (chapter 20) For the first time, the noble is embraced. And now, if you look at all the sex sessions he had with Jihwa or the others, the main lead was never truly hugged. (chapter 8) (chapter 9) (chapter 15) [I am not quoting the paintings again which could be added to this list] One might argue that in the first panel, the sex partner is hugging the main lead from behind. However, this gesture reminds us much more of a fight than of a real embrace, corroborating my initial interpretation of sex sessions. In truth, they are battles, where the ukes are the defeated ones. It looks like the noble is restraining the protagonist from moving. It’s, as if he was trapped. From my perspective, there is always a distance between him and the sex partners, especially in the threesome. (chapter 10) The lower part is focused on Min, while the mouth is busy kissing the other aristocrat. Yet Seungho’s chest, eyes and mind are neglected. Striking is that the main character is portrayed with no arm exposing his incapacity to hug anyone. And now, you understand the importance of the hug. During their first night, the painter keeps hugging the lord, although his gesture is quite reserved in the beginning. This ignites a desire in Yoon Seungho, the latter feels the need to return the embrace and hug the artist. (chapter 20) Yet, the more time passes on, the more the low-born holds the noble more tightly. (chapter 21) The painter voices the wish to be embraced. That’s why the former puts him on his lap. (chapter 21) You can sense that Yoon Seungho is willing to fill the gap and feel as close as possible to Baek Na-Kyum. He hugged him on his own first, yet the artist was the one embracing him fully at the end. (chapter 21) That’s why we could say that it all started with an embrace, the real cure. The painter’s gaze accompanied with the hands on Seungho’s shoulder created a new euphoria. This explicates why he was so obsessed with that night, why he attempted to renew this wonderful experience. In chapter 25, he tried to hug the painter from behind but failed terribly. (chapter 26) This was a gesture of defeat and submission and never an embrace full of love. One might argue that the noble had already hugged the painter before, (chapter 16) hence the artist’s hug during their Wedding night can’t mark the start. Yet, if the manhwaworms look at the way the master held the commoner in chapter 16, they’ll notice that the lord is hugging Baek Na-Kyum from behind. He was definitely restraining him from leaving his bedchamber, like a predator catching his prey. Sure, there’s no doubt that there exist emotions behind his gesture. Nonetheless, the hug was more under the influence of the unconscious. Consequently it is different from the night in chapter 19. Here, the lord was more looking for sex, whereas in chapters 20 and 21, it was a mixture of sex and love. However, at the end love became triumphant and the lord was no longer interested in sex.

And now if you perceive the painter’s gaze and hug as “drugs”, you can imagine why Yoon Seungho became so infuriated, hurt and violent at the pavilion. Like a person on withdrawal, he couldn’t control his emotions and behavior. Once he became sober, he realized his mistake. His mind had become clearer again. In my perspective, the “cure” helped him to release his emotions, which he had been repressing for so long. This explicates why he was reminded of his tragic past and relived his traumatic experience. He had decided to become numb in order not to feel any pain. The problem is that the moment he discovered love, he was not recognizing that he was allowing his heart to feel pain as well. Love and pain can’t be separated.

With this new perspective, it becomes understandable, while the lord hugged the artist while bathing. (chapter 59) He became addicted to the hug. The problem was that the painter seemed to have forgotten their lovemaking. On the other hand, the lord couldn’t forget the painter’s arms therefore he often grabbed the artist’s arm (chapter 22) (chapter 30), as if they were a treasure to him. The roughness vanishes gradually, for the lord changes for the better as well. But more importantly, in the following gestures, the readers can sense his desire to hug the artist. And as time passes on, the gesture becomes more obvious and pronounced. It started with an arm, (chapter 22) then it was the chest(chapter 40) , (chapter 42) until it became a real hug. (chapter 49) However, the real climax is reached in chapter 58. This time, the aristocrat in love is holding him so tightly with his both arms. (chapter 58) There is no gap between them, the artist is no longer putting some distance with his head, unlike in chapter 49 (third panel above) or the lord is grabbing the neck to make sure that the artist keeps kissing him (second panel above). Yet, while they make love (chapter 58) , the lord is no longer holding him and gazing at him, he is just grabbing his hand and whispering his love confession. This signifies that the lord has truly given up on his dream and has accepted reality. The painter’s gaze and hug were just an addiction and he is admitting that he will never be loved. He will see this night as a wonderful illusion but he won’t feel any anger, despair and pain after that night. We could say that the lord has finally defeated his inner demons and addiction. He is free from his past and can now use his mind clearly. (chapter 61) Baek Na-Kyum purified the lord so that the latter has truly become selflessness and no longer needs sex. He won’t organize any sex session or any party with wine and opium. In my opinion, the last debauchery symbolized his final relapse. Observe that during that week, he had no sex and wasn’t even aroused, when a noble gave him a blowjob. Sex has become irrelevant thereby we can conclude that his transformation is complete. He has become a truly reformed man. (chapter 61) And as much as it pains me that the lord won’t look for the artist right away [that’s my theory and since Byeonduck liked a tweet where I expressed this], I believe, this picture symbolizes something positive too. The lord’s mind and heart are at peace. Now, he can think and see lucidly and once he discovers Baek Na-Kyum’s painting and the tools left in the study, he will recognize his mistake.

3. … the arms and hands

And because it started with a hug, it becomes comprehensible why the lord loved hugging his lover. In reality, he wished to be embraced too and the hug in chapter 16 externalized his deeply repressed desires. This is not surprising that a hug from the painter could stop Yoon Seungho’s rage and fury. Imagine his emotions, when the low-born did this. In that scene, the master was acting like a monster, nevertheless it didn’t stop the artist to embrace him despite the slap and his ugly behavior. But for Baek Na-Kyum, it was the same as well. He also longed to be embraced hence for him, their Wedding night represented a dream, where he could express his desire and experience what he wanted to have. He wanted to express his love, shower his learned sir with his affection. Strangely, it started with a hand (chapter 30) forcing the low-born to accept him as his new master. However, notice that the painter’s hands become more decisive and grab more firmly Yoon Seungho’s wrist in chapter 42. (chapter 42) This reflects the evolution of their relationship. The painter is here accepting the aristocrat as lover. Simultaneously, he is touching the place where the lord’s unconscious is voicing his desires. And this gesture triggers the lord later to put him on his lap, attempting to embrace him. And the more the lord hugs the painter, the more the latter is affected by it. The reason is simple. Just like the main lead, the commoner was deprived from warmth and love for so long and receiving it for the first time, this could only move the main lead. The manhwaphiles should remember that the artist asked the master to hold him in chapter 41 (chapter 41), exposing his need for comfort and embrace. Yet back then, the lord was confusing love with sex hence he couldn’t give correctly what the painter desired. He was not able to distinguish the difference. In truth, both were lost persons mixing up sex with love due to their terrible fathers.

Nonetheless the latter rejected the affection from Yoon Seungho in chapter 49, as he had been reminded that a hug could be fake. So he was still doubting the protagonist’s feelings. The significance of the embrace explicates why the low-born is affected in chapter 58. He keeps blushing displaying his emotions. He is really loved, displayed by the lord’s words and gestures. That’s why the hug is reciprocated but it is too beautiful to be true. Consequently the noble doubts its existence.

But because it all started with a kiss with a hug and love confession, we have to imagine that the artist will feel the same need than the protagonist in chapter 22. He will long for his lover’s arms, especially after that terrible experience. That’s why I am convinced that the moment Baek Na-Kyum returns to the mansion, he will definitely try to embrace Yoon Seungho, missing his warmth and protection so that we have a new version of the hug in chapter 53.

As a conclusion, we have two protagonists deprived from their own body due to their fathers’ abuse. Finally, both were able to find what they had been longing for a long time. And since the lord is no longer a man consumed by sex, he will be able to show his love differently, supporting his love in his education and his talent. Yoon Seungho will become his sponsor and drop the surrogate father for good.

Painter Of The Night: The painter’s gaze

November 24, 2020November 26, 2020 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 9 Comments

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.

The more episodes we get and the more I examine, the more meaningful certain panels become after reading the novel again. Let me give you an example. After analyzing the significance of candles, I noticed the symbolism of the following image. In chapter 30, the candlestick falls on the ground due to Baek Na-Kyum. The latter has been placed on the cupboard by the protagonist, because the latter wants to corner him and limit his resistance. As you already know, the yellow bougie on the candlestick embodies the noble. Since there is no light, there’s no warmth and yellow outlines his selfishness, reflecting his actual disposition and behavior. He is anything except loving and warm. The fall of the candle represents his inner turmoil. The painter’s escape upset him so much that he was destabilized. He felt so powerless, as he couldn’t stop the low born’s desertion. It was, as if his world had been turned upside down. Neither his force nor his word nor his thread could break the artist’s strong will. Although he stands here, we have to envision, he is actually behaving like an angry child, who threw himself on the ground, screaming and gesticulating, as his desire has not been fulfilled. Therefore he could only express his frustration and despair by venting his anger and pain towards his staff. And the fact that the candle falls on the ground because of the artist is the metaphor for the real cause of the lord’s negative emotions. Let’s not forget that Seungho was the reason for the painter’s departure, just like the aristocrat is the reason why Baek Na-Kyum brings the candle down from the cupboard. Now, you understand why the author would use such an image, although it doesn’t contribute to the evolution of the story. Therefore it becomes obvious that the manhwalovers should pay attention to each picture and analyze it in order to discern a possible meaning. Yet, it is the same if a certain panel doesn’t appear, though it should in a sense, as Byeonduck had used the same type of pictures with little alterations. Now you are wondering which image should have appeared but didn’t in a certain episode. Let me give you a series of pictures and try to find the common point.

(chapter 21) (chapter 25) (chapter 39) (chapter 42) (chapter 45) (chapter 50) (chapter 54)

After looking at the different pictures, you have already noticed the common denominator. Yoon Seungho is always gazing at the painter’s eyes and facial reactions. Even in chapter 25, where the manhwaworms are not able to distinguish the lord’s eyes, they have to imagine that the latter is somehow attempting to look at the artist’s gaze from the side.

What caught my attention is the difference of the size of Yoon Seungho’s eyes. First, his eyes are more open in chapter 21 than in chapters 39, 42 and 45, giving the impression that the more time passes on, the smaller his eyes are until the chapter 50. Here, they are even more open than in chapter 21. Yet, there’s a huge difference. This time, the painter is deeply sleeping hence there’s no reflection in the painter’s gaze. From my perspective, the smaller his eyes are, the more uncertain he is about the artist and somehow fears the reflection. Hence he has his eyes wide open in chapter 50, since he knows that the painter is asleep. He doesn’t have to fear his gaze. And now here is the next question: why is he so obsessed with the painter’s gaze? The answer is quite simple and I am quite sure that many readers already know the answer. This brings me to the following explanation. We heard from the main lead that he wished to be gazed like Baek Na-Kyum looked at Jung In-Hun. In my opinion, he experienced the artist’s tender gaze during their first night together which moved his heart so much, though he didn’t realize it right away. This was the gaze he wanted to receive and this was his reaction. The painter was blushing and his eyes were half-open but he looked directly at him exuding desire and love, thereby the aristocrat felt desired and loved for the first time. So until chapter 49, he hoped to relive the same gaze and facial expression (blushing) but it never truly occurred again. This explicates why he was happy, when the artist would redden in his presence. He had the feeling that he had progressed and was getting closer to his dream. Yet since he had been rejected many times and had made huge mistakes (chapter 25, 26, 30-32), he would rather glimpse at Baek Na-Kyum, already pleased that the painter was no longer rejecting him and even showed a certain pleasure like in chapter 39.

However, the turning point in Yoon Seungho’s life is the night where he felt rejected, although the artist didn’t mean it that way. His eyes are wide open, there’s no blushing, rather fear or doubt. In other words, Baek Na-Kyum’s eyes and facial expression oozes the exact opposite of their wedding night. This was, as if Yoon Seungho was confronted with reality. He will never be loved by Baek Na-Kyum. Out of heartache and fury, he made a wrong decision. After recognizing his huge mistake, he decided to confess without looking at the painter ever again. He truly feared his gaze. Imagine, the artist had made such an expression that in his mind, the low-born’s gaze could only get colder and more resentful.

Remember what I wrote in the beginning. In certain scenes, a panel should have appeared but didn’t. Observe that we don’t have any similar picture during the sex marathon. The noble closes his eyes, when he kisses the commoner. Why? Here, he is only looking for his own satisfaction. He feels frustrated and wants to fulfil his own wish and desires. Then later he only looks at him through the mirror for a while but he is more focused on the painter’s reactions. The main lead wants the sex partner to accept his homosexuality and him. After that, the rich protagonist is more interested to feel ecstasy without paying attention to the painter’s facial expression. That’s also the reason why the noble doesn’t notice the artist’s poor health condition. Therefore the absence of such a picture during the sex marathon outlines the protagonist’s selfishness. Only after realizing that the low-born is sick, he changes his attitude and gives him a tender kiss with water. Yet here Yoon Seungho is not starring at the painter’s gaze, he is rather focused on his reaction.

But the absence of Yoon Seungho’s gaze directed at the painter’s doesn’t only occur during the marathon sex but also during the renewal of their wedding night. Here, pay attention to the way the lord kisses the painter. He always closes his eyes. It is because he still fears his gaze and has already resigned that he will never receive such tender expressions. But most importantly is that when they both climax, the lord is not forcing the artist to look at him, contrary to chapter 21. He is just whispering to him, while the painter is looking on the other side. Therefore the noble doesn’t witness what is happening in front of his eyes. Note the contrast between this night and their first night. Here, the noble grasps the painter’s chin in order to force him to look at him and to recognize his true identity. He is apologizing, yet deep down he was voicing his wish. He desired the painter to recognize and accept him. On the other hand, in chapter 58, he makes love to the artist, without looking at his facial expressions or gaze at any moment. His head is never above the commoner’s, never facing his eyes. Therefore I conclude that Yoon Seungho has already given up on his dream and hope. In his mind, he will never be loved the way he wanted before and all this because of that terrible night where the painter looked at him so shocked and distant. For him, this night is like a dream, an illusion caused by his illness.

Therefore I believe that in the next chapter, this picture will stand in opposition to the one in chapter 22. The gaze will be cold again, he won’t say a word. There’s no doubt that the moment he realizes what truly happened, he will become so infuriated that he will retaliate. Yet this time, the victims of his anger won’t the domestics in his mansion, but the nobles. And if I am wrong, so be it, however I explain why I came to this conclusion.

Painter Of The Night: Past, present and future – part 5

November 23, 2020 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ Leave a comment

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.

In the last part, I’ll examine father Yoon and his relationship to time. I have to admit that there are more speculations as we have barely seen him so far, yet all of them are based on observations. First, we still don’t know his first name. Secondly, he has been mostly presented through the testimonies of characters until now:

Baek Na-Kyum in chapter 1 by his father” [missing part],
Kim in chapter 35,
Yoon Seung-Won and Yoon Seungho in chapter 37,
an older servant in chapter 37
this time, through a memory from the main lead in chapter 55
the physician in chapter 57

Yet, he is only seen in one chapter directly, the episode 44.

This signifies that we have never heard his voice and seen his true face as it was always through the gaze and words from others. That’s why we have almost the impression to be dealing with a ghost. Moreover, their description is rather uncomplete and doesn’t necessarily reflect the whole truth, as they don’t possess all the information. Yet the readers have one advantage compared to the fictive persons. They see father Yoon through the drawings so that we can see his gestures and get more knowledge about him. The panels represent reality and past that’s why I’ll study them more closely.

However, because of his indirect introduction, I believe to recognize a certain pattern. Since he is mostly introduced through others and everything revolves around the past, I am connecting him to the past. First, he is the reason why Yoon Seungho suffered so much to develop a trauma and had nightmares. Nonetheless, I sense that his cruel behavior towards his eldest son is related to the past as well. First, we know for sure that Yoon Seungho’s grandfather was an official and he must have had a high position because Jihwa described that the Yoons were declining and he was referring to the father. If there is a downfall, it signifies that the Yoons had quite a high position. Striking is that the main lead is not mentioning here his father at all who was also working for the government according to the testimony of the commoner. Therefore we need to ask ourselves why Yoon Seungho is not mentioning it. The first deductions would be to say that he is no longer acknowledging his father or it is related to the purge which he wants to hide too. Since father Yoon was forced to withdraw from his post, just before the purge occurred, there’s no ambiguity that father Yoon is related to the plot. Yet, despite all these reasons, I feel that there’s more to it. I detect that father Yoon’s post could have been different from the one his father had, something not worth mentioning it. This would explain why his first name was never mentioned and his post is not described. He never made himself known as a good official, his name never got noticed. Imagine, father Yoon doesn’t get the high position he thought he deserved and feels betrayed. Because of his father’s power and reputation, he could have felt entitled to get the same high position like his relative. Because of his hurt pride, he resented the king (or other officials). And now, you can imagine how I perceive the father. I believe that he is a combination of Jihwa and Jung In-Hun. Jihwa was obsessed with the past and vented his anger towards others through his hands. Note that father Yoon is also using his hands to express his negative thoughts or feelings.

In chapter 44, his hand is not only shaking due to anger. He is clenching his fist exposing a certain brutality. If the son had been there, the former would have used violence against him, Yoon Seungho was indeed provoking him. And this negative judgement about father Yoon is confirmed much later, in chapter 57. Here, he grasps his son’s neck and squeezes it so much that he leaves marks on Seungho’s neck. Furthermore, the young boy’s face is covered with bruises. Besides, Byeonduck added the sound of the grasping indicating the speed and force father Yoon employed on his son’s neck. This was never a tender gesture, it exposed frustration and resent. Since he is using his hands in the same way than Jihwa’s and he is connected to the past through the reports made by the character, I believe that he is associated to the past. However, unlike the naive red-haired noble who is wishing to go back to the past, where he was living carefree and had a good relationship with Yoon Seungho, I think that father Yoon has a different judgement about the past. He actually resents the past. He felt humiliated or hurt, then he needed to get revenge.

So let’s return our attention to my first assumption. Let’s envision, father Yoon felt humiliated because he hadn’t received the official post he was eyeing. Due to the past, he couldn’t overlook this incident and his resent started growing so much that he started plotting. At the same time, he imagined that he was entitled and destined to achieve greatness that’s why he could only resent his eldest son. In this panel I see a proof of his jealousy because Yoon Seungho’s good reputation is introduced with his so-called illness simultaneously. Note that his sickness is just reported by the father, yet the doctor has never been able to diagnose it. For me, there is no doubt that father Yoon used the son’s illness in order to diminish his good reputation. He didn’t want to get overshadowed by his own son. Imagine his frustration, based to my theory, not only he had not received the position he desired and requested but even Seungho’s notoriety was surpassing his own. Let’s not forget that khaki is the color of dragon’s eye hence I concluded that the father was judging himself as a dragon, while he was not in reality.

And since I expressed the idea that father Yoon must have this idea that he was destined to achieve greatness, then he is very similar to Jung In-Hun. Why do I think so? First, if you look at his chamber,, you’ll notice the presence of books on the shelves which reminded me of Jung In-Hun. [In case you don’t know, in psychology it is recognized that the way you decorate your house, it reveals your personality.] Remember that we often see Jung In-Hun surrounded by books. The latter even follow him to his bed. Observe that the books are piled up and are put next to decorations revealing that they are actually used as decorations. It was, as if father Yoon wanted show off his education by displaying his collection of books. Since there are a lot of decorations, it also indicates his need to expose a certain wealth. In other words, I judge him as arrogant and superficial as well. Finally, the way he puts the books and decorations in display exposes his controlling nature. The display of the shelves gives us the impression that there is a certain order.

But since he is very similar to Jung In-Hun, then this means that he is unable to have a great overview of the situation and to perceive people’s true nature. Furthermore, this signifies too that he is blind to his own shortcomings and his hypocrisy, not recognizing that he used sodomy and prostitution, although he hated it. Just like the scholar, he was betraying his own narrow-minded principles. Because of his lack of discernment, he misjudged Jihwa and Seungho’s personalities and had the impression, they were sick, either too nice towards commoners or were homosexuals. It is definitely possible that this is related to tears. The father disliked seeing tears in the children, a sign of weakness and femininity in his mind. Another clue for this theory is Yoon Seungho’s behavior towards the scholar. He realized the teacher’s true nature immediately and could fool him so well. From my perspective, the main lead recognizes Jung In-Hun’s true character because he had already met such a character before, it was his father. That’s why he said such words towards Jung In-hun in the woods. He knew that his father was thinking like that, felt great satisfaction to humiliate him. Furthermore, this would explain why Yoon Seungho was always reminded of the past, when Baek Na-Kyum was rejecting him. Imagine, the lover would choose the despicable “father” over him. One might argue that the person he recognized in Jung In-Hun could be lord Song. However, it is not possible, as there is no fear and he is definitely not afraid of his father. Seung-Won might use his father’s name in order to ask his brother to reconcile with their father, but Yoon Seungho doesn’t change his mind at all. He burns the letter, sends a ruined painting to his father, mocking him as he knows how he hates sodomy. He is treating the scholar the same way than father Yoon. He has no respect for both of them and looks down on them. He is now strong enough to stand up against his father.

And since he is very similar to Jung In-Hun, I come to the following conclusion, he is a terrible judge of characters. My theory is the following: father Yoon believed in lord Song and relied on him a lot as the latter was always stroking his ego, while the latter planned to use father Yoon in order to climb the social ladders. Lord Song could have come from low nobility but had great ambitions. After betraying him, the father was forced to use his son to escape the purge and instead of blaming the right person, he actually resented his son. He had failed him in his eyes.

That’s why I believe that this scene will play a huge part in the future. First, not only Seungho refuses to support them but also he got more wealth and power than him. Father Yoon must disdain his eldest son terribly. He got “punished”, while in his mind his son succeeded. Since this delusional man full of arrogance didn’t learn his lesson from his mistakes, his disdain and hatred for Yoon Seungho must have reached a new peak the moment he received the damaged painting. Imagine how he must have felt, this was such an affront coming from his eldest son. Therefore I envision, father Yoon decides to work against his son again. He has been betrayed and humiliated by his son, then the latter must pay for this. First, he will hear that Seungho is sponsoring a low noble, hence in his mind, Jung In-Hun must be so good that he will plan to snatch him away from his rival, unaware that he got played by the scholar and Yoon Seungho. The former teacher will be abandoned by the protagonist sooner or latter and once approached by father Yoon, Jung In-Hun will decide to use the father, unaware what awaits him in reality. As you can imagine, I am already anticipating the real downfall of father Yoon. He never realized that he was the author of his own misery, he destroyed his own future by hurting his brilliant son due to his own blindness and arrogance. Since we never got to see father Yoon’s face, I am more and more convinced that he wears glasses, just like the teacher. And if this turns out to be true, then my interpretation of the glasses will be confirmed. As you can detect, I believe, we will have a repetition of the past, the father attempting to get revenge but failing miserably, too obsessed with the past and his so-called destiny.

Painter Of The Night: “BADUM, BADUM” and its implications

November 22, 2020November 22, 2020 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 4 Comments

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.

Like I explained it in the first essay about the alternative universe of Painter Of The Night, the first special episode helped me to understand much better the original version. In this essay, I’ll explain my newly gained knowledge.

Everything starts with the following panel. Here, the noble Baek Na-Kyum is running away. His heart is making the sound “thump, thump” and his face is red. Why? He is leaving the market place in a hurry because his eyes saw Yoon Seungho for the first time. However, on the surface it looks like he is just avoiding an embarrassing situation. His escape seems to be caused by his shame. He has been caught in the act saying something nasty, since the commoner smirked to him after hearing his bad comment. However, remember that first impressions can be deceiving. For me, the moment their eyes meet, the innocent man’s faces blushes. Note that his reddening is actually stronger than when he was looking at his crush, his servant Jung In-Hun. Then you have to imagine that his heart starts racing, a sign that he is physically attracted to the infamous low-born but we don’t see it yet. In my opinion, his reactions are not just the results of shame, when the manhwalovers witness the aristocrat’s heartbeat and his blush while running. One might argue, this is related to his speed, as he rushes to his home. However, during the night in his bed, Baek Na-Kyum’s heart is still beating strongly, displaying excitement, just like the reddening has not vanished yet. He showed a similar reaction, when he was dealing with the merchant. He was enthusiastic too, imagining that he would get paid a lot. However, the sound of the heartbeat (“thump”) diverges in the escape scene. The explication is simple. The arousal was masked by the run therefore the “badum/badum” turned into a “thump”, yet we have to imagine, it was already present. Once back home, the racing of his heart and his blush never stopped. Even lying down, he is still agitated, aroused and can’t calm down. He can’t forget Seungho’s face, engraved in his memory so that he is able to create a masterpiece.

Consequently, I come to the following interpretation. Baek Na-Kyum’s body reacted immediately to the commoner. He blushed and his heart raced but everything was masked by his external behavior. This overlap explains why the noble won’t be able to distinguish his true feelings but he will link it to embarrassment and shame. Besides, it occurred twice.

Striking is that even the presence of blood running down from his nose didn’t repel the aristocrat. The latter overlooked the red cheek as well because he was so fascinated by Yoon Seungho’s sex appeal, especially his gaze. In other words, the bruises couldn’t diminish his charisma so that the noble’s sexuality was awakened in a second. His heart made noises which only Baek Na-Kyum could hear. Surprised by his own reactions which he can not control, he runs away to hide his emotions. He has no idea why his heart is racing like that which scares him. He has never been confronted with such a situation before.

And this scene made me realize that in the original, Baek Na-Kyum’s heartbeat was only witnessed in chapter 34 and 35 and not before. In this image, the manhwaworms hear the painter’s heartbeat for the first time which is actually triggered by Yoon Seungho’s return. He is so surprised by his physical reaction that he is left speechless first. Observe that the racing of his heart is accompanied with his blushing face, just like in the alternative universe. The painter gets agitated as he can not control his body and his heart. He would like to hide this from the noble and gives a good excuse for his departure. The lord needs his bed hence he has to return to his own room. As you can see, the desertion in chapter 34 resembles a lot to the one in the first episode from the alternative universe. Since he can’t control the racing of his heart, he wonders about its cause and nature. He associates it to fear because he has always trembled in front of his lord before, while his noble version will always link it to embarrassment. Yet he notices the difference as he feels some butterflies inside. As the scene at the market resembles a lot to the chapter 34 and the special episode introduces their first meeting, it gives us another dimension of their true relationship. The painter was attracted to him right away and through Yoon Seungho, his real sexual appetite was awakened. But why don’t we witness the racing of the painter’s heart before, when it was clear that he was attracted to him physically before? He had wet dreams, erections and felt the need to masturbate before.

In my opinion, it is related to the coercive persuasion and it consequences. Due to the abuse, Baek Na-Kyum’s body had been imprisoned. In other words, he was no longer the owner of his own body. Therefore I see in the return of the heartbeat a proof that the real target of Jung In-Hun’s violence was not truly homosexuality but sexuality in general. He made sure that the painter would no longer feel his body, this explicates why he became a drunk. We could say, he transformed the low-born into a zombie, a living corpse. Since Baek Na-Kyum could no longer feel his body, he needed to cover up the loss and the numbness with alcohol. And now, you understand why Baek Na-Kyum’s love for the low noble was so “pure” and spiritual, his mind was the only thing he could use, since he had been deprived of his own body and as such his heart. Hence when Byeonduck created this wonderful panel, she gave us a clue that the first day dream represented the first step of liberation of Baek Na-Kyum’s body. Nevertheless, this only happened during a dream, hence his body was only superficially liberated. The biggest hindrance was his mind because it was also poisoned by the scholar’s doctrines. The wet dreams were relevant as it announced the return of his senses. There, all his senses were triggered and awakened. Slowly, he was regaining control of his own body. And now imagine what the painter must have experienced that he decided to give up on his own body.

Thanks to his encounter with Yoon Seungho, his imprisoned body got released. His senses are gradually returning to life which explains why he masturbates for the first time in chapter 9. And the racing of his heart marks the pivotal moment in Baek Na-Kyum’s life. He is finally the owner of his own body and he can decide whom he can love. That’s why he can be disappointed in his teacher (chapter 35) and even lie to him in chapter 38. The reason for the return of his heartbeat is the sex marathon where he was confronted with his own image. There, he saw his own pleasure and felt it as well. However, the shock was too big hence he fell ill. With this new revelation it becomes understandable why Yoon Seungho met so much resistance in the end. He had to fight on two different levels: liberate the painter’s body and mind. It was not just about denial of his own sexual orientation, but sex in general. At the end of the first season, he had succeeded to free the painter’s body but that was it. The second “confrontation” in chapters 48/49 marked the last battle where the painter’s mind is finally freed. This was the new version of the sex marathon. Observe the parallels and divergences between the two pictures: Their positions are similar, the lord’s gaze is also directed towards the artist, yet there are two huge contrasts. First, in the second picture the readers witness Seungho’s gaze full of agony. Moreover, he can not truly see the artist’s facial expressions as there is no mirror during this night. So he is imagining that he is afflicting pain on the artist and feels remorse but he senses that this is necessary, whereas it is not true like the painting exposes it later. The noble pleasured the painter and his refusals were just the last wall of defense in his mind.

And now his confession in chapter 41 gets a new dimension. For the first time, he mentions his heart in front of the lord and voices his fear. Note that he is associating fear to his heart pounding illustrating that he hasn’t understood its signification. This was actually a love confession but the master couldn’t perceive it as such because it started with a reproach: “you scare me so much”. And now, if you look at the confession in chapter 49 where he speaks again about his heart , the connection between fear and heart racing has finally disappeared. On the other hand, the artist reduces it to a physical attraction. When their eye meet, he gets aroused, exactly like I had described with the scene from the alternative universe. This evolution exposes his lack of discernment. He is still unable to interpret the heartbeat “badum, badum” correctly. Therefore I don’t think, we can say that Baek Na-Kyum was denying his own feelings. It is just that he never understood what his heart pounding meant. And the source for his misinterpretation is the feelings he had for his teacher, just like in the alternative universe. Observe that this expression is only connected to his eye and not his body. Jung In-Hun is handsome but that’s it. He doesn’t feel the need to hug or touch him. He is already content with buying him glasses. This reminds me of Courtly love (Minne in German and Amour courtois in French) from European Middle Age. It is a literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing various deeds or services for ladies because of their “courtly love”. There is no sex, their act of loving is purely mental. As you can imagine, this was just fiction, just like in our manhwa. In both versions, Jung In-Hun is in fact associated to dream and not reality. The cat is the one that brings back the noble Baek Na-Kyum to reality. That’s why his courtly love for his learned sir is doomed to failure. It is just an illusion, a fiction because it doesn’t reflect people’s true personality. The characters in Medieval literature were portrayed as heroes, dedicated to their lady and people, while knights in reality were often the opposite. They were just soldiers and killed women and orphans for their lord. And notice that once the pure main lead recalls all the good deeds Yoon Seungho did for him, the heart pounding resurfaces accompanied with the blushing. He is still denying the lord’s feelings but since there was a confession, the painter will be able to connect his heart racing to love. The good deeds have nothing to do with sex, yet his body is still reacting therefore you can comprehend why in the next chapter 60, he screams Yoon Seungho’s name begging him to save him. The kidnapping was just the trigger for him to recognize that his lord had already entered his mind and his heart.

The tragedy is that Yoon Seungho has still no idea why the painter rejected him so many times before. He took it personally, whereas in reality the true cause was the brainwashing and trauma left by the abuse. Honestly, I am looking forward for the moment the powerful protagonist realizes the true nature of the relationship between the vicious teacher and his student. And the special chapter from the alternative universe revealed the importance of the painter’s heart beat in the original. If he had not been brainwashed and abused, the artist would have fallen immediately for the noble. However, his affection for him has always been destined not to come to realization right away. The character is always doomed to confuse love with fear or shame. On the other hand, it illustrates the complexity to discern emotions, when it comes to true love.

Painter Of The Night: Fate or liberty? 🗽

November 21, 2020August 13, 2022 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ Leave a comment

I was really pleasantly surprised with the alternative universe of Painter Of The night, because it wasn’t at all what I had been expecting. I had imagined that Byeonduck would give us a modern version due to her drawing with Yoon Seungho wearing a mask. So what is her alternative universe? It’s the same period, but the social status have been switched. On the left, I selected pictures from the original story and on the right from the alternative universe.

Now, it is Yoon Seungho and Jung In-Hun’s turn to be commoners, while Baek Na-Kyum is now the only son of a noble family which means the pressure and expectations from his family must be high. By switching the positions but at the same time, keeping certain elements from the original story (f. ex. Baek Na-Kyum likes painting sodomy), Byeonduck gives us clues about the original story as well, which were never directly revealed. Consequently, this version made me realize two things. First, thanks to this episode, I gained more insight about the original story which I’ll explain in another essay. Secondly, Byeonduck gives us a new dimension of the relationship between Yoon Seungho and Baek Na-Kyum. The author is showing us that not only Baek Na-Kyum and Yoon Seungho are fated to fall in love with each other but also their love story is supposed to be an example that love knows no boundaries. Their affection is the result of nature and society will never been able to stop it. This special episode reinforces her original message: homosexuality is no disease but a natural phenomenon. Besides, by switching their roles, the author outlines that the social gap between them will always be present in their relationship no matter where they live but they will overlook it in the end. Their affection is strongly intertwined to scandal, yet it won’t matter. By using the idea of destiny, the special episode with the alternative universe reveal that their choices are not free in reality, their decisions are all influenced by their disposition and environment. While reading the special episode, I couldn’t help myself connecting this story to philosophy and different currents in philosophy: Free will versus Determinism.

This is the second time that I am referring to philosophy. In another analysis, I had explained that Yoon Seungho was a libertine and represented the ideas from Enlightenment where reason and critical thinking were in the center of this movement. In other words, the powerful protagonist belongs to the libertarians (“free will”). By guiding the low-born, he liberated him from traditions and social norms. That’s why at the end, the painter makes his own decisions. He chooses to remain by his lord’s side despite the terrible night in chapter 53 and the first brutal confession. That’s why we could say that the original version advocates free will, whereas the special episode represents the other current: determinism, where there exists no real freedom. Interesting is that the moment the first episode from the alternative episode was released, many fans realized the similarities between the original Painter Of The Night and the alternative one. Let me give you an example: (Chapter 55) As you can observe, the drawings and the character’s actions resemble each other a lot. It was as if the protagonists had no choice but to turn their heads. It was already planned and designed, just like Oedipus who couldn’t escape his fate. By drawing similar panels, Byeonduck gives us the impression that their destiny and actions have already been predetermined. Baek Na-Kyum will run away or blush or have a crush on Jung In-Hun. They have to accept and embrace their destiny which will be full of pain but also full of love and tenderness. And now, let’s take a closer look at the special episode.

Here, fate appears in two forms. They first meet by coincidence and secondly thanks to the intervention of the cat. Coincidence is a proof that they have no control over their life and love life. It was, as if the invisible hand of gods had decided to have them met. Yet, determinism doesn’t use the idea of gods or of an exterior force leading the characters to encounter each other. If you pay attention to the way they meet, you’ll realize that their decisions, influenced by their liking and living conditions, were the reasons why they met in the street. The noble Baek Na-Kyum was strolling in that part of the town because he wanted to sell his erotic paintings. So because of his hidden hobby, he is led to go to a part of the town where commoners live. In other words, the protagonist enters Yoon Seungho’s world. On the other hand, Yoon Seungho as a low-born catches Baek Na-Kyum’s attention due to his unusual attitude. He shows neither remorse nor fear in front of the angry aristocrat. He is very defiant. That’s love at first sight. However, this is true love as sexuality is immediately included, while his affection towards Jung In-Hun was more related to the innocent and pure love of a child. Striking is that Yoon Seungho is exposed for his scandalous relationship with the son of a noble family showing that he doesn’t care about social status and distinction between nobility and commoner. It is also the same for the painter who sells his erotic paintings in order to buy glasses for his servant. This shows that right from the start, Baek Na-Kyum has not truly internalized the hierarchical society and it is the same with the strong-willed commoner. They might not belong to the same social class but their mentality is in reality similar. Besides, they have both a strong libido and a certain sexual fantasy. Yoon Seungho is willing to have sex anywhere (f. ex. in the woodshed) and after meeting the impressive and attractive seme, Baek Na-Kyum becomes so inspired that he creates a threesome. The painting could be seen as another evidence that the painter had to create such a work. There’s no real free will in the end. However, the idea of a threesome indicates that the innocent noble has indeed a kinky side which was triggered the moment he met Yoon Seungho’s eyes. And now, it explains why Yoon Seungho was destined to meet Baek Na-Kyum outside his mansion in the original manhwa. He had to meet him at the tavern because it was the commoner’s world and since the noble was interested in the painter, he couldn’t just send for him. The latter could refuse but in his presence, Yoon Seungho imagined that the artist would never dare to reject the offer.

However, unlike the seme who doesn’t fear the rumors about his reputation, the noble prefers hiding his true thoughts hence he repeats exactly what his crush says about homosexuals. In other words, Baek Na-Kyum seems to have a predisposition to follow social norms, although in his heart, he doesn’t acknowledge societal hierarchy. He lives in his own bubble in my opinion. That’s why I come to the conclusion that Baek Na-Kyum’s inner conflicts will always represent one of their problems in the evolution of their love story. The noble will suffer pressure from his family and his servant Jung In-Hun who will betray him, making the main lead discover what love truly is. But because of their affinities, they were destined to be together.

This determinism is also visible with the appearance of the cat. Due to his love for cats, the noble is led to a woodshed where he witnesses Yoon Seungho having sex with someone else. Note that the cat is the reason why he feels pleasure for the first time and why he gets caught in the end. If the cat had not appeared, then he would have never discovered the sexual intercourse. If he had never liked cats, he wouldn’t have played with him. Furthermore, he was strolling through the district where commoners live as he was on his way to sell his new painting. His so-called choices could only lead him to the place where the attractive seme was. This was no real coincidence again. Now, why a cat?

In my opinion, the cat with the herb symbolizes nature which stands in opposition to society and its social norms. That’s why nature leads the protagonist to awake his sexuality and discover his sexual attraction for the seme. While in the original version, we had a fight between unconscious (dream) versus conscious (reality), we have a fight between nature versus society which is actually the same. Freud called the unconscious (“Es”) which is strongly linked to naturality. Baek Na-Kyum’s fight will be to accept that he has always been attracted to men and he has fallen in love with Yoon Seungho due to his charisma. By interacting more with him, he will discover that they share many affinities in the end. Like I demonstrated above, their mindset is quite similar. Furthermore, this new version confirms my interpretation: the seme will be or is Baek Na-Kyum’s real muse. And since it is their destiny to be together, then the commoner will come up with a thread again. Due to the painting and the tools he left behind, Yoon Seungho will be able to discover Baek Na-Kyum’s identity and the latter will be blackmailed. Notice that the merchant knows his true identity. The painter will have to work for Yoon Seungho, yet the reason will diverge. The commoner has already set his eyes on the artist, since he hasn’t really forgotten him. He remembers his face (“your eyes off”) and his words (“dirty buggery”). Their attraction was mutual and he needs to create a reason. As a conclusion, the introduction of the alternative universe makes us realize the dimension of determinism which is strongly linked to Nature (sex, cat). Baek Na-Kyum’s choice will be to acknowledge that his love for the seme is stronger than social norms, so that we can say, even if there exists determinism, there’s a certain liberty. Yet it is much more limited than it looks like as our decisions are influenced by our environment, experiences and past.

Painter Of The Night: Past, present and future – part 4 (second version)

November 20, 2020November 22, 2020 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 2 Comments

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.

In the other parts, I concluded that Jihwa and Seungho were more persons of the past. Nonetheless due to the painter they were forced to change and live more in the present. On the other hand, Min was linked to the present, however because of his fateful meeting with the artist, he was also forced to focus on the future. The cause for his transformation was his desire towards the artist kept growing. He wanted to taste him but couldn’t as Seungho represented the biggest hindrance. Then I saw Nameless and valet Kim as persons personifying the future since both were strategists and made plans for the future (forcing the separation first, later bringing them together, forcing Jihwa to face reality and no longer live in an illusion) for the main characters. However, there were two figures left: the scholar and father Yoon. In this essay, I will examine Jung In-Hun and his relationship to time, just like I did with the other characters.

Jung In-Hun is a teacher who comes from low nobility hence he possesses no connection and wealth. Because of his actual poor situation, he keeps dreaming of his future With these two pictures, it becomes obvious that he is imagining a time where he will live like the rich protagonist. Therefore the first impression would be to judge him as a person symbolizing the future. However, if you pay attention to his words, you’ll notice that he is speaking in the present (“can count”, “has”, “do not have”) The enumeration doesn’t just expose his greed and envy but also outlines his strong connection to the present because he also employs two senses, the touching and the sight. This reinforces the impression he is somehow living in the moment. This scene is really important as it shows that the present plays a huge role in his life. I come to the first observation that this is his source of inspiration, the present leads him to dream of a future where he will be different. Envy, jealousy and resent are his generators, strongly intertwined with the present.

Furthermore, if you observe his interactions with others, you’ll note that Jung In-Hun keeps utilizing the present for the most part of the time. I chose first the following panels. (chapter 6) (chapter 10)(chapter 29) Therefore for me, Jung In-Hun is a person of present. And now here is the next question. What do these pictures have in common, excluding the present as tense? What caught my attention is though present is the utilized tense, he is actually referring to the past (“are still not painting”= didn’t paint /”does such things ” = didn’t do) or to the future (“are destined” = will be). The best example for this would be this panel. Notice that he is already thinking about the future, planning to use the painter, yet he speaks in the present. Strangely is that after realizing the importance of Baek Na-Kyum, he chooses not to bid farewell to his former student. Any normal person would recognize that he needs to treat the painter better from now on but no, he does nothing like that. Because of the contradiction between the different parts of time, I sense a confusion between past, future and present. My first explication is the following. In the scholar’s mind, his future is a certitude, that’s his fate. He is destined to have what Yoon Seungho has. Therefore, we could say, the present represents not only his strong motivation but also his future. In his eyes, his fate is to become rich and powerful. Thereby this is not astonishing that he talks to Yoon Seungho and Baek Na-Kyum about fate, path and destiny.

Simultaneously, we could say that he is not really living in the moment, as past and future are confused with the present. This explicates why he thinks about the future, while talking in the present.

The irony is that he was tricked by his favorite tense, the present. If the manhwaworms read again the episode 7, they will realize that time played a huge part in the deception. We shouldn’t forget that the learned sir needs to learn in order to pass the second examination. And like I had demonstrated it before, he only realized his mistake, the moment he discovered the existence of the deal (chapter 19). In his mind, he had already achieved his goal, the moment the main lead proposed to sponsor him. He didn’t recognize that the lord’s words were just an empty promise as he needed to pass first the civil service examination. He didn’t see the trap as the lord was talking in the present, for him a sign of destiny and certitude. First, the main lead implies that the scholar is an intelligent person (“are” is omitted), while he thinks the opposite. Secondly, he fools the arrogant man that he will succeed with the examination since he employs “when” and not “if”. The condition is disguised behind the idiom “only that”. As you can detect, Yoon Seungho is selling these as facts, while it was not the case. Due to the tense, Jung In-Hun was manipulated and fell into his own trap. He thought, he was deceiving the protagonist, whereas it was the opposite and his major mistake was the employed tense: present. Moreover, note that in chapter 18, he only used two senses: the sight and the touching. But he isn’t employing his mind or better said, his brain, limiting his own skills. That’s why he couldn’t perceive the deception. Since he is so certain about his path, he doesn’t really have to utilize his knowledge and his brain. This explicates why he is a lazy person in the end and couldn’t become successful before.

Since I outlined how the doubled-faced character would confuse present, past and future as his fate is already determined, this is not surprising that he is neglecting the present in reality. His present is different from reality, it stands under the sign of destiny. It is his path to climb the social ladders. Therefore he resents his real present, confronting him with reality. He has nothing. Now, you understand why I associate the learned sir to the present, meaning that he has some similarities with the low-born and the vicious lord Min.

However, as you can envision, he is different from the painter and Black Heart for different reasons. In my eyes, he personifies the negative version of Min. While the latter is a carpe diem person who enjoys the present by taking advantages of others for his own pleasure but is still envious of the main lead, the scholar is never satisfied with his current situation and resents everyone: Yoon Seungho, Baek Na-Kyum and the commoners. His real present is a constant reminder that he has not fulfilled his destiny. He doesn’t desire to be associated to commoners, although his clothes in the beginning don’t diverge so much from peasants’, while he wishes to resemble to the powerful main lead due to his wealth. As a conclusion, Baek Na-Kyum is the only satisfied with the present due to his modesty and selflessness. He has been accustomed to his social status. Due to his past, he knows what he should expect from the world which outlines that even if he was hurt in the past, he could move on but learnt from his bad experiences. Therefore he stands in opposition to Jung In-Hun who seems to have no real past and has not learnt from his mistakes at all. Now, you understand why. Since it is his destiny to have a high position, he doesn’t need to focus on the past or on the real present. That’s why he never reflects about his own actions and words, hurting the low-born, without noticing it. For him, fate will always play in his favor, yet by acting like that, he reveals gradually his true colors.

Striking is that his common past with the low-born is just briefly mentioned. He only taught him to read and write. Then he adds this: It was, as if they had no special relationship, except that the artist only caught his attention as he would follow him around and drew something immoral and vulgar. By reading it for the first time, the manhwalovers have the impression that the purpose of the scholar’s words is to undervalue Baek Na-Kyum, while emphasizing his own good personality. The artist is someone with an unappropriated behavior, whereas he was a man of virtue, a role model, because he punished the low-born for his erotic paintings.

Yet, we could interpret the idiom “once” differently. He has already forgotten what he really inflicted on the low-born. His coercive persuasion meant nothing to him hence he is overlooking the impact of his actions. In other words, in his mind he just did it once. And if you pay attention to the teacher’s behavior, it really appears that he has no real recollection of the physical abuse he did on the painter. When he meets him again, he acts as if nothing happened before. One might argue, he is just faking everything which is also correct hence this could be no real sign that he truly forgot the coercive persuasion. However, if you observe his behavior during the first season, you’ll realize that this is actually Jung In-Hun’s MO. In chapter 40, he almost killed the painter with his words, yet the next morning he still believes that he can still use him as his pawn… just like he did in the past. It was always like that, each time Jung In-Hun hurt the artist, the latter would still remain faithful. In chapter 29, he already betrayed which the artist sensed but once they arrived the mansion, the artist was still willing to sacrifice his own life in order to protect his admired sir from the infuriated and jealous lord. Let’s not forget that he never changed his attitude towards him after the coercive persuasion therefore the teacher wrote a bad poem. It becomes clear that he took the commoner for granted. In my perspective, this reasoning is simple. Since the low-born’s destiny is to be a prostitute after stopping painting, the ow noble imagined that he didn’t need him in the first place. However, now it diverges. In chapter 44, it becomes obvious that the scholar plans to use him as a prostitute. It was as if in his eyes, their paths were now connected. The low born will help him to achieve his goal. And this explicates why he doesn’t say goodbye to the artist. He can’t imagine that the low-born might change his mind and feelings. He is so sure of his “affection” and his power over him. He believes in his destiny hence he doesn’t need to pay attention to the commoner, the latter will play his role.

Nonetheless, it becomes obvious that because of his strong belief of destiny, Jung In-Hun is ignoring reality and as such present. He is neglecting the fact that Baek Na-Kyum is truly changing. He noticed his lie hence he punished him for his “betrayal”, unaware that with these exact words, he unveils his true personality. He is in fact the one who backstabbed him first violating his own doctrines.

Another point for my interpretation why Jung In-Hun is strongly connected to the present as he often acts on impulse. Due to his jealousy, he decided to beat the painter forcing him to vow to never paint again. He didn’t want to see how a low-born could become successful, destroying his own dream and belief: the low noble is destined to achieve greatness. By doing so, he didn’t recognize that he condemned himself to remain working as teacher in the end. As Baek Na-Kyum’s guardian, he could have used his popularity and even claimed to have a right to get his money earned through the paintings but he couldn’t bear the thought, he was living next to someone talented, mirroring his own lacking. Out of resent and jealousy, he abused the painter physically and mentally, that’s one of the reasons why he is describing it as a single event. He acted on impulse, until his anger and resent disappeared. And this attitude never changes. In chapter 10, he persuades the painter to stop painting hoping to get rid of a rival, unaware that he is actually ruining his own career and chances. Then in chapter 22, he forgets that Yoon Seungho is his sponsor and insults him by describing him as someone with no education, since he has been mocked for his poor talent. To his surprise, Yoon Seungho isn’t hurt by his words, in fact he retaliates right away. He is in no place to criticize his benefactor, especially when he has no real talent. Observe that the powerful lord is teaching an important lesson to Jung In-Hun, he needs to pay attention to the real present as it can affect his immediate future implying that his fate and big dream are nothing sure. By using a conditional sentence, he demonstrates that present is no guarantee for certainty as it is bound to a condition. I perceive this scene as another evidence that he lives in the present, an unreal one nourished by his vanity and his arrogance, which is an illusion in reality. The cause for this is that he believes in destiny. Each time, he gets disappointed and hurt, he unleashes his fury and the painter becomes his target. Notice how furious and violent he was after the hunt. He hurt the painter, until he regained his senses and recognized that he needed to treat the low-born differently, since he was relying on his relationship to his sponsor. In other words, not only he is neglecting the present due to his belief of destiny but he is so caught up with the present that he is always damaging his own career. Like my follower @SpringDayYum noticed it correctly, in reality Baek Na-Kyum symbolized his future, although he is also a person of the present. The latter was determined to do anything for him, willing to break his vow for his learned sir’s sake. As a conclusion, he never realized that he could have achieved his destiny by supporting the painter in his work. He would have gotten recognition for becoming his guardian and chose not, proving that fate and destiny are never determined. Choices are relevant and influence life.

Another interesting aspect is that he is not paying attention to his own changes. He starts acting like a pimp and even a prostitute, betraying his own doctrines, too consumed by his dream and his desire to secure his future. That’s why I have already predicted, he will become a prostitute [for furthermore information, read the following essay: https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/07/08/painter-of-the-night-jung-in-hun-a-new-version-of-bel-ami/ ] Nevertheless he will only recognize it too late, especially the moment he faces the painter and the latter realizes how his learned sir secured his position.

Note that when the double-faced man meets the powerful protagonist for the first time, he describes his job as a diversion showing that his occupation is to pass time which reminds us of “carpe diem” philosophy, living in the moment. Nonetheless there is a huge contrast as it is not linked to joy of life and pleasure. He only has negative emotions. That’s why for me, his mind isn’t truly directed towards the future. In fact, he is always jealous of others, especially of the artist and Yoon Seungho. Another evidence that he is a person of the present can be perceived in the scholar’s following words: He has been waiting indicating that he has been actually doing nothing at all. In order to be judged as a person focused on the future, the teacher should have made plans for his career but he doesn’t. He is so different from Kim and Nameless. Both anticipate reactions and try to move things in the right direction, they have strategies, like giving an aphrodisiac for example or postponing the murder. Therefore I would say that the scholar is trapped in the present, while he dreams of his destiny, which is in reality an uncertain future. His dissatisfaction is the reason why he would like to change his situation but he has no idea how. He lives in an illusion that the world owns him something and at some point, it will happen.

Therefore we could say that he is not a man of foresight which is symbolized by his glasses. Like my reader @nonoboy-oops pointed out to me, “the glasses symbolizes his being unable to look as far into the future due to his selfish ways”. Since he is short-sighted, it signifies that he can only see what is really close to him. That’s the reason why he uses people and tricks that are near him, another indicator that he is strongly linked to the present. Finally, I interpret his bad sight as another evidence that he is lacking knowledge. He has a very bad overview about his real situation hence he makes bad decisions. He is unable to perceive people’s true nature as well. He doubts Seungho’s intelligence and education, although he could have sensed it, after discovering the existence of the deal. He is not capable to recognize Baek Na-Kyum’s talent too and jeopardized his own ascension by forcing the painter to drop painting. And his blindness is actually reflected in the panel above. The manhwalovers can only see one eye. Back then, I interpreted that he was hiding his true thoughts. As you can note, this single image offers so many possibilities. It shows his underhandedness and hypocrisy, simultaneously his lack of foresight and knowledge as he can’t see everything. It was as if he had lost one eye and perceives the world in only one dimension. Two eyes are necessary in order to judge distance which is a metaphor for predicting the future. As a conclusion, this image illustrates his lack of foresight and “blindness”.

Since he resents the present so much as it doesn’t correspond to the image he has in his mind, he seems to be similar to the red-haired aristocrat, who hates his actual situation wishing to go back to the past and projecting it as a possible future. Jung In-Hun has also developed a sort of escapist attitude. However, there is a huge difference between them. Jung In-Hun is neglecting the past that’s why we only have one flashback of the teacher in the first season. He is not learning from his mistakes, allows his emotions to cloud his judgement and jeopardize his future career. There is no doubt that the moment Jung In-hun returns to the mansion asking for more support, the painter will ignore his plea. He has definitely cut ties with his learned sir. As for Yoon Seungho, the moment he knows his affection is returned, he will drop the former teacher for good. He doesn’t need him any longer as he was just a tool to force the artist to work for him. Baek Na-Kyum will create beautiful erotic paintings, inspired by their mutual love. Like my follower @Denize59542085 suggested it, we have to expect that the artist will create a new big picture like in chapter 2. However, this time the noble will look directly at his lover, there won’t be any distance between them and the artist will gaze at his loved one tenderly, a gaze full of warmth, admiration and love proving to his lord that he is worthy to be loved.

Because of all the changes, Jung In-Hun will be forced to find a new sponsor and since he caught attention by getting help from Yoon Seungho, I am quite sure that father Yoon will imagine that he can approach the former teacher. And that’s how he will meet his true destiny: becoming a prostitute. I know, these are just predictions from my part but there were already clues about this evolution, like I explained in the other essay mentioned above. The scholar won’t escape his fate in my opinion, his punishment for all the wrongdoings he inflicted on Baek Na-Kyum.

Protected: Painter Of The Night: Fire and water – part 2 (second version)

November 16, 2020July 9, 2021 ~ Bébébisous33

Painter Of The Night: Fire and water – part 1

November 15, 2020 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 2 Comments

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.

If you read the analysis entitled “Starry Night versus Cloudy Night”, you are already aware of the character I’ll study in this essay. It’s about the lord Lee Jihwa. Thanks to the terrible but terrific episode 60, I could finally comprehend the protagonist in his entity.

He is very similar to the painter therefore in one of my former analyses I described him as Baek Na-Kyum’s noble version and this perception is even confirmed in chapter 60. The noble says the exact same words than the artist, like my follower @Denize59542085 truly noticed. One might say that the repetition of the same expression is just random. However, if the manhwalovers contextualize the situation where these words are spoken, they will realize that both are facing the same situation. They are trying to deny the truth as their mind and heart can not accept the reality: Yoon Seungho is in love with a commoner, the painter Baek Na-Kyum. But one might appeal that this is nothing new as I had explained it before. However, if my readers recall the picture I chose to validate Jihwa’s similar attitude in the past, they will note that back then he expressed it differently. He was utilizing the imperfect due to the conditional sentence, a mixture of past and future linked to hope and dream. As you can observe, the use of tense has now switched. He is utilizing the present because he is now confronted with reality and as such with the present, personified by the painter. The presence of the hickey on Baek Na-Kyum’s neck is an irrefutable evidence of Yoon Seungho’s love for the artist. Like I had explained before, the artist is a person living in the present hence he embodies this time. On the other hand it is not the same with the noble. So the reason behind the artist’s doubts are different. It’s like a dream has come true, while for the red-haired aristocrat, it was, as if his dream and hope had been destroyed. And notice that right after seeing the hickey, he gets so shocked that he falls back on his butt and even moves away from the low-born. The shock was so huge that he has no energy left in his legs. Moreover, it was, as if the second character was trying to run away from reality, his eyes couldn’t take the blow. But his nightmare doesn’t stop here, he has to hear the painter’ scream for his lover. As you can sense, Jihwa’s senses are all confronted with reality. His own eyes saw the hickey, his own ears detected the intimacy between his ex-lover and the low-born. He can’t escape from the truth which he has been attempting so hard to avoid all this time. Now, his eyes and his ears are hurting him as they are revealing him the reality.

Because of this specific scene, I suddenly came to the following realization, the reason why Jihwa has been wearing hats with veil. I have to admit that back then, I had a different explanation, a more logical one but when did he wear them? Do you remember? Each time, it was related to a wrongdoing: destroying a painting (10), visiting Seungho’s mansion without an invitation as he wanted to investigate the painter (17), hiring an assassin(43), showing the killer the target (50) and visiting the criminal in order to remind him of his task. (51). The rational answer would be to say that he was wearing it in order to hide his identity. But in reality, there is a diverse motivation. The hat with the veil is used in order to cover his eyes and ears. While wearing such an item, he can avoid to be confronted with his crimes. His eyes can’t really see, just like his ears can’t really hear. This explains why he never questioned himself and his actions which I always criticized. Since he was veiling his eyes and ears, he was not facing the present and could escape from any responsibility. I would even add that this item reinforced his negative disposition. He would justify his actions with the past (f. ex. taking revenge on the behalf of the noble with the mole and accusing Seungho to be the cause for his evil actions) and would rejoice if they worked out. Observe that he only hears about the straw mat beating through his spy but he never witnesses the actual event. Hence he never sees the outcome of his decisions and actions. It would have been the same in chapter 17, if Seungho hadn’t intervened.

And this leads me to the next observation: the lord has never been using his own eyes and ears in the end. He uses his servants , the spy he hired, Min and rumors . Concerning the second panel, it indicates that Jihwa has truly no idea about Seungho’s real power and wealth and is more relying on hearsay. Here, Jihwa is confusing the elder master’s situation with Seungho’s. The latter might have a bad reputation but his power is far from declining. This explicates why his brother contacted the protagonist in the end, he desired to get his support. The last picture is relevant as it outlines why Jihwa would always perceive Seungho as a man consumed by lust. He never witnessed how the lord would sleep with other men as he was never present. He could never judge with his own eyes that Seungho was actually fighting with other nobles rather than enjoying having sex with them. Fooling around implies pleasure which was never the case. In fact, with this statement it becomes clear why Seungho always had sex with Jihwa separately. Jihwa made sure to never be confronted with other aristocrats, preferring avoiding reality. It didn’t help him in the long term because he always heard Seungho’s conquests through others and this could only reinforce his prejudice. In other words, these private sessions could only increase the gap between them. Jihwa could never understand his childhood friend as he was influenced what people were saying because he never saw it himself. That’s why he got hurt in the end, he only got his knowledge by hearsay.

Besides, by getting info through other people exposes that the character is somehow relying on others but at the same time, he is not really connected to them as his attention is more focused on the hearsay than the counterpart’s life. Furthermore, note that getting info through channels is always delivered later. What is present becomes the past once it reaches the recipient. [They didn’t have modern media back then] Now, you can comprehend why Jihwa was never living in the present. He was trapped in the past and the future in the end. Therefore I conclude that his attitude illustrates pure escapism. And now the readers can imagine why Jihwa sent the fake letter to his childhood friend and hurt him. Sure, he had no other way to contact him as the protagonist had cut ties with him entirely and could only rely on gossips. The manhwaphiles should remember that the letter arrives after the lord had started living in debauchery again for one week. I have the impression that due to this change, Jihwa had the hope that Baek Na-Kyum had finally lost his master’s favors. By reminding Seungho of their common past, Jihwa had the illusion that this past would be good enough to get together again. But the most important is that after sending the letter, Jihwa was never confronted with Seungho’s pain and reaction as he was not present. He could never see it with his own eyes therefore he could justify his action and blame the recipient of the letter.

What caught my attention is a certain expression Jihwa keeps using: “I know you”. This idiom underlines that Jihwa is just using knowledge but neither his heart nor his eyes nor ears to understand him. He might know things but he can’t feel as he is himself deprived of his own senses. He’s deaf and blind in reality, very similar to the artist’s attitude in season 2 from chapter 45 to 49. In my opinion, Jihwa’s behavior reminds me of this picture with Baek Na-Kyum: A man without his head as his mind is full of prejudices and he is not even using his own eyes and ears. That’s why his so-called love for Seungho is shallow as he shows no true compassion. One might refute this argument by saying that the noble saw the lord’s nightmares. However, if you pay attention to this scene, you’ll notice that they are related to the past and not to the present. Jihwa was never a witness, when Seungho was directly wounded emotionally and physically. He could only observe the consequences of his suffering (the trauma), yet he knew nothing about their origins, only a name: lord Song. His knowledge is very limited, yet it gave him a certain feeling of superiority, explaining why Jihwa always considered himself as special. First, he knew certain things about his past as they were childhood friends. Secondly they had sex alone and finally Seungho always forgave Jihwa’s wrongdoings. The reason for this is quite simple: both were living in the past, yet it changed the moment Baek Na-Kyum entered the two figures’ life, the person symbolizing the present. Let’s not forget that the protagonist’s tumultuous relationship with his friend got affected the moment the low-born created his first work. The sex at the pavilion affected not only Seungho but also Jihwa. While the former had come back to life without noticing it and saw a different image about himself, the other had the impression that he had been able to stimulate his friend for the first time and this gave him hope that he was closer to his dream.

From that moment, his life could never be the same. Nonetheless, the readers couldn’t truly realize the huge impact, even myself. I mean, I had detected a certain change, yet I had not entirely grasped the whole signification, the importance of Jihwa’s eyes. Since I have come to the deduction that the lord was deaf and blind before, I consider that the red-haired character’s gaze was actually dead in the past. Consequently the noble never relied on his own eyes. No wonder if Seungho couldn’t fall in love with his friend as he could never see himself reflected in Jihwa’s eyes. This explicates why the first drawing shows Jihwa with closed eyes. At the pavilion, Jihwa discovered through his body Seungho’s desires first (the kiss, then licking his ear). Pay attention that he only looks at his friend’s phallus the moment he feels it on his butt while proposing to help his friend to get aroused. So the change in Seungho’s behavior provoked a transformation in Jihwa either. He had witnessed himself the metamorphosis with his own eyes but all this was triggered by the physical interaction first. Strictly speaking, Jihwa has always used his own body to compensate the loss of his eyes and ears. Through his body he had the impression, he wasn’t entirely lifeless. Due to the sex at the pavilion, the aristocrat decided to behave differently and use more his own eyes.

That’s why when the red-haired protagonist visited his friend in chapter 5, he felt confident and started using more his own eyes for the first time. But pay attention to the way he uses them.Only now I comprehend why the lord could see the painter’s virginity. Let’s not forget that in this scene, Jihwa touches Baek Na-Kyum’s body. So he is not relying entirely on his gaze. Like I mentioned above, the noble lived more through his body and his hand helps him to sense the painter’s virginity. Let’s not forget that the character has learnt himself through his own body to detect sexual experiences. From my perspective, he sensed through his hand the painter’s shyness, that’s how he discovered his secret. He acted as if he was a man with a bad sight. But he was not only blind before, he was also deaf therefore in the same chapter, he doesn’t hear Seungho’s annoyance about his bad reflection, he is a man consumed by lust. In my opinion, Jihwa lived through his other senses (taste and touch) to feel alive. And that’s one of the reasons why he drinks so much in the end. Happy or not, he drinks. Strangely is that in chapter 8, Jihwa has just bought an erotic picture but he looks at it without taking any pleasure. And this is important as it shows that his eyes are not sensitive, they are starting to come back to life. That’s why he can not be deeply moved by Baek Na-Kyum’s paintings in reality. For me, it becomes clear that due to the appearance of Baek Na-Kyum in Jihwa’s life, the noble is forced more and more to use his own eyes and ears, especially after hearing from his friend about the locked gaze between Yoon Seungho and the low-born. Hence we see many zooms on his gaze in chapter 13, 14 and 15 underlining that he is forced to use them. He has to witness with his own eyes the attraction between the two main leads and attempts to change it.

Since he had internalized this escapist attitude, he had to wear a hat with a veil for his wrongdoings. With this new interpretation, it becomes more comprehensible why Jihwa wasn’t bothered that his friend had cut his topknot, when he got upset. Because he was blind, he could never see his hair cut with his own eyes, grasp the signification of the gesture. He had to touch it literally to realize the consequence of his wrongdoing, he had to sense it with his hand.

Since I have already described the character’s gaze as dead in the past, the appearance of the mirror in chapter 3 gets a new dimension: His eyes are absent and observe, he is touching his body in order to detect the marks left by the main lead. And the manhwaphiles should remember that one of the mirror’s purpose is to help the beholder to perceive his identity. Unlike his friend, he is not avoiding the mirror but since he is blind, he can’t perceive himself and needs his hands to see. And it is quite similar in chapter 41: here he’s holding himself the big spoon that’s how he can see his own reflection the water. I hope, you can understand why I can not examine each scene where Jihwa’s eyes play a huge role. However, with this new discovery, I would like to incite the manhwalovers to read the manhwa from the start and pay attention to Jihwa’s eyes and ears. But because he has been deaf and blind for so long figuratively speaking, it is not surprising that Jihwa is a selfish person. He is trapped in his own world where his interactions with others are restricted and his world is linked to the past. That’s why he can’t live in the present. Who would like to be reminded of his disabilities?

And now it is time to explain the significance of Jihwa’s tears. They are very different from the painter’s. The latter symbolize purity and innocence, while in the noble’s case they signalize the return of his sight. In other words, he is also coming back to life. Water is a symbol for life because without water there is no existence. One might refute this idea because we witness Jihwa’s tears before the painter’s introduction in their life. Yet, the beholder will recognize that the noble’s tears are barely visible. The tears don’t flow down the cheeks like in the latest chapter. From my point of view, this scene is very important as it explains Jihwa’s obsession with his friend in the end. In his presence, he was able to feel something, it moved his heart to the point to have some tears in his eyes. But he didn’t see with his own eyes, Jihwa detected it through his body and especially his hands. Note how Seungho is holding his hand on his friend’s shoulder and he is looking down. Both have no eye contact. Yet, this was enough for the red-haired aristocrat. Due to Seungho’s behavior, Jihwa sensed that he was feeling alive because of the appearance of tears. Yet it only appeared when his friend was in pain. That’s why Jihwa had to hurt Seungho in the end to feel existent. If the latter was wounded, he would feel a certain compassion and he would have the impression that his eyes and ears were not dead. A really vicious circle. But for me, there’s another explanation why Jihwa has become obsessed with his childhood friend. From my point of view, he must have witnessed something terrible, it is definitely possible that it is linked to guilt. In his unconscious, he feels responsible for his friend’s misery. But there is more to it in my opinion. I believe that because he had lost his soul (the gaze dead), Jihwa desired to live through his friend’s life. He hoped to see himself in his friend’s gaze so that he would have the impression to exist. In his mind and heart, Seungho’s love for him would help him to recover his sight. He was dependent on him in the end,

But let’s return our attention to Jihwa’s tears. The quantity of tears continues increasing illustrating more and more that Jihwa is changing. However, the return of his tears signifies that he is forced to live more and more in the present. And now if you pay attention to his weeping, you’ll notice that he often closes his eyes or uses his hand to cover his tears (observe the position of his hands here) or hide his tears with the veil of the hat or bury his head so that the tears are not visible These gestures represent his resistance to accept reality. He is not able to face reality and the present hence he urges Nameless to kill the painter very soon. It was as if he tried to hurry the time so that the murder would happen very quickly.

And since I have described Jihwa who refuses to use his own eyes, the manhwalovers can grasp how poitnless Seungho’s warning was in the end. How is it possible for a blind person to see a line?

Finally, it also explains why Seungho’s words were rejected or even forgotten by the childhood friend. He couldn’t believe his own ears that the main lead would never be together with him. That’s why in the cabin, he is still in denial, until the criminal confronts him with the reality. Striking is that once the noble complains about his incompetence, he shows him the kidnapped painter. which leaves him speechless. Striking is that right after, the noble hides away from the commoner. First, he turns his back to Nameless and even hides his eyes behind his hands. Another sign that he is still avoiding the present and the terrible situation. Then he confronts the commoner and observe that he is talking about the past again, using it as an argument. He criticizes Nameless for not doing his job illustrating that he is not taking any responsibility. But what the aristocrat fails to recognize is that Nameless is acting as the mirror, the mirror of fact, reality and truth!! His good heart made him detect the aristocrat’s guilty conscience hence he first postponed the murder hoping that Jihwa would change his mind. However, it didn’t work hence he reminded him of the severity of the crime but the latter didn’t really budge, despite a certain hesitation. Each time, he urged the commoner to hurry up and finish it. I believe that’s how Nameless recognized that Jihwa would never see any responsibility after the crime despite a certain guilt. He sensed that Jihwa would become just like all the nobles who order a murder and then frame and blame low-borns for their wrongdoings. And this escapist attitude concerning the hit was present right from the start. What caught my attention is that in chapter 43, when Min incites Jihwa to kill the low-born, the upset noble is not using the personal pronoun “I” but “we”. He is including the others with his question. It was as if he wanted them to share the responsibility. Sure, Min was the one who brought it up, yet Jihwa could have refused. This question also unveils a certain hesitation. In my opinion, he’s hoping that they will stop him. However nothing happens like that. Min shows no remorse. My point is that even if Jihwa was reluctant to commit the murder, he was the one who made the decision in the end and hired Nameless. Through their different meetings, the commoner recognized the presence of guilt but simultaneously the lack of sense of responsibility. Hence Jihwa is forced to look at his victim and his misdeeds by Nameless. But just like the mirror in Snow White, the mirror is also speaking and even letting him hear that he is no longer innocent as he played a key role in the target’s capture. He is no longer innocent, even if he had no idea about it. The irony here is that Nameless is using the same strategy than Jihwa but in the opposite sense. Ignorance is no blessing in the end. Even if he was unaware, he has become part of the plan, a sort of accomplice. Therefore he is already accountable for the future event. As you can see, the commoner uses the exact two senses which Jihwa refused to use in the end: sight and hearing. But he even provoked the aristocrat by describing what his friend had been doing after he left him leading him to verify his saying. As you can observe, Nameless is manipulating him for his own good. We all know that he wasn’t truly blind and deaf but since he was hurt, he chose to act as if he was blind and deaf, turning him into a selfish and lonely person. But Nameless doesn’t stop here with the confrontation.

In order to force him to make a decision rationally, Jihwa needs to hear the scream from the victim, to sense the victim’s fear and tears in order to grasp the gravity of his decision. He needs to hear from the commoner what could happen to the target. His descriptions are so vivid that Jihwa can vizualize the consequences of his decision. He can no longer escape from this. That’s why the door in his back is so small. He has already committed so many wrongdoings but he still has an option to escape. He can drop the project. Let’s not forget that he would have killed the painter in affect if Nameless hadn’t stopped him. The criminal wants him to make a decision with a clear mind, similar to the painter who stepped out to clear his mind and face the reality. He is not allowing his client to act on his emotions. He recognized that Jihwa was again using the future, attempting to escape from the present and reality again. That’s why Jihwa’s eyes and ears play a huge part in chapter 60. Only here, I was able to recognize Jihwa’s real blindness and deafness, both related to his past and explaining why he was so obsessed with his friend. As a conclusion, the lord Lee Jihwa was not really living. Yet this was not so perceptible like with the main protagonist for his smiles and clothes gave a different impression. In other words, he is a mixture of the two protagonists: the painter due to his tears and his naivety and the powerful master Yoon Seungho due to his attitude towards life, his refusal to live in the present, escaping from reality.

Painter Of The Night: Starry Night versus Cloudy Night

November 13, 2020November 14, 2020 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 3 Comments

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.

Before starting exposing the topic to this essay, it is important to remind the manhwalovers that for me, Byeonduck’s drawings about the landscape and the sky have always conveyed a certain meaning. In my perspective, they always represented the characters’ thoughts and feelings which reminded me of the expressionism movement. Therefore I wrote the following analyses: Drawings and emotions (part 1-part 2- part 3). And in order to comprehend the following study, it is necessary to have read the part 3, where I examined the moon position and its relationship to the nature. https://bebebisous33analyses.wordpress.com/2020/08/06/painter-of-the-night-drawings-and-emotions-part-3/

As you can imagine due to the title, my focus in this analysis will be on two drawings where the moon appeared. In chapter 58, the manhwalovers could admire this wonderful panel where the moon shone brightly next to the stars and the sky was filled with beautiful snow flakes mixed with stars, while the lord was making love to Baek Na-Kyum. This picture exuded magic and peace of mind. Yet in chapter 59, the readers are viewing a different night sky although it is happening during the same night. The moon is closer, nonetheless covered by clouds. Moreover, the stars are not visible and the snow flakes are less recognizable. We have the impression that there’s some wind due to the multitude of points and the clouds around the moon. It was as if the wind would push the clouds away from the moon and the snow from the roof was blown away by the wind. It was as if the clouds were trying to hide the moon. Since not all the snow flakes are coming from the sky, the few visible are the ones falling from the sky. From my perspective, there is a mixture of snow fall and wind-swept snow indicating that there’s a certain restlessness. As you can sense, we have a panel oozing calmness and clarity first and the other image emanating confusion and restlessness. Why is it so different, although it is the same night? As you can imagine, there is a reason for that and you might have already found the answer.

Before starting studying the second panel, I would like to remind my readers about the interpretation I made about the first panel posted in the analysis “Yoon Seungho’s love confession: Dream and reality”.

“This represents the painter’s gaze at his lover, as Seungho is embodied by the moon and the night sky. The moon shines brightly and the stars are even visible. This picture oozes a certain warmth as the beholder can distinguish the snow flakes very well. For me, this picture mirrors the painter’s thoughts. Now, he is able to recognize and enjoy the lord’s affection.”

However, what caught my attention first is the distance of the moon, especially if you compare it to the picture from chapter 59. Although the satellite glows so strongly, it looks so far. Yet during that night, the two protagonists were actually getting closer. Consequently we have to wonder about the reason for this gap. But the answer is quite simple if you recall that this image represents the painter’s perspective. Thereby the distance symbolizes the painter’s thinking. We shouldn’t forget that the latter has problems to accept the obvious. It is so incredible that it can’t be true, that’s how he thinks. For him, the noble is so powerful and stands so far above him, while he’s just a low-born who was raised at a brothel. Even a low-noble like Jung In-hun looked down on him and now an aristocrat from a higher position is loving him, it sounds so unrealistic. It was, as if this reality was just a mirage. As the manhwaphiles can sense, the gap reflects the painter’s internalization of norms and values.

The other striking detail is the disposition of the buildings and their respective roof. They don’t serve as a border, rather the opposite. It was as if there was an imaginary road leading to the moon and the trees were showing the way to the painter. The tree tops remind the spectators of fingers pointing to the moon. Furthermore, for the second time, we have the presence of nature in such a panel, while it was rarely in the past. Besides, if you compare it to the first image (chapter 4), you’ll notice that the tree is facing the roof. I interpret the position like this. Back then, the artist had to choose between his conscious (social norms), embodied by the roof where he denied his homosexuality, and his unconscious (his true desires), symbolized by the tree. The moon, a representation of Yoon Seungho, stood in the middle creating this inner conflict in the painter. And even so, the presence of civilization was more dominant than anything else. In the second picture, nature is barely visible (only water with some lotus), while we have two pavilions. However, in the drawing from the chapter 58, the readers can detect the switch. Nature is getting more importance as it occupies more place in the drawing. The number of trees has significantly increased. Furthermore, the roofs are covered with wood/ hay hence we don’t sense the presence of culture in this picture. We even have the impression that the trees are coming from the roof. With the former meaning, I deduce that the painter is no longer repressing his desires, is acknowledging his sexual orientation, yet the second roof symbolizes the remaining of social values. Since Baek Na-Kyum is still in denial due to the huge social gap, this becomes more understandable why he has issues to accept the truth. To summarize, we witness the flourishing of nature, which is strongly connected to the artist. And this is no coincidence. For me, it was, as if nature had been able to defeat civilization, society and its traditions. The lord’s love for the artist is a symbol for nature. Besides, according to my interpretation, the painter is associated to Earth hence to nature. The presence of the trees are a clue for this. Thanks to this magical night, the artist and the lord are slowly reconnecting to their true self. This explains why the lord can sleep peacefully and the painter is thinking very carefully and calmly. The presence of the trees, connected to the roof and representing Baek Na-Kyum’s emotions and sexual orientation, are now a real part of his identity. In other words, his conscious is slowly integrating these values. In my perspective, the starry night illustrates the painter’s transformation. Little by little, he is getting stronger as he has been able to find a roof over his head, a real home.

And striking is in chapter 59 Baek Na-Kyum is going outside in order to ponder about this magical night. It was, as if he wanted to clear his mind and think calmly, proving to me that the peace of mind is not just associated to Yoon Seungho but also to the artist. He is recalling all the good deeds the lord did to him. Therefore you can now understand why the first picture radiates peace of mind and beauty. Furthermore remember, in chapter 44 we had snow fall too and back then, I had pointed out that in Korea watching the first snow fall with the loved one has a huge signification. It means your wish will come true and it will be a real and deep love. Hence we could say that the snow fall during that magical night announces that Seungho’s dream will come true. Or the snow flakes could also symbolize the painter’s affection for the noble because snow flakes are similar to water drops and remind us of Baek Na-Kyum’s tears. Due to his tears, we know that the character’s personality is a water element. Yet, since he is denial, his love for the master has not become fertile (hence snow), while during their first night in chapter 21, it rained as his dream had come true. Let’s not forget that water is connected to fertility and life. But in chapter 21 this rain had a negative connotation, since it was linked to storm (the sound of a thunder). So it was pouring down, illustrating that this rain was not fecund and didn’t emanate tranquility. All these observations lead me to the following conclusion: the Wedding night had created a turmoil of emotions in both people. Yoon Seungho got swayed away by his feelings, when he was showered with love by the artist, while the latter was swayed away by the sensuality discovered through his first sexual experience. However, since both were not honest to each other and themselves, this night was an illusion causing chaos in the end. This is not surprising that at some point, this night led to a catastrophe, the rape at the pavilion.

And now, if the beholders look at the starry night, they’ll note that the panel contains so many messages:

The lord is no longer denying or hiding his affection therefore the moon is shining brightly,
The snow flakes reflect a certain joy coming from the painter
The painter is finally living his sexuality freely
He is now gazing at his lover and is able to perceive his affection.
The tree tops are trying to reach the moon, displaying that the painter’s unconscious desires the lord’s closeness but simultaneously the artist is also getting closer to Yoon Seungho, which already announces what happens in chapter 60. Here, the artist is screaming asking for Yoon Seungho’s help. Surprising is the way Baek Na-Kyum calls the main lead, it’s Lord Seungho!! This is no longer “master Yoon” or “my lord” but he is utilizing his first name!! And this detail didn’t escape Jihwa’s notice. He knows, this unveils a certain intimacy between his ex-lover and the low-born. Imagine, so far, Jihwa only called his friend Seungho, when he was upset: chapter 15 and 17!! He was forced to address him as lord/master Yoon all the time.
Both are slowly rediscovering their true nature, healing each other
However, the commoner needs to accept that there’s nothing wrong to love someone from another social status and even defy traditions.

Besides, I would like to point out that due to my interpretations, I discovered that the painter’s personality contains earth-water elements contrasting to Yoon Seungho’s nature. For me, the noble is a combination of fire and air. Remember my comparison to a volcano and my association to the eagle, but the best proof is the phoenix. The phoenix embodies both as the rebirth of this mystical bird is related to fire: reborn from its ashes. Note, this is what I found about the combination of earth-air:

“Earth and water in combination leads to something very sensual and moody indeed. Without any of the distancing possible from the light elements, this personality is easily drawn into the sensual, the exotic, and the new. While earth does mitigate some of water’s tendencies towards mutability, this combination is still somewhat unpredictable, particularly if water edges out earth as the dominant force. The combination of deep-felt emotion and links to the senses makes this person very tied to the world as it is, as well as its experiences.” quoted from http://aelfhame.net/~darkhawk/elem2.html

Sure, I have to admit that I am no psychologist but striking is that this description really fits our innocent man so well. His huge sensuality and unpredictability are the features what caught the aristocrat’s attention. Besides, he lives in the present which corresponds to the following words: “tied to the world as it is”. As for the lord, the author gives the following description:

Air and fire together make for a very powerful, logical personality. With a complete lack of heavy elements, this person can easily detach from mundane living and apply himself to what needs to be done with the full force of fire’s energy. Additionally, air mediates fire’s somewhat scattered tendencies by channeling them through logic, so that while an air/fire person may be working on any of a number of things, all with full energy and force of will, it is in a reasonable progression, and nothing important will get left behind. While this person is not necessarily deeply involved with the physical world, more often applying his force of will to the mental, he is generally practical, because leaving things be that have to be dealt with will only cause problems later. quoted from http://aelfhame.net/~darkhawk/elem2.html

It fits the protagonist so well too: detached (the impression, he is a ghost) and he keeps his distance from people, powerful, logical, strong willed and practical. Baek Na-Kyum can ground more the lord, while the latter give him more support, education and energy. And now, it makes perfect sense why they fit so well to each other, as they create a certain balance. And you might wonder if I didn’t drift away from the topic, since my analysis was about the two panels. However, the readers should recall that we have the wind and clouds in the second panel: air and water elements.

And now, it is time to analyze the second image with the moon. Here, the moon seems closer, then why, since Yoon Seungho rejected his friend? The answer is quite simple. This image represents Jihwa’s perspective. That’s why this picture oozes restlessness. The red-haired noble always felt that he was so close to the main lead, until the commoner appeared therefore the moon appears closer. But this is just a delusion from Jihwa. Now, he has the impression that his ex-lover is disappearing from his life. Therefore we could say that the clouds embody the painter in the aristocrat’s eyes. Hence he is the cause for the separation. If he was removed, then the moon would remain by his side and their closeness would return. That’s how the second character views this night, especially after being humiliated and rejected. But the reality is that the clouds are actually a representation of Jihwa. Therefore, the clouds represent a boundary. It was as if the clouds would circulate around the moon, trapping it. Why do I interpret it like that? It is because of two elements: the composition of clouds which are made of water and air and expressions concerning clouds.

If you know water cycle, you are well aware that evaporation plays a huge part in the formation of clouds. The heat from the sun is the cause for evaporation. As you know, Jihwa is also weeping a lot, hence his first element is also water. However, unlike the commoner, his second element is fire. First, we shouldn’t forget that the noble has always been wearing yellow and orange clothes reminding us of the sun and heat. And if you put fire and water together, you have evaporation. And this is what I found about the combination of fire and water:

Probably the most “unstable” combination of elements is fire and water. Both of these are elements given over to passions of some sort or another, and without the possible mitigations of any of the other elements, this combination has a tendency to go a bit overboard. Emotions are never felt more deeply than by someone who is fire and water, as water’s depth is powered by the sheer force inherent in fire. However, these emotions are prone to change, often without warning, and without apparent reason. Problems tend to phase a fire/water, as their general inclinations are either to blast through or flow around them Ñ and these approaches are fairly contradictory. Others often have trouble dealing with this seeming indecision on the part of this sort of personality, as well as their extremely changeable nature. quoted from http://aelfhame.net/~darkhawk/elem2.html

And just with the two protagonists, this description fits our character. I had already pointed out a certain superficiality in Jihwa’s love (depth of the affection mixed with changes), the tendency going overboard can be viewed with the pranks he played (the ruined painting, the letter, the insult leading Seungho to cut his hair) and his huge switch of moods. Remember in the chapter 12, the manhwalovers saw him really happy and 30 minutes, he was enraged I could include the new episode here. During the same night, he is devastated and lifeless then once he sees the captured painter, he is full of rage and yelling, although he was complaining before that the criminal hadn’t done his work. That’s why we see the constant mood swings in the noble, however they have a different origin than Seungho’s. Nevertheless since both have fire elements in their personality, this is not surprising if they often clashed in the past. And because the cloud embodies the aristocrat, it is important to know its signification. The cloud is the symbol of the ephemeral and impermanence which can not help the main lead to get grounded. Just like the rain and the snow, the cloud is also linked to fertility as it brings water but it can also bring destruction (typhon) or hope (“silver lining”). Now, you understand why Jihwa and the painter are so different, although they both have water in their personality.

Secondly, we have many expressions in French or in English linked to clouds which actually mirror the red-haired character’s nature. He’s living in the clouds signifying that he is ignoring the reality and is rather dreaming (similar to living in cloud-cuckoo land which means to be in an unrealistically idealistic state). As I had pointed out in another former analysis, the aristocrat neglects the present, therefore he never paid attention to reality. He was always hoping of becoming Seungho’s official lover. That’s the reason why I described Jihwa as someone trapped in the past, while his mind was looking at the future, dreaming of an uncertain prospect, living in an illusion. Another expression is having the head in the clouds (another allusion to dream and illusion) or being in cloud 9, which was sometimes palpable in Jihwa’s reactions. His extreme overjoy could turn into extrem despair, like the manhwaphiles could witness it in chapter 43. The way he was dressed exposed his joy and anticipation to be reunited with Seungho. He was already imagining himself being embraced by him, when he saw the lord having sex with the painter. Then he got so upset, jealous and enraged that he would yell and burst into tears at his friend’s pavilion. Then a cloud on the horizon refers to a bad omen, something bad is about to occur and we know that each time, Jihwa approached his childhood friend, something bad happened to the painter later because his feelings had been wounded by his childhood friend before (chapter 5 -> 11; chapter 15-> 17; chapter 57->60). And now it becomes more understandable why Jihwa appears so emotionally unstable, a characteristic of people with a combination of water and fire. Since I have determined that the cloud is a visualization of Jihwa in Seungho’s life, it becomes clear that the following panel has now a different signification. The clouds are circulating around the moon, trying to clinch onto it. The clouds were the reason why the moon couldn’t glow, at the same time, the cloud could never be satisfied with Seungho’s interaction as the warmth from the moon is colder and can never warm up clouds. Both hindered each other to move on. Striking is that in the picture above, it looks like the clouds are moving. It seems that the wind is blowing away the clouds. It could be definitely be perceived as a signal that the clouds are removed slowly from Yoon Seungho’s side, thanks to the wind.

And here is the next question: What does the house mean here? Who is symbolizing the wind? I believe now, you are smart enough to fill the blanks. Nameless has a personality combining earth (roof) and air (wind). Observe that the roof stands in the way, it was already separating the red-haired noble from his childhood friend. Let’s not forget that this panel appears, when the lord is still kneeling down thinking about the last words from his ex-lover. Furthermore, we often see the criminal in the cabin (chapter 51, 59, 60) . Striking is that the light in the cabin is slowly disappearing. The more time passes on, the darker it becomes exposing the evolution of Jihwa’s situation. His world is getting darker as he is more desperate and emotionally wounded.

As for the wind, it is a constant companion of clouds giving them a certain permanence and foundation. The wind helps the cloud to move on. Let’s not forget that in reality, clouds are composed of air and water therefore I see it as another sign that Nameless will help Jihwa to become a different person, give him more stability which is confirmed in chapter 60. He stops the noble from hitting the artist, led by his instincts therefore he takes away the weapon. Exactly like I had explained, he will become Jihwa’s hands but since the noble is now forced to make the decision himself, he will have to bear the responsibility for his decision. If he hadn’t witnessed this, the desperate aristocrat would have refused to be accountable for the crime. The criminal detected the guilty conscience consequently he postponed the murder hoping that the aristocrat would change his mind. In my opinion, he believes that the noble won’t be able to express the death sentence. In two occasions, he underlined the severity of the wrongdoing (chapter 51, 60) which is a clue for me that the butcher doesn’t want the noble to have his hands tainted. Observe that during the last scene, the criminal proposes other alternatives: death or turning Baek Na-Kyum into a handicapped person who can never tell what happened.

Furthermore in different religions the wind is considered as the messenger of the gods, exposes the presence of divinity. Therefore, I believe that Nameless is the one who will bring a huge change in the life of all the main characters, forcing them to switch their perception about life and their life. Notice that before Jihwa was trying to attack the painter, he was still using conditional sentences revealing his desire to deny the reality. By coercing the noble to make a choice, he is forcing him to live in the present and to admit the huge responsibility for the action. And the moment he chooses to have the painter killed, we have to imagine that the door will close and the closing door will symbolize the choice of Jihwa selecting darkness. The commoner stands on the opposite side as his hands and world are already tainted with blood and full of darkness. Yet, he doesn’t desire the naive but impulsive noble to choose this side. By underlining the gravity of the crime, he wanted the noble to follow his pangs of conscience. Therefore you comprehend why this panel was already announcing the role played by Nameless , separating Jihwa from Seungho’s side, forcing him to change his mindset and confront him with reality. That’s why when you read the description of persons with air and earth elements, you’ll recognize Nameless: thoughtfulness and caution.

“Earth when combined with air in an individual makes for someone well-versed in contradiction. Air lends a certain amount of caution and thoughtfulness to the earthy pursuit of sensation and experience. On the other side of the coin, earth forces air to interact with the world as a whole, not allowing it to deny the value of the senses. If this sort of personality can resolve this particular internal conflict, then it is quite well versed in being able to apply concrete meaning to thought, or rationality to the matters of existence and enjoyment in the physical world.” quoted from http://aelfhame.net/~darkhawk/elem2.html

Painter Of The Night: Past, present and future – part 3 (second version)

November 10, 2020March 29, 2021 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 8 Comments

In the first two parts, I described how all the main characters had a special relationship to time. Baek Na-Kyum is a Carpe diem person, while Jihwa and Seungho were more living in the past and couldn’t escape from it, until they met the painter. Hence the latter affects the protagonist so much that at the end, he adopts the artist’s mentality and lives in the present. Finally, Nameless was portrayed as someone symbolizing the future, but who would confront Jihwa with the present so that the latter would stop dreaming about an unrealistic future. While composing the second part, I realized that all the other characters have a special rapport to time as well. Therefore in this third part, I’ll focus on the remaining characters and examine which part of the time (past, present or future) represents them the best. However, I would like to remind my readers that this is my own perception. Naturally, I will elaborate it with evidence, but people can disagree with my interpretation. Like always, this essay is to trigger a discussion and at the same time, it helps the manhwalovers to judge the characters better and discover them under a divergent aspect. In this essay, I’ll focus on two characters: Valet Kim and Min.

I’ll start with valet Kim, who was one of the favorite figures after Baek Na-Kyum and Yoon Seungho. However, I have to admit that after chapter 63 and 64, I could no longer perceive him as a genuine gentle and caring butler. In my eyes, he embodies the epitome of cowardice and selfishness due this panel: He doesn’t care about his lord or the painter, for only his interests matter. Since Kim has been following his master for a long time, he is well aware that the former is suffering and still living in the past. Striking is that when the butler portrays his lord to the painter in chapter 12, he talks about Yoon Seungho’s past and present: But before, he elaborates that he still fears his lord after living with him for so many years. Hence it looks like the assistant is more linked to the present. However, this is only partially true. In reality, valet Kim has a strong connection to the future too. Why? First, if you contextualize his words, you’ll notice the existence of a purpose behind his comment. On the surface, the readers have the impression that the butler wants the painter to accept his new situation and perceive his master in a different light. Nevertheless, the order of the lord’s description is important. First, he explains his master’s terrible past, only to underline the consequence. Yoon Seungho has a terrible temper. Note that the lexical field employed by the valet is revolving around fear. This is especially perceptible, if you pay attention to the following picture: Note the painter’s reaction. He is scared, because the treatment with the ointment is presented like a threat and an order. The reality is that Yoon Seungho showed great care by sending his own valet, but due to the valet’s expressions, the lord appears more overbearing and threatening. That’s why I come to the conclusion that Kim is instilling fear in the painter, and if you pay attention to the protagonist’s attitude later, you’ll notice that he is indeed afraid. Hence he bows to the owner of the mansion, not out of respect but out of scare. Kim’s words were pretty effective, yet when he suggests to Baek Na-Kyum to go out for a walk, he is actually hoping that the artist will run away. How is it possible? Kim was present, when Baek Na-Kyum somehow defied his lord and even refused to obey him. (chapter 11). He will do anything for the noble except painting, and this even after getting slapped and insulted. Kim had observed the rebellious side from the artist. From my perspective, Kim hoped that by saying that the lord had mood swings and Baek Na-Kyum should accept his fate, the latter would make the opposite decision. While the first impression is to think that Kim desires to reconcile Baek Na-Kyum with the lord so that their relationship can improve, the reality is totally different from my perspective. Let’s not forget that Kim is someone from Yoon Seungho’s past, who knows his traumas very well, but doesn’t do anything to change his master. Since the latter is living in the past, Kim has been focused more on the present. Yoon Seungho should never change and behave like a child, so that he needs to relying on his butler, who became his eyes and ears.

One might argue that Kim is just a domestic, and the lord is indeed brutal. Yet the former is considered as his right-hand, hence he occupies a high function at the mansion. Moreover, if the lord was such a terrible master, how is it possible that the maid talks behind her master’s back, not fearing to get betrayed? Even an outsider commented that there was no real control in that household. The servants could speak about Yoon Seungho behind his back and contribute to the gossips. The lord wasn’t even offended, when the door of his bedchamber was opened. He never investigated the matter. Finally the staff even didn’t take his order (keeping an eye on the painter) seriously, when asked. That’s why the painter could escape. Baek Na-Kyum’s appearance in the mansion revealed the master’s laxity. Note that so far, the staff has got punished only once, because they had obviously ignored his order. The gossips and the bad remark from the maid truly exposed that Yoon Seungho had no real authority and respect among his staff, and he was not such a terrifying master. Hence the butler’s words about the lord as a terrible master should be judged more critically.

Since I demonstrated that Kim was planning ahead by inciting the painter to react in a certain way, I come to the conclusion that the valet uses his knowledge from the past in order to anticipate the future. His true goal is that the present doesn’t change. His lord should act like he had been living so far, as a head-kisaeng. Kim’s mindset is that his master is not allowed to cause any scandal and trouble, he has to keep his horrible reputation as an infamous sodomite. That way, father Yoon’s reputation remains untouched, although he has been sent to exile. He excused his departure by using his eldest son as black sheep. But in my eyes, Kim has another reason for this. Anyway, that’s why the butler is somehow focused on the future as well. He needs to ensure that the “present” doesn’t change, yet what the valet fails to recognize is that it is already too late. The situation started changing the moment Yoon Seungho saw the erotic books. From that moment, the lord began relying on them, hence he needed to meet the painter. In other words, the real intention behind Kim’s actions is now to return to the past, as the present has already changed. Therefore he is looking into the future.

Kim as symbol for the future is illustrated the best with the following pictures: He is worried about the consequences of the painter’s escape. Let’s not forget that he helped Baek Na-Kyum to flee and the lord could definitely uncover his involvement. Hence he is worried. Nevertheless on the surface, it looks like he cares for the painter and the consequences of the sex marathon. As you can sense, in both interpretations he is already thinking about the future. And now, if you recall all the valet’s actions during the two seasons (until the chapter 68), you’ll realize that he has been working all this time for the future, while in truth he is determined to go back to the past. He wants to change the current situation, he would like the lord to behave like he used to. Consequently, I will try to list all his decisions showing that they are all related to the future.

After witnessing their first night together, valet Kim gives the following advice to the commoner. He should forget about the past. He is pushing away the commoner, making sure that this doesn’t happen again. The valet doesn’t desire that Baek Na-Kyum gets close to his master, because this would mean that he would lose his position. While in the past, I had imagined that Kim wished the protagonist to take over his role, I am thinking the opposite now. Only his life matters, and as such he was definitely benefitting from his position as butler. He could order medicine and buy items without being questioned. Since in chapter 39, the tailor requested a confirmation about the order, this truly exposes that Kim had a certain authority and power. Moreover, in chapter 45, with only one gaze, the butler is able to silence the tailor. The way he is dressed and acts shows a man behaving like a noble (the hat, the hanbok and the headband), hence the tailor follows his recommendation. For me, the advice from chapter 23 was actually a warning, the painter shouldn’t use the “wedding night” in order to get closer to Yoon Seungho and become powerful. Note that Kim was wondering why the painter was joining them during the hunt. The lord was showing Baek Na-Kyum such a great respect, treating him like a honorable guest to the point that the main lead stopped him from falling. The butler was definitely worried about his own future, the painter could decide that once he had won the lord’s favor and heart that he needed to get rid of his rival: Kim. As you can observe, Kim represents the present, but a different kind: the status quo… the immobility which stands in opposition to Baek Na-Kyum’s present. However, like I have already outlined, Kim’s “present” is in reality the past. Moreover, he has another reason to separate the main leads. If it was known that Yoon Seungho had a relationship with a low-born, this would create a scandal, which the valet abhors. He hates ruckus, because he has no control over this kind of incident. Kim, as a butler, has a legitimation to be close to his master, but for the painter it is different, for their relationship is sexual and affectionate. As the manhwaphiles can sense, Kim’s philosophy and time contrasts so much to Baek Na-Kyum’s, which becomes more obvious during the second season. The moment the main character reflects on himself, he begins to attempt to understand the noble, while Kim doesn’t truly ponder on his own actions. He sways them under the rug, he needs to forget them.

However, because Kim is too focused on his own interest, he definitely misjudges the situation. He envisioned that if the painter ran away, the problem would be solved, because just like Jihwa, he imagined that Baek Na-Kyum was just a toy in his master’s eyes. Yet after witnessing his lord’s uncontrollable rage in chapter 30, he has to face reality. It’s too late. The lord couldn’t bear to be separated from Baek Na-Kyum, hence he chooses to change his strategy. Since Seungho is so determined to keep Baek Na-Kyum by his side, he has now to turn the painter into a favored servant, a prostitute who is only there to please his master. That’s why the moment the commoner wakes up, the butler communicates what the lord has done for him and complains that Yoon Seungho has not returned home for a while. While he fakes concern for his master, his true goal is that the artist remains in the lord’s bed. In his mind, the moment Yoon Seungho returns, he will see the painter and will desire to have sex with the artist. Note that the painter has barely recovered. This shows that the valet is hoping that his master will be like in chapter 30: selfish and greedy… so consumed by lust that the artist will pay the price. Note the huge contrast between the chapter 12 and 34. In the previous episode, the master was portrayed as a terrible man with mood swings, now Kim’s words imply the opposite. His master has been feeling guilty and he remained away, as he couldn’t face the painter, which is actually true. With these words, his intention is quite clear: he is attempting to put his lord in a good light, the latter feels remorse and he did everything he could in order to help the painter to recover from the illness. First, he underlines all the good deeds he did, then he speaks for his lord’s regrets hoping that this would move the low-born’s heart. Why? Kim desires to ensure that the low-born is no longer pushing away Seungho, and it really worked even in a short term. But more importantly, it looks like he is working for his master’s interest, which explains why initially I misjudged the butler’s true intentions. However, here the butler is actually forcing the artist to accept his new situation: a servant whose role is to please this master and nothing more. He has no right and he just needs to listen to Kim’s words. This explicates why the valet let the painter drink an aphrodisiac in chapter 36. The butler is well aware that if his master sees the erection, he will act upon it. Therefore I deduce that in the valet’s mind, Yoon Seungho is indeed a man obsessed with sex, but he will make sure that he remains that way. He has an interest for this situation, the noble doesn’t pay attention to his surroundings and what the staff and Kim are doing behind his back. And this interpretation that Kim is only accepting the painter as a favored servant is confirmed in chapter 52: He is just a servant, and not a spoiled child, therefore he needs to do everything in order to please Yoon Seungho. This explicates why the painter puts on the white headband again. However, if you pay closer attention to the valet’s words, you’ll notice a contradiction. How can Baek Na-Kyum be a spoiled child, if he waits for the master to call? A spoiled child would refuse to follow a request… and would do whatever he pleases which is not the painter’s case. He was even so submissive to the point that Yoon Seungho complained about it.

More importantly, why does the valet say this, when he is well aware that Yoon Seungho has guests each day? One might say that he is infuriated, because his master had a relapse and he blames the artist for this situation. However, we shouldn’t forget that the butler was the one who separated the couple by revealing the incident at the library. Moreover, what triggered the lord to become so infuriate that he visited the scholar’s room? Like I had explained in a different analysis, my theory is that Kim used the painting with Jung In-Hun in order to arouse jealousy in Yoon Seungho. We know for sure that the butler has the painting. And we never saw him destroying it. Striking is that in chapter 52, the butler’s words make an allusion to the future. The painter has to take the initiative, he has to approach the noble on his own. And this shows that behind this reproach, the butler has definitely an intention, he would like to change the situation. But it is in order to improve their relationship or to separate the couple? Note that in chapter 50, the butler seems to speak for the artist’s interest. The poor boy has been insulted, hence the lord should distance himself from him. But in chapter 52, he defends the lord’s interests. Baek Na-Kyum has been ignoring Yoon Seungho’s feelings. As you can see, Kim’s MO is to play the protagonists’ interests against each other. This explicates why his true nature is difficult to perceive. He always made sure that the couple would never get closer by defending the interest of the partner over the other’s. And each time, he switched sides. Thus for me, in chapter 52 Kim is attempting again to make the artist leave, a new version of chapter 12, but this time with a different approach. Yoon Seungho has already forgotten him, he doesn’t see him as a special treasure, just a plaything. When he sees the main lead with other men, then he will realize that he means nothing.

Let’s not forget that the moment he saw his lover kissing Min, he got upset. From my point of view, Kim imagined that after witnessing such a scene, he would get upset and leave the mansion. However, this didn’t turn out, like he had expected. Why? Because of his strong will… once he makes a decision, he won’t change his mind at all. I would even say that Baek Na-Kyum embodies true loyalty, contrary to the butler who fakes loyalty, whereas he is only working for his own interests. With this new interpretation, it explains why Deok-Jae was in the painter’s room. He had seen the painter approaching the master’s room, hence Kim and Deok-Jae imagined that he would run away due to his wounded heart, especially if the lords would treat the boy as their prostitute.

I could add many other examples that the valet is using his knowledge from the past in order to plan for the future, so that the painter embodying the present would disappear from the lord’s side. Note that he buys the medicine even before the painter has already recovered. He plans it right away which shows that valet Kim always thinks about the future. And notice, the moment the commoner is feeling better and sleeps in his own bed again, the latter has to drink that potion under the pretense that it is for his health (chapter 36). Then the assistant gives the painter advices on how to behave in front of the lord indicating that he expects from him that he won’t talk to his master under the pretense that his master is not in a good mood, whereas it was the opposite. The noble had happily discovered that the painter was no longer rejecting him, because he was planning to paint their last session. The truth was that Yoon Seungho was just tired. By telling him how the protagonist is feeling, he is definitely hoping that their time spent together will end up in a sex session, so that the noble still remains oblivious to his surroundings.

Then in chapter 45, he signalizes to the tailor not to reveal the lover’s identity illustrating again that he is always thinking about the future. He doesn’t want his master to become involved in another scandal, just like he doesn’t desire the painter’s true position to become known. The moment the lover’s identity is revealed, then it signifies that Baek Na-Kyum has become the official partner, hence his disappearance would definitely lead to an investigation and cause real trouble. As long as Baek Na-Kyum remains just a favored servant, this signifies that his social status is very fragile and he can lose his position at any time. Simultaneously, when he brings the paintbrushes and the ink stone, he is not in reality showing true care for the painter, he is just forcing Deok-Jae to see the painter’s privileges so that his jealousy will be triggered. Note that he keeps asking Deok-Jae to bring the materials… Consequently, this is no coincidence that he acts on his own without asking his master. The latter is now more focusing on the painter and as such the present, hence he is unable to predict people’s actions.

What caught my attention is that the butler gives his lord’s advices revealing that he has indeed a privileged position. Furthermore, it indicates that the domestic is actually confident and doesn’t fear his master, far from it. He only becomes livid, when he hears that lord Song would like to meet his lord. Note the contrast between the previous panel and this one: As you can detect, the butler is showing no fear at all. He even gives the impression that everything is done for his master’s well-being and future. He is determined to make him happy. But in that moment, we have to question: what about the painter’s interest then, which he defended in chapter 50? Notice that in the last two panels, he uses the future tense twice (will, shall), another sign that he is linked to the future. However, he is not working for his master’s future, in reality he would like to go back to the past, which reminds us a lot of Jihwa’s mentality. However, there’s a huge difference between them. Jihwa wanted to go to the time, when both were quite cheerful and innocent, while Kim prefers the recent past, the time before the painter’s appearance. The other difference is that he doesn’t wait, just like the second lead. He makes plan and anticipates people’s movements. He observes his surroundings in order to judge their personality so that he can take advantage from this knowledge. Striking is that when the loyal butler converses with the doctor, he can’t help mentioning elder master Yoon and his reaction While it looks like he feels concern, the fact that he covers his mouth is a strong clue that he is actually not expressing his real thoughts. He really hopes for the eldest master’s intervention. Observe that he employs the idiom ” hope” and the latter is strongly connected to prospect. And the final proof is visible in chapter 58 where his presence is only revealed through the bucket of water. He left it outside, when he heard what was happening in the room. My initial impression was that he didn’t want to disturb Yoon Seungho, well aware that the latter would overlook his illness and exhaustion out of love for Baek Na-Kyum. The butler knew something important was happening between his lord and the painter, since he had witnessed Jihwa’s confession during the same day. He sensed that this could trigger his master to make a similar move. But since I judge Kim as an enemy of Seung-Kyum, he had even more reason for not disturbing them. He would give them the impression that they were safe and nothing would happen. However, for Kim, this love session represented a threat to his position. He would no longer be able to act as Yoon Seungho’s advisor and confident.

And after bringing so many evidences, we have to ask why the valet Kim is so strongly connected to the future. The answer is quite simple: he is Yoon Seungho’s surrogate father. However, he represents a certain type of parents, the ones who refuse to accept that their children are growing up and trying to find their own way. Kim has to make sure that his “son” fails, so that he will return to his side, blaming the whole world for his bad experiences, while in reality the father made sure that the son wouldn’t succeed and would get wounded. Moreover, since both protagonists are now both living in the present and are not even thinking about their common future, he takes advantage of that situation. And this observation leads me to the following deduction. Therefore I feel that Kim’s death will be necessary for Yoon Seungho so that the latter can start thinking about his future and his lover’s. As long as Kim is by their side, the noble will never focus on the future.

The manhwaphiles should recall that we have another person embodying the future and it’s Nameless. Yet the criminal and the butler are representing two different kind of futures: responsibility versus dependency and irresponsibility. Nameless forces Jihwa to leave behind the past and move on, whereas the servant stands for Yoon Seungho’s past, hence he can only reject the present: Baek Na-Kyum. The valet would like his master to remain dependent on him, which stands in opposition to the lord’s wish. The latter would like to become responsible for his lover, the painter, indicating that Yoon Seungho had already started thinking about the future in chapter 40.

And now, it’s time to examine the second character, lord Min. As many of my followers have already predicted, Black Heart is living in the moment. And this mentality is really palpable in the following: This picture illustrates that he prioritizes pleasure over anything else. I would even add that we have here a rather negative form of carpe diem as he takes pleasure at the detriment of others which is not the case with Baek Na-Kyum. Unlike the commoner, the aristocrat is full of jealousy, greed and envy. That’s why he keeps coping Yoon Seungho: his interests, his clothes and his lifestyle. He stands in opposition to the artist’s modesty and humbleness. If you look again at the image, you’ll note that the laughing aristocrat enjoys smoking opium and doesn’t even hide it. He shows no concern about people’s opinion or moral norms. Furthermore, he doesn’t even care who bought the drug. He takes it as it pleases him. And if the manhwaphiles recall the whole first season, they will remember that pleasure was in the center of lord’s life since his first appearance. He liked the erotic paintings but because he imagined, the author was an old man, he never showed more interest. This exposes that he has never tried to discover the real identity of the creator and let his prejudice make the decision. He enjoyed the erotic publications, but that was it. One might say that since Black Heart is determined to overthrow Yoon Seungho and he is very manipulative, he could be perceived as a person focused on the future. However, if you pay attention to his schemes, you’ll recognize that they are never planned in the long run, rather decided in the moment, because he felt like it. It starts with the chapter 33, where he challenges Seungho by asking him to bring the painter to them. He manipulates the crowd, yet he acts more in the moment, since he acts in such an ostentatious way. He doesn’t hide his intentions. The lord is no fool, he’s well aware of the significance of Min’s words and its outcome but he chooses to overlook it. And here it is again related to pleasure. He would like to taste the artist. Another clue for the lack of real planning appears in chapter 37. Here he lies so obviously and a careful person would have verified his saying. If Jihwa had really investigated, he would have realized that this was no longer true. But Jihwa, really naive, bought his lies and took his words as face-value. This explicates why Min is so amused, when Jihwa appears in tears in chapter 43 at his friend’s pavilion. He had imagined a different reaction, indicating that he wanted to play a prank and mock Jihwa. Notice that even if he incites the red-haired noble to have the painter killed, he never monitors Jihwa’s moves. He never ensures that his acquaintance has indeed hired the killer. He believes that his manipulations will work, underlining that he is not really planning carefully. I would even say that the lord is even overestimating his skills and power. And this becomes even more visible in chapter 52 and 53. First, he is not even capable to hide his involvement in the murder. He literally reveals the truth in front of the painter because he can’t control his emotions. He is definitely caught by surprise. If he was a real strategist, he would have hidden his cards much better. Fortunately for him, the lord was more focused on protecting Baek Na-Kyum in the moment that he didn’t hear the guest’s comments. This observation leads me to the following deductions. Min is strongly influenced by his emotions: either by his jealousy or his desire to enjoy or his pleasure to hurt others. This explicates why this character keeps provoking his host to the point he gets beaten. He doesn’t even care, for him it was fun to make Seungho angry, to humiliate him… but note that no one witnesses Seungho’s humiliation. In his eyes, he had won the game hence he smiled. Yet this is only partially correct because at the end, Seungho put an end to his manipulations. Min’s victories are only superficial, as his plans never truly succeed. He never got to taste the painter in chapter 54. Notice that in chapter 55, Min even reveals his intentions to Jihwa. His desire to taste the painter has grown so strong that he requires Jihwa’s assistance. The trigger for this change is the new erotic painting of Baek Na-Kyum he saw during that night. Note that he is not doing anything on his own. He has to use “hounds” in order to catch his prey, exactly like during the hunt. This displays how much Min values pleasure over caution therefore he should be just considered as a lazy mastermind who lets others do his dirty work.

Since Jihwa is now confronted with the present and forced to make the decision himself, his choice is already linked to Min. Exactly like I had anticipated it, the red-haired noble didn’t decide to eliminate the painter. Hence thanks to Nameless’ good heart, Jihwa chose to send back Baek Na-Kyum to Seungho, however this means that he had disobeyed his master and surrogate father Min. That’s why the latter is forced to become more proactive in the end, he needs to plan something in order to achieve his goal. He can no longer live in the present, he needs to develop new strategies so that he can taste the painter. That’s why in chapter 69, Black Heart is seen dressed like Jihwa. Due to his second failure, Min is forced to change his habits and become more directly involved in the schemes. And this will be his weakness, as he is not a good strategist in reality. Like I had pointed out above, his manipulations are more born in the moment, which we could observe in chapter 66 again. The Joker is still unaware that a servant disappeared and he just revealed Jihwa’s crime in order to punish his pupil. However, this means that if Baek Na-Kyum disappears or gets hurt again, the noble won’t believe that Baek Na-Kyum was trying to run away from him. There will be terrible consequences, and his friend warned him about this.

As a conclusion, Kim and Min’s relationship to time was changed. While the latter is more and more forced to focus on the future to achieve his goal, the other has to make plans so that Yoon Seungho can keep living trapped in the past.

Painter Of The Night: Past, present and future – part 2

November 9, 2020November 9, 2020 ~ Bébébisous33 ~ 7 Comments

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.

I explained in the first part how Jihwa would always use the past as justification to be in Seungho’s life and project himself into the future with his childhood friend therefore he would always be dissatisfied with the present. Even worse, he would even neglect it, not realizing that people close to him were utilizing him for their own benefit. The best example is Min who knows exactly how Jihwa ticks. Consequently the former is able to manipulate him and incite him to commit a murder. Then I pointed out that the red-haired noble’s state of mind would stand in opposition to the painter who embodies the present. Therefore I would like now to examine why they are so different and why Nameless embodies the future which I only elaborated briefly in the first part.

Let’s start with the artist. He is connected to the present as he lives in the moment. I could describe him as a carpe diem person. Yet it was not just visible in chapter 59. We had different clues all along, like in chapter 1. Back then, he manifested to Seungho that he was just painting in order to survive, a strong indicator that Baek Na-Kyum was not dreaming of becoming rich or famous. His goal was quite modest and simple. Then the readers surely remember the chapter 46 where he admitted to the head maid, he had once run away. He elaborated his reasons for his return and remain at the mansion: Note that here again, he is utilizing the present underlining one more time he is not thinking about the future. The past pushed him to make this decision and observe that during his escape, he expresses no reproach towards his adoptive mother or to Jung In-Hun. He just remembers their nice gestures, the caress on the cheek and the teacher’s smile, or her last words. So when he describes his situation to the head maid, it shows that he is satisfied with the moment as he has a roof over his head and is able to eat.

And his reasoning explains why Baek Na-Kyum has never brought up Seungho’s past wrongdoings (the forced fellatio, the rape, the slaps, the threads, the grabbing) after that terrible night. We could say that this is related to his pledged alliance in chapter 30, where he declared that he would do anything Seungho would ask him. For him, this signified that he could never reprimand his master for his actions. Consequently, this exposes that the artist took this vow very seriously. But there’s more to it, as in chapter 55, although he questions the nature of lord’s love for him, he has never criticized him for that night afterwards, although he could have, since he could have been raped. In fact, he has never brought it up, while the lord was actually expecting resent and rejection the next morning. He even confessed in such a way that he imagined that the artist would escape. But to his astonishment, the artist had remained by his side. Besides, note, it is not even present during the memories!!! Then when they meet again, he takes care of him and wants to make sure that Seungho feels more comfortable. I have the impression that he is not using the past because he has no ill intention towards others and he doesn’t want to play the victim either. Moreover, I believe, in his eyes bringing up the past doesn’t change his actual situation: he was abandoned and that’s a fact. He accepts his fate as painful as it is therefore he doesn’t blame anyone either. Now, you understand why I associated Baek Na-Kyum to the present in this panel and why Jihwa embodies the past.

And now, if the readers look again at Baek Na-Kyum’s memories about the past in chapter 59, they were surprised that the painter somehow recalled that Yoon Seungho even took care of him after their first night together. And it shows that Baek Na-Kyum knew somehow that he had slept with Seungho but preferred repressing it for two reasons. First, he wanted to keep the image that he had not violated his learned sir’s doctrines. Secondly he lives in the present hence it should remain in the past. Consequently it was better for him to lie to himself and to others that he had no memory, while the manhwaphiles are aware that he saw glimpses of it and now this panel is a proof that he knew deep down what had happened.

However, it was different for Yoon Seungho who had discovered sensual love. This night had left such a deep impression that he desired to relive this. Observe how close the lord’s head is touching the painter’s. He is embracing him as if he didn’t want to be separated. He was never so close to Jihwa, if you look at the different paintings and at the following picture as there was always a distance between them.

We could say that the noble had enjoyed the moment with the artist, which he never had before as everything was related to his past (resent against his father and the nobility). Because of that experience, the lord began envisioning a future, something he had never made before. He projected himself with the painter in the future. He desired to feel loved and see the expressions the painter had made during that night again. However, he never imagined, he would struggle so much in front of Baek Na-Kyum’s strong will and resistance. And if you pay attention to the powerful protagonist, you’ll observe that little by little, he is giving up on the future. It starts, when he lowers his expectations. In chapter 49, his future is now to enjoy his sexual encounters with the painter, never hoping that they will share what they have on their mind. As you can observe, he is gradually adopting the painter’s philosophy: enjoying the moment. Thanks to the painter, he has been able to move on from the past but he is no longer projecting a future too. Therefore he rejects Jihwa by saying that he will never reciprocate his feelings. He has given up on the future hence he can stipulate that Jihwa and him can never be together in the future (“ever”). Actually the climax is reached in chapter 58 which chronologically happens after Jihwa’s love confession and his rejection. When the master confesses his feelings for the low-born, he declares to his lover, he is no longer expecting a love confession from him, it will remain an illusion. He is now embracing the painter’s philosophy. He is living in the moment, enjoying his time with him. That’s why I perceive this second wedding night stands under the sign of present too. The lord wants to love the painter selflessly and is expecting nothing in return. That’s the reason why the lord can sleep more peacefully during that night. He started moving on from the past before and is no longer dreaming of an uncertain and even impossible future. In chapter 35, the lord spent a terrible night as he was thinking how to reconnect with the painter (another reference to the future). These aspects are relevant in my opinion because it explicates why the lord hasn’t paid attention to his lover’s real desires or future yet. We know for sure that the low-born wanted to be able to read and write. He felt very embarrassed, when Seungho exposed his illiteracy. And now you understand why Baek Na-Kyum was left unprotected in the end. Because the lord was living more and more in the moment, he neglected the future and as such a real protection for his lover. As you can observe, in the beginning Seungho was a man living in the past but thanks to the artist, he transformed into a different person. And with Jihwa by his side, he could never move on from the past as the latter kept reminding him about it with the hope, they could be together one day. The problem was that with these actions, Seungho could never dream of any future as Jihwa kept him trapped in the past.

But after showing the difference between Seungho and Jihwa, it is time to return our attention to the artist. When Baek Na-Kyum is thinking about the love confession and his actual situation, he is able to recollect all the nice gestures Seungho did for him: asking for the doctor and buying for him the expensive medicine, giving him the warmest room, feeding him so well, giving him nice clothes, making sure that he is not wounded etc….

Now, we can definitely say that Baek Na-Kyum is no longer blind and deaf, since the pain caused by the scholar’s abandonment and betrayal vanished completely. Imagine, Jung In-Hun appears in just one memory and his words are used in order to outline Seungho’s kindness. This implies that Jung In-Hun has no impact in his life now, especially since the commoner dropped his doctrines for good. Yet it looks like he doesn’t resent his teacher at all, as he no longer thinks about him or feels the need to get revenge. And if he remembers him, then he associates him to fakeness. So this doesn’t signify that Jung In-Hun will have the same effect, when he returns to the mansion, in fact it means the opposite. The scholar has no power over the painter any longer, just like the memories proved it. Consequently the former teacher will experience a terrible surprise, when he returns, as Baek Na-Kyum will no longer treat him like his admired sir. I would even say, he will keep his distance from him. The scholar is actually expecting that the artist will forget his betrayal and abandonment, just like he did in the past. He still has the impression that he will be able to use Baek Na-Kyum like he did before. As you can observe, the painter is really forgiving in the end because despite the inflicted pain, he is not looking for revenge. Why is he like that? In my opinion, his positive attitude is strongly connected to the way he lives. He lives more in the moment hence he never holds grudges (Carpe diem), which contrasts so much to Jihwa’s behavior who utilizes it for his advantage. Observe that the noble brought up the past for his confession twice. Each time, he reproached his childhood friend’s behavior: a “manizer” and “reckless”. As you can observe, the past is used by Jihwa as a point for his defense or as legitimation for his wrongdoings. And this different behavior explains why Jihwa is constantly frustrated and dissatisfied with the present. The past could help him but only to a certain extent and his major flaw was that he was projecting himself into the future. He dreamt of a certain future with Seungho, showing a certain greediness and ambition. Hence he was unable to understand his friend’s pain and suffering as his desire prevailed, contrasting so much to Baek Na-Kyum’s humbleness and modesty, who only wanted to survive by painting. We could say that Baek Na-Kyum has always been more forgiving than any other character.

Therefore I have come to the deduction that Baek Na-Kyum will definitely show the same attitude towards Jihwa like he did with Seungho. At some point, he will forgive him for his kidnapping and the terrible treatment he suffered afterwards. Let’s not forget that the artist is now the one discovering the past and heard that Jihwa was considered sick as well. And this is no coincidence. For me, the artist will come to understand what Jihwa and Seungho went through and help them to move on. Like I pointed out above, the commoner has always been able to move on from the past and has never held deep grudges. For me, the artist will serve as a model for his lover and will show him and Jihwa what true forgiveness means. But I have to admit that this is more a prediction, yet based on my observations and interpretation.

But I have another explication why the painter is not clinging onto the past. It’s because if he does, he will feel hurt and he is not wrong. Jihwa and Seungho were and are trapped in the past hence they are still suffering and inflicting pain to others. Sure, the last betrayal was really so painful for the artist that he felt like he had died. The prostitute was the painter’s empty shell. However, when Seungho used sex and stimulated his body, the artist remembered that he was still a living human. His physical reactions made him realize that he felt pleasure and he was reminded to live in the moment. That’s why the low-born’s confession should be judged as another evidence of the painter’s philosophy.

Since the low-born is no longer thinking about the former teacher as he has no resent, the manhwalovers can deduce that the commoner has a bigger and more pure heart contrary to Jihwa’s. And when he is thinking outside in the cold, as if he wanted to clear his mind, he is relaxed and remembers carefully all the good deeds his lord did to him. Although he has problems to accept the obvious, the master has loved him for a long time, he blushes because he is definitely moved. Notice that even in that moment, he is not thinking about the future. What does it mean if Seungho loves him and confessed to him? How will their relationship change? At no moment, he is projecting himself and the lord in the future. And while looking at this panel, I couldn’t help myself connecting to the following picture from chapter 1. Thanks to the lord, the painter has also transformed. Instead of being drunk and not thinking, he has been able to paint and is thinking on his own. Now, he is not lying on the ground but sitting straight while pondering. He is still on his own but his solitude is here chosen and not forced. He left Seungho’s side in order to reflect about the master’s confession and love. And this is no coincidence that the painter’s former position is now mirrored by Jihwa’s. The latter is the one who has been rejected and abandoned by his surrogate “father”/lover. Their positions are quite similar, yet the only difference is that Jihwa is not even sitting on the wood. He is still kneeling as he has problems to process the rejection. He is in denial, although he remembers Seungho’s words. Since we know that he values the past so much, it is quite normal that Jihwa chooses to repress his friend’s explications. And now, you can imagine what I am about to tell. The chapter 59 is a new version of the chapter 1 which makes me think that something bad is about to occur, since we had the servant’s death in that episode. Another clue for this prediction is the color of Jihwa’s robe, when he faces the captured painter. He is wearing a black or dark grey cloth. One might argue that this is just reflecting Jihwa’s mood, as he has just been pushed away. He feels like dying, yet I judge it a little differently for Jihwa is not the one who chose the cloth, unlike in the past. This time, Nameless gave him the robe.

What caught my attention in the scene between Jihwa and Nameless is that even in front of the criminal, the red-haired aristocrat keeps talking about the past. First, he criticizes the commoner for not fulfilling his task. Then he reproaches the painter and wishes that the boy had disappeared. But what Jihwa failed to realize is that Nameless did it for a certain reason. He had noticed Jihwa’s anxieties and huge pangs of conscience. Right from the start, he started biting his nails and it got even worse, it was a clear sign that he was fearing the future. Nameless also saw how he would drink in order to ignore his remorse and fears. Even in chapter 51, Jihwa talked about the past (his drinking habit etc) again and while he is sitting in that cabin, he has the same attitude. Nameless must have noticed that the lord is always blaming others (the assassin, Baek Na-Kyum etc) and avoiding the present. That’s the reason why he brought him to the painter directly. Nameless has become the teacher Jihwa needed. The commoner is actually teaching him to live in the present hence he is put right in front of the painter. He needs to face the consequences of his own decisions. If Jihwa decides to eliminate the painter, then he will become responsible for the murder and his hands will indeed be soiled by blood. By asking him to murder the artist without being present, Jihwa can put the responsibility on the butcher but here, it is different. He will witness the direct repercussion of his words. He can no longer blame the low-born as he has already caught the painter. He is confronting the noble with the present. And observe that once with the terrible situation, he is indeed left speechless. I doubt that Jihwa will decide to kill Baek Na-Kyum. He will remember that Min wanted to taste the low-born and could choose to take revenge differently. By catching Baek Na-Kyum, Nameless shows to Seungho that the latter can’t live in the moment either as he has many enemies surrounding him. Nameless is a reminder that carpe diem has its faults too. The protagonist needs to prevent any mishap and attack in the future. That’s why I consider Nameless representing the future. I have to admit that I am even thinking that Nameless could be planning some revenge, behind all the crimes he committed which would contrast so much to all the other characters. As for Jihwa, his suffering has only started in my opinion as it resembles to the painter’s situation in chapter 1. He will definitely suffer much more and since the painter’s dream came true, we have to imagine that the noble’s nightmare could become a reality too. Observe that the characters’ position coincides strangely to the ones in the nightmare. Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that the painter will die but something terrible will happen during that night and it will affect Seungho terribly. I have always sensed that the loyal valet Kim could die and this fear is stronger than ever now. Yet, Jihwa could send the artist to Min. But even so, after the public confession and rejection, if the painter were to disappear, the lord would suspect Jihwa immediately but even the other nobles. Let’s not forget that Jihwa used rumors twice (chapter 18, 57) among the nobles. There is no doubt for me that Yoon Seungho will get upset and he will never accept that Baek Na-Kyum ran away, especially after that night where the artist accepted his confession and allowed him to love him. However, he won’t react like in chapter 30. He will blame himself for the first time. Unfortunately the future will be revealed in the next episode.

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