IT'S HERE

IT'S HERE

SEUNGHO AND IN-HUN WAR FIGHT BEGINS NOWWWWW!!!!!!

THE MFING SCREAM I LET OUT ON THIS ONE I STG I LOVE IT WHEN MY PREDICTIONS WHEN I SAW THE SPOILER COME TRUE

Okay. So. Prediction time

By this time, we all know that Na-Kyum's wishes manifest at a later time after he has been hurt

So

When Na-Kyum explicitly wishes that he wants Seungho to wear the eosahwa by the end of the chapter

Na-Kyum basically stated that he wishes for Seungho to be a part of the government as well

When Seungho had halfheartedly expresses his wish to find a government post on his own out of spite, I think he'll make it come true just for Na-Kyum's smile

And this means that it will come true

BUT AT WHAT COST?

We know that the reason Inhun hugged Na-Kyum was because he thinks Na-Kyum still has feelings for him when it fact it's all gone and dead. He doesn't know that all Na-Kyum has his heart for is for Seungho alone

That hug and that holding of hands means nothing, despite the panel looking like it did

It was momentary, and you can tell that from the looseness of Na-Kyum's fingers that he's not exactly all that thrilled to be touched by Inhun as before

IMO, the reason why that soft sunbeam panel existed was because

It was because Na-Kyum had held Seungho's hand moments before he was yanked away

I stg Na-Kyum is the type to go "this will suit my lord well" and buy it if he has money to spare. Hence why he took the eosahwa. He had already visualized that Seungho will pass the exams

THEREFORE

THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT WE MIGHT GET A NEW PAINTING THIS SEASON

A new version of this

There is an exact moment when I knew Seungho was in deep, both in the moment and for the foreseeable future.

In Chapter 21, the first time they have sex, and Nakyum is drunk and delirious, and speaking honestly... but not to Seungho

This is when his feeling changed. After this, he is confused and acts with an unusual lack of indifference. It stops being about getting Nakyum to paint, and becomes about getting Nakyum to love him.

And it is the beginning of him really grappling with what he feels for Nakyum.

Beyond this point... he begins acting out of character, and as Nakyum’s emotional maturity begins from this moment, so does Seungho’s.

Because he can. -\_(ツ)_/-

However, the more I look at it now, the more I am convinced the reason why Seungho seeked out Jung Namin was for something... quite specific.

Chapter 44

The idea to use the painter to retaliate against those who did him wrong probably came to him upon discovering the painter’s work. I don’t know how Seungho’s going to use the paintings though. Of course, I am not discounting the fact that he admires Nakyum’s work/style for real. Else he won’t have bothered in the first place, right?

I might be wrong about this, because who knows best about how the story will unfold besides the author herself? How I come up with such idea is thanks to these following panels:

Chapter 1

Seungho wasn’t lying when he said this to Nakyum. Then...

Chapter 18

He wasn’t lying to Jihwa either. Just that, he certainly didn’t see this coming - catching feelings for the painter. Ho ho ho!

Chapter 17

Notice how Seungho stopped looking at Nakyum’s paintings after the one with Jihwa was completed.

Chapter 52

Simply because that’s not Seungho’s objective. Of course Nakyum didn’t know that and the poor boy just keep producing more afterwards.

Chapter 64

Now, ever wonder why Seungho ordered Nakyum to produce the one with Kim’s surprised face after they’re done with their (ehem), you know. Don’t you think it’s odd? Why would he want that particular “look”? I lost count of the times I come back to these few panels and question why.

In the panel above, Seungho didn’t reject intoxicated Na-Kyum, right?

I see the similarity in chapter 109

Seungho is also shocked, and in both instances, Na-Kyum was the one who initiated contact. Though I think it’s a 50/50 if Na-Kyum will get rejected or not

Seungho could give in from pity and he could shower Na-Kyum with words of affirmation and reverse their role in chapter 20 wherein this time, Seungho will be the one to tell him

If he does reject Na-Kyum, then something similar to this scene might occur again

“I remained here for my lord, that’s why I was doing this for him…"

Na-Kyum could also come into another outburst at Seungho, and I don’t think Seungho will slap him if he did. And I don’t think Na-Kyum would slap Seungho (if he did, though, I don’t think Seungho will retaliate, he’d probably accept the slap thinking he deserved to be slapped)

Either of the scenes could end up with them fwopping, both damaged souls still not communicating as they should be

Chapters 20-21 - Na-Kyum crying for being rejected

Chapters 42-43 - Na-Kyum crying for being rejected again

Chapter 45, 48-49 - dead inside Na-Kyum acting like a prostitute

In all these chapters, Seungho had epiphanies afterwards. In chapter 50, Seungho realized that he loves Na-Kyum but never voiced it out. Hence, why he distanced himself. All of this fiasco could be avoided if Seungho just communicates properly next time instead of holing himself up in his room

Speaking of which, I am still waiting when this panel from Night Flower will come up

It can’t be during the next episode seeing as Seungho has a green durumagi

So I’m guessing that the Night Flower panel will happen sometime after they fwop-fwopped. Maybe that will be Seungho’s epiphany episode and he will recall everything and see it all over again through Na-Kyum

He plants seeds of discord just like Min did with Na-Kyum and at this point, I won’t be surprised if Min and Song are related

I think Song is telling a lie to Seungho so he’ll go berserk like what Seungho did to Min. Na-Kyum is fast. In the night, there are still people scattered about. What if he runs into the kisaengs? What if the chatty tailor sees him? Surely, there are witnesses who might shield Na-Kyum, right? RIGHT?

I refuse to accept what Song said 😭 Na-Kyum is probably still in hiding. Remember that he likes making himself small when hiding as a child. Surely he hid in some big jar or something and the guards were bluffing

Because there is no damn way they would reach the end of the village and return home in time unless the guards are divided into tasks. Or something

Also. Didn’t Na-Kyum say he hid the petition in the place no one would ever find? 🤔 So why is it with Seungho?

Unless one of them is a fake letter... 👀

Seungho stating "for as long as I live" kinda indicates he doesn't have long to live for me, tbh

I love how Na-Kyum ran to the kitchen first bc that's the place that gave him warmth. But looking closely into it, since the hearth is the symbol of a home, it might foreshadow that they could get away from it all and run away as Seungho had promised Na-Kyum, but at the cost of them surviving

Since the hearth could also symbolize hardships through work in the kitchen, it might also mean that not only could we see domesticity from the pair in the future, we'd also see hardships on their end as well as they would be plunged into a poverty state as they run away from everything. Because it would also mean leaving the household behind to fend for themselves. Seungho, who grew up with servants, and Na-Kyum, who grew up well-loved with his sisters, don't know how to do household chores, especially cooking. Na-Kyum did once state that all his life he had done nothing but to paint

So. Kitchen. Warmth. But also workload and domesticity, and a place of potential harm from tools

And notice how Seungho exudes a literal and figurative warmth in this scene. The symbolic melting of the winter snow into blooming spring mirrors the healing of Seungho and Na-Kyum's heart, as the former is now loved, and the latter has now completely realized his folly of falling for a wrong man and seeing him for what In-Hun truly is--a backstabbing, manipulative, sorry excuse for a piece of shit.

But the warmth in this scene also tells something else--a setting sun, a symbol of death.

The fact that the glow of the setting sun shines behind Seungho tells me that danger will fall on him soon

Simply put, it has different meanings in different areas:

Protection against evil

An incoming rainstorm when the petals close up

Forsaken or forgotten love and affection (England)

Mourning the dead

Anticipation and excitement for something in the future

The death of a loved one or the loss of them to someone else (Greek)

Protection against disease

The arrival of the first spring winds (Greek)

Bad luck; disease (China and Egypt)

.

A symbol of ill omens for the majority of the Eastern countries, but an evil ward for the Western countries

.

So here’s my take on this

BD posted a teaser of Seungwon’s appearance in season 4 before in one of her tweets

And in this season, we also see Heena, taking Seungho’s side after she’s been saved

Since Seungho and Na-Kyum are mirrors of each other, we can also assume that even their respective families are mirrors as well

With Seungwon now in the picture, him having shown to appearing as a defiant younger brother who’s messing up his older brother’s household, we can take this as his version of Heena’s first appearance in the manhwa, where she raised ruckus in the Yoon household

Notice that in both cases, they barged in under the assumption that Seungho had commited a crime. For Heena, she assumed that Seungho kidnapped Na-Kyum, whereas now, Seungwon assumed that Seungho burned down the shaman house after the murders of the noblemen

In Heena’s case, Na-Kyum defended Seungho’s name and told her that she’ll stay with him despite the “evidence” that Seungho committed the crime of murdering In-Hun

And we can assume that in Seungwon’s case, Na-Kyum will also do the same to Seungwon. We can assume that Na-Kyum will not believe that Seungho murdered the noblemen, as Na-Kyum had been brainwashed that the night of the kidnapping was merely a nightmare, and I think that in his delusion of wanting peace to remain in his heart, Na-Kyum will believe it for some time unless he sees or hears evidence that Seungho did commit a crime

Seungwon can come off as someone who is hardheaded just like in his first appearance when he barged in on Seungho’s bedchamber despite even being told off by Kim, and we can assume that Seungwon has been brainwashed by Chang-Hyeon that his older brother had committed a crime and must be punished before officials find out, because a nobleman committing murder of another noble, let alone a bunch of noblemen, can equate to the annihilation of the criminal’s entire clan. Additionally, the sacrilegious act of defiling and burning down a shaman house along with a sacred tree, warrants hatred from the Shamanistic Joseon people, who considers these elements as beings not to be destroyed, as doing so would incur the wrath of heaven upon the entire village or even the nation itself. With this knowledge of the gravity of the situation, this is why Seungwon orders the guards around in such haste in case any of the servants have destroyed any evidence unknowingly

Seungwon has yet to know though, that the biggest evidence would be in the form of Na-Kyum himself. The trauma is still fresh in his mind even after a month under Seungho’s care and supervision.

And just like the brainwashed Heena who was convinced that In-Hun had been kind to Na-Kyum, Seungwon would initially not likely to believe that his brother didn’t burn the shaman house down, as it’s most likely that the info he got had been from his trusted source, Yoon Chang-Hyeon, their father. Who, in Seungwon’s eyes, is most likely his hero who does everything he can to preserve the Yoon family name. Seungwon had most likely been subjected to information that Seungho is a stain on the family and would one day be the cause of their annihilation. And Seungwon is now there at Seungho’s house to “save the family from his brother’s misdeed”. I think Seungwon thinks Seungho “can be saved from his father’s wrath if he can only come clean with his crime”. Judging by the urgency and the calm appearance of Seungwon in chapter 115, I think he wants his older brother’s affection in some way, despite them being estranged. Hence this is why Seungwon might initially come off as an enemy (like Heena did in her first appearance), but is most likely going to be an ally once the truth is revealed to him—that his brother didn’t destroy a holy place and the sacred tree, that his brother committed murder in the name of love

Seungwon, I think, has a heart in there somewhere, a heart that wants to understand why his brother acts the way he does. And yet, his actions come off to Seungho as meddlesome—exactly like how Heena is to Na-Kyum’s life when she found out he was living with Seungho.

For now, I am placing Seungwon as a gray character who’d be most likely become one of SeungKyum’s supporters once the truth is revealed to him—that the bad guy had been his father all along. But I am sure he’ll be having a moral dilemma at that point, it’d be hard for him to believe it at first, just like when Heena didn’t believe Seungho until she gets kidnapped

Which brings me to another theory, that at some point, Seungwon might get caught up in a conspiracy and he’d be wrapped up in something he’s not supposed to see. And just like Heena, Seungwon, too, could get kidnapped—either by Song’s men, or maybe even Chang-Hyeon himself, probably under the pretext that “your brother did this to you and therefore you must kill him”

I think that is the plan that Chang-Hyeon is going to pull off. He doesn’t want his hands dirty, he always gets others to do the dirty work for him. And Seungho’s death could include that. Since the ending of chapter 115 showed Seungho being stabbed, we can assume that it’s Chang-Hyeon’s guard who did this. This coincides with the appearance of Song before In-Hun. The older nobles are looking for ways to dispose of Seungho without linking the crimes back to them—and I think they found their fall guy with In-Hun