For a moment, it didn’t seem like Painter of the Night would ever return but fans never lost faith. The popular BL manhwa will begin serializing side stories next year.
Byeonduck, the creator behind Painter of the Night, updated fans with a new artwork of long-haired Na-kyum sitting down with a puzzled look, possibly because he’s wondering where his pants went. The creator announced that the highly anticipated role reversal side stories will release in early 2026. Information about the number of episodes and potential other AUs have not yet been announced.
Painter of the Night burst onto the scene in July 2019 and ran for four seasons. Throughout its serialization, it rose to become one of Lezhin’s top titles. Even after the main story concluded in November 2023, the couple can still be seen in Lezhin’s Season’s Greetings and project line-ups, further proving the manhwa’s popularity. The most recent episode released was in May 2024 when Byeonduck published two epilogue episodes.
The author had, in the past, teased a role reversal AU with four special episodes that were released sporadically in between the main story. It is unclear if the new role reversal stories will be a continuation or entirely separate. However, in the creator’s note in November 2023, Byeonduck wrote, “The side story will feature a modern-day AU with a social status flip!”
Painter of the Night follows a young painter named Baek Na-kyum who has an extraordinary talent for homoerotica painting. His paintings, authored under a pen name, catches the attention of Yoon Seungho, the son of a nobleman who is notorious for engaging in sodomy. Seungho forces Na-kyum to be his private painter to recreate his nightly exploits.
Painter of the Night is available to read on Lezhin. Seven Seas has licensed the print license.
Source: X, formerly known as Twitter
