Ch.129Could this possibly have been a strategy?

A month can feel long to some people,

and incredibly short to others.

And in the case of Lee Geonwoo, marketing team leader at Ilyang Foods.

‘…I haven’t received a reply from anyone.’

A month is too short, too rushed, and too agonizing.

Lee Geonwoo wandered around his home with a dejected expression.

‘Why isn’t anyone responding?’

Ilyang Foods is indeed a major domestic company.

But globally speaking?

‘So this is how small we are.’

International program PPL? Not even a read receipt.

Forget about PPL, he couldn’t even establish a dialogue.

Then what about the domestic market?

‘Why isn’t Veritas responding?’

This was actually Geonwoo’s mistake.

Thinking he had a firm grip on the domestic market,

he had postponed contacting Veritas.

He had made various attempts to reach the international market, but.

Unfortunately, there were no results.

So what remained was contacting Veritas to make Kim Donghu a model.

But as punishment for postponing it, there was no response.

‘Didn’t they say it takes at least three or four days to get a reply?’

The executive meeting is tomorrow, and they’re talking about three or four days.

‘I’m going to get fired.’

Is this how it all ends?

Geonwoo sat down heavily on the sofa with a bitter smile.

‘The Noble Gourmet….’

Why did he suddenly want to watch The Noble Gourmet?

Was it lingering attachment to something he couldn’t have?

The desire to see what the unattainable looks like?

Glance.

Checking the time, it should be airing live in Japan right about now.

‘There’s no way to watch it in Korea.’

Putting aside his disappointment, Geonwoo sent a KakaoTalk message.

<Who was on a business trip to Japan right now?

>Me, sir!

<Ah, right

<Isn’t it time for The Noble Gourmet? Turn it on

>Yes sir!

After a brief moment.

Geonwoo reads an unbelievable KakaoTalk message.

“What?!”

>Sir, Kim Donghu is appearing on The Noble Gourmet right now?

Impossible.

But it happened.

This would have ended with just a shock, but.

What followed was truly stunning.

>He’s making… rabokki with our product?

Who cares about international roaming?

Who cares about international calls?

Geonwoo immediately made a call.

“Is that true? What’s going on! No, no! First, record it! Record! Whether by video or camera, just record it!”

“Yes, yes, sir! But this is really amazing! He ate the Buldak Spicy Noodles and the Japanese people were like AAAHHH! and…”

“I get it, I get it, so calm down! First things first! Don’t get excited!”

After about 30 minutes of a conversation where it wasn’t clear who was excited and who needed to calm down.

Unable to hide his boiling excitement, Geonwoo shouted.

“AAAAAAHHHHH!”

Hope is coming to me too!

Geonwoo’s lips trembled as he slicked back his hair.

Can’t contact Veritas? It didn’t matter anymore.

‘Well, I’ll just camp outside their office if I have to.’

He would do whatever it takes.

<Can you contact Kim Donghu in Japan?

>Um… should I wait at the airport?

<Yes, try contacting him… try everything! We must meet him!

My life depends on it.

Geonwoo was dead serious.

++++++

At the same time.

The Usami household.

“Do we really need to watch this?”

“Dad!”

“Honey?”

“No, I just… even if we just have it on, the ratings go up, haha, so I was just genuinely curious.”

As a son-in-law.

Usami Kenji, whose authority as the head of the household was already at rock bottom, immediately backed down.

‘Kim Donghu! My daughter is watching late-night dramas because of you!’

10 PM, when children should be growing.

They should be going to sleep to grow taller and healthier.

Making her break that rule, what a terrible guy.

‘This is why all men are wolves!’

No matter how much he tried to appeal this point to his wife.

The answer was always the same.

-Honestly, you’d approve of Kim Donghu too.

A perfect hit that he couldn’t properly respond to.

‘Hmm.’

Having to watch his daughter admire a man.

Could there be a more painful moment?

Regardless of his anguish.

“Oh, it’s Senior Donghu!”

Kim Donghu suddenly appeared on TV.

Toro visiting a Korean restaurant because he was hungry.

And Kim Minjun, who was considering closing the restaurant due to his parents’ absence.

Their meeting began as if by chance.

And that beginning immediately led to cooking.

“Wow, they sharpened the knife.”

“What?”

Chisako tilted her head at Kenji’s words.

The atmosphere asked for an explanation.

“They’re showing the cooking process in great detail, but not excessively? But they’re clearly showing ‘Kim Donghu is cooking.'”

This must mean the production company wants to properly showcase Kim Donghu.

Indeed, as Kenji explained.

<The Noble Gourmet> was currently showing Kim Donghu’s cooking process in full.

Usually, they would only emphasize the food,

but now they were highlighting the cooking itself.

“But he’s really good at cooking, similar to me, right?”

“Well, I still think my wife’s cooking is the best.”

“I still want to try Senior Donghu’s cooking.”

“Right? Me too.”

“Yes!”

His cooking skills were so good that it was immediately clear why they were showing it.

‘Still, Toro remains the main character.’

No matter how fancy the side dishes are, rice is the foundation.

Since <The Noble Gourmet>’s rice was Kurata Toro,

they continued the production without breaking this rule.

In other words.

‘Kim Donghu’s scenes feel natural.’

While it might seem like they’re downplaying his presence.

In reality, this episode contained tremendous skill.

‘Jeyuk-bokkeum… tonkatsu, is that the Korean version? Western-style Korean food….’

Each dish looked incredibly appetizing as it appeared.

Being neighboring countries, there were many similarities.

The clear difference was that red color.

The intense hellish taste that looked deadly spicy was the definite difference.

Such a crimson hue is rarely seen in Japan.

Perhaps that’s why?

Including the Usami family.

Many people watching <The Noble Gourmet> showed quite positive reactions.

“Is there a Korean restaurant around here?”

“Kimchi pancake… that’s somewhat similar to our food.”

“But it’s thinner, shall we try making it tomorrow?”

“Yes!”

Then came the rain.

The harmony of raindrops and the sound of kimchi pancakes sizzling.

Followed by Kim Donghu’s large-portion meal.

【 Anyone watching The Noble Gourmet now? Choikemen appears again wwwwwwwwww 】

【 Hmm, he really feels like an actor? He acts so well, and his Japanese is amazing 】

【 He’s similar to us, so does Kim Donghu speak both Korean and Japanese well? That’s really impressive 】

【 Good at cooking too… Ah, this makes me feel the class difference between humans (lol) 】

【 He’s conquering Japan with his looks and culture, maybe he’s a descendant of Yi Sun-sin wwwww 】

【 And the amount he eats is extraordinary! Like a sumo wrestler, so magnificent! 】

Naturally, Twitter was full of praise.

Since he blended in so naturally,

people could purely enjoy the entertainment.

And this enjoyment soon translated into ratings.

“…8% ratings?!”

“Double the usual figure?!”

“It seems the Twitter buzz really spread.”

“I didn’t expect such a big difference!”

Aitake Ura was genuinely surprised by the doubled ratings.

<The Noble Gourmet> usually wasn’t greatly affected by guests,

so despite various guests appearing occasionally, none had this kind of impact.

But.

‘Is Kim Donghu different?’

Research showed he had the nickname of an actor who had never failed.

He thought it might be true, but double the ratings?

‘If we had done previews and such, could we have reached double digits?’

Momentarily lost in desire, Aitake Ura quickly shook his head.

‘This is already amazing. I shouldn’t be greedy.’

As a production manager, excessive greed was forbidden.

These numbers were already incredible.

But.

“A-Aitake-san! The ratings are still climbing!”

“What?! Why?! Why are they still going up?!”

“B-because he… he eats so well!”

In truth, Aitake Ura had already been greedy.

When <The Noble Gourmet> moved to prime time,

they had already extended the broadcast time.

And thanks to this extended time, the ratings climbed even higher.

Finally, the final ratings calculated at the end of the broadcast were.

“E-exactly 10.0%! Double digits!”

“Aaaah!”

The average prime time rating for successful shows was around 15%.

From this perspective, 10% wasn’t particularly high.

However.

For a show that changed time slots to hit 10% was a different story.

It was boldly challenging the top contenders.

“Mr. Kim Donghu is… a god!”

This was the moment when Kim Donghu’s existence and influence began to spread throughout Japan in earnest.

++++++

After <The Noble Gourmet> finished airing.

‘Wasn’t I here for dubbing work?’

I shrugged at the sudden thought.

‘Well, whatever works.’

While I was thinking this.

>Senior, let’s meet! Now!

An unexpected KakaoTalk message from Usami Chisako arrived.

‘Meet now?’

It’s 11 PM?

>You were so cool! Briefing! Review! I want to talk about it! Together!

<It’s too late, how about meeting tomorrow?

>Then let’s meet at the station tomorrow! In disguise!

Huh? What’s this, how did it naturally turn out like this?

‘Was this a strategy?’

A strategy of giving up something small to gain something big.

And just like that, a date was naturally set for tomorrow.