Ch.216Men’s pride is truly something else, I swear.

People vary in how well they photograph.

Some appear heavier on camera, while others look thinner.

From this perspective, Kim Donghu tended to look a bit thinner in photos.

Currently, Kim Donghu stood at 186cm and weighed just over 100kg.

This was the physique you’d see in American football—

almost no fat, just a massive frame of pure muscle.

He naturally looked different from the rumors, appearing about 1.3 times larger than on screen.

The intimidation factor from his presence left the paparazzo frozen in place.

“I, uh… ah… t-took… yes, p-pictures.”

The words wouldn’t come out properly.

His moderately tanned skin made his muscles appear even more defined.

The thick clothes he wore due to the late winter made the difference in their builds seem even more dramatic.

“May I see your camera for a moment? You know this is illegal, right?”

“Yes, I, uh, ah….”

Strictly speaking, paparazzi activities themselves aren’t illegal.

There’s nothing wrong with photographing celebrities in public places.

But when their methods become problematic, that’s when it becomes illegal.

The most common issues are stalking and invasion of privacy.

The easiest standard to judge this by is…

“You’ve been taking pictures since I left my home? Even inside my house?”

That was in the photos they had secretly taken.

“I, uh… ah….”

“Hmm, you haven’t taken many. But there weren’t any after the musical… judging by how you approached me now, you knew what role I’d be playing?”

While Kim Donghu was calmly speaking while looking through the paparazzo’s camera,

the paparazzo couldn’t collect himself under the suffocating pressure.

‘W-why is his body so…’

Olympic heavyweight gold medal.

Asian Games heavyweight gold medal.

These were achievements Kim Donghu had accomplished in just two years.

And there was no one in America who didn’t know about these achievements.

That’s why the paparazzo was experiencing the terror of a heavyweight boxer right before his eyes.

This person casually smiling and talking to him right now

could easily kill someone if he wanted to—that knowledge filled him with fear.

“Would a celebrity dare to mistreat an ordinary person?”

“Hit me, go ahead, would you really kill me?”

Such thoughts didn’t even cross his mind.

“Wow, you even recorded me running over here? In that short time?”

It was instinct.

The instinct that he had to capture this.

And that instinct…

“This… could be used in quite an interesting way.”

…saved the paparazzo.

‘I can’t stop paparazzi from following me anyway. There might be several methods, but… once the official promotion starts, they’ll be all over me.’

When Disney officially began promotions,

it was obvious that enormous attention would follow, and countless photos would be taken.

That would inevitably cause harm to those around him.

Since it would clearly cause direct harm to him as well,

Kim Donghu concluded that if he didn’t properly handle these people now, it would be over.

Ring ring ring.

“Hello, Seokho. It’s me. Could you come over here for a moment? I’ll send you my location.”

-What’s going on? I’ll come right away, just tell me where you are.

“Yes, thank you.”

Click.

After cleanly ending the call,

he turned to the still-frozen paparazzo.

“I’ve called someone to have a more detailed interesting conversation.”

“In-interesting con-conversation?”

“These photos and videos… we’re thinking of processing them a bit on our end and using them.”

Kim Donghu maintained his bright smile.

++++++

On Reddit, America’s largest community site,

a very interesting video was uploaded.

The title was [Tarzan of the Streets],

and the video was quite short, only about 12 seconds long.

And the content of that video was…

-Ugh, uuugh! Aaaaargh!

It showed a large man approaching at a frightening speed.

Though the camera was shaky due to trembling hands, making the image blurry,

what it was trying to capture was clear.

ㄴWhat’s this? This guy is super fast!

ㄴIs he a football player?

ㄴEven at a glance, he’s incredibly fast for someone that big

ㄴLooks like he has a tan

ㄴThe intimidation factor is intense

Filming a man running toward the camera.

Though it appeared suddenly, the video gained tremendous attention due to its intensity.

It was like watching a tense chase scene from a movie.

Of course, the video alone wouldn’t have gone viral.

The uploader’s reputation played a part.

ㄴThe guy who posted this is a paparazzo, somewhat famous

ㄴFamous?

ㄴYeah, in a bad way. He usually follows promising rookies, takes tons of photos, and sells them

ㄴSo he rides on the success of rising stars?

ㄴBut this kind of video is a first. Who is this anyway? Can’t see his face clearly

ㄴWhy is the title “Tarzan of the Streets”? Why Tarzan all of a sudden?

ㄴCome to think of it, there were some Disney rumors about Tarzan recently

ㄴSo is this an intentional viral marketing campaign?

ㄴWho knows, but he really does look like Tarzan

A distance that looked well over 200 meters.

The man in the video perfectly navigated through crowds of people to reach the camera,

in a way that could only be described as wild.

ㄴHe’s in amazing shape

ㄴFrom what I could see of his face, he seems handsome?

ㄴHe looks familiar but I can’t remember where I’ve seen him

ㄴHis face is too obscured, but even from his features you can tell he’s extremely handsome

ㄴCould it be Kim Donghu?

ㄴWho?

ㄴDonghu Kim, the gold medal boxer

ㄴThat’s a random guess

The spread video eventually…

[Made a meme with today’s Street Tarzan video]

(video)

…became a meme.

And this was exactly what Kim Donghu had aimed for.

He didn’t expect a mere 12-second video to cause such a ripple effect.

If it became a meme and was consumed for about a week, that would be success enough.

The most important thing was to plant familiarity in people’s minds.

‘Of course, it will be forgotten soon.’

Still, awareness was important.

Rather than seeing something completely new later,

making people think, “Huh? Where have I seen this before?”

That was the goal of this work.

Moreover…

“I’ll… really be careful…”

“Well, I don’t want this to drag on either.”

Since he had caught and properly educated the paparazzo from the beginning,

this loose-lipped person would spread the word.

“Thank you for your leniency. Really, really…”

“Like I said, please keep that mindset going forward.”

“Yes!”

With those final words, the paparazzo bowed deeply and fled quickly.

It took about three days for the Reddit post to be written.

During that time, Kim Donghu deeply realized how powerful Disney was.

“Usually it’s because we can’t catch them, but once we do, we can handle everything on our end.”

Why can’t they catch paparazzi? Because it’s dangerous.

They hide among crowds, or they’re in cars, and so on.

In America, where carrying firearms is legal,

everyone knows how dangerous it is to chase after someone.

But when you properly catch them at the scene like now, the story completely changes.

The situation becomes favorable at a 10:0 level.

In such circumstances, grilling someone was no big deal.

And right at that moment…

>Are you more interested in music?

A message from Evelyn, who had been contacting him frequently lately, arrived.

++++++

Watching the [Street Tarzan] video becoming a real-time meme on Reddit, the CAE representative…

‘This is definitely going to work!’

…immediately recognized Kim Donghu’s potential.

Moreover, knowing how well he could sing through <Ghost of the Opera>,

he wanted to actively utilize this opportunity.

‘We need to break the musical actor image if we want to expand further.’

Evelyn sings well, dances well, and has excellent acting skills.

But it’s a shame that only musical audiences know this.

To move into pop music, more people need to hear her.

And for that, she needs to officially release an album.

But is that easy?

How can you just create hit songs out of nowhere?

‘So I tried various approaches and worked hard to find good songs.’

That effort had taken over two years.

He had wanted to debut Evelyn as a pop star as soon as she became an adult,

but he had sacrificed that to wait for the perfect breakthrough.

So the song was almost complete,

internal tests were positive, and surrounding reactions were excellent.

If there was an obstacle…

‘I wanted to make the music video provocative, but Evelyn refused.’

He wanted to move toward a bold image for a dramatic transformation,

but Evelyn had completely rejected it due to her discomfort.

Then suddenly, an idea struck the representative.

‘Kim Donghu would be fine, right? He seems quite interested?’

So he immediately asked Evelyn if they should propose the music video to Kim Donghu.

Evelyn nodded vigorously as if she had been waiting for this.

-That’s very, very good! I mean… not that I like Donghu, but… our image together would be good! Yes…

It had been a while since he’d seen her blinking those passionate blue eyes so eagerly.

“Wow, it’s here! He replied!”

“Really? What did he say?”

“He’s interested! Says he wants to hear the proposal in detail!”

“Is that so?”

The CAE representative was considering his response with a deep smile when a thought occurred to him.

‘But the music video… will it be okay?’

Filming was fine, but the content itself was quite bold and challenging.

More precisely, what was required of the male actor was substantial.

He needed to know how to dance and play the piano well.

The piano part was especially crucial.

‘I wonder if he can play the piano well?’

If not, they could train him, but

that would take about three months.

Suddenly things became complicated.

‘Boxing and… hmm, but the chances of him being good at piano are slim.’

Even considering that, since Evelyn liked him, he decided to go with it.

The representative asked her to inquire about the piano part.

“He says he plays extremely well?”

Upon hearing this response, he laughed helplessly.

“Men and their pride, I swear.”

So versatile?

That can’t be right.