Ch.280Killing the Chef

In Korea, they can no longer afford Kim Donghu’s appearance fees.

This is a fact already known throughout the broadcasting industry.

Of course, guest appearance fees are generally low to begin with.

And if someone appears for promotional purposes, the fee can be significantly reduced.

But when it comes to Kim Donghu, things are very different.

“What promotion does an actor who’s never failed need?”

“He’s never flopped, even without promotion!”

Kim Donghu was never one to do much promotion after filming a project.

Just light interviews, preview screenings, production presentations.

Only doing the basics and that’s it.

Appearing on variety shows was truly a thing of the past for him.

And as for whether any of his works had ever flopped…

“Well… I already said none have, so no need to emphasize it further, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Okay, that settles it then.”

Kim Donghu was an actor who had only experienced successful projects.

That’s why variety show PDs would put on all kinds of performances to try to cast him.

Sending emails, sending gifts.

Saying they could absolutely accommodate his schedule, just tell them what time works.

When he returned to Korea, they even waited outside his agency.

Of course, the answer was always the same.

-I’m sorry, Donghu isn’t interested. But since you’re here, have some tea before you go.

Since Kim Donghu wasn’t interested, nothing could be done.

At those words from Choi Seokho, variety PDs would swallow their tears and leave.

But now.

“…Why would that Kim Donghu choose our Tasty Guys…?”

That same Kim Donghu suddenly declared he would appear on a variety show.

He didn’t demand a high appearance fee.

He didn’t request excessive schedule adjustments for promotion.

Just,

Just.

-I’ve been a fan of Tasty Guys for a long time. I really wanted to be on it.

That was all he said.

The PD and writers realized for the first time how much pressure those words could bring.

Naturally, an emergency meeting was immediately called.

About 20 minutes later.

“Really? Did Kim Donghu really say he’s coming?”

“No way… am I really going to see Kim Donghu in person?”

“This is huge!”

“Oh my, I wonder how handsome he is in real life?”

The members of Tasty Guys arrived at the meeting room in a rush.

They were contacted as soon as Kim Donghu confirmed his participation in <Tasty Guys>.

It seemed they had canceled all their schedules to come.

“…But is it okay to have a meeting now? Aren’t you busy?”

“Who cares about that? Kim Donghu is coming.”

Yu Sangmin sat down quickly with eyes full of sincerity.

“What about the menu? Have you decided on the menu? Do you know what Kim Donghu likes?”

“Come on, hyung. Did you come without checking that?”

“I-I did check. I was just testing you guys.”

At the members’ words, Yu Sangmin hurriedly took out his phone.

“I’ve got everything right here, see? Kim Donghu!”

“Kim Donghu?”

“He likes to eat a lot, about 20,000 calories a day.”

“…”

Who doesn’t know that?

The members looked at Yu Sangmin with that expression.

If he wasn’t their senior, really…

After that playful atmosphere continued briefly,

the meeting quickly became serious again.

“Doesn’t he like Korean food? Kimchi?”

“Or should we ask Kim Donghu to recommend a restaurant? ‘Kim Donghu’s Restaurant!’ Sounds good, right?”

“Yes, good, but… then it becomes a Kim Donghu tour, we should do something too.”

“We’ll eat all three meals, right?”

“Of course, this… will be scheduled for two weeks.”

“Really?!”

“Almost no editing, just purely, you know? Broadcasting it for two weeks.”

The most important key issue was ‘what food to present to Kim Donghu’.

It would be burdensome enough if he was just coming without knowing much.

The word “fan” made their shoulders feel extremely heavy.

“Then we’ll go to a restaurant recommended by Kim Donghu for dinner… and we’ll plan breakfast and lunch ourselves.”

“Sounds good? When is the filming? Next week?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then should we start with promotion? Teaser that Donghu is coming… broadcast is in three weeks, so let’s promote strongly….”

As the meeting contents accumulated like that.

Just as the outline was taking shape.

Ring ring ring.

Ring ring ring.

Ring ring ring.

Suddenly, phone ringtones filled the meeting room.

Wondering what was going on, the main PD answered the phone first.

“Hello?”

-Hey! Is it 100% true that Kim Donghu is going on Tasty Guys?!

“Y-yes, how did you know?! Only we know about it so far?”

-How can you do this without informing the Production Director? What are you trying to do?

“No, that’s not it, I was going to tell you once we had a general outline….”

-Well, never mind. That’s not important, what about the PPL?

“Pardon?”

-What do you mean ‘pardon’? Are you a torture victim? Wake up! Do you have any idea what’s going on?

As soon as he heard the Production Director’s words, the main PD urgently stood up.

Come to think of it, that was true.

‘I was so focused on the broadcast itself…!’

Of course, with Kim Donghu involved, there would be countless business inquiries,

but he had overlooked that.

To be fair, it wasn’t really the main PD’s fault.

It hadn’t even been a day since Kim Donghu agreed to appear on the show.

He didn’t expect business inquiries to come in so soon.

However.

-[Hello, this is Ilyang Foods. As a sponsor for actor Kim Donghu…]

-[Hello. This is FJ contacting you. Regarding actor Kim Donghu’s upcoming appearance…]

-[This is Fine Dining Revon. After hearing about actor Kim Donghu’s appearance…]

As if to prove his expectations completely wrong.

Emails were continuously coming in real-time.

All of them for PPL.

Some were even restaurants that had been criticized after previous marketing attempts.

“Th-this is….”

-It’s Kim Donghu! Kim Donghu! Don’t you get it?! There’s no actor with higher stock in Korea right now than Kim Donghu!

“N-no, I understand.”

-Get your head straight. Don’t go crazy accepting maximum PPL just because Kim Donghu is coming, okay? Let’s be reasonable.

“R-reasonable….”

-Figure it out well, precisely, you know? That trendy phrase young people use these days. What is it, “know-well-well-precisely-precisely”? Anyway, do that!

The main PD had several rebuttals he wanted to make but gave up.

That wasn’t what was important right now.

“I’ll sort through them carefully.”

-Yes! Do that!

The ordinary Tasty Guys.

And the special Tasty Guys.

The only plan that could accomplish all of this.

“Activate Chef Killer.”

Now was the time to use it.

++++++

Chef Killer.

It was both a plan they had only imagined.

And an item they had somewhat prepared for in reality.

‘Invite multiple chefs, and have each one continuously present their signature dishes….’

A hell of infinite food, you might call it.

Not ordinary restaurants.

Signature menus made by chefs!

If Tasty Guys kept eating those,

they naturally thought the response would be good.

But the reason this item hadn’t been used yet.

Was because the chefs had refused.

-I don’t think I’m qualified yet.

-It’s an honor to be invited, but I don’t think my skills are good enough yet.

-I’m sorry. I’ll definitely appear next time.

Though they said things like that.

The main PD knew the real reason.

‘There’s no point appearing on a program with low ratings that doesn’t generate proper news stories.’

Since <Tasty Guys>’ recognition wasn’t proportional to its ratings.

Sadly, it seemed like an understandable rejection, but now.

“We’re already fully booked. I’m really sorry.”

-N-no, it’s my fault for contacting you so late. I apologize.

Urgent calls were being made to famous chefs at 1 AM.

He didn’t resent them for this.

‘I would have done the same.’

With Kim Donghu appearing.

They would want to use every desperate means to create a connection.

“With Kim Donghu joining, in just one day… no, suddenly everything is going smoothly.”

How should he put it?

Should he say life had become easier?

It felt like the difficulty level of life had suddenly decreased.

Like ancestors were helping lift the weight while exercising.

“Let’s do this, Tasty Guys… let’s break our highest ratings record.”

With that determination, the main PD went back to sleep.

Time passed quickly, and on the day of <Tasty Guys> filming.

‘Come, Kim Donghu.’

The main PD, having completed all preparations, watched the approaching van in the distance.

Gulp.

Why was he feeling nervous for no reason?

A sensation like being put to the test.

The main PD threw off the constricting pressure.

And smiled brightly at Kim Donghu, who was slowly getting out of the van.

“Welcome.”

“Oh… am I late? I thought I came early.”

“Not at all. We arrived early.”

Kim Donghu’s habit of arriving early was well-known.

The broadcasting industry had an unspoken rule.

To deliberately tell Kim Donghu a filming time 2 hours later than actual.

That way, the timing would be just right.

Anyway.

Main PD Choi Minseon, after confirming Kim Donghu was wearing his microphone,

immediately rushed to the filming location.

“He’s coming! He’s coming!”

Today he was determined to make history.

PD Choi Minseon steeled his resolve.

Exactly 16 hours later.

“…Donghu, can we stop now?”

“What? Oh, I’m sorry. Is the dinner over for today?”

“No, that’s not it….”

We’ve been eating continuously for 16 hours today.

Holding back those words, PD Choi Minseon glanced around to check the situation.

‘Keep going, more!’

‘The cameras are still rolling.’

‘You know how much the bonus is for this? Just put your life on the line!’

Staff members with fire in their eyes, burning with filming determination.

‘You can do it, Minseon, we can do it.’

‘Thirty-meal hyung is hanging in there too, we have to do this.’

‘This is a lifetime pension if they rerun it, keep going.’

‘Oppa, we have to do this.’

He could see the members secretly taking digestive medicine when they went to the bathroom.

Yes, they couldn’t give up here.

We can eat more.

The only program that can make Kim Donghu full.

That’s <Tasty Guys>.

With that thought strengthening his resolve.

“I-I was thinking we should go to another place! Round two! We should go for round two!”

“Oh, really?! Sounds good!”

He pledged to continue participating in this war.

Yes, let’s get those ratings and die trying.

+++++

While <Pianist> was steadily airing.

And firmly holding the #1 spot on Disney Plus worldwide.

People marveled at Kim Donghu’s killer acting and piano playing skills.

People keep saying he’s good, but it’s hard to know just how good he really is.

Watching this, Warner Brothers smiled deeply.

“With acting skills like that… he could definitely play the Joker.”

About 4 weeks after sending Kim Donghu the initial draft of <The Bat>.

The initial draft for the Joker was finally completed.

For the first time in history.

Toward Kim Donghu, who would become the actor to play both Batman and the Joker simultaneously.

“The Joker script and contract… I’ll give these to him when we meet in Korea.”

They finally boarded a flight to Korea.

At the same time.

[Is it today? The day Kim Donghu appears on Tasty Guys?]

-LEGENDARY SITUATION HAPPENING!!!

ㄴHow much will he eat?

ㄴHow long has it been since Kim Donghu was on Korean variety? 5 years?lol

ㄴIs it that long? Legendary

Online communities were heating up with plans to watch <Tasty Guys – Guest Kim Donghu Episode> live.

“…Opening ratings have already exceeded 10%. We’ve already broken our highest ratings record?”

Even before it started, <Tasty Guys> had broken its highest ratings record.

The legendary episode where they really just ate meals for 17 hours.

Was now about to begin.