Life is Easier If You're Handsome novel Chapter 278

After Kim Donghu returned to Korea, the Korean broadcast industry welcomed him with open arms.

“Even if his appearance fee is sky-high, it’s fine—he’s just a guest on variety shows.”

“He’s doing it for promotion anyway, so our interests align! There’s no way he won’t show up!”

No matter how hard he’d worked to promote himself globally, he still hadn’t done any domestic promotion.

So, naturally, everyone assumed Kim Donghu would be making rounds for PR. And while they weren’t exactly wrong, they weren’t entirely right either.

“Man, I’m hyped to upload on YouTube again.”

“Seriously. But every time you post, it feels like it’s either after a controversy or a comeback.”

“Can’t help it—Donghu, you’re too damn busy.”

He’d agreed to appear on shows, yes, but the first one wouldn’t be someone else’s program.

“The first promotion is always crucial. You know how many shorts YouTubers are gonna clip from it.”

Donghu understood the ecosystem of YouTube well. He knew how powerful the trickle-down effect was when a big name dropped content.

So why would he waste that ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) on someone else’s show?

“No need to go out of my way to promote other people’s broadcasts.”

That made no sense at all.

First, he’d drop a video on his own YouTube. Once that video got clipped into a flood of shorts, then—and only then—would it be worth appearing on other shows.

And to top it off—

“Subscriber count shot up while I wasn’t looking.”

Maybe it was the Palme d’Or effect, but his subscriber count had skyrocketed to 5 million.

“Got a message from Disney. Said they’re super grateful.”

“Didn’t they reach out, like, 20 minutes ago?”

“You’ve got that private line, remember? They asked if they could post your Pianist review on their channel, said it’d be an honor... It was instant.”

“Oh, then we’d better prep right away.”

In a situation like this, not promoting would be a massive waste. And this time, he had something big planned.

It wasn’t just a simple review video.

“The two lead actors reviewing the first episode together.”

What could stir up more buzz than that? With that thought, I checked my messages.

"Sending a private jet? Tarzan’s really something, huh?"

< "It’s for Jane. Obviously."

"What a beautifully written line. See you in Korea."

A first-episode review of The Pianist with Evelyn herself. This one was already feeling like a hit.

***

At the same time—

There were three groups of people: the ones laughing, the ones furious, and the ones in tears.

The ones laughing?

DC.

“We got him! We nailed it! Sure, we still have to meet in Korea, but come on—we’ve got this locked!”

“Right? Best contract ever. Revenue sharing, running guarantee—what could possibly go wrong?”

They were going all-in on the multiverse Batman concept. Their idea? Batman adopts a child from Asia—and voilà, the first-ever Asian Batman on film.

They were practically giddy as they headed to the airport.

“You got that extra setup ready?”

“Yes, sir. You mean Owlman?”

“Yeah, prep that too. We’re gonna pull in the Crime Syndicate—maybe even have Donghu play two roles.”

They chatted excitedly in their van, riding the high. Push Kim Donghu as the new face of DC. Use that momentum to reignite the hero film scene.

With Marvel fumbling on their own—this was the golden opportunity.

“What is PC, really? It’s this! This is PC!”

Of course, they still didn’t really understand what PC meant. But there was one thing that rubbed them the wrong way—

“You have to include Asians, don’t you? Damn arrogant bastards.”

“Whatever, forget it. Ignore the critics, just keep making announcements.”

“DC wants Kim Donghu. Repeat it. Like a parrot.”

“Should we just make him Joker too? There is that version of the multiverse where Batman becomes Joker.”

“So Donghu playing both hero and villain... kinda sounds awesome, actually.”

They weren’t scared of public opinion anymore. If public backlash could kill them, they would’ve been dead already.

So why were they still alive? Simple.

They still had money left. But that too was drying up fast.

Which meant there was only one path left—

Charge forward. Keep it simple.

All in on Kim Donghu.

That’s what made DC the laughing camp. The ones raging?

Disney.

“What the fuck?! We let DC steal Tarzan? Are you kidding me?!”

Disney, who had acquired Marvel, saw Kim Donghu as a massive symbol.

Sure, for now it was just Tarzan. But they were planning to use his perfect visuals to make him the lead in multiple live-action adaptations down the line.

And now, he was gone. Not to some sub-brand, but to the other studio.

“Ugh! ‘Husband of Captain-whatever’—what the hell kind of title is that? PC, fine! Great! But now I see just how shitty you treated him!”

Yes, Disney had suffered plenty of flops chasing PC trends. But those were all due to external pressure, media spin, and complex circumstances. They had never intended to throw someone like Kim Donghu into that mess.

But then—

“You try to bait Kim Donghu with this garbage script? You stupid sons of bitches!”

Marvel had made a huge mistake. They ignored the economic value Donghu generated with every move. And gave him a dumpster-fire script just because he was Asian.

To be fair, giving him a bad script wasn’t the worst part. That could’ve been rewritten, reworked, polished.

The real crime—

“You made him a supporting role? Are you out of your fucking minds?!”

Meanwhile, DC had handed him Batman. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

They were planning to expand the entire universe around him if the first film blew up.

And Marvel?

↳ KIM DONGHU KIM DONGHU KIM DONGHU!!! Just watched episode 1 and this completely refueled my obsession! 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

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