Life is Easier If You’re Handsome

Kim Donghu applied for both the Silver and Gold Play Buttons.

‘Alright, the stage is set, but what should I do next?’

I seriously thought about my next content.

It was a very interesting first experience.

Normally, I worked in places where everything from the planning to the stage setup was already done for me.

But in the YouTube world, I had to handle everything from start to finish on my own.

"Maybe I should start with something light, like workout content."

The first thing that came to mind was exercise.

I had already shown a lot of acting, and boxing had been exposed plenty too.

So, familiar exercises like gym workouts seemed like a good place to start.

In Korea, wellness and fitness were still very popular.

A video in that theme wouldn’t be a problem, especially since it fit with the "daily life" concept.

‘Workouts... piano or violin content too, that would be perfect, right?’

That was the plan, and it was time to get started.

‘At least I don’t have to worry about the location.’

While I’d been running around the U.S. doing my thing, Seokho-hyung had undergone a big change.

—Oh, Donghu! Oh, filming? Sure, do it however you like.

The change was that a new Veritas office building had been set up.

The old office stayed the same.

He’d mentioned wanting to keep the original spirit intact.

Anyway, the old office remained, but now a whole building was set aside for the convenience of the agency’s actors.

‘He said it was a secret date spot.’

There were actually so many fun things there you could almost call it a date spot.

Starting with a gym, there was a movie theater, an arcade, and more.

Seokho-hyung called it the "dream playground we imagined as kids."

"Okay, let’s film it and upload it right away."

The first glimpse into my daily life.

The theme was the gym and measuring my three big lifts.

***

The news that Kim Donghu was starting a YouTube channel spread in just one day.

Honestly, there was no way people wouldn’t know.

After hitting 1 million subscribers in 5 hours, he completely dominated the portal news, so it was common knowledge, and the difference was whether people subscribed or not.

And then—

[Kim Donghu hits 2.5 million in 24 hours]

—This guy’s not playing around

—Just a regular vlog, and it’s already at 5 million? LOL

—It was weird he hadn’t done this before, right?

—But hitting 5 million? Makes sense, Donghu’s face was on there for 10 minutes, and he varied his expressions.

[Why Kim Donghu is truly insane]

—He still has all the gifts his fans gave him at the Hydream concert LOL

—Isn’t that from 10 years ago? It’s all old, could’ve thrown it away, but nope LOL

—Saw the frames and letters, still there. Chills.

—Fan love is real for Donghu

—Wow, but the fact he still keeps the stuff from Hydream is legendary

—What’s wild is how well-preserved it is, LOL

—He has a whole space in his house dedicated to fans, crazy

—Not even kidding, the frames from Hydream are still hanging there. Insane, LOL

—I bet he probably dedicated a whole room to that stuff.

Just a 10-minute video caused a massive stir.

People kept watching and rewatching it.

The comments already ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) hit over 100,000, showing unbelievable power.

It got to the point where the comments felt like a live chat instead.

The firestorm was even more intense on Kim Donghu’s fan communities.

[Should we update soon?]

—Donghyeong’s 2020 June Mid version... is it ready?

—^The long one^ The notice update’s coming. Big thumbs up.

—Big thumbs up

—Big thumbs up

—Big thumbs up

—Burger thumbs up

—No, wait

—No, wait

—No, wait

—No, wait

—No, the badges are in line? LOL Update already~

[Notice update ^The long one^ latest complete]

—Oh my...!!!!

—^Commercial movies, double 10 million, independent films, Migeonsen 4 Best Director Awards, variety show ratings 30%, drama ratings 40%, Olympic boxing gold medal, Red Horn, Adidas, partner, Benz, Richard Mille, Louis Vuitton muse, fluent in English and Japanese, proof of cooking skills, flawless piano and violin performances, WBC heavyweight champ, Wembley Stadium viewership 250 million, Tarzan’s own, pulled a small plane, live-action 20 billion dollars, Disney movie, animation live-action highest box office, the Korean actor filming Musashi, Japanese culture conquest success, YouTube Gold Play Button in 5 hours^

—Updated after a while

—Tell me if I missed anything, I’ll add it right away, LOL

—It’s so long, I honestly don’t know

—Looks right though?

—Problem is, it’s only gonna get longer

—Donghyeong’s big updates are tough to handle

—Why’s Donghyung so high, I’ll need to memorize all this

The community was continuously feeding the fire about Kim Donghu.

And as if waiting, at 2 a.m., another video suddenly appeared on his YouTube.

[Is Kim Donghu doing daily uploads? LOL What’s this, two days in a row?]

—Good things are good, right?

—Straight fire, gotta watch right now

[The concept seems like fitness, guess he’s doing the 3 major lifts]

—Kim Donghu is like 180-something cm? Around 100 kg, right?

—At this point, he’s probably lifting 500 in total.

—500 isn’t something you see often in real life

—Having a good body doesn’t always mean being super strong, you know?

—Since he’s a boxer, he does functional training, so the weight lifting could be different?

—Still, he could probably hit 500, he’s so strong.

—For regular people, anything over 400 is insanely strong, though.

As people wrote their comments and watched the video, they noticed something strange.

—?

—?

—?

—?

—?

—?

—How much weight is he squatting?

—260?

—Did Kim Donghu warm up to 260?

The weight seemed off.

It wasn’t the kind of weight most people would use.

It was more like something powerlifters would go for.

—Donghu, squat 8 plates? That’s 340 kg.

—Ah, that’s why you’re doing Tarzan.

—Is Kim Donghu out of his mind?

—1RM for Kim Donghu... Squat 340, huh?

At first, I watched casually, thinking he was just doing some light exercise.

But as soon as I realized it, I found myself praying along with the fans.

“No, no, Donghu!!!”

Especially for his die-hard fan, Ji Eun-bi, 25 years old, who was almost fainting.

He said he was just warming up.

But then, suddenly, his face changed, and he was testing his 1RM?

I knew that to test those kinds of weights, you need someone nearby.

Yet he was doing it alone, which made me worry even more.

But he didn’t care.

—“I wanted to increase the weight here, but since there’s no spotter, I’ll just stop here.”

—“I know it looks risky while you’re watching, but this is manageable weight, so I’m really fine.”

Kim Donghu spoke calmly and continued his workout.

After finishing the squats, he moved on to the bench press.

Even the warm-up didn’t seem ordinary.

—“Is Kim Donghu seriously doing 200 kg on the bench with no equipment?”

—“200 kg on the bench? LOL. Just laughing at this.”

—“So now in the warm-up phase, the total is 550 kg? LOL”

—“No way, the bar is actually bending. This guy’s nuts.”

—“But it’s an expensive bar, the kind used in competitions. That costs thousands.”

—“Shouldn’t his health be a bigger concern? I mean, seriously, on the bench?”

—“Did he really bench 220 kg three times? No way...”

—“Donghu, I’m honestly more scared watching you work out than you are.”

—“I can’t even tell you to stop working out, because... well, this is why people get knocked out by a punch. LOL.”

Then, when Kim Donghu hit 260 kg on the bench press, the community went wild.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

550 kg in total.

Even that was a crazy figure, but the most shocking part was that he still had deadlifts left to do.

—“If he hits 300 on deadlifts, that’s 900 for the total.”

—“Donghu, can you please take it easy? Your face is all red now.”

—“Seriously, this guy is amazing and terrifying at the same time. LOL”

—“I get why people are rushing through the video. He’s obviously taking breaks in between.”

—“Yeah, makes sense. It’s obvious.”

After resting for a while, the video showed Kim Donghu getting back up again.

The only piece of gym equipment he used was a belt. He didn’t use anything else.

He quietly continued his workout.

—“The warm-up scale is insane. 300 kg as a warm-up?”

—“Is he a monster? Is this even human?”

—“Seriously, what would happen if we brought in Tarzan now?”

—“Wait, he’s just showing his regular life, and this is how it goes?”

—“So this is what ‘normal’ looks like for Donghu...”

—“Donghu, I’m genuinely scared of you.”

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

It was clear he was filming alone. Every time the deadlift touched the ground, the camera fell, and he had to pick it up again.

After repeating that about 2-3 times, the weight seemed absurd.

—“Deadlift 370 kg, no way...”

—“So that’s a total of 970 for the three lifts?”

—“Is he crazy?”

—“Donghu, you’re an actor, right? Were you secretly a powerlifter?”

—“Honestly, no wonder there’s been drug rumors about Donghu in the West.”

—“I get it, how do you even explain this from an ordinary person’s perspective?”

Bang!

Kim Donghu completed a 370 kg deadlift.

With pressure on his body and face, he was bleeding from his nose, but shrugged it off as if it was nothing.

—“Oh, it’s been a while, so I guess the weight feels a little off.”

He spoke again, slowly tidying up the plates.

—“I plan to show more of my daily life from now on. Boxing practice, piano performances... Haha, I hope you’ll look forward to it.”

Though it seemed awkward, Kim Donghu appeared slightly embarrassed talking to the camera.

Normally, you’d find it cute, but—

“Wow... that body.”

He had just finished working out, and his sweaty upper body was clearly visible.

Starting from his massive, pumped-up muscles to his defined abs visible over his shirt, slightly flushed skin, and prominent veins and tendons.

It all mixed together to show an incredible primal strength. Even though his tan was fading, the muscle definition was still sharp on screen.

Shhhuuu... thud.

“...!”

Kim Sujin, who had her face glued to the YouTube screen, was startled.

She had unknowingly started drooling.

“Mi—Mitch! What’s going on, why am I drooling like some pervert?”

But Kim Sujin wasn’t the only one reacting this way.

“...”

Ryu Jaerin, without saying a word, grabbed her phone and crawled into her blanket.

“...Could I, uh... make posters out of the screenshots from this video as it goes up?”

Shin Yerim seriously began screenshotting the video.

“U-uh... by any chance... could you ask him if he wants to do a workout collab with Tarzan? Just... could you ask him?”

Evelyn, writhing, was dying to send the collaboration request.

Lastly, Usami Chisako, with her fiery resolve, declared—

“...Musashi, the lead female role... I have to secure it.”

The insane 3-lift total of 970 kg that was revealed in the video spread worldwide.

The views of the video skyrocketed to ten million in no time.

Kim Donghu’s version of a "normal" life was spreading.

And with that, he officially made his mark in the YouTube world.