"Hotel Dokkaebi"'s long-awaited first business has begun.
The first episode of MBC Every1's "Hotel Dokkaebi," which aired on the 20th, showed Ko Doo-shim, Kwon Yul, Son Naeun, Kim Dong-jun, Lee Dae Hwi and Jeon Seong-gon operating a hanok hotel in Jeju.
In October 2025, the cast gathered at a restaurant in Seoul. Because the first open location of "Hotel Dokkaebi" was Jeju, Ko Doo-shim's role was expected to be important, and as Kwon Yul, Jeon Seong-gon, Kim Dong-jun, Son Naeun and Lee Dae Hwi joined one by one, the cast exchanged greetings and discussed their respective roles over a meal. Kim Dong-jun took charge of meals, Kwon Yul took care of room cleaning and supplies, Jeon Seong-gon was assigned guest transfers and worker roles, and Son Naeun and Lee Dae Hwi were to handle communication with guests with their fluent foreign language skills. They also agreed to help each other as needed, raising expectations that an organic team play would form.
Two days before opening, the "Hotel Dokkaebi" members met again at the airport. Unsure about where the hotel would be built and how to operate it, the members, excited and nervous, set nicknames for each other, learned Jeju dialect from Ko Doo-shim, and bought tangerines at an orange farm to devise a welcome drink to serve guests. The finally arrived "Hotel Dokkaebi" Jeju branch was a hanok with a sea view, a yard full of tangerine trees, a small stream and beautifully arranged stone walls.
The members were astonished by the unexpectedly spacious Hotel Dokkaebi. After touring the various rooms where guests could relax, the members gathered at the front desk, named the rooms and planned the welcome juice and finger foods and dinner menu for foreign guests who would arrive at opening. Chef Kim Dong-jun selected gosari bibimbap for the menu, and Son Naeun also brought a taiyaki machine and actively participated in the operation.
Ko Doo-shim, Kwon Yul and Kim Dong-jun headed to the market. Amid requests for autographs and photos aimed at Ko Doo-shim, the three purchased tangerines for welcome juice, ingredients for Son Naeun's taiyaki, beef for seaweed soup and bibimbap, and evening side dishes. Left at the hotel, Jeon Seong-gon, Son Naeun and Lee Dae Hwi relaxed and missed the missions of cooking rice and making name tags assigned by the market team. Fortunately, Kim Dong-jun returned from the market and helped, getting them through the crisis, but Ko Doo-shim was greatly disappointed in the hotel team for not doing their duties properly.
Son Naeun and Lee Dae Hwi trimmed bean sprouts while watching Ko Doo-shim's reactions. Until Ko Doo-shim spoke to them first, Son Naeun and Lee Dae Hwi, who could not utter a word as if guilty, broke into a sweat saying, "I think I'll develop a kitchen trauma." In the kitchen, Kim Dong-jun and Kwon Yul worked in sync to make rice, soup and grilled fish, satisfying Ko Doo-shim. After dinner, Son Naeun challenged herself to make taiyaki. Not knowing how to measure, Son Naeun, flustered, received help from Jeon Seong-gon and Kim Dong-jun and produced excellent taiyaki. Son Naeun, saying, "I feel like I will cry," smiled at the end of a long, long day.
[OSEN]