The Sun to my Moon

Chapter 20: Symmetry

Go Hae-ri was in the bullpen. The rest of the Vagabond team paid her no mind as they worked quietly at their desks. Well, except for Cha Dal-geon, of course, who was in his usual spot on the couch, and was more interested in watching Hae-ri than doing any actual work of his own. She'd taken to coming out of her office to stare at her bulletin board whenever she felt like she'd hit a dead end with her research. Looking at the map and all the notes tacked to the board helped her take a step back and get some perspective on the whole thing, keep the big picture in mind. That day, as her gaze roamed the board looking for a new angle from which to consider the bits and pieces they'd managed to collect, her eyes landed on the familiar image of the blue shark.

From the couch, Dal-geon watched the gears turning in her mind. He liked watching Hae-ri think. "What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"I was just thinking about the blue shark," she told him.

He frowned. "What about it?"

"It's kind of a weird choice for a signature, don't you think?"

He shrugged. "Would you rather he'd chosen a symbol from some kind of Satanic ritual or something?"

"Ani. It just seems odd. Edward Park likes coffee, and Bach, and William Shakespeare poetry. The bloody blue shark just seems kind of... unsophisticated, in comparison."

Dal-geon frowned, and sat up. "I never thought of it like that."

"How do you suppose he ended up picking that particular image as his signature?"

"I'm not sure. Somehow it seems unlikely that he picked it up from one of those cheesy buttons in one of those souvenir shops that specializes in seventies kitsch." Dal-geon looked over at Tae-ung. "What do you think, Hook?"

Tae-ung shrugged. "Maybe he's a Spielberg fan."

"Steven Spielberg? What does he have to do with anything?"

"Ne. Steven Spielberg, the popular American filmmaker."

"What's his connection to the blue shark image?" Dal-geon asked curiously.

"The first record of the shark image was in one of his early movies."

"Which movie?"

"'Jaws.'"

"What's it about?"

"Well the movie was inspired by a real shark attack incident. In 1916, New Jersey residents engaged in active warfare with a shark that killed four people."

"So you're saying he was inspired by it?" Dal-geon asked.

"Maybe. The film remains a classic horror movie that transcends the genre and time in which it was released."

"Because it delivers an astonishingly effective thriller based on a very primal level - " Dal-geon said sagely.

"Which is fear," Hae-ri finished his sentence.

Hae-ri frowned, thinking of the blue jasmine in Jessica Lee's bedroom which the lab had confirmed had been drawn in scarlet lipstick. Before she could voice her thoughts, however, she was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.

A delivery man had entered the bullpen and was looking around. "Annyeonghaseyo," he said cheerfully. "Delivery for Cha Dal-geon?"

Dal-geon raised a finger. "Annyeong."

The man crossed to Dal-geon and handed him a clipboard. "Sign here, please."

Dal-geom signed, and the delivery man handed him a cardboard box slightly larger than a shoebox. "Here you go. Have a nice day."