A Stalker's Guide to Shin Ha Kyun
Episode 9 Recap
We dive back into Shark on Monday night with a teaser opening that sets a creepy atmosphere. An unidentified man is going through an old photo album which contains various pictures, including a certain corrupt face we've seen before. But he really focuses on a specific black and white picture that has a date and a title on the back: 1950, Me and Sang Gook. Oho, what's this?
After the screen that lets us know the episode proper is starting, we’re dropped into the last few moments of the last one again. Seeing "Kim Jun" nursing his shoulder seems to have snapped together the last of Hae Woo's suspicions. She stares at his back as he walks away, clearly stunned...until he seemingly feels her presence there and turns to face her. This is enough to drive her to action, and Hae Woo strides toward our hero as they share an intense look.
Once they're in range, she finally asks, “Who are you?"
The tension almost explodes as Yi Soo finally answers that she should know the answer well already. Will his identity be revealed now and so soon?
She goes on to say that she doesn't mean him as "Kim Jun, the CEO whom everyone knows." But instead of being accused or offering a confession, Yi Soo immediately steps up his game and counters with philosophical statements. He says there's no version of "Kim Jun" that everyone knows, just as there wouldn't be of her. Basically, every person has a self that only exists in the mind of another person. So we’re talking about personal perception in a very Yi Soo-ish manner.
Hae Woo gets agitated by this exchange and snaps that she's got no time for word games. And at this point, neither does this recapper. The disappointing feeling that this sequence is a fake-out is setting in fast.
Yi Soo is cool as ice as he asks what answer she should possibly want from him. He even tries to inquire after what brought this on, but Hae Woo ventures on albeit tentatively. She probes into the matter of her suspicion using the injuries as a pathway.
When it seems the matter is truly through for now, our hero remarks that the two of them have kept Joon Young waiting too long. Hae Woo shows some surprise and it's made clear that she had no idea Yi Soo would be along. She begins to mention that her husband is with a friend, and it's revealed to her that Yi Soo has a connection to this friend...who is as we know, Dong Soo. It's suspicious and it's clear on her face.
The two are next seen walking into an elevator. They have a tense conversation about coincidences and whether whatever plan "Kim Jun" is cooking up includes them. Yi Soo ends up slamming the shady nail on the head with a suspicious hammer, saying that after a while, coincidences that recur often enough can no longer be considered as such. Their faces are really intense in this scene, too.
In other news, how drunk is Dong Soo? He's (slurring) ruminating on how the rebellious youths of today have lost their loyalty and sense, saying that Joon Young was the pillar of the true rebel. Joon Young smiles, listens, and tells his friend to shut up and drink. Then remarks on how he already seems drunk. Duh.
Hae Woo and Yi Soo come into the meeting. Joon Young looks none too pleased even as Dong Soo greets the newcomers fondly.
A creepy turn brings us Secretary Jang sneaking through Yi Soo's place in the dark. She stops in front of the symbolic Orpheus painting, and takes out a very suspicious device. A recording/listening device I suppose? It's placed on the back of painting and she goes to leave once her dirty work is completed.
But before she can, her phone startles her. When takes up the call, the super drunk Dong Soo whines about how he's bothered at her particular absence. He asks her to come to little meeting and their exchange is pretty funny despite the Secretary's shady behavior.
I cannot begin to fathom how uncomfortable everyone at this table is. Hae Woo is totally silent, but Joon Young chats about the crazy "coincidence" that Dong Soo should be working for our hero.
Eventually, Hae Woo excuses herself to make a call. She extracts her phone from her bag before she gets up, but spills something else onto the floor. She and Yi Soo both reach for it....and it's the carved shark from long ago!
The moment passes in wordless tension as she finally picks it up herself and leaves the table, leaving Yi Soo with her husband.
The second Hae Woo is out of range, Joon Young gears the conversation into business. He says he's heard that Yi Soo will be opening a hotel soon, and that if he should truly be opening this year, his progress must have been substantial. There's no time for answers though, because the chatty Dong Soo returns.
Meanwhile we see the phone call Hae Woo extracted herself to make. She asks someone if they can take a memo for her, and that someone turns out to be our Soo Hyun.
He's asked to write down "Yoshimura Jun" and also "Kim Jun," because she wants him to investigate the man as thoroughly as can be done. Once the request has been made, he asks her if it's somehow related to the Jong Man Chul case. Hae Woo can't answer that definitively though, and soon we see her return to her party.
Dong Soo is acting the drunken fool and serves to make the atmosphere even more uncomfortable. He manages to mention Yi Soo and brings up the past, but the real kicker is when he advises "Kim Jun" on making friends. The driver drops that he often sits around speaking to fish…and paintings.
Hae Woo's suspicion is reignited all over again. She presses Yi Soo on his feelings on paintings and if he has a favorite artist.
We don't get an answer because Dong Soo begins lamenting his dead friend unknowingly in front of said friend. Finally, the outing ends and they send the poor drunk home. This is when Secretary Jang finally decides to show up. Not for Dong Soo, but because Yi Soo might be too drunk to drive. Poor Dong Soo. She then offers the married couple a ride home and when Hae Woo refuses, she outright asks if her "CEO made you uncomfortable."
In front of the possibly bugged Orpheus painting, Yi Soo and the secretary are going over their plans. She asks if things will be okay, since Yi Soo is becoming close with the Oh couple. He doesn't answer her, noting instead that the frame is clearly crooked now. Oh my.
Yi Soo moves forward to straighten the painting. His expression as he's turned away from his companion practically sings the fact he knows something is up.
He turns back to her and goes on about how there's no need to worry. Business is just that.
He then dismisses her for the night. Once he’s alone, he automatically confirms his suspicions by checking behind his beloved Orpheus...and finds nothing. He laughs a bit to himself and shakes his head, apparently feeling as though his paranoia finally got the best of him. It's not paranoia if they're out to get you though, Yi Soo.
We're treated to a flashback of Secretary Jang in the darkened apartment. After she ended the call with Dong Soo, she apparently returned and removed the device.
We return to the Oh couple as they're taking their night stroll. They exchange comfortable banter, until Hae Woo urges her husband to ask her whatever is on his mind. He barely hesitates to ask the question that's been on all of our minds: If Yi Soo wasn't dead or thought to be, would his Hae Woo have married Joon Young? She's stricken, so he tries to walk away and cut off the conversation as if he's afraid of the answer.
But Hae Woo calls out that yes, she would still have married him. Joon Young was the one that was always there for her and that he stands by her side even now. She claims there's no lingering affection for Yi Soo (that sounds like self-denial to me but hey). But before she explains her reasoning for clinging to the case, her husband interrupts her once again.
He sweetly says that he trusts her, and that he understands it all without her needing to say it. Note though that he says that he knows her better than anyone else...it seems like a parallel to the conversation Hae Woo had earlier with Yi Soo, right? He only knows the version of her that’s inside his head after all. Joon Young then moves in for a kiss. Our heroine doesn't look like she wants to right now, but luckily a phone call saves her from the situation.
He's asking for a picture of Yi Soo to send to Okinawa for confirmation, but he's instead informed it's already been done and denied. At the same time, Jong Man Chul's partner arrives at the police station on a motorcycle. The call ends and Detective Byeon tries to dig information out of the man, who is uncooperative until it's the dead man's corruption is mentioned. He then changes tactics and mentions that if people heard about this, a huge scandal would erupt and things would be in turmoil within the police force.
Detective Byeon lets the man walk off a few steps before asking whether Detective Jong took the all-important locker key. His partner's expression tells the tale: he knows. Even so, he refuses to play along and once alone inside the station, we see his clear panic.
We next see the partner next being tailed by Detective Byeon to the “Room Business Club.” He enters the room with a print of the Tower of Babel and we're shown a flashback of him drinking with the dead man in the very same room. They're chatting about the blackmail Jong has on Jo Ui Sun, but not in as many words. There's an uncomfortable moment where the partner can tell something is off, and the two get distracted by the painting.
This painting may hold a secret too. In the present day, the partner checks the wall behind it. He doesn't find what he's looking for, but he does find that Detective Byeon has caught him coming here. He's given a chance to tell him what he knows.
Outside in the dark, we see a hand as it clicks a pen. Oh no. That assassin again? Is one of the men inside his new target?
Back in the room, we find that apparently the partner doesn't know anything for sure. He was of the impression there was something behind the picture, especially after the conversation he'd just had with Byeon. He acted out of respect for his very first partner on the force, but not in order to hide evidence: he wants to help catch the murderer. Murder is nothing next to corruption, right?
But Byeon says that had the evidence never been touched, many lives, including Detective Jong's, would have been spared. The current situation is about to make it impossible to find the killer. Jong’s former partner seems genuinely affected by the conversation, which leads me to believe he may not be hiding much more after all. His loyalty is admirable too, though his actions haven't been totally noble.
Chairman Jo is on the phone again. He's wondering to his mysterious accomplice whether someone knows something, but tells him to wait. Instead he begins wondering if the other person has found "that child."
Since we cut to Yi Soo drinking water, that’s obviously who we’re meant to think it is. He gets a call suddenly from a "friend,” and the scene cuts to Secretary Jang wearing ear buds. I doubt she's just listening to music, so it seems she never removed the listening device completely. It's just been relocated. And here I was feeling hopeful.
As he looks at his half of their matching telescopes, we know Yi Soo is thinking of his sister. Sure enough, we cut to her looking at the night sky just before her adopted father comes in.
Byeon takes his wife into his office and asks her to observe Yi Hyun carefully. Is he trying to catch Yi Soo should he contact his sister? I'm not sure he knows that much yet, but he's surely suspicious.
Hae Woo is at home, drinking water as well. Mrs. Park chats with her and the subject of the case is brought up. She seems curious about whether it actually has to do with Yi Soo, but Hae Woo cannot give her information. Their conversation is interrupted when Jo Ui Sun begins screaming like a maniac to someone on the phone. The overheard words set off Hae Woo's suspicion meter, as they should, but her father runs off looking for his own.
Chairman Jo is in the garden, having a business chat with Joon Young. When Ui Sun scrambles out there too, we find that his outburst is because a newspaper has published a story he clearly doesn't like.
We get one of those weird little cutaways with Yi Soo feeding his fish with an intense expression. So we're being told he's to thank for whatever is going on over at the Jo household. There are papers scattered all over his coffee table regarding Ui Sun's crime and the nasty conspiracy surrounding it.
Hae Woo is back at her office looking stressed. We learn that this publication is a tabloid, but Soo Hyun doesn't think that the event will go unnoticed. He also says the information must have leaked from law enforcement. They are the only ones with the information at hand. Or so he thinks.
Meanwhile, Ui Sun is speaking with Joon Young about what to do. Or rather, yelling about the situation. He wants to sue, but Joon Young wants him to calm down. If it's not true, he has nothing to worry about. Ui Sun thinks Hae Woo has already talked to her husband about this situation though, so it's taken as a personal attack. When he's alone, Joon Young looks over the article again. He's clearly bothered by the fact that his own father was implicated. If he's involved in any way, this would definitely be his motivation.
We cut to Detective Byeon examining the warehouse again, together with Detective Na. He's just peeking around when he finds a smart key beneath some grating. It's apparently for an apartment and we learn it's in Starville when the detective speaks with Hae Woo. Remember who lives there? She certainly does. In shock, Hae Woo asks Byeon to meet her there directly. She runs out and Soo Hyun asks what's up. It seems she's either in too much of a hurry or still doesn't trust him, but she leaves without giving him information.
Next we see her call and ask for "Kim Jun's" unit number. She says she wants to send him something. When we cut to Starville, apparently it was Dong Soo she asked. If Secretary Jang feels suspicious of that, we see no sign. She asks Dong Soo to share a meal with her...but it's clearly a manipulation of his feelings. Her next action is to ask more about his "dead" friend, and she learns about Yi Hyun. This feels not good; I don't think she knew about her before, so this might become a complication.
Dong Soo mistakes her curiosity for kindness. She rightly says she's not nice, but Dong Soo is star struck. The secretary turns their "date" toward the juice bar where Yi Hyun works.
Our next scene has Soo Hyun flirting with Yi Hyun. It seems like he wants to ask her out, but he chickens out. He's feeling more and more harmless with things like this, but it's hard to trust anyone in this show. (They're playing Roy Kim in the background too, so I ended up stopping the episode to listen to his song. I feel a little guilty but hey~) Soo Hyun crosses paths with Secretary Jang on the way out. He stares at her intensely, which has me taking back anything I said about him seeming harmless almost instantly. Could he be working for Yi Soo or something then? That was some strange exchange.
When the secretary goes to order, she says that Yi Hyun's eyes are similar to someone she knows. We cut right to Yi Soo to make it extra obvious. He seems to be selecting a shirt to go out.
Byeon and Hae Woo arrive at Starville. She seems unsure about what she's thinking, but they come to Yi Soo's unit anyway. There's a moment of supreme tension as she attempts to use the key. On the other side of the door, the occupant hears the knob being fiddled with.
It doesn't seem to be working and Byeon says as much, but Hae Woo hesitates. Just then, the door opens and Yi Soo steps out. Did he time opening the door so as to make the key look useless? Or is it really not for this apartment? He masterfully turns the conversation toward the tabloid and then dismisses both his unexpected guests. Once he walks on, Hae Woo slumps against the wall and begins to wonder if she hasn't been too anxious and hasty with suspicion.
Yi Soo suddenly calls back to the detective and prosecutor, which is somewhat startling for them. He asks if they're using only a key to try finding an apartment. When they say yes, he suggests trying the security office, as they'll be able to tell the number right away. When he leaves for good, Byeon laments his age: he can't believe he forgot about such an obvious thing. Neither can I, but I guess if he hadn't, this moment of weird tension couldn't have happened.
In the lobby, Yi Soo has lost his cool. This key was clearly not in his plan.
Detective Byeon asks Hae Woo as they leave the security office why she thought the key belonged to "Kim Jun." She says she's not sure, but he's the one that caught her attention. Since she can't answer his question, she says that she'll answer if she can ever explain it...but it's possible she's just being neurotic about the whole thing.
The two go to the right apartment and ring the doorbell this time. A woman answers the intercom and lets them right in after hearing they're with the police.
When the door opens, it’s the reporter that slept with Hae Woo's father. Jeesh!
The ex-mistress first tries to avoid the conversation, then avoids allowing the two into her place. Is she hiding someone or something there, or is she just uncomfortable? She suggests going to a coffee shop instead. It's really strange to want to talk about a murder case in a public place isn't it? Oh well.
We find Yi Soo at Chairman Jo's place, checking out all of his awards and pictures. Apparently the visit was unexpected and when the chairman comes he's concerned, but Yi Soo merely says he has something to drop off. He then asks where he's been.
The used book shop. That his pen assassin runs. Creepy.
Our hero has apparently brought the chairman an antique he says he found in Japan. He initially tries to refuse it, but Yi Soo says it has just come back to its true owner. The Chairman is confused and thinks that this is his first time seeing the piece; Yi soo says that the dealer who sold it to him said it had been very precious to the Chairman's father.
This does not get a pleased response. But the old man admits that it must look a bit familiar after all, and wonders where Yi Soo might have met that person. We're told it happened serendipitously while conducting business, but I'm not sure that's true.
Chairman Jo says that our hero didn't need to go to such lengths. But Yi Soo says that it didn't matter because the vase would always have returned. We get a metaphorical stab about karma: what comes around goes around. Things will naturally return to their place. He adds that this goes double, since the vase contains the "soul of his father."
It's clear the Chairman is very uncomfortable. He should be. Once he's alone, he runs his hands over the vase and repeats what Yi Soo said about his father's soul.
I cannot believe they actually took this woman to a coffee shop to discuss a murder. The detective asks whether the mistress recently lost her smart key, which she denies. When she shows her key, she’s asked if she had just had it replaced instead. She's asked several common interrogation questions before they ask what her actions were at the time of the murder.
As the woman goes to answer, Hae Woo cuts in that it was the day of her wedding. And cut she does! Her eyes are like glaring daggers again.
The mistress seems to lie, saying she was at home sleeping. Byeon pushes the matter with the usual police threats. The women suddenly share a look which causes Hae Woo to ask the detective to leave. Once they're alone, the mistress admits she was together with Ui Sun. The key must also be his, since he lost his copy. But she also swears they were together during the hours of the murder. She goes on to say that they didn't want Hae Woo to know.
Visibly striken, our heroine asks if they'd seriously continued to see each other this time. Her answer is that it's a development that occurred within the last five years. Things get really uncomfortable so the mistress leaves. Detective Byeon returns to Hae Woo. She doesn't tell him outright what she's learned, but asks that the key be buried for a while. Hm.
Meanwhile, her father is freaking out because his mistress called him about the meeting. She's told him about the smart key, too. And apparently everything she said was true.
Hae Woo seems to have told our detective all of the details. She's become very emotional and is sure someone is framing her father. Wouldn't they key have been found during the initial sweeps of the murder scene after all? Byeon agrees, but says investigation is the right course of action. He says it won't matter if her father is innocent, since he also has an alibi. But Hae Woo seems to want to strike it down anyway, since the matter will spread like wildfire over the media. Byeon incredulously asks if she really wants him to bury the key.
Her answer is that they shouldn't react the way the culprit wishes them to. Personally, I’m a little worried that she'd ask for such a thing and Byeon isn't having any of it. Though he agrees with her reasoning, he says that the fact is that her father lied about his alibi and the key was discovered at the crime scene. Hae Woo tries to say that it was part of the plan and that the tabloid clearly was meant to coincide with the find. She has no evidence, though.
The detective returns to his car and gets a call from Detective Na. Unfortunately after all of his big talk, Byeon asks them to bury the key for now after all. Sigh. At least it clearly is eating at his conscience.
Back at the office, Soo Hyun warns Hae Woo against returning. Reporters are camped out everywhere trying to talk to her. Apparently he's also finished looking into "Kim Jun," so he emails her those details as well.
Speak of the shark himself. We cut to Yi Soo as he gets a phone call. It's Hae Woo, wanting to meet. She's looking over the details that Soo Hyun sent to her.
We're suddenly at Detective Jong's house, where his partner is meeting with the man's wife. As she sits him down for refreshments, we’re treated to the origin of the cold open scene. Here's the photo book and here's our unidentified man. He affectionately looks through the photos, until he comes to the strange one in black and white. Jong's wife has no idea where it came from, and the partner seems to be able to identify Sang Geuk as Chairman Jo easily.
Meanwhile, Hae Woo is meeting with Yi Soo again, just as planned. As they come within range of each other, Yi Soo coldly mentions that he's happy she called him out. It's hard for him to make excuses to see her after all. What will they talk about?
