Something that Claire didn't know about Won until after their marriage was: his speech tended to slip into Chinese on occasion.
It was usually on purpose-the only time she'd known it to be an accident was when she'd startled him by banging the door open as she came in from tilling her field. He'd been trying to make apple pie and the sudden slamming of the door had caused him to jump and the knife to slip from his grasp and slice across his finger, and he'd let out a string of words she'd assumed to be swears.

On second thought, she knew for a fact they'd been swears.

But that was the only accidental moment she could think of. Most of the time it was on purpose. Once or twice she'd come into the shack he still worked in in time to see someone buying one of his "rare items," and Won was muttering something under his breath with a slight smirk on his face. She didn't need to speak his language to know it was likely included "sucker." But then there'd been another time when she paid for her pineapple seeds, full price, and he'd said something to Zack as he pocketed the money. Later, the shipper had handed back her coins when he was collecting her shipment, telling her that, in once-in-a-lifetime show of generosity, Won'd told him to give the money back and tell Claire he forgot it was Golden Service Time. Apparently Zack could speak the language too; Claire would have to remember that later.
Another time-and this made her blush to think about even today-was their wedding night. She'd heard him muttering in frantic Chinese near the end as he held her tight. She'd only half-wanted a translation; honestly, she liked the way it'd sounded the way he'd said it too much to care what was being said. That could apply to most of his "slips," incidentally. She didn't care for the most part.

The one thing she really wanted translated was what he called her the other day.

"Baobèi?" Claire lowered her watering can, frowning at Won's retreating back. It was a little funny, how he froze for a split-second before continuing onward. "What's that mean?"

"I have to get to the shop now!"

"That's not what it means, right?" No way, couldn't be. "Hey, wait a second, Won!"

But he'd already left, having speed-walked away after the second time she called out to him.

Now Claire was certain it didn't mean anything about the shop...not that he'd meant it as an answer, of course. But she did know it was about her. 'Farewell, baobèi,' he'd said, almost automatically, as the door was shut behind him. She'd almost overlooked it, it had sounded like it'd come out so easily. But then Claire actually realized that he'd spoken in his own language and then...well.

She had to find out now.

She didn't find out that day, or the next, or the next. Or even that week.

As it happened, Mary's library didn't have an English-Chinese dictionary in it-the bespectacled girl had offered to order one, but Claire turned her down by saying she couldn't make Mary spend money on a book just so Claire could look up one term. Of course no one in town knew what the word meant, either. Well, Zack knew, but when Claire asked him...

"Why are you smiling like that?" she asked, frowning lightly as her hands shoved into her overall pockets.

Zack shook his head a bit and returned to the shipment box, whistling quietly at the sheer number of sweet potatoes. When Claire cleared her throat impatiently and gave the box a none-too-gentle kick with her toe, Zack sighed good-naturedly and looked back at her. "I'm not going to tell you what it means; that's taking all the fun out of it." His grin widened at her indignant look. "If you want to know so badly, ask him yourself."

"I've tried," Claire sighed, but only after the large man had left. She rubbed a hand over her eyes and sank onto the closed box, head bowed. She had, too. The first time he'd called her that, of course, and when he returned that night. She'd tried to ambush him at the table during dinner, thinking that if he was more relaxed and off-guard, then the translation would just slip out.
Needless to say, it hadn't.

What did happen was that Won actually nearly choked and had to take a long drink and pound his chest at the same time to avoid a premature death. "Why do you need to know?" he'd finally asked, voice somewhat strained.

Claire had fixed him with a slightly-dark look. She'd been wearing a lot of that expression lately. "Why do I need to know? I think I deserve to know what you're calling me, right? It could be an insult, and I wouldn't know."

"Why would I insult you, much less at the beginning of the day?" It was a good question, Claire had to admit, but she wasn't satisfied. It could mean anything at all, she'd thought in bed that night. And even if it were complimentary, she wanted-needed-to know. Every time she heard Won refer to her as "baobèi," her curiosity grew.

It wasn't insulting, she eventually figured that much. No one could use an insulting term this often and say it that sweetly.

After a point, Claire figured Won was deliberately using the term just to annoy her. Every morning it was either 'Good morning, baobèi' or 'Farewell, baobèi.' Any given time she ventured to his shop for one reason or another, he called her the same, lifting a hand to greet her and pointedly ignoring the grin Zack was giving them. Every time, Claire would give them both an exasperated look and think to herself that she'd find out eventually...She was tempted to call Won by that term just to see if that would accomplish something, but what if it was a female-exclusive term? She didn't want to make a fool of herself simply in the name of solving this mystery.

The only clue anyone had given her as to its meaning was when Zack told her to that Won wasn't that good at showing affection, and that there were plenty of people who found it easier to express the emotion in another language. Felt less "awkward," so to speak.

And he also told her to think of what else her husband loved.

It was the first night of winter when Claire decided she'd had enough. She'd tried to figure it out, asked around for a translation, wracked her brain...But she had nothing. Maybe it was the stress of the mystery, maybe it was the fact she had her whole farm to take care of and think about-and if she focused too much on this small thing, then her crops and poor animals would suffer. Anyway, something told her the answer should be obvious, but she still had no idea...

And it just so happened, Won's calling her "baobèi" again that very moment had been the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Stop calling me that!" Claire snapped, curled up on her side with her back to him.

The atmosphere of the room changed entirely. There was no answer from the man beside her, Claire could only guess at his expression. She took the silence as an invitation, curling tighter and speaking up again. "Stop it...This isn't fair, okay? You call me that every damn day, at least twice a day, and then you never tell me what it means!" Now that she was saying it all out loud, she realized how stupid this issue was, but she was too upset to stop or think rationally. "You call me something and I have no idea what it means, if it's complimentary or not, and if it is I don't know how nice it is, and no one tells me anything! Zack won't even tell me and he thinks it's funny and...
And..."

"Treasure."

Claire's rambling abruptly stopped, and she rolled over to look at her husband again. Won's eyes were closed as he lay on his back, face slightly red. "It means 'treasure,'" he repeated, voice low. "I don't like the names the other couples call each other, and...It'd be too awkward for me any other way." He coughed slightly, rolling onto his side so now his back was to Claire.

The blonde thought back to what Zack had said about people saying terms of endearment in other languages. And reminding her of Won's other great love.

'Treasure.' He'd been calling her a treasure and was simply too shy and embarrassed to say it in a language she understood.

Claire silently scooted closer to him, hands resting on his back. She felt the tense muscles slowly relax as he tried to get over his embarrassment-it was true, he really wasn't good at shows of affection, was he? What did she expect from a guy who used an apple-game as a method of courtship?

"Wo ài ni," he muttered, sounding almost apologetic, and this time she didn't need a translation.

Claire sighed softly, moving one hand over his side to clasp one of his own. There was a long silence before she spoke again. "Won, there's one more thing I want to know."

"Mm?"

Claire's soft smile took on a more devious look. "Those things you said on our wedding night...What did that mean?"

After some more awkward coughing and movements, he told her.