Kyungsoo drove home from the airport in a fog. He was sad and lonely, but as the miles of pavement rolled under his car, those feeling dissolved and he became angry.

Why did she need to leave him?

He punctuated that thought by slamming his hand against the steering wheel.

How could they fix what was wrong if she didn't stay? What could she possibly find half a world away? He grew sick with the thought of some creepy Frenchman coming on to his wife with a stupid, charming accent, and a sultry, "Hon, hon, hon." The mere thought of it made him want to pull over and vomit.

But then he remembered whom he was thinking about. This was his Naomi. He shouldn't and wouldn't question her loyalty to him.

He also reminded himself that he loved her for all of the things that made her Naomi, every little detail of her personality that made up the unique and complicated woman she was.

They both took their wedding vows seriously, in good times and bad. This would most definitely fall into the "bad" category. He cast the rogue thoughts of romantic entanglements to the back of his mind.

She would never do that.

As he trudged up the stairs to their little apartment, he started a mental list of things Naomi had mentioned. She wasn't happy with work, though she'd stated that fact a little more forcefully.

She didn't know who she was anymore. She felt lost. She was lonely. She felt like she was damaged goods; that her body didn't work right. She was depressed.

That last realization hit him square in the chest. He was a doctor, for Pete's sake! How had he not seen the signs? What was that old saying his Grandma Do always quoted? Something like, "The cobbler's children have no shoes and the doctor's wife dies young."

He sunk into a chair and deflated completely when he thought, "Maybe if I hadn't been a self-absorbed jerk, and come home once in a while, I'd have noticed."

Kyungsoo had spent so much time running from himself, trying to prove himself to his family - especially to his father - that he had lost sight of his wife and what it meant to be a supportive partner; a husband.

He lifted the neatly written paper from the coffee table and popped open his laptop. Carefully, he scanned over the different bullet points Naomi had written. Dates for when the rent would be paid, when the utilities would be paid, when his car payment would be deducted, loan payments, and insurance payments, were all neatly laid out in chronological order. He'd never realized how many bills they had. No wonder she was so stressed by everything.

He logged into their bank account and clicked on the bill-pay link, just to see the bottom line As his eyes followed down the list of each payee, they got bigger and bigger. When he got to his car payment and their car insurance payment, he sagged. Those two payments alone were nearly a thousand dollars!

The numbers were making his head spin. How did Naomi deal with this every month? Giving up trying to understand the complexities of their bank account for the moment, Kyungsoo got up and dressed for a run. He had less than a month to get his in shape for his qualifying race. If he didn't get a decent time, he'd have to scrounge up entry fees and money for travel to another race, and it just wasn't likely that he'd be able to do that and get the time off he needed.

On his way out the door, the phone rang. It was too soon for Naomi to be calling. He glanced at the caller ID and, seeing that it was Mayu, he reached for the receiver, but then decided to let the answering machine pick it up. He wasn't in the mood to discuss anything with his nosy sister.

He loved her, and appreciated her efforts to keep them included in what was going on with all the family in Washington, but he just couldn't deal with the questions he knew she'd be asking him.

He strapped on his music and jogged out the door, losing himself just a little in each pounding step he took. Today was a ten-miler and it went by much quicker than he'd anticipated. His brain was scattered; thinking about work, about finances, about Naomi. As he neared the apartment once again, soaked in sweat and feeling the ache in his muscles, he frowned. His last train of thought had brought him back to resenting all of the reasons his wife had given him for leaving.

Chastising himself for having such downer thoughts – she was only gone for two months after all – he hopped in the shower. He was looking at another long, thirty-six hour shift and scowled the entire time it took him to dry off and don his scrubs.

He hit the play button on the blinking answering machine light as he passed into the kitchen to fix himself some lunch. He smiled as he took in the two shelves full of square, plastic containers, filled with meals. Meals that she'd prepared for him.

"Hey Naomi, it's Mayu. Look, I was just calling to find out if you'd given anymore thought about coming out to America for a visit. We can help out with a ticket if that's what's holding you back. I'd love to visit with you. Let me know what you're thinking, okay? Love you hon! Oh, and say Hi to Kyun-Kyun for us, too."

A long beep sounded, indicating the end of the message. Kyungsoo shook his head as he waited for the microwave to finish.

Nice to know he was an afterthought.

He wasn't very surprised that she'd talked with Mayu about wanting to get away; they talked about everything.

The question in Kyungsoo's mind was just how much had she said? Did Mayu know about the Hanzo incident? No. Mayu would've reached across the globe and strangled him from three thousand miles away if Naomi had told her. However, he was surprised that Mayu didn't know that Naomi was currently on a Transatlantic flight right now.

He flicked on the TV, allowing whatever game was on to filter through the apartment as background noise. It was too quiet. It's not like he wasn't used to being home alone, but knowing that she wouldn't be home tonight unnerved him and left a very large hole in his personal world.

Wandering through the nearly spotless apartment, mindlessly shoveling in whatever delicious meal it was that he'd pulled out of the fridge, he began to notice little things.

The living room was in perfect order, not a book or paper out of place. He peered into the bedroom and looked around, his eyes searching for the normal clutter. His stack of medical journals, usually spilling over and making a mess next to his side of the bed, was neatly arranged on the lower shelf of his bedside table. The top of their dresser was dusted and void of the usual collection of receipts, jewelry and books.

He opened up Naomi's jewelry box and immediately noticed her diamond ring nestled in the little velvet folds. It pricked at his heart, seeing the ring in a box knowing it was not on her finger. She was currently in France, not wearing her wedding ring. He set the bowl of food down and plucked the ring from the box, the diamond and inspecting the inscription, My Love.

Even in the bright shaft of sunlight that streamed in from the window, the diamond didn't sparkle. The gold of the band was dull and lacked the polish it'd had when it was new.

As he looked closer, he noticed a cloudy film around the base of the stone and little specks of dirt that had accumulated around the prongs of the setting. It needed a thorough cleaning. Maybe he could take it by the jewelers on his way in to work. He tucked the ring into the pocket on his shirt and picked up his bowl again.

Glancing over to Naomi's side of the bed, he saw that her nightstand was clean except for the lamp and the picture they'd included in their wedding announcements. She peered over his shoulder as he held her, piggyback style, around his waist. Her head tilted just slightly so that their cheeks were touching. They both had the biggest, cheesiest smiles on the planet.

They looked so happy. They were so naïve.

The bathroom was a slightly different story. In her haste to get ready to leave that morning, her hair dryer sat out on the tank of the toilet and her hair products were still scattered next to the sink on the small bit of counter space they had.

Kyungsoo decided he would leave everything right where she'd left it. Maybe if he did that, he could fool himself into thinking that she was still there with him.

He finished off his meal and washed out the container, all the while wondering what Naomi was up to. It made him uncomfortable to realize that he'd thought about her more in the last few days than he had the entire month prior.

His selfishness was not a very welcomed topic of introspection. It was like opening a closet that you'd stuffed to the point of bursting, just so that the living room can be "clean."

He'd shoved things away in that closet – hurt feelings, frustrations, and disappointments – and locked the door. It seemed that the time had come for him to start cleaning out that closet. He would need Naomi's help to deal with a lot of the junk he had in there, since it involved them both. And it was becoming more acutely and painfully obvious that she wasn't there.

He mentally rattled the door on that bulging, neglected closet, but upon seeing the time knew that he'd have to wait a while longer to begin sifting through all of the pain that was locked up inside of it.

Stuffing a few of the pre-made dinners into a grocery sack and grabbing an orange, he gathered the rest of his things and headed off to work.

When he arrived, it was like walking into a war zone. His body and mind were immediately on high alert. Quickly he stored his things, pulled on his white lab coat and got to work.

During all of this, his interaction with Dr. Zhang had been limited so Kyungsoo was surprised when he motioned him over to a quieter part of the hall to discuss – ie: ream him out – about his indecision over individual finger blocks versus an entire hand block for the mangled hand patient.

To add insult to injury, when he was presenting the biliary colic case to Dr. Z . , Kyungsoo accidentally said 'cholecystitis' when he really meant 'cholelithiasis'. So apparently, that meant that he needed to review his diagnosis and management of gall bladder disorders. Regardless of the fact that based on everything else he'd said, he clearly just misspoke and apparently that one brain fart meant he was an idiot.

His shift was only half over and he was tired; tired of it all. Tired of having no control over his life. Tired of working his off for crappy pay. He was tired of being the lowest rung on the ladder, and people thinking that because of that, they could dump their crap all over him. He was more than tired of having to listen to other staff docs snipe and bash each other in the constantly chaotic climate of hospital politics.

He was tired of always being made to feel as though he knew NOTHING, even if what he was currently not knowing was not something that he had ever come across before, and will never use in his specialty of choice.

He was tired of the feeling that there were not enough hours in the day to do everything he needed to do as well as he wanted to do it.

He was tired of every second of his day being taken up by SOMETHING, leaving him no time at all to do nothing.

He really missed doing nothing.

He was tired of people expecting him to show up to things that wasted his time, just because he was told to. Sitting through the same academic half days that he's sat through for the last two years was NOT helpful, nor was sitting through ICU rounds when the topic was the utility and outcomes of various strategies of hemodialysis.

He was tired of living in a place where he didn't have any friends to just sit with and vent over a plate of hot-wings. Not that he'd be able to find the time for it, and after Hanzo, he was seriously second-guessing his judgment in the friend picking department.

Finally, he was tired of feeling as if the staff in the ER all thought he was incompetent.

Part of that might be paranoia, but when you listen to people badmouth their peers for long enough you start to wonder what's being said about you behind your back.

He was just tired. And pissed.

He stormed into the doctor's lounge and grabbed one of the dinners Naomi had made and began reheating it. He checked his phone but there were no missed calls, no messages, and no texts. His mood darkened even more as he checked his watch. There was an eight-hour time difference between Korea and France. She should've arrived hours ago. Why hadn't she called?

"Thank you so much, Anastasie."

"Your welcome, Naomi. It was my pleasure!"

Naomi felt like the button on her pants might pop, she was so full. Anastasie had prepared a spread of bread, cheese, some fruit, and yogurt for Naomi. She was so hungry that she had to force herself to chew slowly and enjoy every bite of the deliciously crusty bread and tart cheese. She was pretty sure that she actually moaned a little when she took her first bite.

When she and Ricky had arrived at the old four-story building, she'd been famished. They had to park a little ways down the street, but Ricky was a gentleman and pulled her larger suitcase while she managed her purse and carry-on. Naomi couldn't help but smile at just how "French" the building looked.

Pots of vibrant red and yellow flowers spilled over window boxes with long balconies lining the façade. It was exactly what she'd pictured in her mind when she had applied for the summer program at the cooking school. She could smell the flowers and a lingering scent of freshly baked bread. One deep breath and she was immediately in love with this street.

Ricky also helped himself to some of the food his wife had prepared, and they all sat around the small table in the kitchen talking back and forth and getting to know one another a little better. Naomi's eyes were beginning to droop as the exhaustion of her traveling caught up with her. Anastasie gave her a quick tour of the flat, showing her where all the important things were.

"Okay, so your room is right here down the hall. I'm sorry there is only one bathroom and one WC. It's a good thing Janie is still a little girl. You won't have to fight for the mirror!" Anastasie Chênier had spent a lot of time in Korea – that's where she and Ricky met, after all – so her Korean was perfect. Her accent was beautiful as her words rolled off her tongue in soft lilts and waves.

"Thank you so much, Anastasie. Everything is perfect," Naomi replied as she walked through what would be her home for the next couple of months. The ceilings were probably twelve to fifteen feet high, wood parquet floors in a bold chevron pattern trailed throughout the flat, and all of the windows in the living room, or salon, were actually french doors that led on to the balcony.

The one thing Naomi couldn't get over was that the shutters weren't just for decoration. Anastasie explained that they kept them shut in the afternoon when the sun was shining directly on the front of the building, that way the apartment stayed fairly cool, since there was no air conditioning.

"We're glad to have you here, Naomi. I hope that you will feel at home. Perhaps tomorrow I can show you where the marché is, and maybe a few of the other shops you will probably be interested in. Okay?" Anastasie smiled as they stopped in front of Naomi's room.

"That sounds wonderful, Anastasie." Naomi yawned loudly and could feel her cheeks tinge with pink.

"You must be so tired. How was the train ride from Toulouse? You found the gare okay?"

"Oh, it was fine. I actually met someone very helpful. They were going to Béziers, so we talked a little on the train ride here."

"One of my fellow countrymen was actually courteous?" Anastasie feigned a look of utter amazement at the prospect that one of her people could be kind and helpful to a foreigner.

Naomi laughed at the tone of Anastasie's statement. "Oh, don't worry. The French reputation is still alive and well. I'd been ignored or clicked at by at least a dozen people before someone actually took pity on me and offered help," she teased.

"I was worried for a moment." Anastasie winked and bid Naomi a good night before closing the door.

Naomi looked around her room. She didn't have a balcony, but she did have a large window with a low seat, complete with a cushion and a few throw pillows. It was the most perfect snuggle-up-nook she'd ever seen. And it didn't hurt that she had an amazing view of a large park. There was a small writing table and chair in one corner, a full sized bed next to the table, and a large armoire on the opposite wall.

It wasn't the Ritz, but it was comfortable and homey. Naomi plopped onto the bed, sinking into the soft sheets and squishy mattress. She contemplated unpacking, but within minutes, her eyes had closed and she was sound asleep.

She was awakened the next morning by a little finger repetitively poking her cheek. She cracked one eye opened and was met by a pair of gray eyes, inches away from her face. She sat up slowly and the little blond girl backed away.

"Tu es Janie, oui?" Naomi asked, groggily, still trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

The little girl, who was probably about four, looked at the sleepy woman warily. The munchkin was still in a nightgown, clutching a beautiful princess doll. She popped her thumb out of long enough to respond with a curt, "Oui," though it came out sounding more like 'weh' than 'wee.'

Silence settled between the two in a strange kind of standoff. Janie's eyes narrowed toward Naomi's when she offered a friendly smile. "Good grief, this little girl is sassy," she thought to herself. After a minute or so, Anastasie knocked gently on Naomi's slightly opened door.

"Come in," Naomi called.

Anastasie popped her head in and frowned. "Janie!" She pointed to the door, trying to shoo the little girl out of Naomi's room. Just as she got to the threshold, Janie turned around squinted her eyes, poked her tongue out and ran away. "I am so sorry, Naomi. I think Ricky might know where the key to this old lock is." Anastasie looked truly mortified that her daughter had barged in and had woken Naomi.

"That might be nice," Naomi replied with a small smile. "I don't think she likes me very much."

"Oh, she doesn't like anyone very much. Including me! She is...how do you say...difficile. I don't know what we're going to do when she grows up. At least baby Alec is quiet." Anastasie smiled again and moved to the door. "Breakfast is ready whenever you want."

"Thank you, Anastasie. I think maybe I'll have a shower and then get ready for our outing to the marché."

Anastasie nodded and closed the door with a quiet click. Naomi lifted her arms and groaned a little, stretching her travel-stiff muscles. She ped her large suitcase and began stowing all of her belongings in the armoire. It didn't take long, because she didn't have much, but she smiled with satisfaction at the orderly piles of shirts and pants and the neatly hanging couple of dresses she'd brought.

She gathered her small, sample-sized shampoo and conditioner, a set of clothing from the armoire and a towel from the closet in the hall, and conducted her morning toilette. It occurred to her as she was washing that she hadn't turned her phone back on once she'd gotten off the plane.

Crap. She'd been so overwhelmed with just getting to the Chêniers and her struggle of getting on the train, and then meeting Jongin, that she'd completely forgotten to call Kyungsoo. He was probably freaking out. Then again, maybe he wasn't. Maybe he was glad to have her out of his hair for a while.

When she was dressed, she took her things back into her bedroom and her phone. Sure enough, there were three missed calls and two new text messages. Two of the voice mails were from Kyungsoo, the third from Mayu. She wasn't sure what she was going to tell Mayu. Both text messages were from Kyungsoo as well, punctuating his annoyance that she hadn't called him.

She took a deep breath, and tried to blow away the negative feelings that his irritated voice mails and curt text messages were stirring up. She looked at the small clock on her night table and counted forward eight hours. It would be two in the morning over there. Well, she might as well get it over with. Hopefully, it would go straight to his voice mail and she wouldn't have to deal with his crabby attitude.

She dialed Kyungsoo's number and sat down on the comfy, striped window seat cushion, staring out her large window.

"Naomi!? Are you okay? Why haven't you called? I've been going crazy!" His voice was a strange mixture of panicked concern and totally pissed off.

"Kyungsoo, yeah, it's me. I'm fine. I'm sorry I didn't call last night. It took forever to get to the Chêniers, and by the time I got settled in, I just completely passed out. Were you...worried?"

"Well, of course I was worried. Naomi, I know things are rough right now, but you're my wife. Of course I'm gonna worry about you."

Naomi was stunned silent. She didn't know what to say to that. After a good fifteen seconds of silence she cleared and said, "Thanks." She looked around her room, the awkward strain of the conversation weighing down on her mind. "So, why are you awake right now?"

"I'm on shift. I just happened to be on a break when you called. Sorry, I kind of freaked out on the messages. It's just been kind of a crappy thirty hours or so."

"Sorry to hear that. Anything you want to talk about?"

"Nah. Not really. I'm just getting really tired of all the crap that goes on here behind the scenes. I don't really want to talk about it while I'm here."

"Right. The walls have ears and all," she replied.

"Anyhow, enough of my complaining. How's Agde?" he said it with an awful, garbled sound in his throat.

She shook her head at his ridiculous attempt to pronounce the name of the city. "I can't say. It was late when we arrived, so it was dark, but from what I've seen, it's beautiful. Just like I imagined it would be."

"Are you happy?" he asked quietly.

She took a minute to think about that question. She wasn't really happy, but she wasn't feeling as oppressed or discouraged as she was.

"I can't really say, Kyungsoo. I feel different, like not as stressed out. I don't know. Lighter, I guess? I feel like I can finally breathe. If that makes any sense," she trailed off.

"Yeah, I guess I can understand that."

"Well, I need to get going. Anastasie is going to show me around the town today. Classes start on Monday, so I'll be busier. Are you off tomorrow?"

"I'm off at six, so another four hours. Then I have the day after that off. Will you call?"

"Kyungsoo, I..." She needed space, time to think. And it frustrated her that she had to leave the country to garner this kind of attention from him.

"It's okay, Naomi. I get it. I do. Maybe every couple of days? Just... I'm sorry. I know I've helped create this giant rift between us. I want to try and make that right."

"Okay. I'll call in a couple of days. Love you." As she was winding up her side of the conversation, an uncomfortable, squeezing feeling had wrapped itself around her heart.

"Oh, um, Mayu called and left a message on the house phone. Something about you coming out to America for a visit?"

"Did you call her back?"

"No. I'm not really keen on telling her anything about what's going on."

"Oh. Um, okay. So what should I tell her?"

"I...I don't know, Naomi. I just don't want to get everyone involved in our business."

"Okay. I'll think of something. I'll talk to you soon, Kyungsoo. I hope the rest of your day goes better."

"Yeah. Me too. Talk to you soon."

With a soft goodbye, they hung up. He wanted to make things right. She wanted, so badly, to believe that. It would take time, though. He had stuff he needed to work on too. She just hoped that he would.

She took a few minutes and composed herself before heading into the kitchen for breakfast. She helped herself to a glass of orange juice and a croissant and sat down at the table. Janie sat on her knees on the opposite side the table, engrossed in a small container of yogurt.

"Bonjour, Janie," offered Naomi, with a genuine smile on her face.

Janie looked up, narrowed her eyes and sighed loudly. She then the remaining yogurt from her spoon, looked at Naomi and rolled her eyes and climbed off the chair. As she brushed passed Naomi, she made that awful click noise that the rude woman from the airport had made, and then proceeded to dump her yogurt cup in the trash and her spoon in the sink, before strutting away.

Naomi sighed, shaking her head. Maybe she wasn't cut out for kids after all?

"Oh la la, Janie!" Anastasie called after her snotty daughter. "I'm so sorry, Naomi. She is being more horrible today than usual."

"No, it's fine. I'm a stranger in her house. Maybe it'll just take some time for her to get to know me."

Anastasie nodded and began getting ready for their outing. Baby Alec sat in his highchair, quietly picking up little pieces of bread and shoving them into his fat, little face.

"Bonjour, Alec," cooed Naomi.

The baby looked at her with wide, dark blue eyes, before breaking out into the sweetest giggles. He flapped his arms up and down and began blowing raspberries with his lips.

Naomi smiled at his happy response and thought to herself, "At least the baby likes me."

Later, Anastasie and Naomi walked a few blocks to a large square where vendors had set up carts and tables piled high with all kinds of produce and large crates of fish packed in ice.

Naomi was in heaven as they perused all of the different booths. Some offered samples while others just shouted loudly, trying to entice would-be buyers.

Anastasie talked animatedly with several of the vendors, stowing her purchases in the basket under baby Alec's stroller. She pointed out to Naomi where the post office was, and a few of the smaller "normal" grocery stores. Naomi would need to come back and pick up some more shampoo. Her travel sized bottles would probably only last her two or three more showers before she ran out.

They passed by the boulangerie, and Naomi nearly passed out from the delicious smell of fresh bread wafting out of the door. Like a moth to a flame, she was drawn into the shop.

She had to exercise great restraint in order to keep herself from squashing her nose against the glass case full of patisseries. She scanned the shop and was completely overwhelmed. There were too many choices: Round, long, pointy, dark, light. She couldn't decide. Anastasie laughed at the dumbstruck expression on Naomi's face.

"Bonjour, Madame Touissant! A large loaf of bread and a baguette, please," said Anastasia in French.

The woman behind the counter gathered up Anastasie order and then turned to Naomi, "And for you, my pretty?" She reminded Naomi a little of her grandma with her salt-and-pepper hair pulled back into a neat bun. The crows' feet and laugh lines that graced the woman's face bespoke of a happy and kind personality.

Naomi blinked and thought for a few moments. "A small broiche and a chocolate-filled crossaint, please." she replied in her halting French. Madame Toussaint placed Naomi's order in a small paper bag, and made change for her at the old cash register.

When she handed Naomi the coins, she smiled and with a wink said, "Bienvenue en France."

Naomi smiled widely and bowed her head slightly.

As they walked back to the flat, Naomi tore the chocolate-filled croissant in two and offered part of it to Janie. She looked up at Naomi then at the offered confection with greedy eyes then back at Naomi. Finally she cracked half a smile and demurely took the treat. As she turned away from Naomi, she shoved full, smiled widely and tossed a muffled, "merci" over her shoulder before skipping up next to her mother.

Bribery.

That was the key with Janie.

Naomi closed her eyes as she bit into her croissant and groaned just a little.

Yes. She was most totally in love with France.

author's note; Yay! Another update. As always, thank you so much for reading! And remember - Have faith! :) I try to keep the French to a minimum, since even for me - it's really distracting and annoying. I may sneak some here and there to add more realism though~ Thanks for reading!

Translations:

marché : market

Tu es Janie, oui? : You're Janie, yes?

difficile : difficult

morning toilette : showering, dressing, attending to one's appearance

Bienvenue en France : Welcome to France