#vietnamese reader

The longing for a homeland is engraved in your soul the moment you are born.

Matters not where you came from, be it Asia, Africa or Europe to America, it's deep and forged in iron upon your birth and will ache until your feet touch home soil. Doesn't matter if your city was rich, poor, beautiful or ugly, that feeling sits in your chest forever. The sentiment is specially strong when you are taken far from your home when very young still, it feels like you were torn apart from your base and forced into a new reality, a new life, new culture, new you.

England was fine, it rained a bit too much and old people were mean sometimes, but since she began dating Lando when they were still only teenagers-- the place didn't feel so bad. She knew her way around the shops, the mall, the markets and the streets, knew the neighbors and old classmates, lived here for years since she was adopted from Vietnam and grew up in their european culture.

So why didn't it feel like home?

Why did she still feel left out in her friend group, why did the sun feel different and the sea of people strange. Why did she still felt like the outsider?

It was a feeling she had been bearing for quite a long time now, whenever she saw images of her home country, the traditional dances, the foods, the people who looked more like her. She wondered often why she hadn't gone back... of course there's the matter of money and time, it's not cheap to fly across the world. Her time had also been consumed by her adult responsibilities, her work, her family, and most specifically: Her relationship with Lando.

He was the only person who didn't make her feel alien. From day 1 he knew her story, accepted it and never made it a big deal. He had a bit of trouble on finding out if she wanted to reconnect or just pretend that life never existed, but recently, the signs had been obvious.

It had all started during the Singapore GP. Post training friday. They had wandered on the city streets to explore a bit, just see what's up in the country, maybe find a party to stay at. It was the first time she began feeling a bit more blended-- sure, this wasn't her country, but they were just about 700 miles from it. The culture was different, but not as loud as it was in England. The people were different, but so much closer to her heart.

"I'm so hungry, beating Piastri is starving me." Lando chuckles as they strode about one of the main commercial streets.

She snorted "Cocky, are you."

"I'm catching him, okay? He's falling behind, any race now I'll be leading the championship again." He assured her, he hadn't been in very good moods since the whole rivalry began, but now with Oscar's confidence fading hope seemed to bloom. "Cmon, what do you wanna eat?"

They passed by the restaurants, all of them filled with public that most likely drained from the race. Singaporean traditional food, sushi, a mcdonalds, all very fair choices, and then in bright lights: Taste of Vietnam! She stopped in front of it, eyes roaming the decoration, the photos of Hanoi, the music playing inside that tugged at her memory hard.

"You wanna eat there, love?" Lando asked, his arms wrapping around her and his head posing in her shoulder.

The warmth of home brewing in her chest was also tinged with a certain hesitance, what if she didn't like it that much, what would that mean for her already doubtful Vietnamese past, would she be seen as "too english?" But the smell that washed over her was unmistakable, she nodded at her boyfriend.

"Yeah, seems nice here doesn't it?"

Lando felt she was showing interest then, in reconnecting. He bought whatever on the menu seemed even slighty nice looking: Bun Cha, Mi Quang, Cao Lau, and some other stuff he just wanted to try.

"You look beautiful." He remarked, a lovesick grin in his lips as he watched her eat.

She blushed, "Why thank you, out of nowhere like that?"

"You look happy as well." He added, and then tentatively "Do you ever wanna go to Vietnam? Spend some time there? I don't ever remember you going."

Her throat tightened, she was still figuring that out. "I don't know." She admitted "I guess I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"Just..." She began "What if I'm not welcomed there? The doubt in her voice was very real and genuine, clearly something she'd been thinking about for ages.

Lando's eyes softened, he knew more or less what she spoke of-- he often came home from his racing schedule to find how much had changed, but never that he wasn't welcomed.

"Why wouldn't you be welcomed?" He tried to better understand her side.

She sigh "I've lived in England all my life, I speak broken vietnamese at best and all my manners are european... I haven't been there since I was a kid."

His hand reached out for hers, thumb stroking the back of her knuckles "I'm not gonna force you, but I think it'd be really nice for us to go there. So you reconnect a bit, we'll go to your city, spend some days there, or don't you want to?"

In parts, he was right. If she never tried to reconnect, her fear would only grow into reality. She smiled a bit at him, shy at having such a supportive boyfriend.

"I do want to go there, it really would be nice."

His successful grin grew larger, with a decisive nod he announced "Then we're going to Vietnam!"

***

They had both been very nervous during the entire airplane travel. Lando looked at everything they could do once they got there, all the touristic stuff and restaurants, everything he thought she might enjoy and feel natural in. Whilst she practiced much of her own language to not sound totally lost and just imagined how it would feel like to step back in Saigon, her home city, sometimes also called Ho Chi Minh City.

Even if she prepared, the feeling was very new. Saigon is the most populated city of Vietnam, people are walking around constantly going from place to place, it feels incredibly busy. It's colourful and chaotic, just the way she remembered it being. And on the way to the hotel, she passed by many places she had slight connections to, and it felt like nothing changed.

"I've got all planned out." Lando guaranteed her, nuzzing closer as they layed in the hotel bed "My tripadvisor is a mess!"

She giggled at his commentary, "I don't even think there's that much stuff to do here."

"Oh there is, I guarantee you." He teased her, body warm pressed against her "And we're doing it all."

1st destination: The Mekong Delta.

Lando found that absolutely the best. He said it all felt very "Vietnamese", whatever that meant to him. He helped her hop into the small boat muttering a very weird sounding "Công chúa của anh."

The river is far from the busy city, it's quiet and much more relaxing. They swayed gently in silence for a few minutes, admiring the nature and cuddling. Her legs over his, head on his shoulder whilst he stroked her hair. He even took a sneaky photo of her just looking pretty over the water.

From the peaceful canals, they blended into the Cái Răng Floating Market, quite literally shops on the water. Sellers offering fruit, fish, any sort of easy commerce. Lando's eyes shined at that.

"Oh that's so cool, I saw this on the photos." He told his girlfriend, who still sat back on the boat just smilling at how he looked a bit in wonder. "You've been here before?"

"I have, yes. I remember something about coming here with other kids in a boat to buy fruits."

"We need to buy something, uhhh how do I tell him to stop?" He referred to the local man rowing them.

She did feel a bit proud at being able to speak with the locals, she could as well in england but it didn't feel so natural.

"Chú ơi, mình có thể ghé vào một cửa hàng được không? Tụi con muốn mua vài thứ ạ" (“Sir, can you stop at a shop? We want to buy things.”)

Lando's cheekes got rosy instantly, he knelt in front of her with their noses nearly touching. "You sound so cute when you speak vietnamese." He kissed the spot right under her eye "What a lucky guy I am to have a bilingual girlfriend."

She kissed him back on the corner of his lips "Absolutely you are, you can barely speak english as it is." She teased him.

Lando fumbled trying to buy a bunch of mangos, he couldn't really figure out the currency or how to negotiate with the man.

"Ehhh love, ask him if I can pay in euros, just euros, no exchange." Lando tried, she just laughed at him but did what he asked.

“Anh ấy có thể trả bằng euro được không? Chỉ dùng euro thôi ạ.” ("Can he pay in euros? Just euros.")

Y/N couldn't figure out how but he did manage to get a discount on something he barely understood the original price of.

By the end of the evening when they got back to the shore, Lando was a bit sunburnt but grinning from ear to ear. "That was beautiful, I'd do it again just to have a nap." And the whole way back, he was glued to her back like a koala.

2nd Destination: A tour trough the street food markets.

In which Lando ate enough Pho to starve the whole of Saigon, he literally wouldn't stop eating it.

"Baby, didn't you have enough?" She asked him at some point.

He shook his head "Hell no, and when we're back in england I'm finding a restaurant to cook me the same."

He hated the shrimp spring rolls too, fish really wasn't his thing. Meanwhile, she got a taste of all the foods she remembered from her childhood, it brought a pang of nostalgia but also happiness. Lando was somehow enjoying this nearly more than her. And after spending enough money on food to make a single mother cry, he still found space on his stomach to fill it up with a Banh Mi.

"At this rate you'll be heavy enough to loose seconds to Oscar." She teased him, which just resulted in him whining something she couldn't understand over all the food in his mouth.

He searched up on google how to compliment the chef, but ended up saynig something along the lines of: "Em nấu đẹp lắm… anh yêu em nhiều." ("You cook so beautifully, I love you.") which made her burst out laughing and nearly tear up.

3rd Destination: Black Virgin Mountain.

Lando wanted to give up multiple times. He'd sweat, his skin clammy with the humid heat and bit my the many mosquitos around and ask "Stop..stop.. alright, give me 5 minutes." And they'd sit in some cold stone.

"I thought you were an athlete." She mocked him, laying her head on his lap at some point.

He bristled "How many steps have we gone up already? 1,000?"

"400." She informed him, which was received with a groan.

He was also very adamant about buying anything from the locals to help her feel more included. It ranged from incenses to fruits and even a bouquet of Lotus flowers he turned and made a show of giving it to her. "You're the most beautiful flower of Vietnam." He announced, earning some funny looks from whoever heard them.

She helped him light an incense over at a temple, "Now you gotta ask for something you really want."

Lando closed his eyes, thought, and then mumbled "I want to win the championship."

She rolled her eyes, he couldn't see it but he felt it, "I do really want it."

"Lando, you're asking that to your ancestors." She informed him, which made him reply

"I'm sure they also really want me to win the championship."

When they finally reached the summit (which nearly took them all morning), the calm and the breeze were the reward. Lando got instantly very much respectful, he was silent, eyes fixated on Y/N to gauge her expression and manneirisms.

When they stood in front of the enourmous Buddah statue at the very center, Lando was awestruck. "Oh wow that's...simply amazing, even bigger than I imagined it."

She taught him to bow in respect, and found a simple bench to sit on and pray. Her eyes closed, connected. She reflected on the past few days, and suddenly whispered with a touch of vulnerability. "Thank you, Lando."

He scoffed "For what, I slowed us down all the way, Zak's gonna be so mad when he hears I could barely climb all the steps."

She giggled "Not for that." She corrected him "For...everything. For bringing me here, for helping me, for doing it with me."

He grimaced "Stop, you know I cry easily." Oh he looked like a baby, she snorted

"Come here." They kissed, it was a bit sweaty, but nothing had ever felt better.

"This is your country, Y/N." He muttered "You're a natural here, you know all the spots, you talk fluently, you just blend in. Well..not exacly."

She felt a pang in her chest, "What do you mean?"

He smirked, the sort of smirk when he got you in a prank. "Because you're much-- much prettier than all of them!" He hissed, leaning in to kiss her neck.

They spent nearly an hour just tangled in each other in front of Buddah, the sort of couple that makes single people sick because they look so obviously in love. When the hour was closing in and near the end, he straightened up suddenly. "Oh--! There's another thing we have to do here." He announced.

She frowned, how was it possible he knew something she didn't. "We prayed, we burned incense, you bought so many stuff from the locals they must think you're the prince of England, what else is there to do?"

He frowned back, as if surprised she didn't know it herself. "What? You don't know? It's the most important ritual!"

They both stood up in that moment, staring at eachother with utter confusion staining both of their faces. She felt impressed, with an eyebrow raised she teased him: "Alright then, Mr Nguyễn, what's the first step of this ritual?"

He reached into his bag, the one he had been posing his head over all trip long. The one with his euros, his water, his thousands of maps he got from free offers, and from it he pulled a black box she hadn't seen before. "The first step--" He began, falling to one knee, drawing the eyes of every single tourist around them, the box opened with a little clap and revealed a red ring inside. His fake confusion dissuaded and gave way to a smirk. "Is for you to marry me, vợ tương lai của tôi"

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