Exchange Experience ~Finland x Reader~

A/N: If you find any grammar mistakes, excuse me, again. I will correct them tomorrow.

          “Hello, I believe you must be [Y/n] from the exchange program. I am Tino Väinämöien.” A cheery guy greeted you, giving you a quick, joyful hug. You gladly returned the embrace, smiling brightly at his welcoming gesture. He had thrilled beaming eyes of a really interesting shade of purple. That’s something you haven’t seen before. His bob cut blonde hair was framing his face, a huge grin plastered on it. His outfit was nice and matched the nice berete. If there was one word to describe this fluffy young man, that word would be “cute”.

          “Hey, Tino! Glad to meet you. How are you?” You asked him after you broke from the hug. “Did you have a nice flight?”

          “Indeed, I did. Happily, there were no snow storms to delay the departure or the arrival. Sometimes the winter can cause big problems.”

          “Yeah, you’re right.”

          At first you felt really lucky that the exchange experience took place at a time like this. There were two more weeks before Christmas, which meant two things, that you caught the easiest week of school of the semester and that you will spend Christmas in the country where Santa Claus comes from with your partner. The only thing you were worried about, was the weather that might mess your plans. Nothing bad happened so far though.

          “It is snowing pretty heavy now, however. So we should hurry home until we get stuck in traffic.” You saw your parents were troubled by the same thoughts, so you were the one to give voice to the worries.

          “Oh, of course!” Finland flinched, grabbing his stroller. “It wouldn’t be too fun spending the exchange program in traffic.” He said as, together with your family, you excited the airport. “Even though I wouldn’t mind that much being stuck with you.” He added under his breath.

          The car ride was painfully slow, as many others decided to leave their homes as well this day. Your dad was slowly losing his patience, so your mother opened the radio. It was that time of the year, when on every radio channel you would hear the joyful Christmas carols. If Tino seemed bored a while ago, due to the time consuming drive, he suddenly lit up as he heard the tunes.

          “I can’t believe Christmas is only two weeks away!” He cheered. “It is my favorite holiday. It’s nice seeing everyone happy and sense the atmosphere full of excitement.” He was grinning ear to ear, locking eyes with you. “And it’s so fantastic that this year I can show you what true Christmas spirit is like!”

          “Believe me, I am just as thrilled as you are.” You giggles at his enthusiasm.

          Finally, after some long 45 minutes, you managed to arrive home safely. During the car travel, you and Tino managed to exchange some information about one another and you found his presence really pleasant. After you showed him around the house and the both of you have slipped into some more comfortable clothes, you sat together in front of the fire, drinking hot chocolate prepared by your mom.  

          You felt this was the beginning of a really beautiful friendship. Moreover, Tino was so freaking nice. He was kindness in person. He opened the door for you when you exited the car, or when you entered your home. Also, he seemed to have a tiny compliment in his sleeve for any occasion. What’s more to say, he really enjoyed hugging you. And you enjoyed hugging him as well. You knew these two weeks would be the best happening in your life.



          “These are great news!”

          “I know, right?”

          Both you and Tino were dancing around the living room. You only went to school for like, two days, but last night has snowed so much, that many roads were closed and the government decided to close the schools as well for the following days. Of course, all students and pupils received the news pretty well. And with all the snow in the backyard, there was no way you wouldn’t have fun today.

          “If you want to go out, be sure to be dressed well. It is quite cold.” Your mom said from the kitchen as you were putting on your gloves and scarf. “And if you get wet, return home so you won’t catch a cold, alright?”

          “Don’t worry, mom. We’re not kids anymore. We can take care of ourselves.” You replied, after sliding your boots on. Your Finnish friend was getting dressed silently, but you could see by the light in his eyes he was excited.

          “But if you get sick, it’s not going to be my fault.” Your mom booped your nose before handing Tino a thicker wool cap.

          “Oh, thank you very much for your kindness, madam, but my hat is enough!” He beamed, pointing to his white beret. “If there is someone who knows how cold is, that someone is me. And my friends as well, but that’s another story.”

          After you promised your mom you would take care, you exited the home with Tino and prepared your plan.

          “Are you ready, [Y/n]?”

          “More than ever, Tino.”

          At the count of three both of you ran in opposite parts of the yard and started gathering a lot of snow on your sides. You had to build a fort as fast as possible. Tino was moving pretty quick, making his wall pretty thick, to protect him, while your work was kind of sloppy, for the sake of having a little fortress.

          “Ready or not, here I come!” The Finnish guy yelled as he jumped behind his fort, preparing to attack.

          “Wait! I haven’t finished yet!” You answered him, as you were still throwing snow on your wall. As you wanted to hide as well, something hard and cold hit the back of your neck. “Noooo.” You shrieked while face planking on the snow in your fortress. You heard Tino laughing, which motivated you to attack faster. “Here comes Johnny!” You laughed while throwing snowballs in his direction.

          This transformed into a war. And Tino was pretty damn good. He had a perfect target and if you hadn’t ducked in time, some more snowballs would have hit your face than the ones that already did. At the last throw, you felt the ice get into your eye and you had to surrender.

          “You win! You win! I wave my white flag!” You said, getting up, one hand covering your eye.

          “[Y/n]! Did I hurt you? Oh my God!” He ran in your direction and placed his hands on your red cheeks. Actually, your whole face was now rubin due to the amount of ice it has received. “Let me take a look at it.”

          You slowly opened your eye, whose color matched your burning face.

          “Oh, it’s nothing serious to worry about it. The ice doesn’t seem to have damaged your cornea. You can close your eye until it doesn’t feel uncomfortable anymore.” He smiled, then placed a small kiss on your eye lid, making you blush. Not that it was recognizable. “Here, to make it heal faster.”

          “Oh, Tino… You are too nice for your own good…” You sighed.

          “What… What do you mean?” His smile dropped as he locked eyes with you, trying to look behind your words.

          “I mean, you are too nice. You are simply a ball full of kindness and good intentions. You are too precious, you don’t understand… Do you think I haven’t seen my classmates laughing at you and saying you are too naïve and easy to manipulate?”

          He took his beret off and started playing with it awkwardly. He left his eyes to the ground, but you grabbed his chin and made him face you.

          “Listen to me, Tino. People don’t and will never learn how to appreciate the gesture of kindness from such a person like you. You give them a finger and they take your whole hand. They will take advantage of you, and then make fun of you. I don’t want to see you hurt, so please, please, don’t give them the chance to pester you. You are better than everything they would ever deserve. And for sure they don’t deserve to be treated the way you treat them.”

          You started hugging him tightly, ready to cry any second.

          “Now, [y/n], there’s no need to worry that much. Although I appreciate kindly each and every word you said me. You are precious too, but you don’t have to concern about my well-being. I know what I’m doing.” He kissed your cheek and then grabbed your hand. “Look at you, you will catch a cold if we don’t get inside faster. Your cheeks are burning. You might have a fever.”



          “I told you, you’ll catch a cold if you get wet and don’t come inside right away!” Your mom scolded you as she took the thermometer out of your mouth. “38’5 degrees. What am I going to do with you? I have to leave for work in ten minutes!” She said walking around the room.

          “Don’t worry, Miss [last name]. I can stay with [y/n] until you are back. Have no fear, I know how to make her feel better.” Tino exclaimed, clapping his hands.

          “Oh, dear. I don’t want to disturb you with such a thing.”

          “There is no problem, madam. I would be more than thrilled to give a hand. It was part of my fault, anyway. And I enjoy spending time with [y/n].”

          “I am sorry everything turned to be like this, I really owe you, Tino.” Your mother said, after kissing your temple. “Take care of yourselves, kids.” She waved and went out of your room.

          “I feel terrible that this is the way you spend your exchange program.” You spoke after he took a seat on the edge of the bed. “I expected us to do more interesting things and visit more. I didn’t want you to have another bother on your head.”

          “Don’t say that! You are not a bother!” He grabbed your hand into his and brought it to his lips. “I can’t stand seeing you suffer. And as you said, I am too nice for my own good.”

          “I am not suffering. It’s just a cold. I am fine.” You wanted to stand up, but you got dizzy from the sudden movement and had to lay back down again. “Or maybe almost fine.”

          “Stay there, I’ll be right back!”

          “It’s not like I can go anywhere…”

          And this is how the rest of the day went. Finland was a sweetheart and helped you a lot through your trouble time. He made you some Finnish soup he believed to cure the cold, he treated you with sweets and changed the wet cloth on your forehead a few times. He also made you get the medicines you hated dearly.

          “What are you doing?” You asked in shock when your friend got the covers away, only to slid next to you.

          “There is one thing I didn’t manage to give you. Love! Love and care are so powerful, you don’t know.” He wrapped his arms around you and brought you closer.

          “Tino, you will get sick as well!” You were blushing so hard in that moment. “And it’s not like you didn’t treat me with love and care. Moreover, this was what you have been doing all day. Please, I don’t want to see you in bed as well, with a headache and a runny nose.”

          “Oh, [y/n]. I don’t get sick that easy. You should better get some rest. You’ve been troubling yourself over me helping you too much today.” He kissed your cheek and laid his head closer to yours. “Heh, maybe I should get some sleep as well.”



          “I must be a snowflake, ‘cause I’m falling for you.”
          “You’re just too precious, Tino!”