Exchange Experience ~Romania x Reader~

          “Hello, I believe you must be [Y/n] from the exchange program. I am Vladimir Popescu. Vlad for short.” Said the cheerful guy in front of you. A huge grin was plastered on his face as he was proudly holding the hands on his hips. His strawberry blond locks were nicely framing his face and on top of the head he had a tiny hat with white straps. What intrigued you the most about him were his crimson red eyes and that slightly longer canine you could see when he showed off his smile.

          “Oh, Vlad. It’s a pleasure to…” But you didn’t have time to finish the sentence, because the Romanian tackled you into a tight, crushing hug, nuzzling his face in the crook of your neck and muttering something. “Um… Okay…” You managed to say awkwardly, then tried hugging him back, even if it came off a little odd.

          “You’re so cute!” He told you after loosening the grip on you, mostly because of your father’s grunting in the background. “You smell really nice, dragă. You’ve got a terrific scent.”
You gulped hard and stared at him in shock. What did he mean by that?

          “Okay, I think there’s enough chit-chat. We have to go.” Your father announced, grabbing Vlad’s luggage, despite the boy’s polite protests. “We wouldn’t want to spend the whole week here, now would we?” He added, sending a quick glare behind, at your partner. But Vlad kept on smiling joyfully, much to your dad’s annoyance.

          You and your mom followed closely. You’ve heard the myths about Count Dracula, from Transylvania, who was said to have been a vampire, but you didn’t know if this was true or not. By the way Vlad behaved and looked like made you wonder if maybe… just maybe, he was a vampire. A part of you wanted him to be, not because of the cheesy stories with the vamp falling in love with the girl, but it would be interesting. Although, another part of you wanted to keep the distance. You know what they say, better be safe than sorry, right?

          During the whole drive home, Vlad kept showing his excitement for the exchange program. He seemed like he wasn’t able even to wait until you showed him around. His eyes were sparkling as he was pointing at different building and asking questions about them. You couldn’t help but chuckle at his eagerness. Not to deny it, he was kind of adorable. If only he didn’t creep you earlier, you would feel calmer in his presence.

          Once you arrived home, you showed him to the guest room. He seemed enthusiastic about pretty much everything and it really made you smile. Without noticing, you started spacing out and didn’t hear when Vlad called your name like three times already.

          “Ouch! What was that for?” You yelled when you felt something pinching your sides. “Vlad! Stop it! It’s not funny!” You started giggling while trying to protect yourself from the Romanian’s fingers.

          “Oh, ba din contră.”* He replied, continuing to tickle you.

          You’ve accidentally stumbled and fell, dragging your partner along. The two of you were now grasping for air, as you were laughing on the ground.

          “Mii de scuze, [y/n]** , but you should have seen your face!” He got up still chuckling and held a hand for you to help you up.

          “I have no idea what you’ve said, but your face was priceless as well. And it was mostly your fault.” You poked his cheek in return.

          “I had to draw your attention on the guest! What were you thinking about anyway?” He pouted childishly, crossing his arms.

          “Um… well…” You remembered why you spaced out earlier. A question had been bugging you since the incidents at the airport. “I don’t know how to ask you this… I might sound stupid…” Your cheeks began burning.

          “Well, say it! There isn’t anything to be ashamed of? Maybe you fell for my irresistible charms and now you want to smooch me.” He made a kissy face towards you and you punched his shoulder.

          “No way! Shut up!!” You puffed your cheeks. “What I was wondering was if you are a vampire or not.” The words escaped your mouth without being able to stop them.
Vlad paled at your words. You covered your mouth as soon as you realized what you’ve said. But before you could try and apologize the young man started laughing so hard, that he had to sit down.

          “I can’t believe it! You think I am a vampire?” He barely spoke in his laughing fit.

          “You made it look that way! With your tooth and your red eyes and that awkward hug!” What annoyed you even more was the fact that Vlad didn’t stop his laughter. “Explain yourself!”

          “Okay, okay. No need to overreact. I think you know the renowned myth about Count Dracula, or Vlad the Impaler, the voievod of Transylvania. Well, when people meet me, they tend to think of me as a vampire because I come from Romania, like this would be the only symbol of our country. So I behave like I actually am a vampire to mess a little bit with them.”
You didn’t know that everyone saw the vampires as a symbol of Romania, which was kind of sad.

          “But I think us two we’ll get along really well!” He smiled and tackled you in an embrace and you couldn’t help but hug him back, returning the smile.

          “I think the same, Vlad.”



          “Holy molly! I’ve never taken part in such a huge thing before.” Vlad exclaimed, his eyes beaming with excitement.

          “I guarantee, you’re going to have the best time in your life!” You giggled at his eagerness, then proceeded to take hand and drag him through the crowds.

          You might be wondering what that place which was making Vlad so energetic was. The city you lived in knew how to celebrate the 9th of May. The plaza was absolutely full of people, either vendors from so many countries selling merchandise or food representing their country, either animators preparing traditional dances and games.

          “[Y/n], look over there!” The roles inversed as Vlad started pulling you towards one part of the immense fair representative for his country. “We should totally buy these!” He pointed to some traditional Romanian shirts, with red and black floral patterns. Vlad and the lady that was in charge of the sale changed some words in the native language while you waited for your friend. “Come on! Let’ try some on!” Vlad smiled and motioned to follow him.

          After looking through the designs, you’ve finally found something to fit you. When you wanted to tell Vlad you had something that reached your expectations, your breath was taken away by what you’ve seen.

          “What are you doing?” You turned your face away when you saw the Romanian throwing the T-shirt he was wearing on the ground to change into the shirt.

          “Agh, [y/n], I didn’t expect you to see me.” He quickly pulled the shirt on his torso and hid his blushing face. “I’m so sorry.”

          You slowly turned back to see him in the clothes. He looked… really fine. You found yourself staring at how it was fitting on his body and you excused yourself fast in order to change yourself as well.

          After you were both ready, you paid equally for your purchase, even though Vlad insisted on paying the whole price, and then went to where the heart of the event was. Just in time for some archetypal dances. He grabbed your arm and he joined one of the ‘hore’ going on. You were utterly confused of what was going on and you didn’t quite catch it when you had to go forwards or backwards, when you had to spin, what direction to go.
         
          At some point yours and Vlad’s hands were captured in a weird way and you advanced to the center of the people circle dancing along with other pairs. You were so lost in what was going around you, your legs entangled and you lost your balance. But you didn’t fall in the end, because Vlad captured you quick enough, bringing you up again, grinning from ear to ear.

          “Having some difficulties, dragã?”

          “Yeah, a little bit.” You huffed as the both of you returned to the places in the circle.
After the whole thing ended and you clapped together with all the dancers, you and Vlad continued walking through the crowds.

          “You know, I really like your language. It sounds so… romantic.” You spoke after some minutes of silence.

          “Really? I always thought French was more romantic.” He giggled and gave your hand a gentle squeeze. You haven’t even realized your hand was still in his.

          “In my opinion, it’s otherwise.” You chuckled lightly, trying to cover your pink cheeks.

          “In that case, ești una dintre cele mai minunate și frumoase personae pe care le-am întâlnit. Mă bucur să fiu alături de tine.”*** Your eyes were boring in his and you felt so warm listening to him speak, for a reason.

          “I don’t know what you’ve said, but it was beautiful.”

          Vlad wanted to answer, but he didn’t have time as someone forcefully pushed him away from you, making him stumble and fall.

          “You useless gypsy! Get out of my way! Go back to your stupid country! It’s not enough that it is full of you, but you have to be the plague of other countries too!” Some angry man shouted as he was glaring at your friend.

          “Hey! If I’m Romanian doesn’t mean I am a gyp…”

          “Save it for your tribe!” That dude continued his way before you or Vlad could add anything.

          “Are you alright?” You helped Vlad up and you went with him in a more secluded area. “I am so sorry…” You said shaking off the dust from his shirt. “That guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about!”

          “Of course he doesn’t! If he did he wouldn’t be talking.” He huffed. “It hurts me a lot, [y/n]. It really does. All these foreigners assume all of us are like worms of the society. They think of us as the trash of Europe that steal, kill and only do bad things. They never even think about taking a look on what our country has managed to achieve, or what our people did good for this world. I am so tired of people stereotyping us like this.” Vlad broke into tears and you brought him in your embrace, his face in the crook of your neck, letting him let it all out.

          “Hey, now… Not everyone thinks of you like this.” You whispered gently, one hand rubbing his back soothingly and the other one caressing his hair. “I actually know a lot of people who are absolutely fascinated about the Romanian culture, the landscapes and the history. They would love so much to visit your country and to see its beauty more than others do. L” You brought his face up to meet yours. “I… am one of them.” You placed a tiny peck on his cheek and his grip tightened around you as he brought you to his chest.

          “Nici nu știu cum să-ți mulțumesc. Îmi redai speranța cum nimeni altcineva nu ar putea.”****

          “That’s what I wanted to hear!”



          “Vlad, look! A photo booth! Let’s catch some awesome memories in an album!” You beamed joyfully while making your way there with your Romanian friend.

          “I bet I can make a funnier face than you!” He said.

          “We’ll see about that. The loser treats the other with ice-cream.”

          “You’ve got yourself a deal, dragă”

          Indeed, the face you two pulled were extremely hilarious. You couldn’t stop yourself from laughing as you received the photos from the booth. Moreover, they were equally weird and comical so neither of you won.

          On your way to a gelato in the plaza, you observed one of those fair games where you had to hit down all 6 tins to win a plushie.

          “Those toys are so adorable! So bad these things are made so you can never win.” You sighed quietly and continued walking, but Vlad stopped in his track and frowned.

          “I will win one for you.” His pout turned into a maleficent smirk as he practically dragged you towards to the stall. “One round, please.” He paid to the man and received a ball in exchange.

          “Vlad! You don’t have to do this. I was just saying!” You protested.

          “And I was just saying I will win one.”

          He concentrated for a while on the tins, like he wanted to tumble them down with his mind, and then he threw. The ball seemed really light and his throw didn’t look too strong. You felt bad that he was doing this for you for some reason. You were left in shock when the ball actually banged the tins, making them all fall on the ground. But you weren’t the only one. The vendor seemed way more shocked then you were.

          “Bingo!” Vlad exclaimed, grinning victoriously. He turned his gaze to the vendor, and then to you. “Now, pick whichever you like!”

          You simply pointed shyly to the first thing you saw, this happened to be a pink unicorn plushie. The guy at the stall took it and gave it to you as Vlad kept smiling all the time.

          “Thank you so much, Vlad. I don’t know what to say.” You spoke while hugging the toy to your chest.

          “There’s no need to say anything. I promised you I will win it for ya.” He winked and then grabbed your hand into his once more.

          “I was really surprised you managed to beat the game. How did you do it?”

          “Heh, it must be pure talent.” He laughed it off, rubbing the back of his neck.

          “Yeah, sure it was.” You replied while you were walking back home. You couldn’t complain. Today was indeed a wonderful day.



          “Are you sure you’re not a vampire, Vlad?”
          “Why? Do you want to test out that theory? ‘Cause I am ready.”