Okay, so this is my first non-Troypay HSM story. Yes, I know I told you I wouldn't upload until next year, but conveniently this is a project for my English class. This is a bonus for you guys, because all I had to do was change the names of my characters.
I guess this is my way of introducing more culture into fanfics. This story is set completely in Vietnam, so basically when any of the characters speak to certain other characters, just register that it's in Vietnamese, even though I'll point it out whenever I need to. Oh, and if a dialogue is in italics, that means it's the translation of a previous dialogue, okay?
In reality, no one in Vietnam is actually supposed to refer to Ho Chi Minh City as Saigon, but every Vietnamese outside Vietnam still calls it that.
Now, there's going to be no racial discrimination in this story, don't worry, and I'm going to have to write some Vietnamese at parts when it's totally necessary.
This is based off a Vietnamese comedy me and my dad watched.
I love my motherland, and I'm hoping I can express it in this story. :) I really, really hope you'll like it. You probably won't review as much, since it isn't a Troyella or Troypay, but I won't care because I'm doing what I've always wanted.
Saigon Dep Lam, Saigon Oi - Saigon, you're beautiful
It was a hot day in Vietnam. Hot, but not as hot as it could've been.
The air was noisy and moist, the faint fragrance of Mother Nature was still recognizable through the thick fumes of the city. The sun glared down at every corner of the plain, so there was no room for shade. Motorbikes everywhere, all the cars around them drove at a steady and slow pace, completely vulnerable to be taken advantage by the busy cyclists. Merchants called out from their stands in loud Vietnamese, yelling "Fruits! Vegetables! Fresh and cheap!". Others carried their stocks hanging from a beam set on their shoulder, their tired suntanned faces hidden under their conical straw hats.
The street was packed, the road was wide but was completely overrun with pedestrians and every sidewalk was occupied with some sort of business. The cafes and buildings around were tightly fitted together so there was absolutely no space in between.
Troy had never been to Vietnam before. He had seen images in textbooks and read about its history, but this was the first time he had ever seen it with his own eyes.
He had come here with a group of five friends, all of whom were in for their first time as well. One of them was his recent (though unofficial) fiancée Gabriella. She and Troy had studied Vietnamese after they left high school, and after seven years they were able to speak and read the language. Along with them were their old schoolmates and best friends, Chad and Taylor, and two new friends, Kim and her husband Thuy, who they met in college.
Kim and Thuy were natives of Albuquerque, but both were much familiar with Saigon. Because they had been bred traditionally from Vietnamese parents, the couple was convenient to take along, seeing as Chad and Taylor didn't know any Vietnamese.
The group had arrived at Saigon merely two days ago and had settled down in a hotel, so no one had actually seen any of the sights yet. While everybody took their time in resting and looking at maps and where they should go, Troy had become bored and instead he decided to explore the streets by himself.
Troy snapped his camera at four young Vietnamese girls nearby, giggling and holding hands as they walked down the street together, all wearing white ao dai with their long black hair flowing behind them. A grin crept onto his face and looked down proudly at the image on the camera screen. Tucking the camera safely into his pocket, he stopped at a sugarcane juice stand. A girl was standing by the stand, looking a little bored. Her skin was slightly tanned from the sun, and she was wearing a light blue silk shirt that was buttoned down, and her long hair was let down. Troy was slightly amazed at how a Vietnamese woman's hair would remain so intact and perfect even with the sun and desert wind. She looked up, still bored, but as soon as she saw that he was American, her expression lightened up. She leapt up from her spot and leaned forward eagerly at Troy.
"One regular sized, please," he said in Vietnamese to the seller. She smiled at him, somewhat relieved that she didn't have to respond in English to him.
"$3,000," she replied sweetly. She set off to work as Troy watched with interest. The young woman went to the back and took out a fresh shoot of sugar cane and, with cautious, pressed it through a large machine that grounded out the juice conveniently into a bowl of ice. As Troy watched, about half a dozen Vietnamese children gathered around him, holding up raffle tickets and speaking over each other. Troy was used to this; being an American tourist in Saigon, this was all normal.
Most of these kids were too young to even be out in the streets. They should've either be at school or at home, and Troy felt sorry for them, knowing there had to be a reason they were here.
"Okay," he said, backing away a little. He took out his wallet and pulled out about $6,000, splitting it up. "Here you go." The children took the money.
"Thank you, sir," one child said in broken English. Troy chuckled to himself as they hurried off again, and he couldn't help but feel a little better inside. He turned back to the sugarcane girl as she was about to fill his cup with juice.
"Would you like a large cup?" she asked. "It's only $500 extra." Troy took a moment to think about.
"Alright, then." The sugarcane girl beamed and picked up a much larger cup and filled it. She snapped on the lid and handed it to him.
"$3,500," she said, and Troy gave her the money. She watched intentionally as he took his first sip. "Please enjoy the views and come again." Troy gave her a nod and then walked away, back into the hectic scenario of Saigon.
As he walked, he was constantly mobbed by ticket sellers. He tried to wave them away, but every now and then, especially when he stepped into the busiest region of the street, more people would appear. This began to irritate him, so Troy decided it was best to find shelter. He spotted a café nearby and slipped through the crowd and through the door.
Soft Vietnamese pop music played through the stereo in the cool atmosphere. Troy let out a puff and wiped his sweaty brow with the back of his hand, his wet hot face suddenly stinging as the cold conditioned air rushed to him. The shouting outside immediately silenced as soon as the door closed.
Troy looked around. Typically, he was being stared at. Teenage girls giggled and winked at him, whispering among themselves, while older people just went back to what they were doing after a while.
Troy was annoyed at this when he first came, but then he realized they were doing it simply because he was American. It wasn't that they were whispering things about him that he was really care about. Troy kept his eyes firmly ahead and walked over to a table where a grumpy-looking American girl was sitting. She looked up from her che.
"Where were you?" she hissed, pushing her wavy chocolate hair back. "I was waiting by myself for almost a hour." Troy bent down and kissed her cheek and sat himself opposite her.
"I got kinda lost," he explained. "Sorry, Gabby." Gabriella rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Next time can you please come on time?" she said irritably. She looked around nervously. "I don't like it when people stare at me."
Gabriella had been uneasy about being out of place. Even though so far she had loved Vietnam, she simply couldn't get used to the staring and the whispering. She felt foreign, and having felt foreign before when she was in high school, this was not something she could work around like Troy did. Troy took a sip of her che.
"They're staring at you because you're beautiful," he said with a laugh. Gabriella merely raised an eyebrow and looked down at her watch. Troy started spooning the last of the sweet beans at the bottom of the glass, quite enjoying himself. Gabriella stood up and pushed her chair in.
"Come on," she said. Troy spooned some of the coconut milk and ice into his mouth.
"But I'm thirsty," he said, shrugging. Gabriella shook her head.
"I have to get back to the hotel and pack," she told him. "Kim says the bus leaves in two hours." Gabriella pulled out her wallet and headed to the counter. "Come on, Troy." Troy finished the che quickly and followed her.
"Here you go," Gabriella said, handing the counter girl the money. "Keep the change." The counter girl beamed and took it. Gabriella walked out the door, not waiting for Troy, and called for a cyclo. One arrived almost immediately just as Troy came outside.
"No thanks," he said as Gabriella offered to call another one for him. He held up his camera. "I'll just take a few pictures by foot." Gabriella shrugged and climbed onto the cyclo.
"The QQ Hotel, please," she told the driver. She sat on the seat and crossed her legs as the driver began to pedal. Troy tagged along beside her and took photo after photo as they moved out of the busy street and into the port region. The sun was beginning to set, and it was a picture perfect view as it sank lower into the horizon, casting a beautiful orange aura onto the water. Troy clicked his camera again as Gabriella watched. She watched patiently for a little while, hoping he'd turn and start talking to her, but he didn't, seemingly too fascinated by everything around them. She crossed her arms.
"Tomorrow's our anniversary," she muttered, glancing at her feet. Troy continued to take pictures.
"Sorry, what?" he said distractedly. Gabriella sighed again.
"Tomorrow's our 7th anniversary," she said loudly. Troy snapped another photo.
"Yeah, I know," he said light-heartedly. He finally finished with the camera and walked along with the cyclo. Gabriella unfolded her arms and looked at him.
"I'm going to get back tomorrow morning," she told him. "Around noon." Troy nodded.
"Wouldn't it be more beneficial if you came back later than that?" he said, frowning. "You'd have more time to do things that way."
"I'm just going downtown to do some shopping with Taylor and Kim," Gabriella explained. "It's about an hour's drive but Kim says we can stay with her parents." Troy nodded again and set his gaze ahead. He held his tongue, because knowing his fiancée well enough, he was sure that wasn't all she was going to say. Ten seconds, tops, before she announces something to him that he should have known a day ago.
"Oh, and I forgot to tell you," Gabriella said finally. "I've reserved a place for a party tomorrow." There it was.
"A party?!" Troy exclaimed. He stopped and stared at her, dumbfounded. The cyclo rode off and Troy was forced to run after it. "What party?"
"It's sorta our engagement party," Gabriella said matter-of-factly as she leaned over the side to look at him. "It'll just be us four with a few of Kim and Thuy's friends. I told them it was at 4pm tomorrow, so it's plenty of time for us to get ready." Troy sighed with frustration.
He had told Gabriella time and time again he didn't want to make a fuss over their engagement. He hated that kind of stuff; lots of people he didn't know who didn't know anything about him making a big deal and loud noises. He had always hated going to parties, but Troy knew in his heart that this occasion was very special to Gabriella. Most of the parties she went to were special occasions for her. Troy sighed again.
"Alright," he said at last. "But you can't make this a big deal."
"Not make it a big deal?" Gabriella repeated with disbelief. "But it's our engagement! We're going to get married, Troy!" Troy winced at the word 'marriage'.
"Okay, okay," he said defensively. "I'll let you go wild." He looked up at her. "But promise me you won't make me sing again." Gabriella beamed.
"Okay, I promise," she said sweetly. Troy's face relaxed a little. He glanced back at the port and automatically took out the camera to take his mind off the matter. Gabriella leaned back and folded her hands neatly on her lap, her happy expression fading into neutral. After a while, her brown eyes shifted back to Troy. She tapped his shoulder and sat back casually.
"Do you love me, Troy?" she asked. Troy looked at her strangely.
"Of course I love you," he said like it was the most obvious answer in the world. Gabriella didn't look at him and flicked her hair.
"Well, I love you more," she said carelessly. Troy frowned.
"No, I love you more!"
"I love you more."
"I love you more!"
"I love you more!"
"I love you more!"
It went on for a while until Troy began to feel tired. He picked up his camera again.
"If you say so," he muttered, and with that he took another picture. Gabriella sat up abruptly and her expressionless face screwed up in a frown.
"What?" she said. "So you love me less than I love you?" Troy closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
"No," he said slowly. "I love you more, alright?" Gabriella relaxed again after these words.
"Well, I love you more," she said yet again.
"No, I love you more," Troy said.
"I love you more."
"I love you more."
"I love you more."
"I love you more."
"I love you more."
"I love you more..."
… all the way home.
"Kim, are you done with your bag?"
A Vietnamese woman was leaning over a set of clothes placed on the bed when she heard Taylor's voice.
Apart from her American clothes and style, Kim was pretty much like any other girl living in Saigon. She was petite and slender, graceful with a girlish charm, sophistication and pride… and along with vast knowledge and a personal bond to her motherland, she was in every way had everything a Vietnamese girl could want. Kim folded the clothes and lifted them off the bed.
"Yeah, I'm done!" she shouted to the next room. "Are you?"
"Yeah!" Taylor answered back. She popped her head into the room. "Where d'you think Gabby is?" Kim shrugged.
"Don't worry, she'll make it," she said reassuringly.
Taylor was quite new to everything around her in Vietnam, and although she was excited to go shopping and sightseeing, she felt safer when she was around either Gabriella or Kim or Chad. Taylor heaved her own backpack over her shoulder and stepped into the room.
"Can we trust the boys to behave on their own?" Kim asked as she zipped up her bag. She wasn't too sure about leaving her husband on his own.
As handsome and faithful Thuy was, leaving him alone with Chad and Troy wasn't the best idea. All the boys loved to wonder off and get into trouble together, and usually it was the girls who would get them out of it. Who would save them if they got in trouble tonight? Themselves?
Taylor didn't even need to answer.
"Ready yet, girls?" Thuy's voice called out from downstairs. He appeared with Chad behind him at the door.
"Gabby isn't here yet," Kim told him as he took her bag for her. She glanced out the window; it was getting dark.
They heard the front door open and the sound of Gabriella's voice.
"Okay, guys," she called out. "Just give me a minute to pack." She gave a wave of her hand as she appeared at the door and went into the bathroom, splashing her hot face with some water.
"Need some help?" Taylor said, heading to her. Kim followed, brushing past Troy as he stepped into the room after her, looking very tired. Thuy let out a chuckle.
"Been arguing with the wife?" he asked. Troy collapsed onto Kim's bed and shot him a glare.
"You weren't there," he snapped. Chad and Thuy both sniggered.
The girls helped Gabriella pack her bag, which took about five minutes. The sky outside darkened as the hot sun slowly disappeared, to be replaced by the garish neon lights of clubs and bars. Saigon was still alive, even at night, and Thuy and Chad only knew so well.
"Okay," Gabriella said as she finally finished everything. She walked up to Troy and straightened the collar of his shirt. "Now, can you promise me you guys won't get into trouble while we're away?"
"Yeah," Taylor muttered as she glanced at Chad. "Don't go anyway, because our phones don't work here…" She waved it at Chad to annoy him. "… so if you end up in the gutter somewhere, we might never find you." Chad held her firmly by the shoulders and suddenly looked serious.
"Don't you worry your pretty little head off," he said with an air of superiority. "We'll be fine." Gabriella sighed to herself as Troy wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm counting on you," she said sternly. "You better be here when the party starts at 4." Troy nodded nonchalantly and kissed her forehead.
"I promise I'll be here," he told her. He nodded reassuringly. "I mean, come on." He exchanged a look with Chad and Thuy. "We're grown men. We can take care of ourselves." Gabriella still seemed unconvinced.
"Remember, no drinking," she said warningly, shaking a finger at him. Troy nodded.
"No drinking," he repeated.
A car honked loudly outside. Kim peered through the curtains.
"It's our ride," she told everyone. The girls quickly grabbed their bags, gave each of their partners a kiss and hurried out the door.
"Don't do anything stupid!" Gabriella called out again.
Troy, Thuy and Chad sat themselves rigidly on the bed as they listened to the sound of the taxi driving away. None of them moved, making sure that it wasn't a false alarm or if Gabriella decided again to call out something. Once sure that the coast was clear and their wives were gone, they relaxed.
Troy collapsed back onto the bed and let out a deep sigh, while Thuy and Chad jumped to their feet. Troy lied there for a while with his eyes closed, but eventually opened one to see his two best friends looking down on his with suspicious-looking grins.
"What are you doing?" he asked. Thuy and Chad just kept smiling, and the creepiness was giving Troy a very bad feeling. He slowly sat up. "What are you doing?"
"The girls are gone," Thuy said happily, rubbing his hands together. "So, come on!" He grabbed Troy's arm and tried to pull him up. "Come on, I know this really good bar we can go to." Troy abruptly pulled his arm out of Thuy's grip.
"What?!" he exclaimed. He glanced at Chad for help, but it looked like he was in on the plan as well. Troy stood up. "You guys, I promised my fiancée I wouldn't drink." Chad rolled his eyes.
"One drink, buddy," he said, shrugging. "One drink never harmed anyone." Troy held up his hands defensively as his two friends approached him again.
"I am not drinking, guys."
Troy had never been the dominant type. He couldn't hold up an argument, and he would always succumb to someone else's suggestion. Knowing Troy for years now, Thuy and Chad knew exactly how to persuade him into doing something. Troy tired to argue back, using reasons such as morality and trust and honesty to his future wife, but Thuy and Chad fought back with reasons such as having a good time, their wives being away and never finding out, and exploring the night life of a marvellous city. Eventually, Troy succumbed.
Each taking a reluctant Troy's arm, Thuy and Chad called a taxi and sat him right between them so he wouldn't be able to escape.
"I'm warning you," Troy said for the fifth time. "I'll tag along, but I'm not drinking."
They entered a club a few yards away from the hotel, and immediately Troy was able to recognize the familiar atmosphere. Everything was dark with the disco lights being the only source of light in the room. Dance music played loudly all around and men and women were talking indistinctly to one another. Troy liked the room to be like this; no one could tell straight away that he was American so he wouldn't draw as much attention to himself as he did in daylight. They made their way to the bar and each man sat down at the stools.
"Three beers, thanks," Thuy said in Vietnamese to the bartender. Troy ripped his eyes from the scene and looked wildly around at Thuy.
"Hey, I said I wasn't drinking!" he said frantically. Chad just placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Dude," he said, looking serious. "Do you think we'd let you get drunk one day before your engagement party?"
"Yes," Troy replied flatly. Thuy shrugged. The bartender placed three mugs of beer in front of them. They were really big. Chad wrapped his arm around Troy's shoulder and leaned in close to speak in his ear.
"Listen, Troy," he said. "Tomorrow is the first big step in your life. The first step is officially putting the ring on Gabriella's finger. The next step is getting ready for the wedding, and the last step is marrying her." A sick feeling struck Troy in the stomach as he began to think about it. Thuy pushed the mug of beer in front of Troy, who was now watching it with hunger. Both his friends noticed.
"This is your last night as a bachelor," Thuy remarked. "And then you'll be attached to one woman for the rest of your life. Like me." Thuy held out his right hand so they could see his wedding ring.
"You'll have to cut your hair the way she wants it," Chad said, putting one hand on his beloved afro and the other on Thuy's neat crop. "You're gonna have a curfew and buy her presents for every occasion. You can't forget dates, you can never take that goddamn ring off, and you'll have to be the first to apologize for everything, even if it isn't your fault—"
"Okay, I get it!" Troy shouted. Without hesitation, he grabbed the beer and drained it. Chad and Thuy dropped their fake concerned looks and smirked at each other. They were slightly surprised at how fast Troy was finishing his drink, but they knew the topic of marriage had scared him ever since. Troy exhaled sharply and slammed the empty beer mug onto the counter.
"That's my boy," Chad said proudly. Troy panted and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He actually felt a lot better, a load had been taken off his head just now, and the beer tasted good too. He grinned and hiccuped.
"You were right," he said with a laugh. "I should be living out my last day." He turned to Thuy's mug and drank it as well. Thuy's smile disappeared.
"Uh, Troy," he said cautiously. He tried to take the beer away, but Troy had already finished it. "Whoa, dude…" Troy simply laughed and put an arm over each of his two friends.
"You guys…" he slurred. "… are the greatest… friends in the world."
And that was all he could remember.
Note: I'm not quite sure whether the amount Vietnamese money is correct or not. I'm using a stranger converter...