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Yoongi's POV
"I've always wanted to go to Mexico!" Taehyung exclaimed with a grin.
"Me too, hyung!" Jungkook shouted.
I chuckled at our youngsters' enthusiasm.
The company had just announced we were traveling to Mexico City to perform. We've always talked about going to Mexico to see our Mexican ARMY, and now we were!
"This is so exciting!"
The members and I began packing for the trip. It had been a personal dream of mine to travel around the world. I was very blessed that our group gained enough traction to be able to do world tours and perform internationally. Mexico was always a country that was on my radar. I couldn't wait to go explore.
The members and I landed at Mexico City International Airport in Mexico for the very first time. It was early in the morning so the airport wasn't that busy. That didn't stop ARMY from greeting us, though. The ARMY surprised us by acting as bodyguards for us. They stood a respectful five feet distance and created a sort of pathway, using their bodies as a wall, to protect us from any sasaengs. The members and I bowed to our ARMY as a way of appreciating their sentiments. The ARMYs cheered as we walked past, doing the official fan chant as we did so. We all made sure to verbally say 'thank you.'
"I love the Mexican ARMY," Jungkook sighed happily as we got into our rented car.
"Yeah, they were so respectful," Jimin agreed.
Taehyung and Hobi agreed with Jimin.
"ARMYs never fail to surprise me," Namjoon laughed.
The driver started the car. Looking out the window, the huge metropolis with beautiful, big mountains in the distance came into view. Along the way, we passed a few lakes. We all ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the sight. By now, the sun was slowly rising, creating a beautiful blanket of gold over the city. One could tell Mexico City was inhabited by many, many people, but it was gorgeous nonetheless.
Namjoon started on a little tangent about the history of Mexico City, giving some insight into the buildings and museums we passed. He told us it was thought the Aztecs began what was called the "Valley of Mexico" in the 14th century.
"They were very experienced agriculturalists. They have beautiful and unique gardens. They relied on collecting, hunting, and fishing."
I nodded along as I watched the architecture pass by.
"What influenced the architecture?" I asked.
It looked similar to some of the ones we saw in Europe.
"A lot of the architecture we see here is based on European styles. More specifically Spanish and French architecture. There's some Greek and Italian in there as well as Mesoamerican," Joon commented. "Isn't it beautiful?"
We all agreed. We made it to our hotel: St. Regis. We walked in and were greeted with polished wood floors (some had red carpet), tall walls, and super expensive-looking furniture. It was definitely high-end and luxurious. It hit me that we finally had the money to afford this stuff. The realization blew my mind as I was awed at the interior.
Our manager signed us in, giving everyone the key card to their suites.
"You all have the rest of the day to relax and do whatever you'd like," Sejin announced.
I went to my room, letting the members talk amongst themselves. I wanted to explore the city on my own. I did some research and had a few places in my head where I wanted to go, but first, I decided to stop by my suite to drop things off.
The suite was an off-white color with reds, browns, and black trickled in. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either. It was a perfect size. I dropped off my suitcase, grabbing anything I could need. I decided to travel lightly to ensure I wouldn't get pickpocketed. Besides, I wasn't planning to buy a whole lot. I grabbed a fanny pack that I put underneath my shirt. It was thin enough to not be seen but big enough to fit my phone, some money, and any other small essentials. Once I had everything I needed, I texted Sejin and Namjoon to let them know where I was headed.
As I was leaving, I accidentally bumped into someone.
"Oh, shit, I'm sorry!" I exclaimed as I helped them up.
The person brushed themselves off. They were a woman with big, dark-brown curls. She had gorgeous, medium-brown skin and dark brown eyes to match her hair. She was thicker with a rounder face and perfectly framed eyebrows.
She looked at me confused. That was when I realized I spoke in Korean.
"Oh, uh, sorry," I attempted to say in English.
She laughed, "It's okay. Are you not from here?"
I winced as I understood part of it but I managed to put together what she said, "No. I'm Korean."
"Ah!" she smiled. "I'm Alejandra (ah-lae-han-dra), but you can call me Ale," she replied in Korean. "I learned Korean as one of my extra languages in college."
I laughed, thanking every god and saint for letting me bump into Ale, "That's cool. This is my first time here. Any suggestions on where to go?"
Alejandra grinned, "Oh, boy! Let me just give you a tour!"
I laughed but complied. This woman seemed to be a lot of fun. If she recognized me, I was thankful she pretended she didn't.
"Sure!"
Ale grinned and grabbed my hand, dragging me to the streets.
"It's very busy right now because it's spring break in the states," she started as we walked passed a bunch of buildings. "It's still a fun place! We have the Festival Centro Histórico going on right now. That's downtown, but I want to take you to some of my favorite places!"
I just nodded along, smiling at this woman's excitement. We began talking about our lives as we walked. Sometimes she pointed out a building and gave a little historical background. The more I walked around Mexico City, the more I fell in love. The culture was so different from Seoul. There was so much color and the aromas from the restaurants were simply divine.
"I love to paint! I've been painting for about twenty years! I'm twenty-four now."
"Wow!" I laughed. "That's crazy. Does your whole family paint?"
"My dad loves to paint. My mom prefers to draw. I got both of their talents, but I like oil painting the most," she chuckled.
"I like to write songs and produce," I said vaguely as Ale buys some street tacos for the two of us.
"Oh! That's so cool. Have you worked with any big artists? Or are you just starting?"
"I've worked with some artists in Korea," I said, thanking her as she hands me a barbacoa taco. "Oh, wow, that's so good!"
"I know! Barbacoa tacos are literally the best," she laughed, taking a bite of her own. "That's really cool you're an artist too."
"Yeah, it's great!" I grinned, happy she didn't ask for more details.
We traveled some more through the city as I ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the beautiful culture. It blew my mind how people could just ignore culture and not appreciate it for what it is. They get jealous or compare it to another culture. It was so stupid to me why people do that.
"This is Palacio de Bellas Artes. It translates to the Palace of Fine Arts. It's one of my favorite places. There are exhibits of 19th- and 20th-century Mexican paintings in there."
"No wonder you love it," I joked to which she shoved me playfully.
"Shut up! I'm an artist!"
"I know, I know, haha! When was this made?"
"It was built between 1904 and 1934."
"It's stunning."
She smiled at me and took my hand again.
"C'mon! We need to go to the Festival Centro Histórico! It's one of my favorite festivals!"
"Okay, okay, let's go!"
I looked around in awe. People were all down the streets of the town. Some women were in long skirts of various bright colors, dancing and swaying their skirts around. There were multiple activities scattered around the square. A music artist that I didn't recognize playing in the background.
"Wow! This festival is amazing!" I shouted happily.
"I'm so glad you like it! It's pretty amazing! It happens every year around this time!"
"Your culture is so beautiful, Ale-ah," I said genuinely as we looked around at all the visual arts.
"You came at the perfect time! The Festival Centro Histórico is all about sharing opera, music, and dance performances from our culture. Along with literature and visual arts. It's practically a festival for artists!"
"Did you present anything?" I asked as I saw a few paintings scattered around.
"Yes, I did!" she grinned, dragging me to the left.
Ale dragged me to a stand that seemed to be very popular with people. As the people moved out of the way, notice she was taking me to a painting. It had lovely light purple flowers on the canvas.
"I have a couple scattered around, but this is my most popular work. It's of laelia rubescens. Basically a type of Mexican orchid," she explained.
"It's gorgeous," I said.
"Thank you. C'mon! You need to hear some writer seminars especially since you like writing songs!"
We spent the rest of our time watching the performers and listening to the music and writers. I was getting so much inspiration. He looked over and saw Alejandra grinning as she sang in Spanish. He never wanted this day to end.
"Hey!" Ale shouted, taking me out of my thoughts, as she put a hand on my chest. "Hand me your phone."
My hand subconsciously went to her waist as I looked at her confused. I handed her my phone nonetheless.
"There," she smiled, "you have my phone number. How long you here for?"
"Three days," I muttered sadly.
She pulled me close into a hug as she danced, "Then let's make the most of it."
I entered my suite around nine-thirty, smiling to myself. The whole experience inspired lyrics in me, so I sat by the desk and began writing.
The next morning, the members and I gathered for breakfast.
"What were you up to all day, hyung?" Hobi asked. "We didn't see you all day."
"I was wandering around," I said with a smile. "There were a bunch of places I wanted to visit."
"You didn't get lost, right?" Jimin laughed.
I rolled my eyes with a small smile, "Of course not. We should make a Latin-pop-inspired song."
Everyone nodded, seemingly comfortable with the idea.
"I like that, hyung," Taehyungie said.
"Me too," Jungkookie agreed.
"Not a bad idea," Joon-ah nodded. "Any ideas on what it would be about?"
"I was mostly thinking about traveling on a plane," I suggested.
"Hoseok wrote a song called Airplane, right?" Jin asked.
The said person nodded.
"We could use that to help with the base," Hobi suggested, seeing where the oldest was going.
Namjoon nodded as he wrote down the ideas in a notebook.
"We should definitely talk about this more when we get back to Seoul."
We all nodded before going back to meaningless chatter. I was eating my fruit when my phone dinged.
Alejandra
Buenos días. Good morning :)
Annyeong. Good morning :)
Say, you think you'd come back to Mexico?
Absolutely! I loved it here :D
Good. Make sure to text me whenever you visit ;)
Of course! You'll be my first call ;)
:)
(:
I smiled to myself as I put my phone down.
I was glad to have met someone from a very different culture than my own. Alejandra was so nice. I hoped to stay friends with her for a long time. She and Mexican culture were super special to him. It would stay this way for a very long time.