Chapter Text
When Lance signed up for the International Buddy Program , he was expecting to pair up with some cute Korean girls. Korean , specifically, because he spent the last school year as an exchange student in South Korea, and he was more than ready to impress them with his mastery of King Sejong's language. He told Allura this. He applied to her in person for this. And yet, she still had to saddle him with a thankless, ungrateful, stuck-up automaton by the name of Keith Gyeong.
"Allura, Princess , we talked about this! I thought you were on my side!" Lance was pouting in front of her desk in the program's small office. Allura was trying very hard to be patient.
"Lance, I heard your request, and I considered it! But honestly, you were being a creep - still being a creep - and I will do everything to protect them from you!" Her British accent fell harsh on Lance's burning ears.
"Ouch," chimed in Shiro, who was sitting on a corner chair, stapling together some pamphlets for their recruitment drive. " Don't Be A No-Buddy! " shouted one particular graphic. Another called out, " Find Your Seoul-mate! " in garish purple. Shiro's handsome, smiling face was starting to get on Lance's nerves.
"Why are you even here, Shiro? Don't you have some other worthy social work to do?" Lance spat the words out before he could stop himself, and regret immediately flooded him as he watched Shiro's face drop. Shiro was the nicest guy in the planet and he was being unfair. Even Allura was glaring at him.
Lance shook his head, breathing in, "Sorry, Shiro, I- I didn't mean that. It's just - we've known each other for a week and this- this Keith has already offended me on every level possible--"
He stood up and started a litany of the various ways Keith had offended him - something about his attitude when Lance picked him up from the airport, something about having to run around campus to finish Keith's enlistment process (" Did you know that the distance from Human Kinetics to the Registrar is 1.3 kilometers? And I had to walk back and forth because my car is under coding? "), something about Keith calling him up all the time for a ride because he hasn't figured out public transportation yet, something about how Keith's mullet was offensive to the 21st century.
Lance let himself fall back onto the waiting chair with a whine. "This morning, Professor Holt made me sing and dance in front of his class for a slot. For Keith! I haven't even finished my enlistment yet."
It was now Allura's turn to speak. She pulled off her glasses and faced Lance with an impenetrable look. "Keith was with you all this time?"
"Uh, what?"
"Keith was running all around campus with you? Keith was there at Professor Holt's lecture hall?"
Lance sunk down about an inch into his chair, as the answer was pulled from him quite unwillingly. "Well... yes.”
"You attended the orientation, Lance? Read the handbook we gave you when you volunteered?"
Cold sweat was pouring down Lance's back at Allura's continuous prodding. He shifted a little bit in his suddenly uncomfortable chair, looked back at Shiro, who was determinedly stapling more pamphlets than before, and finally looked back towards Allura.
"Yeah...", he said, deflating.
Allura's tone softened. "Lance," she said, although it sounded more like Launce to his ears, "I was glad you volunteered for this program, since you'd been an exchange student yourself. You know what it's like to be virtually alone, displaced in another country, another culture, very unlike yours. You even told me your university buddies helped you feel very welcome despite your, uh, numerous concerns. I thought you'd be more empathetic."
The trace of disappointment in Allura's voice was really what did him in. Okay, so maybe he was being petty, just because Keith's mullet, pale skin, and the way he ran beside Lance across campus to get to the Registrar in time was irritating him for some reason.
Allura was still looking at him as though she was expecting him to say something, but when he didn't, she continued with a sigh. "Keith had just finished mandatory military training; after his discharge, he signed up for the exchange student program immediately." She threw up both her hands, "Maybe he wanted a change of pace, maybe not, who knows? We're not here to psychoanalyze him. We're here to make sure he integrates well, makes friends, has a fun and meaningful stay. Now, can you do that or not?"
Lance's face was on fire. He didn't want to admit defeat. How long would it take for Keith to integrate - three weeks, a month at most? He could do that. Maybe Keith would even stop calling him in for chauffeur services before that time.
"I'll do it," Lance met Allura's blue eyes. He couldn't keep the reluctance from his voice, but his eyes were steady. "I'll stay with Keith."
Allura smiled at him, widely this time, and Lance almost fell in love with her all over again, until she started shooing him away for her "other appointments". He was halfway out the door when a hand, strong, but gentle, was placed on his shoulder. Shiro, the nicest guy in the planet, pulled him back and a wave of embarrassment threatened to engulf him on the spot.
Lance began, "Shiro! I- I'm really sorry about that earlier-"
"Don't worry about it, Lance, I know you're stressed," Shiro, who was taking an MA in Social Work and was far too caring to be considered real, patted him on the shoulder. "Try not to be too hard on yourself. The main point of the program is for you to make friends. You should have fun too."
"Really? 'Cause I thought the main thrust of this program was to meet cute girls?" Lance tried to finger gun, but a thump on his back sent him pitching forward and out the door. He looked back with his best pained expression.
Shiro was unmoved. "Keep talking like that and she'll never assign you to girls." The door was moved to close on his face.
It was late afternoon when Lance found himself on the maroon and cream hallways of his university's Student Hall. The Sunken Garden, a 5-hectare expanse of land that was once a parade ground, was visible from where he was standing. Some people were playing soccer, others were enjoying the setting sun, tourists were taking pictures of everything. The August rains had kept the grass green, an altogether beautiful sight. Lance tore his eyes away when his phone buzzed in his pocket.
Hunkules ❤: so how’d it go
pidgeot: how’d what go
Hunkules ❤: lance is trying to get out of keith
pidgeot: lmao
lancel lannister: once again i am defeated by blue eyes and her white dragon
lancel lannister: double team bes ( ͡° ͜ʖ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ʖ ͡°)
Hunkules ❤: awwww sorry about that bud
pidgeot: gross
Hunkules ❤: suddenly not sorry about that bud
lancel lannister: get out of our chat u filthy imperialist usamerica n!!!!
pidgeot: IT IS MY WHITE PERSON'S BURDEN TO TELL YOU U R GROSS
Hunkules ❤: FFUKKCKKK
lancel lannister: PUTEK PIDGE TANGIN A
pidgeot: ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿'̿'\̵͇̿̿\з= ( ▀ ͜͞ʖ▀) =ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿'̿ ̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ fite me
lancel lannister: JUNK EDCA
Hunkules ❤: IBASURA
Keith is calling...
lancel lannister: OH FUCK
lancel lannister: keith is cal ling
pidgeot: lol bye
Hunkules ❤: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
lancel lannister: HUNK DON'T ME
-
Of course, with just one call, he went. Lance was beginning to feel like that one Charlie Puth song, except it was more annoying than romantic. He did, however, play it in the car, and he was singing along as he pulled up to the International Center's driveway. Keith, in a black shirt and red jacket, was waiting for him on the curb.
Lance rolled down his window and said, in perfect Korean, "Get in, loser, we're going shopping."
Keith raised an eyebrow in response, before walking around the sedan to open the passenger door. Once settled in, he turned towards Lance, who was negotiating the curve to the street, and asked in the same language, "How did you know I was going shopping?"
"Oh, you were?" Lance was a bit surprised himself. He just assumed Keith wanted to eat out of the dorm for a change. (He understood that.) "You wanna go to the mall?"
"Yeah. I just need some stuff for my room," Keith replied. He was still looking intently at Lance, inherently curious. "How did you know?"
"Lay off the inquisition, pal, it was a line from a movie. Mean Girls ," Lance changed lanes now that he knows where Keith wants to go. He should teach Keith about public transportation, and maybe Uber if he's really having a hard time. He couldn't blame him. Traffic in the Philippines was a nightmare, especially if one was used to South Korea.
Another pressing thing that struck him, now that they were on the freeway, was that apparently, Keith hasn't seen Mean Girls ?
"Keith, you haven't seen Mean Girls ?" Lance took a quick look at his passenger. Keith was on his phone, presumably looking up Mean Girls with the slow connection. Lance had helped him set that up a couple of days ago.
"Uh, no," was the answer.
"Hmm," Lance hummed, as traffic came to a full stop at North Avenue. They could be waiting here for another half hour. "Which Korea are you from again? The one that banned sarcasm?"
Later on, at the end of three weeks, Lance would look back to this day and think, ah that was it . Lance would remember the loud snort from his right side, recall how he whipped his head so fast because he couldn't believe what he was hearing, relive the sight of Keith laughing into his hand, orange and yellow and red from the signal lights dancing on his face. Lance could almost feel his fingers shaking on the wheel, a sudden lump on his throat, and then laughter.
But for now, Keith was punching his arm in mock anger, because the joke was actually kinda offensive; and Lance was telling him his Netflix password between hits, as a kind of reparation.