Crush Buddies

"Hey, I'm sorry, do you mind if I sit here?"

Taeyeon was sitting on a couch, beer in hand, in the middle of a house party hosted by a friend of a friend at college, staring absent-mindedly at her year-long crush, Sunmi, when she heard the husky voice.

"No, sure, there's plenty of... you know, space left here," she replied casually, glancing up at the girl for a moment before averting her gaze back to her crush who was talking animatedly to her boyfriend and another guy now.

She looked away, trailing her gaze around the crowd. What was she even thinking, coming alone to a party like this? She was really such a er for that girl...

"I can see that. Aren't you waiting for anyone though?"

"Nah, not really," Taeyeon turned to the brunette.

"Oh, you just seemed to be looking for someone among the people, that's why I assumed."

"Oh yeah, no, that's not... that's not it," she swung her bottle back and forth in her hand.

There was a bit of an awkward pause there.

"I'm Tiffany, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Tiffany," Taeyeon smiled. At least she wasn't completely alone now. "American?"

"Yeah. And nice to meet you too--"

"Taeyeon."

"Nice to meet you, Taeyeon. Cheers!" Tiffany grinned, clinking her own bottle of beer against Taeyeon's.

They stayed quiet for a minute before Tiffany spoke up again.

"So how come you were just sitting here alone?"

Taeyeon shrugged.

"I guess I'm just not the best at socializing."

"You seem pretty cool to me though."

"Thanks," Taeyeon chuckled, "what about you?"

Tiffany raised her brows.

"Hmn?"

"How come you're alone?"

"Oh, my friends just got busy with their boyfriends over there," Tiffany gestured at the group somewhere in the crowd, "so I was kinda left alone for a bit," she pouted.

"So you don't have your boyfriend here then?"

"I don't... have one, at the moment, actually."

She sighed heavily and drank a little.

Suddenly, she looked really crestfallen and Taeyeon couldn't help but ask "Is everything okay?"

Tiffany sighed again.

"Do you see that guy wearing the green and white shirt over there, near the snacks?"

Taeyeon almost got a heart attack. That was Sunmi's boyfriend.

"Yeah?"

Tiffany leaned back on the couch.

"I've had a crush on him for like, the longest time, and I just found out he has a girlfriend."

"Oh..." Taeyeon was taken aback at that. 'What a coincidence...' "Yeah..."

"You know him?"

"I know... her... kinda..."

"Oh. I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have told you that, I didn't mean to--"

"No, I mean, it's not like she's my friend or something, it's fine. I just know her as in I know who she is and stuff."

The both of them were left staring at the couple.

Taeyeon pondered at the irony of the whole situation.

"So do you know how long these two have been together?" Tiffany asked.

"Two-three months, I think, not sure exactly."

"Damn. How did I not know about this?"

She really seemed upset at her misfortune, and maybe it was the drinks, maybe it was just that she hated seeing a beautiful girl so sad but Taeyeon decided maybe 'sharing is caring' can be applied here in a different sense.

"If it's any consolation, I'm pretty much in the same situation."

'Except probably worse and more hopeless,' Taeyeon thought.

Tiffany raised her eyebrows at that.

"I have a crush on someone here too," Taeyeon admitted, "and that person is also taken."

"Aww, that ."

"Yeah, well..."

The two sat like that on the couch together for a good half an hour, joking about how they were they were the 'crush buddies' there that night and talking about this and that, occasionally succumbing into a comfortable silence.

Taeyeon couldn't help but search for Sunmi in the crowd whenever the conversation came to a halt. She looked so beautiful tonight. She always did...

"So... um. Since you already know who my crush is, is it okay if I ask who's the one that's caught your attention?" Tiffany asked.

Taeyeon's heart stopped for a second.

She didn't really think this through.

"It's actually... uhmmm..."

'Should I lie? Or just say I can't tell her?

Wouldn't that be rude since she already told me hers?

...But it's not like I asked--'

"It's Jaehyuk oppa's girlfriend, isn't it?"

"A-uh-.." Taeyeon thought about denying it for a second, or even just standing up and leaving the crime scene, but then she realized, if nothing else, her stammering just now was clearly a dead giveaway. And Tiffany didn't seem fazed at all by the situation. She breathed out heavily. "H-how did you know?"

Tiffany laughed.

"Well at first I thought you were staring so dreamily at the same guy I was looking at but after talking to you, you didn't seem interested at all in him. So I guessed it had to be the other person who is constantly by his side."

'Wow, this girl is a true American, isn't she...'

Taeyeon bit her lip and made a mental note to herself not to stare at Sunmi so openly in the future.

"So we really are crush buddies, aren't we?" Tiffany smiled.

Taeyeon laughed at that.

"I guess so, yeah."

She paused for a moment.

From the way she just casually guessed it Tiffany didn't seem like the type but still--

"Could you please, uh... not tell anyone though?" Taeyeon asked cautiously.

"Of course I won't, as long as you promise not to tell anyone about mine either."

"I don't mean-- I mean, that too but-- you know..." she lowered her voice as much as she could in the noisy environment for Tiffany to still hear her, "that I like girls? I'm not even sure just yet what this whole thing is about so nobody knows yet."

'Well, somebody knows now...' She didn't exactly expect it to go this way.

"Oh, sure, obviously."

"Thanks."

"If you wanna talk about it to anyone any time... you know, we could, like, exchange contacts or something and talk sometime. About our unrequieted loves and stuff."

Taeyeon was surprised at the open friendliness of the girl beside her but felt happy that she apparently just made a new friend, and without having to make particular effort, as well. Maybe Sunny was right about the advantages of drinking.

"Sure, seems like we'll have a blast," she grinned.

Tiffany laughed, and pushed Taeyeon's shoulder lightly.

"I'm just saying, it's one thing in common we can talk about."

"Gotcha," Taeyeon replied, taking another sip of her beer and letting her eyes trail back on Sunmi for another moment, instantly regretting it as she saw her cling onto her oppa.

Tiffany noticed this, and decided something right then and there.

"How about we help one another get over each other's crushes?"

Taeyeon broke out of her sudden reverie.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I need to get over him and I hope I'm not offending you in any way, but you'll probably have to get over her at some point, too. So let's just... try and help each other do that."

Taeyeon sighed.

Honestly, she didn't really want to get over Sunmi. Even though she knew she would likely never ever have a chance with her at all... she still somehow hoped against hope...

But if she was being honest with herself...

She looked at Tiffany. "Sure, let's do that."

... it was probably for the best.

*

tiffany [ Heyyy!

How have u been doingg?? ]

taeyeon [ Good, thanks^^

And you? ]

[ Im good 2

But I was thinking

U frree any time this weekend?

Wanna hang out?^^ ]

[ I'm free all weekend actually ]

[ #singlelife

haha ]

[  ]

[ So how bout Sat evening then? ]

[ Sure, where do you wanna meet? ]

They agreed on a place and time and met up later that week for the first time.

For the most part, they did end up talking about their crushes. It felt good to let it all out for both of them. Tiffany's friends were all in relationships so she didn't really want to rain on their parade and keep blabbering about her sorry self and Taeyeon was still keeping things under wraps, not sure how and what exactly to tell her friends just yet.

But Jaehyuk and Sunmi weren't the only topic of discussion, and by the end of the evening Taeyeon and Tiffany got to know each other better as well.

They messaged each other regularly from that day, especially for emotional support when one or the other felt overly jealous or angry or upset about their entire doomed situation.

They also tried to keep their promise to help each other get over their crushes, and often turned to one another for advice.

tiffany [ One of my friends just got close to Jaehyuk oppa...

Is it a bad idea if I tag along next time she hangs out w that group?ㅠㅠ ]

taeyeon [ Yes, don't do it. ]

[ But I mean... I know she has a gf now but

If he doesn't

In the future.. ]

[ Nope ]

[ Look I know I said I wanted to get over him ]

[ Exactly ]

[ But I think if I just managed to get closer to him

Its not like I'm gonna make a move or sth...

Just

U know

Giving myself a chance for any future opportunities ]

[ Well you've talked to him a couple times before, didn't you?

And you said he didn't seem interested in that way.

Do you really think you could change his mind WHILE he has a gf if he wasn't interested before? ]

[ Well thanks for making me feel moere miserable here... -_-" ]

[ That's not what I'm trying to do here

You know that

You're beautiful and you have a great personality

So I'm sure you'll find another guy soon

One who will actually notice you and appreciate you

There's no point pining after Jaehyuk oppa

He seems to just have a different type ]

[ ... ]

[ I mean it

We may not have known each other for too long

But I'm 100% sure you'll find someone better ]

[ I know everyone keeps telling me that

It's just hard cause all I care abt whether HE likes me rn ]

[ I know... ]

[ Btw I could say the same for you ]

[ ? ]

[ I mean your great & I know you'll find someone one day who'll notice you & like you for who you are ]

[ Thanks well

It's true Sunmi has a completely 'different type'

 ]

[ And your type is the same as Jaehyyuk oppa's?

lol ]

[ Idk about that...

I think he likes different things about her than I do ]

[ ? ]

[ Nothing ]

[ No spill it ]

[ I didn't mean to tell you this before...

But I've heard that he doesn't really care about the personality as much

If you know what I mean ]

[ Hm yeah I've heard he can be a bit shallow

Why do I always fall for guys like this?

 ]

[ So are you still wondering if you should go hang out with that group? ]

[ Nah

Guess not

Thanks  ]

[ ^^ ]

*

"So I just told her 'you've gotta let that credit go, girl.' I mean, I'm a high achiever myself but all the trouble she's going through just to get that one extra credit? Not really worth it in my opinion, is it?"

"Yeah... Although I'm generally pretty much just whatever with credits so maybe I'm not the best person to give an opinion on that."

Tiffany smiled.

"Well, you're not that bad either. You did pretty well this last semester."

It's been a few months now since Taeyeon and Tiffany first met at that party. They've been hanging out more and more frequently since, and for the past month or so, they met up on an almost everyday basis.

"Oh! Right," Taeyeon just remembered. "How was your date the other night?"

Tiffan