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Paper walked down the Hotel OJ walls to OJ’s desk. It had been a couple of days since OJ and his crew had gone to the Spoiled Lemon concert, and Paper had promised to take over hotel orders until he came back.
It was— a hassle, to say the least. It was no surprise that taking care of a hotel as big as Hotel OJ would be hard.
It was difficult balancing both hotel management and breaks every so often. Heck, Paper was surprised OJ could even stand after a single day of work.
At least coffee exists, who knows how long Paper would have lasted without it.
Today, however, Paper was going to the complaint desk when his foot bumped into something. Paper picked up this random thing next to the desk, and it was— a plushie of OJ?
“Huh? Why is there a plushie of OJ?” Paper mumbled to himself, carefully examining the plushie. It was adorable, yes, but hotel protocols made it necessary to check if this plushie could be dangerous.
As Paper inspected, he thankfully did not find anything out of the ordinary about the plushie. However, he noticed the fine details of this soft plush. The cheeky grin, the determined sewn eyes, and the warm, the smooth feeling of the hands and base.
…
It was enough for Paper to keep the plush on hand.
Paper continued to do his tasks with the plush nearby. He sat at the complaints desk with the plushie sitting in its own seat next to him, sat in the cafeteria with the plushie in front of him, and even filed Hotel OJ’s taxes with the plushie and his own cup of coffee.
Days had passed since he found the plush, yet Paper didn’t even dare question where the plushie came from. Paper just felt happy having something looking like OJ near him.
You can call it a crush, yes, but Paper has grown pretty fond of OJ for a while now. Maybe it was because of their bond in Season 1 and work as co-owners of the Hotel, but there was another pull there. A heart pull, in fact.
Sure it was annoying to be doing constant taxes and being overlooked as the co-owner of the hotel, but being there with OJ just made him smile.
… maybe it was a crush.
Paper put those thoughts behind his mind, continuing to write down the finances of the month.
He felt his face burn with blush at the thought of it, though. Has he grown so fond of OJ that he has been carrying around his plushie of him for days?
Paper slammed his face into the desk, groaning as his face was still pink and flustered.
The slam made the OJ plush tip over and into the trash can. Paper yelped as he grabbed the plushie, holding it closely, “Hey, careful?!”
Immediately, his hands dusted off the pencil shavings and post-it notes from the plushie’s face.
“Phew, I was worried you’d get stained or something…” Paper mumbled, holding the plush in front of his face.
His hands caressed the soft fabric, afraid to let go as he did with OJ a couple of weeks back.
Is it selfish to have wanted your best friend to stay in the hotel rather than go to the concert? Sure, Paper was happy that OJ got those tickets for the crew to relax, yet it didn’t mean he didn’t miss him ever since.
He would have enjoyed doing more taxes and filing lawsuits if it meant OJ would be beside him.
… (sigh).
That damn plushie stared at him so proudly, as if it were able to tell how much Paper wanted OJ there and mocking him for it.
Paper placed the plushie on the chair, organizing all the papers into folders and turned off the lights.
As he climbed into bed, he turned to face the plushie.
That damn sewn-on grin on his face was right in front of him.
Paper couldn’t hold himself back, his hands already reaching to grab the plushie as he held it closely. He laid there for a few minutes before his eyes closed, and he was dreaming.
Dreaming of what you may ask?
He was there with OJ at the Spoiled Lemon concert. The two were wearing Spoiler Lemon merch as the sunset glaze laid on OJ’s face. The colors of the sun reflected on him perfectly.
His hands found their way to OJ’s face, staining his cheek with face paint. OJ didn’t mind, he was just smiling at Paper like the dork he was.
“You look… perfect, OJ,” Paper smiled, his cheeks rosy pink. OJ’s hand rested on Paper’s as the two stared into each other’s eyes.
The music died down, the sounds of crazy fans seemed to have faded… and OJ was there. A perfect night…
Then, he was awakened by a sudden thud.
Paper jumped out of bed, dropping the plushie as he ran down. He couldn’t even close the door, for he was worried if someone had broken in or something had shattered.
To his surprise, it was neither.
OJ stood in the lobby, picking up one of the chairs he had knocked over on the way in.
“Ah, sorry, Paper! Seems I just put more stuff on your manager plate,” OJ joked, smiling as he looked at Paper. Of course he had that damn dorky smile.
Paper chuckled, walking over as he rubbed his eyes, “Hah! A couple of chairs don’t hurt, thankfully it’s not me cleaning up Tissue’s snots to dealing with Cheesy’s constant jokes…”
OJ snorted at the comments about their guests, patting Paper on the back, “Seems like you managed the hotel well, hm?”
“Yeah, it was- a breeze!” Paper grinned, putting his hands on his hips with pride. OJ chuckled at Paper’s reaction.
The two stood there, staring at one another for a couple seconds too long.
“I’m glad you’re back,” Paper broke the silence, his face had already started to blush a little.
“Heh, thanks,” OJ dusted off his hands, his attention entirely on Paper, “I’m assuming you have a lot you want to tell me?”
“You bet,” Paper smirked, leading the two to the cafeteria, “I was thinking… Maybe we can host a sewing activity for everyone. Maybe make a couple of plushies?”