BFDI AND II ONESHOT BOOK!

The Time I Liked OJ

Balloon, Bomb, and Salt lounge together, swapping stories about their old crush on OJ back in Season 1. One by one, they admit how they each tried, awkwardly, to flirt with him at some point. In hindsight, it’s almost funny… all that effort, all those hopeful attempts.

Too bad OJ had his heart set on someone else the entire time.

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Balloon, Bomb, and Salt were sprawled around the common area, taking advantage of the quiet. They all had responsibilities now, actual jobs, schedules, expectations but sometimes it was nice to just exist together without challenges or drama looming over their heads. Now that things had settled and the rest of the cast had mostly forgiven Balloon, the old team found themselves hanging out more often. No grudges. No eliminations. Just… time.

From across the room, they could see Paper hovering around OJ again.

Paper was directing people like he ran the place, gesturing dramatically, then immediately softening into exaggerated puppy eyes whenever OJ glanced his way. It was almost impressive how quickly he switched modes.

Salt folded her arms. “Paper is seriously such a try-hard.”

There was a sharp edge to her voice, jealousy, thinly disguised as irritation.

“No but seriously… he is actually annoying,” Balloon agreed, leaning back on his hands.

“W-Wow, B-Balloon, didn’t think y-you’d agree,” Bomb laughed.

“Oh, come on,” Balloon huffed. “Paper just comes out of nowhere back then and suddenly OJ was all over him. Like… what did Paper even have that made OJ that into him? He’s kinda just…”

“Annoying,” Salt and Bomb said in perfect sync.

Balloon blinked. “Whaaaat? So you guys agree?”

“Obviously,” Salt scoffed. “He’s nothing special. Yet OJ acts like he hung the moon or something. It’s weird.”

“Y-Yeah, I have to agree with Salt here,” Bomb nodded. “I-I mean, OJ and I were close in Season 1. W-What did Paper have that I didn’t?”

Balloon squinted at him. “Wait, hold on.”

Salt’s eyes widened slowly. “Wait… wait wait wait. Don’t tell me you—did you both…?”

“Pssh. Once,” Balloon shrugged, pretending it wasn’t a big deal. “Way back before he was a jerk to me…”

“W-Well, you were a jerk to him,” Bomb pointed out gently.

Balloon waved that off. “Irrelevant.”

“B-But yeah, same,” Bomb admitted, cheeks faintly warm. “I t-tried so hard with OJ, but h-he abandoned me for Paper!”

“LIKE! Same?!” Salt threw her hands up. “What is wrong with us? Are we cursed? Did we miss some secret memo?”

“Welllll…” Balloon tilted his head. “I don’t think OJ likes girls.”

Salt froze. “…Oh, well…”

“But honestly,” Balloon continued with a grin, “you’d still be less annoying than Paper.”

Salt snorted. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

She leaned forward now, fully invested. “Alright then. I need details. I thought I was the only one with an OJ heartbreak arc.”

“Sure,” Bomb smiled shyly. “S-Sounds fun. I’ll go first.”

He cleared his throat.

“S-So back in Season 1… I used to sit next to him a lot. I-I’d bring him things… snacks, anything he might need. I even tried to compliment him once, but I panicked and accidentally told him his pulp distribution was ‘structurally efficient.’”