#CWAC phase II

[mvssmallow]

Hiiii, i hope you have a good time.

This might be a bit sudden because I'm not familiar with this app, even though I've had this app for years.

I want to ask you where I can read the rest of the chapters of Cloudy With a Chance: Phase II Summaries, because there are only two chapters accessible.

I just checked and I have no idea why the links don't work. I tried to look for them but I can't find them either. I actually suspect that I might have deleted them for some reason or tumblr messed them up (like they have my other links). It's a big pity because I never saved them anywhere else.

If anyone out there saved all the other bits I wrote, it'd be super cool to read them again. =)

I did find a draft for Phase II: Part 8 though. It's under the cut.

***

The new apartment is not what they were expecting. It’s nice but feels a little sterile when they move in, as though it’s never had any kind of personality at all. There were bigger windows, so much more storage, walk in wardrobes and a bathroom that doesn’t look like it’s 50 years old. 

Jiwon misses the cozy and intermittent mess of their old apartment. He says intermittent because when you live with Hanbin, nothing really stays messy for that long. He misses the lived-in colours of it and even how some thing don’t work right unless you knew the secret way to deal with it. He misses their bedroom and kitchen most of all because almost every good memory he’s had lately came from one of those two places. 

Hanbin loves the new apartment though.

“It’s so clean!”

“Yeah-”

“Have you seen the wardrobe space?! It’s insane!”

“That’s cool I guess?”

“We can fit so much stuff in here!”

“The kitchen has a walk in pantry! It has actual shelving Jiwon! Do you know how long I’ve wanted proper shelving?!”

Okay, so Hanbin really really loves the new apartment. Despite all his neuroses and lack of trust, he takes to the new environment like a duck to water. They have space for a study and make-shift home recording booth. Hanbin does most of his writing there when Jiwon’s at work. 

He also gets to know everyone on the security team and which shift they do. They don’t have much to do with the neighbours because everyone here wants their privacy but once or twice a week, there’s a TV star or idol sharing the lift upstairs with them. 

They all signed NDAs. Thank God. 

Nobody questions their living arrangements. Hanbin has no idea what Jin said to management but seeing as he’s not a girl, they don’t seem to care. Especially not when a huge amount of Jiwon’s fans have already assumed that Hanbin’s just another idol or trainee with BeatBox or GlobalKore. Nobody corrects the rumours. Jiwon is too busy with promotion and schedules and events for management to pencil in any kind of meeting about his love life, real or imagined. 

Hanbin is the one who really moves them in and does the lion’s share of unpacking and turning the apartment from Accommodation to Home. 

It takes about weeks for Jiwon to warm up to the new place. He’s so busy with the promo schedule that he doesn’t really notice much when he gets home, hits the shower, eats for 10 minutes then sleeps. He gets up when the alarm blares Snoop Dog and Hanbin kisses his shoulder. Then it’s a mad dash to get ready before he’s bundled into a van and Jin starts rattling off his schedule for the day. 

But their apartment does change. 

One picture goes up on the white walls (Almond Blossom vines, which triggers something like a distant memory). Then it’s the waterlily print that Hanbin kept from their old place. Then more and more art prints and photos dot here and there. 

The cold tiled floor in the main living room is covered by a peach coloured shaggy rug that Jiwon loves digging his toes into. The bathroom finally has their favourite towels hanging on the rails. The space by the front door has a row of their slippers and shoes, bookended by Nikes and a very well worn Winnie the Pooh. 

In the back of Jiwon’s head, he knows things are changing, he knows Hanbin is moving them in. But it doesn’t really hit him until he’s in the kitchen, looking for cereal at 2am and stumbling into the walk-in pantry and being stunned at the fact they have four different kinds just lined up neatly next to each other. 

“Oh my God, what are you doing. I can hear you chewing from the bedroom.” Hanbin grumbles. 

“Don’t lie. I’m very quiet.” 

Hanbin peers into Jiwon’s bowl and grimaces. “Are you eating all four of our cereals at the same time?”

“Yup.”

And just like that Hanbin shakes his head, turns on his heels and shuffles back to sleep without another word. 

[mvssmallow]

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: CWAC PHASE II: 01

BeatBox is really beating Jiwon’s ass to the ground. He’s not on a light stroll into his music career, instead he finds himself sucked into a dizzying whirlpool of meeting schedules, training contracts, fitness appointments and recording the same lines until management arbitrarily deems them good enough. It’s hard but he’s no quitter, no complainer, no ungrateful diva, even when he’s exhausted and spread so thin, he ends up falling asleep in meetings. 

He’s no complainer until one day, 2 months in, they push for a fall album release and then it’s double the meetings, double the training, triple the recording and all that leaves minus zero time for sleep, him mental health and spending any meaningful time with Hanbin. He complains then. He rants and fumes and internalises his frustrations until it explodes spectacularly onto inanimate objects. 

Hanbin steps in when he finds Jiwon swearing at their coffee machine on more days then not. Jiwon snaps at him then regrets it immediately but is too tired to apologise. They argue and argue, over the most inconsequential of things (the brand of laundry detergent, how thick their toast slices are, how sweet the honey is) and Hanbin takes it on the chin because he knows this is HARD and Jiwon needs his understanding and support more than ever. 

But he’s still human. And a human with anxiety problems that waxes and wanes. When Jiwon has to fly away for a company music festival, he felt fine, maybe even a little relieved somehow. The time apart might be good for them after weeks of being at each other’s throats in the confined space of their apartment. It was fine. Until photos emerge on the internet of Jiwon interacting with the female BeatBox trainee that Hanbin has been hearing about. He wasn’t worried until he sees what she looks like (hint: she’s gorgeous and nothing like Hanbin in any way). It should mean nothing but he’s still got trust issues and those things don’t just change overnight. His anxiety gets worse and worse and until one day, Yun comes to visit and realises: Hanbin’s relapsed.

The psychotherapy was a secret at first. Hanbin doesn’t feel the need to disclose that to anyone else yet. Yun keeps his secret and supports him unconditionally. Jiwon returns, happier and lighter and whatever tense frustrations he had before the festival had now seemed to disappear. Jiwon asks of course, he’s always been quietly perceptive, and after days of evading the question and lying, Hanbin gives in and tells him the truth. It’s deja vu. To that first argument they had over Jiwon’s girlfriend rumours. History repeats itself. The argument plays out exactly like it did the first time round until Hanbin pulls at his hair and yells at Jiwon to stop talking. 

“I’m going to therapy for this, okay! I am TRYING!” Hanbin shouts defensively. “You knew I was like this so why are you even surprised?! How did you think I’d react to the photos?”

And because Jiwon takes two steps forward and one step back, the wrong thing comes out of his mouth again. “Like an adult in an adult relationship?! I don’t cheat! Just admit that you still don’t trust me!”

“I don’t trust you!” Hanbin snaps back. “And thanks for just ignoring the fact that I had to go back into therapy over this!”

Jiwon just stares at him for what seems like a whole minute before shaking his head in resignation. “Maybe this isn’t working.”

Well. Because history repeats itself again and again, they go on another break. They don’t exactly break up because neither even had the energy to say those words out loud. Jiwon spends more time at the studio and sometimes sleeps there. Hanbin goes home to his parents under the guise of being a good son who just wanted to reconnect with his family. His mother suspects something, of course, but she doesn’t bring it up.

Therapy is hard. Hanbin thinks about quitting and cancelling every single appointment. He tells his therapist that, which is met with a warm knowing chuckle and a change in tactics. It continues to be hard, he feels he isn’t getting anywhere until his therapist hits a nerve so exposed and raw, that Hanbin breaks down in the room. 

“Where do you see yourself one year from now?”

“Nowhere.”

“Nowhere? Okay. Well, tell me more about what this ‘Nowhere’ looks like.”

The tears surprise him. He’s not much of a crier but he does manage a hiccup and pause, if only to mutter, “Goddamn apple orchard.”

Because even when he hates Jiwon, he still loves him. 

Hanbin drives to the BeatBox studios after that, sitting in his car to call Jiwon on his phone. 

“You and your goddamn apples!”

“Hanbin? What the hell....”

“We need to talk. I’m in the car park.”

“What? Where?”

“The car park. Can you come down?”

“Hanbin, I’m literally looking at our car park and there’s only my car and Mr. Lee’s bike there.”

“You’re at home?”

“Yeah.....where are you?”

“At BeatBox.”

They’re a mess, both eagerly wanting to drive to the other’s location before Hanbin has to shout over it all again, “God! Stop! This is ridiculous. Let’s just meet at the cafe okay? It’s half way. If you’re ready to move on from this then come. If you’re not, well, I’ll order a coffee and tell my therapist that I tried.”

Hanbin gets there first. He waits anxiously. 

And Jiwon. He does come. 

This isn’t a romance novel. Their talk isn’t cute or full of mushy sentiments that dissolve into soft apologies and promises to be forgotten tomorrow. No, it’s raw, honest, realistic to the point where Hanbin is wondering, for the 100th time, why Jiwon is still even wanting to be a part of this whole Us thing. 

“I’m....sorry I over-reacted to the photos.” Hanbin starts shakily but forces himself to look Jiwon in the eye. “I guess I still just....worry that you’re going to wake up one day and realise-”

“-that I’m straight?”

“I never said my thoughts were rational.” Hanbin says quietly and maybe a little defensively. “You always ask for honesty and my therapist threatened to increase our sessions if I didn’t man up and tell you all this.”

“So you’re doing this because your therapist told you to?”

“I’m doing it because my therapist is right. Even when I’m mad at you, I still want to be with you. Not always physically or in the same apartment but the dreams we talked about, I still want it but we really really need to communicate better.”

Their cups of tea go cold as Jiwon lets the words sink in. 

“Did it ever occur to you that I worry about the same thing? I’m sorry for taking out my stress on you.”

“Technically you took it out on the coffee machine. And toaster.”

“I know.” Jiwon smiles apologetically. “I’m still sorry. I think....we just need time to adjust to all this. Too much shit has happened too fast. Give me time to process all this. I’m trying too, okay? You know how hard it is to read books about this? I’m still scarred from Life of Pi.”

“You read books on how to deal with me?”

“I read books to understand you and us.”

Hanbin tears up for the second time that day. “Why would you even do that?”

Jiwon rolls his eyes but smiles softly across the table. “Maybe you should get it in that thick pretty head of yours that maybe, just maybe, this guy wants to be with you for the long haul? Ever think of that?”

“No.” Hanbin says, just to be contrary and okay, because Jiwon is so cute when he’s pretending to be annoyed.

“Oh my god.”

It makes him laugh, how Jiwon can reach out to grab all their problems and squash them into the palm of his hand. Just like that, a million big problems reduced to a small one. Sometimes life is hard but sometimes it is that easy too. 

[mvssmallow]

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: CWAC PHASE II: 02

Jiwon goes with Hanbin to his therapy sessions. It’s a big breakthrough to have a mediator there, providing education and dispelling all the myths and pointing out all those negatively reinforcing behaviours that people tend to do when they’re mad and frustrated. Hanbin chews his nails aggressively in the first session, convinced that Jiwon has another front row seat to his “Psycho Show” and will judge him relentlessly but because Jiwon’s no ordinary boy-off-the-streets, it does the opposite and there’s a real understanding from Jiwon, who slowly begins to realise that he has a few issues of his own too. Things don’t miraculously improve overnight, because Jiwon still has days where he has no idea how to process all this while having his ass kicked by his record company....but the therapist gently asks him if he wants to come back on his own some time.

And he says yes. 

Hanbin may have said, ‘What The Fuck?” out loud at that point. 

So they do sessions now. Together. Separately. It’s helpful. It helps.

Jiwon’s body and mind slowly but surely adjusts to the demands of his new career. He and Hanbin make time for each other, even if it’s just eating breakfast at the sink or having dinner together 3 out of 7 nights. They force themselves to do it because if you let your work run your life then you aren’t really living after awhile, you’re just going the motions. He hates it when they miss out on all the small things that makes life worthwhile, like having all the time in the world to sleep in, watching bad movies, eating take-out (vaguely off limits now that Jiwon is preparing for a debut soon). 

Things are okay-ish. 

The funny thing is, whenever a few areas of his life is going well, another will inevitably implode. This time, it’s his own writing career. He becomes despondent, watching newer employees get better and more high profile assignments and top page billings and by-lines. Donghyuk encourages him to hang in there as best as he can but it’s not really a problem Donghyuk has had for a long time, being the magazines star-writer and the editor’s favourite. 

Hanbin tries to write better, write stronger, write harder but all it does is churn out depersonalised pieces that not even he really cares about. 

It’s Jiwon, because of course it would be, who ends up being the catalyst. 

“If you don’t love it, why don’t you try something else?”

1 month turns into 2 months and by the third, the question is still cycling around Hanbin’s mind. And for someone who tries to plan everything within an inch of it’s life, he does something completely unplanned: he goes to work on a Thursday morning, walks past his office, knocks on the Editor’s door and gives his 2 week’s notice. 

After spending 30 minutes apologising to Donghyuk and promising to stay in contact he leaves the Daily Grind behind. In all sense of the word.

Then he has a panic attack in the car park. 

“Could’ve warned me about this in the morning babe.” Jiwon teases gently when he comes to pick Hanbin up and drive his car home. 

“I didn’t know I was going to do it today!” Hanbin grumbles in his seat. 

“So. How does it feel?”

“How do you think?! I didn’t even make a back up plan. What the hell was I thinking. You should always have a back up plan. What the hell am I going to do now? How are we going to pay the rent and-”

“Woah woah woah.....come on, you’ll be ok. We’ve got savings and I’m still working. It’s gonna be okay.”

“I can’t expect you to-”

“To what? Support you? Like you did for me before I got signed?”

“That’s different.”

“It’s not and you know it.”

Hanbin just humms in response. 

“Tell me how you really feel. Honestly.”

“Well.....” Hanbin sighs, pauses, looks out the window at the city whizzing by and basks in the knowledge that tomorrow is really a brand new day. He doesn’t have to wake up and go to the same place, only to sit down and force his brain to type words he doesn’t care about. Rinse repeat rinse repeat. 

A smile creeps on his face after awhile. Jiwon makes an amused sound but doesn’t say anything.

“I guess, I’m kinda....relieved?”

“That all?”

“And better?”

“Anything else?”

“A little bit excited?” Hanbin grimaces then. “God no, that’s just lame.”

Jiwon reaches over to mess with Hanbin’s dark hair. “Nah, it’s not. It’s good babe. It’s real good. I’m proud of you for doing this. As I said, when we have kids, they’re gonna have balls of steel genetically and that’s gonna come from you.”

Hanbin rolls his eyes in mock disgust. “What if we have girls?”

“Even better, haha.”

For the first few days of his unemployment, the apartment is just so quiet when everyone in the block is either at school, tai chi for the Eldery or at work. Except Hanbin. Hanbin is on the couch, holding the phone in his hand, his mum’s number staring back at him. He’d cleaned the apartment three times. Folding and ironing all his clothes then all of Jiwon’s. Making enough meals to last the entire week in one day. 

There’s just the small-big task of telling his parents that he quit his job.

And his parents? Well, they don’t take it how he expects them to but at the same time, it’s oddly typical. He chickens out of calling them and drives there instead. 

His dad scolds him for not having a back up plan and rambles on and on in a long-winded version of “I told you so”. But to everyone’s complete surprise, his dad doesn’t try to get him back into the business company again, he offers of course but Hanbin can’t do a job like that, it’d kill him and they all know it. 

When he leaves, it’s not on an entirely bad note. His mother is concerned. His dad is full of suggestions and demands Hanbin updates his resume and reads the list of options he provides. It’s kind of heartwarming, even if he knows that his Pre-Stroke dad would never be like this. 

And Hanbyul? Well, she has self interest in his unemployment. 

“Can we go get bubble tea and cake after ballet then?! And you can pick me up from school! But in Jiwon’s car!”

“Gotta check my schedule.....Oh that’s right! I’m free indefinitely!”

“YAY!”

And funnily enough, his days get filled up pretty easily. Playdates with his sister, lunch dates with Yun, hanging around June at the tattoo shop, not being mentally exhausted when Jiwon gets home, being able to have dinner and get up early to kiss Jiwon goodbye in the mornings without the time pressure. 

But most importantly. 

He writes again. 

[mvssmallow]

I agree with the Anon who said you created a universe. :) ... and about how no one's really moved on from CWAC. ;)

Hrm. I don’t think I can spend another 2 years writing Phase II and III but I’m quite curious as to what kind of conclusion people would be satisfied with. I’m assuming it’s the whole: Jiwon releasing his album, Hanbin releasing his book, BeeBee’s existence....

[mvssmallow]

Sending prayers and good thoughts to the Italy Pi Club member! I have CWAC phase II questions if you're answering those. Does Beatbox know about Jiwon and Hanbin or will that come as a surprise later on? Has Jin met Hanbin and how did it go? And for my ikon/epik high heart, will Tablo meet Bin? I feel like I can imagine that going down in my head and him teasing Jiwon for landing him.

They don’t know. They’re still pretty regular people at this stage, sure Jiwon’s got some fans but it’s a small amount and he’s not important enough for major gossip to spill publicly. Hanbin will meet BeatBox eventually. That whole thing is coming up soon.

Prayers for everyone atm. Take care PiClub!!

[mvssmallow]

i know it would be too much to ask but please continue writing cwac. 🙏🙏🙏 the story is too good and i don't think we'll get to read another story like this

*looks around* Is there some kind of campaign going on? 

CWAC is a big commitment. Twist my arm hard enough and I might do a one shot but as it stands....I tried to start Phase II and got a few chapters in but it didn’t feel right, especially in light of what’s happening in real life with IKON. 

If I ever did write more for it I’d skip a few years ahead because I know a lot of people want to read about how their kids happened and even thought we’re just all so used to calling them BeeBee, Ele and SpongeBob, it’d be nice to reveal their real names haha. 

[mvssmallow]

Gotta give you the crown for writing CWAC! Literally the best DoubleB story ever and I have read plenty!!!! No matter how many times I read it, it never gets boring

This is really too sweet of you. God, now I feel I should start Phase II but alas, I have exams soon. But when those are over...we will begin thinking about BeeBee.

[mvssmallow]

MVSS-Re-Reading of CWAC: Chapter 0

Okay. If people are re-reading CWAC, we might as well have a discussion. I’m feeling oddly motivated about DB at the moment and even though I’m not starting CWAC Phase II just yet, I do weirdly have some time to talk about right now. 

Let’s start off at chapter 0. This was originally posted on June 6th 2016. I never ever thought it would end up being the multi-chaptered CWAC that it turned out to be. At the time it was just a fun little snippet I wrote after talking to another DB fan on here. It’s so funny how short it is and yes yes, I KNOW the early chapters had a different POV and voice. It just felt more natural for me to write from each guy’s POV and that’s why I changed it in the later chapters. 

Anyway, if you have re-read chapter 0, here is your chance to air your thoughts and grievances. =)

[mvssmallow]

I was rewatching the doubleb award show moments and I was wondering will we get to see cwac Hanbin being an adorable mess of happy emotions at some point too? He was so, so cute when they won things. I really just want cwac Jiwon to have an armful of a happy & dimply emotional mess. (I also now have a strange desire to see cwac Jiwon at Hanbin's book signings being a supportive boyfriend)

If I ever get round to writing Phase II then yes, there will probably scenes like that. Life is so crazy busy and part of me just wants to jump to Phase III and write about the kids. 

[mvssmallow]

I’m so excited for the next CWAC update but also sad at the fact its the last chapter for phase 1 I still don’t know how to feel about it!!!

Phase II will be exciting though! I’ve been dying to get to Phase II for a long time. 

[mvssmallow]

Will he get to meet Jin in part II of cwac? I'm curious to see him and Jiwon in action, since we've only heard mentions of him from Jiwon. Also does Beatbox know about Jiwon and Hanbin or are they keeping it a secret?

Jin is actually Jinhwan. I changed that bit of the story because it made more sense. He will definitely feature in Phase II. 

Beatbox don’t know about Jiwon and Hanbin yet. This is something we explore more in future chapters. 

[mvssmallow]

No sgsg please keep them coming they’re the only thing keeping me going + when are gonna see jealous hanbin?👀👀 hehehe

You mean in CWAC? I have no idea actually. I do know that I’m very excited about Phase II starting soon.

[mvssmallow]

Hi first of all, thank you so much for your efforts to creates beautiful stories of doubleb. i just reading cwac phase II and i love it so much, finally you willing to continue my fav ff ever haha. I read all your qna with anon, and i realized that you will not continuing your db stories or rewrite them with different pairings and guess what, i'm crying so hard. idk why, but my tears keep falling but then again it's your stories and i can't do anything with that hahah i hate myself

I’m only going to re-write BL I think, not the others. MV has an interesting plot too but it’s a lot of work. I’m not re-writing CWAC, that’s even MORE work, and I haven’t finished writing all the summaries for it yet so at least you’ve got a lot more CWAC to read in the coming weeks. =)

[mvssmallow]

scared by jeremy zucker reminded me of cwac phase ii for some reason. maybe im being too emotional these days haha but idk

Oh that is quite sweet yes. =)

[mvssmallow]

reread CWAC again plus the summary for phase ii. what i genuinely appreciate about this is that it's a story of their own selves as much as it's on their relationship. honestly relieved when you stated that hanbin writes again amidst and despite everything. your summaries are as well written as the full chapters, and while they may have been shorter, i believe they still evoked the emotions you want us to pick up and delivered their journey both as a couple and as individuals. Thanks, Q!

Oh this is a very kind message and you’re too generous about the summaries haha but I’ll just agree to disagree. =)

You know what? I really dislike stories where it’s all about the relationship and both people striving for the relationship as if it is Life EndGame. I want people to develop so that’s why I make you all read about boring recording schedules and Hanbin never actually succeeding in writing anything consistently. 

[mvssmallow]

It kinda makes sense lol i realized it just never occured to me cwac was in australia!! I've always thought they're in seoul honestly. 😂 Well, the more we know hahahaha. Appreciate the summaries, now I'll have nights to play out what happens to phase ii :)

CWAC is NOT set in Australia. It’s definitely set in Seoul. I’m just a dumb Australian and didn’t have the foresight in 2016 to change that little detail when I posted the first chapter. In my defence, I didn’t not know at that time that I would be writing it for another 3 years....or anyone would be reading that closely to figure out my mistakes, heh. =)