Should I Be Scared?

Cheng Yan's apartment was in a neighborhood just three bus stops away from his office. It usually takes an hour to travel to and from his office during rush hour.

But he was able to get to his neighborhood within 30 minutes just now because it's still around lunch time.

The apartment was near a park with a playground so many families with children and pets were living there. It was also near the middle school that's why most kids Cheng Yan knew were at that age.

After he got off the bus, Cheng Yan remembered that he promised some neighborhood kids to help with their science project. Even though he hadn't seen them in three days, it's still best if he keep his promise to the kids.

He changed his path to walk through the park where they usually pass the time after lunch.

Lightning, Maggie's Golden Retriever, saw him first and tried to pounce on him. Cheng Yan tried to move but the dog always managed to fly to where he's planning to dodge.

When Maggie, Nana and Lily caught up, they saw him still on the ground with the dog trying to look in his pockets for treats. Cheng Yan sat up while laughing, "Sorry, girl, I just came from the office so I didn't manage to bring treats for you."

Lightning whimpered as if understanding his words. "Don't worry. I have treats at home and will give you some later." Cheng Yan assured it.

Dusting out his pants, he stood up and looked at the kids, "I came here to help on your science projects in case it's still not done. Sorry I have to be at the office these three days and wasn't able to see you guys."

"We're done." harrumphed Lily with her twin-tails swinging.

"But we can show you our works now and maybe you can still give us some advice." Nana continued.

Maggie chipped in, "Okay, I 'll get Pasha, Alethea and Celine." Then she started running towards the apartment area with Lightning closely following.

Cheng Yan looked at the figure of Maggie with her long white hair whipping behind her, and her dog quickly disappearing past the street corner. He, together with Nana and Lily decided to follow so they can talk about their homeworks in the apartment building's lobby. Nana and Lily also took out their notebooks while they still waited for Maggie to get her actual project.

Nana wanted to be a doctor so she decided to dissect a frog and describe all the organs in her presentation. Her father, Tigui Pine, caught frogs for her project and taught her how to dissect it. She first started by watching her father and now, she started to do it on her own.

"I still need my dad's help sometimes since the frog's skin was really sticky and slippery. But I followed your advice before to think of what I'm interested in and I heard that to become a doctor, I also have to dissect animals." She smilingly said to Cheng Yan.

Lily, meanwhile, chose a tap water analysis with the microscope her mother gave her last Christmas. Lily's mother is a scientist and she also wants her daughter to become one. This wouldn't be a problem since Lily was also good with science and has been using her new microscope to look at many things.

The latest personal project of Lily was looking at blood cells. She got the idea when she scraped her knee playing with the other two girls. She also tried to get a blood sample from their Siamese cat, Mystery Moon but it always runs away when it saw Lily carrying a scalpel.

"I got blood sample from my mom too." Lily also smiled at Cheng Yan and he tried to smile in reply.

As the two finished discussing their projects, Maggie came out of her house with Lightning looking sad. "Mom said we can't remove the pot near the window since we were recording Pasha, Alethea and Celine's growth."

Cheng Yan understood what was Maggie's project. He was the one who suggested this since Maggie would not want to actively do an experiment. With the monggo plants' growth, she'll be able to watch the experiment whenever she likes and review the recording once done.

"Then, why don't I just attend your school science fair? With that, I'll be able to see all your finished projects." Cheng Yan suggested.

The kids became excited with this and resolved to invite as many neighbors as they can to watch their presentation.

___

Tired from work and talking to the kids, Cheng Yan entered his apartment and decided to just take a quick shower and get to bed to sleep. Like usual, he opened his laptop first before taking clothes from his closet.

As he was entering his bathroom, Cheng Yan saw that there was a notification in his laptop from the online game 'Release That Witch'. He decided to rest first before checking the game status since he already informed his guild mates that he will be unavailable these days.

Cheng Yan entered the shower with his eyes closed as he was starting to really feel the sleepiness and tiredness. He was already thinking of sleeping until the next morning when he has to wake up again to go to work. Just thinking of the overtime again the next days made him remember his bizarre dream.