When Nina arrived at the sports field, the heat of the late afternoon subsided. She sat under a tree and waited for the varsities to start practicing. As usual, the only people there were the track team, the cheer squad and the soccer team. It might’ve been suspicious for her to be there after school-hours, but because she visited often, it sort of became normal.

“Oi, Bai Nina!” A voice called out.

Nina turned to see Jongdae, a Korean member of the track team, walking towards her. He was one of the few friends she had made during her daily routine. And surprisingly, during their first conversation, he had seen right through her.

She waved at the brown-haired boy. “Hey.”

“Yo,” Jongdae waved back at her. “Are you finally going to talk to him today?”

“Maybe?” Nina averted her gaze and stared at the soccer players nearby. They were stretching their arms and legs, getting ready for practice. Soon, they started making laps around the field. The team ran by them swiftly. In the midst of the crowd, she spotted a mop of honey-brown hair. 

Lu Han.

 She smiled.

“I swear you have to start talking to him soon,” Jongdae sighed as he sat down beside Nina. He looked to where she was staring and made a face. “Because you’re really creepy when you stare into the distance like that. I mean seriously, do you have any idea what he’s going to feel when he sees you grinning like a maniac?“

Nina threw a towel at him, her eyes still focused on Lu Han. “If you’re here to tease me, then please go away and bother someone else.”

“I’m kidding!” The boy laughed, picking it up and returning it to her. “You can stare at him for as long as you want then, just as you always did.”

“Actually, today is different.” Nina said. She tried her best to look for the deer when the team decided to do kicking exercises. They were lining up messily, kicking the soccer balls towards the goal. “I now have to stare at him to finish something.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s… er… fun to do?”

“To me it is,” She nodded. “I mean, I could do this all day. I really don’t… mind…”

Nina trailed off because she finally spotted Lu Han. It was his turn to try to goal. She watched intently as he ran towards one ball and kicked it, making it spin directly into the net. Nina cheered silently, raising her fists in the air and mouthing ‘Jia You, Lu Han! Jia You!’.

“Looking at you makes me feel sad,” Jongdae shook his head, looking to Lu Han and turning back to Nina. “You’d make a really awkward fangirl.”

Nina resisted the urge to roll her eyes – because that would take her attention away from Lu Han and his perfect goals. She had to observe him. But Jongdae can be annoying sometimes.

“With your mouth opening and closing, you look like a fish.”

Nina continued to cheer, trying her best to drown out Jongdae’s comments. Lu Han was now done with kicking most of the soccer balls into the net. He took a breather before backing up to start kicking all over again, but this time Lu Han was starting to lose his aim.

“You also look like a bird with your hands held up like that.”

The next ball Lu Han kicked flew right over the goal. He was sweating profusely and his hair was dishevelled but he still kept trying to goal. Nina started getting worried. 

“You’re frowning… It makes you look like an angry bird.” Jongdae laughed loudly.

But as much as she wanted to see Lu Han score the last three soccer balls, Nina finally snapped her head towards Jongdae.

“Hey, look. I’m you!” He copied Nina’s actions with exaggeration. “Squawk, squawk, I’m an angry bird and I like Lu Han-oppa!”

“Hey!” Nina lunged at Jongdae to shut him up. He barely dodged it and stumbled against the tree. She took this as a chance to attack the boy. Jongdae smiled nervously when he saw her curled hand hover over his forehead. Nina was going to flick him and it was going to hurt.

“I am going to kill yo –“

“LOOK OUT!” A voice abruptly called. Suddenly, Nina felt something hard hit her head. The impact made her dizzy and she fell back on the ground.

“Ow,” Nina groaned, clutching her head in pain. “Jongdae, you jerk.”

“But I didn’t do it!”

“Oh shoot! I am so sorry!” Someone shouted from behind her. “Are you okay? Do you have a concussion?”

Nina shook her head, but regretted afterwards. The throbbing was killing her. But in the middle of the pain, she realized that Lu Han might’ve seen the whole thing. And now she just wanted to sink into a hole and die.

“Come with me, let’s go to the clinic,” The stranger offered as he helped her up carefully.

“Thank you,” She huffed, still clutching head.

“Yeah, thanks, Lu Han,"

Nina looked up and saw that it was in fact him. Now she definitely wanted to die. If the circumstances had been different, she would’ve put on her best smile and introduce herself, but for now, she can only glare at Jongdae. Seeing her distress, the Korean boy smirked and gently pushed her towards Lu Han. “Please take her to the clinic for me. I need to go back to my team.”

‘What are you doing?!’ Nina mouthed at him angrily. But Jongdae ignored her and started walking away.

“No problem,” Lu Han called out before looking back at Nina. “Come on now, we need to treat you.”

She nodded lightly and started walking, only to lose her footing and fall face front. Thankfully, Lu Han caught her before she could injure herself more.

“Maybe I should help you,” He chuckled and linked their arms together as they walked. Lu Han shifted their weight, making Nina lean on him. “I hope you don’t mind.”

She tried her best to hold back her choking sounds with a smile. “Ah, it’s okay.”

Nina wasn’t entirely sure if it meant something, but when he smiled back, the dull pain in her head was gone. Lu Han looked so beautiful when he smiled. And right now, Nina was sort of glad that she's seeing him up close.

Observe the Target? Check.