NTH 48

Until now, he had made sure not to give Cheonsa Kang any opportunity to target Nana, but there was no telling how that parasitic soul, cornered from not being able to steal the host’s energy, would lash out.

What if they just went abroad together with Nana? For instance, buying a small island in a foreign country where no one could find them. Taking him there and staying there, just the two of them, until they grow old and die…

“Je-Jeha…, I can’t breathe…, huff!”

Startled back to his senses by Nana’s ragged breathing, Jeha quickly pulled his lips away and cupped Nana’s face with his hands. Nana, after catching his breath for a while, glared at Jeha with a look of bewilderment.

“What on earth is wrong with you? What’s the problem.”

“Sorry.”

“Are you that sexually frustrated? Enough to push me around like this where I can’t even breathe?”

Jeha shook his head bitterly.

“No. It’s not that…”

“Then why are you acting like this.”

Caressing Nana’s cheek, Jeha spoke with apology in his voice.

“It’s because I’m worried.”

“About what?”

“What if you get depressed after seeing the horses.”

“Why would I get depressed from seeing horses run excitedly?”

Unable to find more words to explain, Jeha forced a smile.

“You’re right. I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

“You’ve been a bit strange lately, Jeha. Acting like you’re from a different world or something.”

“I’m sorry. My mistake.”

“If you want to do something naughty, do it at home. You need to be mindful of the time and place.”

“I will.”

“If you understand, get out. They say you can see the horses warming up if you go to the paddock before the race, so take me there right now.”

“Okay.”

Jeha stuck close to Nana, who was walking briskly, and surreptitiously took his hand. Nana looked around, feigning indifference, but did not pull his hand away.

Jeha gripped Nana’s hand even more tightly and entered the racecourse.

“Do we need a book?”

Jeha said, pointing to the horse racing-related booklets lined up on the stand, and Nana smiled wryly with a somewhat mischievous expression.

“Buy one if you want to read it. I’m fine.”

“Can you do it without a book? It’s your first time.”

“I can do it. So forget the book and just buy me a pair of binoculars. I want to see the horses up close.”

After buying a pair of cheap, toy-like binoculars from the concession stand, they went to the paddock, the place where the horses for the race were warming up. They say you can predict the winning horse by observing their health condition or gait there, but to Jeha’s eyes, they all looked similar, so he could not find any useful information.

“Do you see anything? They all look the same to me.”

Jeha, who turned to Nana sitting next to him with the question, was startled. Nana’s face looked completely different from usual.

A listless expression mixed with languor, as if accustomed to resignation and giving up. Yet, a seriousness that did not take his eyes off the horse.

Jeha knew all too well whose face that was.

Until all the horses in the paddock had left for the race, Nana did not say a word, holding the binoculars to his eyes and carefully observing each horse one by one.

While moving to the main racetrack, Jeha pulled Nana’s shoulder and held him tightly to prevent him from being pushed around by the crowd. As soon as they arrived at the track and took their seats, Nana took out his phone from his pocket and started betting.

“Is betting about picking one horse you think will come in first and putting money on it?”

When Jeha asked, Nana narrowed his eyes and grinned mischievously.

“That’s the simplest win bet. How can you expect to win big money with that?”

“If not that, what else is there?”

“There are many. A place bet is guessing one horse that will come in within the top three, a quinella place is guessing two horses that will come in within the top three regardless of the order, and so on. The more accurately you guess the ranking, the higher the payout rate.”

“So which way are you going to do it?”

“Of course, it has to be the most difficult and lowest probability trifecta. It’s guessing the horses that will come in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in order. Then the payout rate goes up by several hundred times.”

“Several hundred times. Wait, didn’t you say this was your first time at a racecourse?”

“It is my first time.”

“Then how do you know all that?”

“I studied it in the car the whole way here.”

“You learned all that just by looking at it once? A guy who can’t even properly solve elementary school workbooks?”

“Nana is the type who is stronger in practice than in theory. Different from a desk-bound doctor like you, Jeha.”

Jeha did not think Nana, who was at a racecourse for the first time, would be able to guess all of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places. However, watching Nana act haughty and confident while ignoring him, who knew nothing about horse racing, was surprisingly fresh and enjoyable.

“Which number horse are you going to bet on?”

Jeha asked, looking at the large electronic display filled with dizzying numbers. Jeha had no idea what those numbers even meant.

“I’m going to bet on 11, 5, and 8, in that order.”

At Nana’s answer, Jeha looked for ’11-5-8′ under the characters for ‘trifecta’. Next to it was the number 99.6.

“Does that mean the probability of them coming in in the order of 11-5-8 is 99.6%?”

“No. That’s the payout rate. If you bet one hundred won on 11-5-8, you multiply that by 99.6 and get 9,960 won.”

“What? Why is the payout rate so high?”

“It means not many people bet on that number. It’s a system where the total amount bet is divided among the people who bet on the same number. The number with the lowest payout rate is the number that the most people have bet on.”

“What, so you’re saying everyone bet on number 7. The fact that not many people bet on 11-5-8 means that the chances of those horses winning are also low, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then why do you think number 11 will win and not number 7?”

Nana answered after a moment of silence.

“Number 7 will probably do well at the beginning. If it were a short distance race, that one might have won.”

“But?”

“Today’s race is a long distance of 2,800m. Number 7 probably won’t even make it into the top three after 2,400m.”

“How do you know that?”

“I just felt it by continuously observing how the horses were breathing. It might look slow at first glance, but number 11 probably has the best lung capacity. Its endurance is excellent too.”

“…”

“And although it’s a subtle difference, number 11’s leg bones are thicker and stronger than the other horses. Seeing that the texture of its coat is the shiniest and finest, the jockey might cherish number 11 like his own life.”

Nana looked happy explaining the reason for choosing number 11. Looking at him, Jeha could not help but recall Makdong from his past life, who was edgy and prickly towards everyone but showed a soft and lively side when dealing with horses.

“Jeha, how much should I bet?”

Nana asked, looking at Jeha. Since both his smartphone and bank account were in Jeha’s name, he was asking for permission.

“What did you say the betting limit was?”

“One hundred thousand won.”

“Then let’s go with one hundred thousand won.”

“Aren’t you worried about losing it all if I’m wrong?”

“Not at all. If you’re not confident, you can lower it to a method of guessing a horse that comes in within the top three regardless of the rank.”

“No. There’s no need for that. Number 11 will definitely win. I’ll make you a fortune today, Jeha.”

With the crowd full of anticipation focused on them, the horses finally lined up neatly at the starting point. As the gate opened, a cheer that seemed to wash away the racetrack erupted, and at the same time, the horses shot out like bullets.

The leader was, as expected, Tiffany, the horse with the number one win bet rate. While the 12 horses were mostly bunched together, Big Bang, the number 11 horse that Nana was paying attention to, was running third from the end.

“Isn’t number 11 taking it too easy? It doesn’t look like it’s going to come forward.”

To Jeha’s question, Nana answered with the binoculars still to his eyes.

“It’s doing well. It’s actually more dangerous to be in the middle of the horse pack right now.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You see how the nine horses in front are running like a single block. If it tries to push forward recklessly in that state, they could collide with each other or get their legs tangled.”

“Still, it looks like there’s quite a gap.”

“Jeha, have you ever watched the Winter Olympics? Does our country’s athlete, who wins the gold medal every time, just charge ahead from the beginning in a long-distance race?”

“Ah, I see.”

“He’s trying to overtake them at the very end when the other horses’ stamina has run out. Watching the actual race now, Tiffany is subtly weak on the curved course. When the curve ends and it’s a straight line, Big Bang will do something.”

Jeha, being a super-sighted person, could see every single strand of the horse’s mane accurately without binoculars, but he could not distinguish the characteristics that Nana was talking about at all. He quietly watched the race.

“Oh, oh, oh, oh…!”

“Aaaah!”

Suddenly, screams and gasps were heard from all over. With four laps to go, as the horses entered the straight course, the number 11 horse, Big Bang, which had been staying at the back, began to surge forward.

It was not even the inside course, cutting through the horses, but the outside course, making a wide turn. It was something that was only possible if both stamina and speed were supported at the same time.

“Alright, Big Bang! Go!”

Along with Nana’s shout, Big Bang stably joined the leading group where horses number 2, 5, 7, 8, and 10 were running. The number 7 horse, Tiffany, was still running at the very front, but it was noticeable even to Jeha’s eyes that its initial momentum had died down.

“No!!!”

“Tiffany! Keep it up!”

The shouts of people who had bet on number 7 were heard from all over. When Tiffany gradually slowed down and fell completely out of the leading group, Jeha quickly looked at the situation board.

It was the 2,480m mark.

「Number 7 probably won’t even make it into the top three after 2,400m.」

Nana’s prophecy-like words were actually coming true. He glanced at Nana’s side profile; the corners of his mouth were curled up powerfully.

However, even as they passed the 2,600m mark, the number 11 horse, Big Bang, was still in 4th place. Horses 5-8-2-11 were running almost as a single bunch.

“Aaaah! It’s coming, it’s coming, number 11! Number 11 is coming!”

“No way!!!”

With only 150m left, Big Bang moved forward as if by magic. It was a magnificent and unbelievable scene, like watching slow motion.

— Good job, Big Bang. Excellent.

The moment Big Bang’s nose crossed the finish line ahead of the number 5 horse, Booster, by a margin of about one step, Nana’s small murmur faintly seeped into Jeha’s ears amidst the crowd’s cheers.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m fine. It was really fun.”

Jeha, holding the steering wheel, looked at Nana worriedly. They were on their way home after having lunch at a restaurant inside the racecourse and watching two more races.