Watching Angela eat was honestly quite amusing.
She held her spoon like she was afraid it might bite her. Each grain of rice seemed to require careful consideration before she dared to swallow it. Every bite was followed by a sip of water, as if the food might refuse to go down otherwise.
I had finished my entire bowl ages ago.
Yet Angela still had half of hers left untouched.
Back home, someone must have spoon-fed her every meal.
"This rice is terrible today," she complained softly.
If the food in the cafeteria was bad, the solution was obvious.
"You can just skip it," I said quickly. "I'll order something from outside. The guards can bring it in. Tonight I'll ask Victor Santos to join us too. Usually it's just the two of us eating together, and we're too lazy to order anything nice."
Angela clearly belonged to the type of person who grew tired of rice and secretly craved noodles.
Her face brightened immediately.
"Then I'll go place the order," she said. "It wouldn't be right to let you do it."
"What's wrong with that?" I laughed. "Can't I treat you to dinner for once? Do I look that stingy?"
Angela giggled.
"One dinner is fine," she said.
"But what about many dinners?"
Her question made my heart leap straight into the clouds.
Was she suggesting… something more permanent?
Before I could even answer, she continued.
"Starting tomorrow, can I come eat with you and Victor? Staying alone is so boring. I don't really get along with the girls in my room."
I nodded so quickly my neck nearly snapped.
"Of course! Right now it's just Victor and me. If you join us, that'll make three."
In my excitement, I completely forgot that nobody in the world considered three people a perfect circle.
Angela smiled shyly.
"Will Victor mind?"
I almost replied, If he refuses I'll punch him in the mouth.
But that would have been unwise if she repeated my words later.
"Don't worry," I said instead. "He treats me like a little brother. He's actually very easygoing. Don't believe those rumors people say about him. Once you get to know him, you'll see."
Angela looked delighted.
She picked up her bowl, casually grabbing my empty one as well.
"Then I'll go back to my room and take a shower first," she said. "See you later."
See you later.
Just hearing those words made my entire body feel warm.
A pleasant excitement flowed through every nerve.
I rushed straight to the small convenience counter and shouted,
"Two portions of everything good for dinner tonight!"
***
When I walked back into the dorm room, I felt like I was floating.
That feeling lasted exactly three seconds.
Because Victor Santos was sitting on my bed, staring at me with the most wicked grin imaginable.
His eyes gleamed with malicious amusement.
I tried to ignore him and lie down for a moment, but he slowly crawled over and sat beside me, studying my face carefully.
Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.
"Stop messing with me," I groaned. "You're embarrassing me."
Victor nodded thoughtfully.
"I'm not doing anything," he said calmly. "But it's funny… you went out to eat with a girl and came back with your face all messy."
"Messy?"
I jumped up and rushed to the mirror.
My face looked perfectly clean.
Smooth as a baby's skin.
Behind me, Victor chuckled.
"Your face has a whole sentence written across it," he said.
"What sentence?"
"Madly in love with a girl. Foolishly obsessed with a panther."
I felt my face burn with embarrassment.
Without another word, I grabbed my towel and escaped to the shower while Victor laughed like a satisfied devil behind me.
Honestly, I was beginning to suspect something.
For a legendary gangster, Victor Santos behaved far too shamelessly.
Maybe his reputation had been exaggerated.
***
That evening I dressed carefully in a fresh uniform.
Victor followed me downstairs despite claiming he was still full.
Angela was already waiting at one of the best tables in the dining hall.
She looked slightly different tonight.
Her eyelashes were darker, her face lightly made up. Even inside a rehabilitation center, she somehow managed to look elegant.
A few lecherous inmates hovered nearby, circling the table like vultures.
But the moment they saw Victor and me approaching, they vanished immediately.
I left Victor at the table and walked with Angela to collect the food we had ordered.
While carrying the plates back, I couldn't stop worrying about what kind of mischief Victor might create.
The old gangster looked suspiciously serious.
Which meant he was definitely plotting something.
Sure enough, when Angela and I placed the dishes on the table—fried tilapia piled high—Victor sniffed dramatically and turned toward her.
"Thank you, Angela."
She blinked in confusion.
"For what?"
Victor kept a perfectly straight face.
"If it weren't for you, this brat would never buy such delicious food for me."
At that moment I almost dropped to my knees.
How could a legendary gangster behave so shamelessly?
I sat down miserably while Angela laughed delightedly.
To punish him, I piled his bowl full of fish.
"Fine," I said. "Starting tomorrow I'll order food every night."
Victor laughed loudly, though his expression looked slightly worried.
He ate like a cat.
Finishing that mountain of food would probably kill him.
Served him right for teasing me.
***
Thanks to the constant joking between Victor and me, dinner quickly became lively and relaxed.
Angela chatted happily, her voice soft and polite.
Victor seemed to like her as well.
When I mentioned that she might join our table from tomorrow onward, he agreed immediately.
"Hey, you're the one in charge of this table," he said. "Why are you asking me? If I refused, you'd probably kick me out anyway. Then who would buy me fried fish?"
His words teased me again, but I didn't mind.
The thought that Angela would start eating with us… living alongside us… made me too happy to care about anything Victor said.
After all, what was the point of arguing with an old man who clearly had too much free time on his hands?