Vigo was stiff as a post in front of Dallergut. Dallergut had given him a Calm Cookie, but Vigo’s mouth was too dry, and he didn’t dare eat it.
“You’re shaking, kid. No need to be. We’ll just have a little chat, and it’ll be over. You can relax, cool?” Dallergut comforted the grown man in his midtwenties. He guessed his nerves might have something to do with what he’d seen in Vigo’s résumé. “Is it because you think your college expulsion will be a sticking point? That no matter how great you do in this interview, you think I’ll reject you?” Dallergut asked, looking at the résumé. “Do you really think I will disqualify you immediately for that, when you had the highest score in the entrance exam? I thought my questions were hard, but you got them all right. Throughout the entire decade I’ve been in this business, you are the first to get a perfect score.”
“Questions like those are not hard at all,” said Vigo in a faint voice. “What’s hard for me are situations like these, where I must talk about myself.” He hung his head, fidgeting with his dirty nails. He looked unkempt for someone at a job interview. It was like he’d dragged himself there, but lacked the zeal to groom himself.
“I see that you don’t want to talk about the expulsion, and I understand. Still, it’s inevitable that we have to discuss it. I’m obliged to verify if a person I’m hiring has any criminal history,” Dallergut said adamantly.
“I didn’t commit any serious crime!” Vigo said, looking Dallergut straight in the eye for the first time. “I just didn’t know much about the rules. And it was just that one time. One mistake. I swear.”
“So, what happened?”
Vigo twitched his lips, reluctant to open up, keeping Dallergut in suspense.
“It’s okay. Don’t overexert yourself. You can skip this interview if you can’t talk about it. If you really want this job, I can find other ways to verify your history. I can make a phone call to your adviser myself.”
“N-no, that can’t happen. Okay, I can explain.”
Vigo took a deep breath. “I was working on my graduation project,” he began.
“Vigo, have you found a partner for your graduation project yet?” asked a fellow senior who was passing by.
“Yeah. Just got one, and they finally said yes.”
For their final project, all seniors had to interview a “real customer” and create a dream for them.
Over the last month, Vigo had camped out every day in front of the Dallergut Dream Department Store. He would beg anyone passing by, “Would you be my partner for my graduation project?” only to be rejected with a look that said, “You’re crazy. What’s wrong with you?” as everyone went about their business.
After exactly one month, a girl about his age approached him. She was wearing baggy ivory pajamas. “I can be your partner for your graduation project.”
“Really? Thank you!”
“I’ve been watching you here every day for the last month. I don’t know what motivates you, but you seem very dedicated.”
Her response was totally unexpected. How can she possibly remember everything that’s happened here for a month? She, an outsider?
“How did you...?”
“Will you keep a secret?” The girl looked around and then whispered in his ear. “I’m a lucid dreamer. At a very high level, too.”
Vigo was shocked. “You can come here at will through a lucid dream? I’ve never seen such a thing!”
“Yes, when I’m asleep, I can go anywhere I like. And I remember everything that happens there. Amazing, right? So, how can I help with your graduation project?”
The two met every day in front of the Dallergut Dream Department Store on the pretext of working on his graduation project. They talked about lucid dreams and shared stories about where they lived, losing track of time.
It was only natural that Vigo developed feelings for her.
“I want to invite you to my graduation project presentation. I created a dream I want to share with you. But a lot of people will be there. You should wear a normal outfit when you sleep that night so you won’t get caught.”
But she didn’t show up that day. And he never saw her again, which was a clichéd ending for this type of story.
“So I started presenting my dream without her. But then there was a problem,” Vigo continued.
“What was it?”
“I put myself in the dream.” Vigo lowered his head.
“Oh no, you foolish kid.” Dallergut sighed. “You’re never supposed to be inside customers’ dreams and interfere in their lives. Especially when that customer is a lucid dreamer. It’s dangerous.”
“I really had no idea. I was book smart, but I didn’t know there was such a rule in school.” Vigo’s eyes were pleading innocence. “So afterward... I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you what went down, but my professor was furious about my graduation project and held a disciplinary committee. I told them the truth, but I got expelled. And the record remains with the association, so I can’t even pursue a dreammaker career... I ruined everything.”
Worried, Dallergut looked at Vigo, who was worn out and scruffy. “Did you apply here hoping to run into that girl? This is where you two first met.”
Dallergut had seen right through Vigo’s intention, and it left the young man at a loss for any excuses.
“Yes, but that’s not all! I do love dreams. I know I’m pathetic, but I still want to work in the dream industry. If I can’t... I have no reason to live.”
“Nonsense! It’s obvious you’re still not over her. This is unacceptable.” Dallergut was adamant.
“I know I’m being ridiculous. I also know I don’t stand a chance of being with her this way. She can come here to meet me, but I can never go where she is. That was why I wanted to show her the dream I’d made for her. To show that I could come and meet her through the dream I’d created...”
“You can’t have feelings for a customer. There have been so many young dreammakers whose lives were ruined when they meddled in romance with their customers, trying to be the ‘ultimate woman or man’ in their customers’ dreams. The dreammakers soon realized that dreams could never become a reality for their customers, and it devastated them so much they lapsed into severe depression...and it always ended with—”
“I will never overstep the line again. All I’ll do is wait here! So please...”
“Have you ever thought about why she stopped coming? Maybe she stopped having lucid dreams—or maybe something happened to her. You might never meet her again, however long you wait for her.” Dallergut was frustrated.
“It’s okay. Ten or twenty years from now, I may bump into her. I just want to tell her that I’ll always be here if she ever wants to see me.”
A long silence fills in the office.
Frowning, Dallergut looks back and forth between Vigo and his application. Finally, he said, “Keep it between us.”
“Excuse me?”
“Everyone probably knows about your expulsion by now, but never tell anyone why. Understood?”
“O-of course!”
“But I have to say, I’m impressed that a college senior already knew how to put himself in a dream. That’s definitely something. Okay, I’ll give you a chance. You are dismissed. I have an interview with another candidate...”
“Thank you, Mr. Dallergut. Thank you so much!”
Vigo awkwardly stood up and kept bowing toward Dallergut as he walked backward out the door.
“One more thing,” Dallergut added, looking at Vigo’s shabby appearance. “Starting tomorrow, suit up nice and clean. You never know when she might come.”
Vigo smiled widely for the first time. “Understood! I’ll be extra clean. I’ll clean up and do laundry... I’ll clean your entire store! I’ll clean everything! Thank you, so, so much!”