Failure, all-nighters, and childish chatter were all part of youth!
Blooming in a small space called a laboratory
A delightful and dazzling story of growth among scientists

This book is a factional essay about the college and graduate school lives of biology students who dedicated their flowery twenties to endless assignments and experiments, and who grew into true scientists through encounters and failures.
Based on the author's real-life experiences as a scientist, and adding fictional imagination, the book depicts the journey of young people discovering their identity as scientists in a humorous yet honest way.

Days spent up all night in front of a microscope searching for invisible principles, conflicts in interpersonal relationships both inside and outside the lab, the unpredictable reality and anxiety about the future, the passion and perseverance that never gave up, and the friendships and romance that blossomed with colleagues within it.
That awkward yet passionate period of youth unfolds like a drama.
Their stories, sometimes humorous and sometimes deeply moving, transcend the experiences of certain majors and individuals and touch on the growing pains experienced by all youth.

At the time, I was into pop, jazz, and classical music, and I had dozens of cassette tapes and CDs. I also had a Sony Mini record player that I had bought with all the money I earned from tutoring before entering college and the money my relatives gave me when I got into college.
Since I was the only one among my classmates who had such equipment, the room I stayed in for a year, room 205, Building 19, was bound to become famous among my classmates.
I also ghostwrite my friends' love letters, and I interpret the replies I receive from my girlfriends in a way that is accurate, deep, and rich. I am considered a writer and a love expert.
In short, I was good at catching.
But, interestingly enough, and ironically at the same time, I had never actually been in a relationship at that time.
All the advice I gave them was crude, book-learned stuff.
How could we possibly describe that time, when the clouds of knowledge floating in the air, as if representing our excitement at the time, radiated infinite charm, if not with the word "romance"?
--- p.25

Fortunately, it was a success, but if the experiment had been a failure, I would have probably needed a few days, or even months, of rest.
I now accept as an eternal truth that experiments are inherently flawed, but just as the saying goes that the scariest thing is someone who has read a book, at the time I was overconfident because I had done a few experiments and heard that I was good at them.
After that experience, I became a little more humble and realized that living as a researcher is by no means easy.
That failure ultimately made me stronger.
Because I learned how to persevere and not give up even in the midst of countless failures.
And now I know.
The thing that is greater than success is not to fall apart after failure.
Didn't they say that what's important is an unwavering heart?
Furthermore, didn't you say that it was a heart that kept going even when broken?
The same is true in experiments.
--- pp.174-175

In science, important discoveries often come from such coincidences and errors.
And for these discoveries to lead to research papers, what scientists need is a challenging attitude to question and find answers while maintaining curiosity and seeking meaning in unexpected results that seem like errors, rather than ignoring or discarding them.
I believe that a scientist's shining moments lie not only in conducting experiments according to a plan based on logic and reason and writing excellent papers, but also in finding a thin thread in uncertainty and chaos, discovering a law, and then uncovering and unraveling its meaning and the mechanisms behind it.
Science remains a mysterious and fascinating discipline.
--- p.191

It was unreasonable to expect a conversation that was anything but conversational.
But at that moment, Namsoon added a word.
“So you do a lot of horizontal bars, so your neck is short?” It seemed like an attempt to turn an absurd conversation into a personal attack.
It was the first day I was freed from the annoying bowl of noodles and had ramen in the microwave, but it seemed like the mood was ruined by Seon-gyeong and I was upset.
But Seonkyung did not give up until the end.
“That neck isn’t short!” We all sided with Namsoon.
“You have a short neck~” Seonkyung replied.
It was an unforgettable quote.
“…the shoulders are high.”
In an instant, with a ding!, the microwave ramen was ready.
This ding sound made the awkward atmosphere after Seon-gyeong threw out her famous quote feel more comfortable.
Minsu carefully took out the bowl with both gloved hands.
The ramen noodles were dry and exposed on the surface, with a brown tint.
The presence of the broth could be guessed from the brown, twisted stripes at the edges.
It felt like we were archaeologists.
And Minsu said.
“Oh no, another failure.” Hyoyoung put her badminton racket in her bag, Sicheol and I consoled Minsu by saying we should add more water next time, and Hyeongwoo, Seonkyung, and Namsoon took out bowls of noodles one by one from the pile under the table.
We were scattered that day, but Seonkyung's famous words have lived on for over 15 years, remaining eternal.
It's not that you have a short neck, it's that your shoulders are high.
It was a nonviolent resistance to personal attacks, a statement of conviction, and a shift in perception.
--- pp.214-215

The most important thing at this time is not a fierce and hard-working mind, but a mind that knows how to enjoy it.
If you don't enjoy it, it's a hassle to even stand on that track.
This is also true when considering only efficiency and performance.
If we consider the amount of results that can be achieved with the same amount of time and effort, there is probably no profession as inefficient as that of a scientist (or artist).
Especially in the field of basic science, we must approach it with the heart of a farmer who diligently sows and waters seeds for the sake of invisible fruits.
The reason we do basic science is not because the results are visible, but because we want to complete the big picture, which is invisible but still allows the puzzle pieces of our efforts to finally fit together.
Although you may not know which puzzle piece you are currently fiddling with.
But that doesn't matter.
This is because we believe that the continued dedication of basic scientists will ultimately enable us to discover and complete the big picture, as history has proven.
Because I believe that science is the only field that is transparent, value-neutral, and where self-correcting mechanisms based on reason and logic still function.

--- p.253