Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation (also stylized as LOST in TRANSLATION) is an English language webtoon written and illustrated by Jjolee. It was first published in WEBTOON's self-publishing section Canvas since July 21, 2017 and has been republished as one of the platform's "official" webtoons (WEBTOON Originals) since February 14, 2020. Set in South Korea, the webtoon follows the struggles of a rookie K-pop boy group, with particular focus on one of its members who is forced to take on a controversial persona for the sake of boosting the group's popularity. As of March 2021, Lost in Translation garnered 545.4 thousand subscribers, 3.3 million likes and a rating of 9.72. Plot 25-year-old K-pop idol Ahn Jae-won, a.k.a. Wyld, is a member of the rookie group Mayhem. Unbeknownst to his mother and to his co-members, he is being tormented by the group's boss who coerces him to take on a fake controversial persona in order to boost the group's popularity. As he quickly becomes, in the public eye, Mayhem's "bad boy" who is seemingly caught in successive scandals, Jae-won has to endure the suffering masked by the glamour of their rising fame while fearing he might soon become his own false persona. The plot of Lost in Translation can de subdivided into the following story arcs: Jae-won being bullied by the CEO; his struggles with Min-young (Prologue–Ch.12) Jae-won and his sasaeng fan (Chs. 13–19) Mayhem in the idol sports competition; the conflict between Min-soo and Min-sung (Chs. 20–32) Dae-hyun and the conflict between Min-young and Min-seok (Chs. 33–39) Jae-won confesses to his mother about his suffering as an idol (Chs. 40–46) Dong-ho reconciles with his mother (Chs. 47–55) Jae-won and Ah-ra (Chs. 56–67) Jae-won tries defending Ah-ra from the CEO; Jun-su opens his story up to Jae-won (Chs. 68–78) Dae-hyun learns the truth about Min-seok's hatred against Min-young (Chs. 79–94) Min-seok issues a formal apology; public opinion on Jae-won starts to improve (Chs. 95–105) Mayhem wins their first award (Chs. 106–113) Min-soo and Min-sung reconciles (Chs. 114–118) The CEO tries to cause a rift between Jun-su and Jae-won (Chs. 119–138) Jae-won and Ah-ra being tormented by the CEO in a frame-up (Chs. 139–ongoing)