I know, but the author already said, hat the age given in the article is wrong and Jiseong is actually 27 years old. In any case, if someone changes this much, it’s understandable that they aren’t recognized, especially if they dye their hair and wear contact lenses, no? I thought that maybe when Ideum was dreaming, he imagined Jaeyi's face onto his first crush during the flashback, so we don't actually know what the real person looked like. But it's also possible that Ideum missed some time at school due to his illness and the person he met was Jaeyi. Jaeyi was interested in Ideum's books and the bl he wrote, and the guy at school was also interested in Ideum's book. At the same time, though, Jiseong knew Ideum's name and spoke about him as if he knew him, which the other swimming instructor noticed as well, especially near the end. :o

Everyone is against my theory that the swimmer, Jaeyi's older brother, was Ideum's classmate, if I turn out to be right, what's my reward? (Hint: I love lemon snacks)