Brother Park Tae-hwan, Sister Kim Yu-na

“I heard you won a gold medal. Congrats. Dig up a lot of gold for me, LOL,” wrote Kim Yu-na.

“Thanks. You did well, too. Get some rest. I’ll call you,” wrote Park Tae-hwan.

The so-called “prodigy swimmer” and “figure skating fairy” are as close as two peas in a pod.

Kim Yu-na (17, Suri High School), who was the first Korean to win a bronze medal at the World Figure Skating Championships in Tokyo on March 24, and Park Tae-hwan (18, Kyunggi High School) who became the first Asian athlete to win gold in the 400-meter freestyle at the International Swimming Federation World Championship in Melbourne on March 25, are becoming a hot topic as they left encouraging messages on each other’s homepages.

Kim Yu-na was happy for Park Tae-hwan as if it were her own success. She also expressed her anxiety at having lost the gold medal at the world championships.

In response, Park Tae-hwan visited Kim Yu-na’s homepage on March 26 and left a heartfelt reply.

These two have been “Ilchon” (cyber friends) on Cyworld since January, and have consoled each other after long and hard hours of practice.

Park wrote on Kim’s homepage on February 8 when she was suffering from back injuries, “Take care of yourself and don’t get sick,” and added, “Take care and score big at the championships,” on February 24.

Kim also posted on Park’s homepage on February 24, “You take care as well, and we’ll see each other at the world games!!” and wrote, “You must be exhausted these days? Break a leg!” on February 26.

After their friendship became known, netizens posted replies like, “You guys look good together,” and “You should marry each other.” But Park and Kim only said, “We’re like brother and sister.”

Park expressed his mood on his homepage as “pleasant” and Kim wrote, “Body and mind at ease…LOL,” showing their unwavering confidence in reaching for their goals.

beetlez@donga.com