His Code Name: ULAP (Code Name Series #1)

CHAPTER FOUR

I walked home that day alone.
Of course alone—I don’t have a boyfriend! It’s not like I have someone waiting for me after class with flowers or milk tea like those girls in the rom-coms. Nope. Just me, my bag, and my slowly dying social battery.

The wind brushed past my hair, the sky fading into that soft orange-pink that only makes you more emotional when you’re tired. My shoes scraped against the pavement as I sighed for the fifth time that minute.

Then, out of boredom, I unlocked my phone.

Notification:
Mr. President added Zacharias Dela Paz to the group.

Wait—what?!

I blinked twice before opening our GC.

GC Name:Grade 10 Aphrodite 💫

Jacob R. Villanueva: “Welcome, bro.”

Zacharias Dela Paz: “Thanks, pres .”

Of course. Jacob, being Mr. Perfect President, already making the new guy feel at home. I swear, he could welcome a total stranger and have them running for student council the next day.

The next notification made me groan.

(Jacob changed the group name to: Grade 10 Aphrodite; Zeus × Deity 💙)

I stared at it for a second.
Oh right. Zeus for the boys, Deity for the girls. That’s what our school calls us—some kind of weird “elite” labeling thing that the student body just went along with.

So technically…
Zacharias Dela Paz wasn’t just part of our class anymore.
He was officially one of the Zeus.

“Great,” I muttered under my breath. “Now there’s no escaping him.”

I scrolled through the messages.
Everyone was flooding the chat with welcomes, emojis, and even heart reactions. I didn’t type anything. I didn’t need to. I could already imagine Jacob teasing me about it later—“Why so quiet, Ms. Vice President?”—in that playful tone of his.

I locked my phone and shoved it into my pocket, quickening my pace.
The streetlights started flickering on one by one, the world turning a bit colder.

My thoughts drifted—first to Zacharias, polite smile and all, then to Jacob, that annoying smirk that always managed to make my chest tighten.

I groaned out loud. “Nope. Nope, not doing this.”

I wasn’t falling for anyone. Not for the new guy. And definitely not for Ulap.

But deep down, a quiet part of me whispered—
Then why does your heart keep skipping when he says your name, Alyza?

————————————————————

I opened my locker that morning, expecting the usual—a few notebooks, a crumpled test paper I still hadn’t thrown away, and maybe a sticky note from Jacob reminding me about some meeting.

But instead…

A bouquet of red roses.
A small box of chocolate hearts.
And—wait—letters.

Love letters.

I froze. “The hell?”

For a full ten seconds, I just stood there blinking at the chaos of sweetness in front of me. The hallway was noisy—people laughing, lockers slamming—but somehow it all faded into white noise. My brain just couldn’t process this.

Someone actually… did this?
For me?

“Naks naman!” a voice teased from behind.

I turned and found Jhessy, grinning from ear to ear, holding her own bouquet—bright sunflowers this time—and a little teddy bear hugging a ribboned box.

“Who would give me this?” I asked, half-suspicious, half-flustered.

Jhessy shrugged dramatically, her grin widening. “Secret admirer, bae,” she said, twirling the sunflower bouquet like she was in a K-drama.

I stared at her. “Secret admirer? Seriously, Jhessy?”

“What? Don’t act so shocked, Alyza! You’re vice president, top student, and, hello—pretty! It’s not exactly surprising that someone’s crushing on you.”

I rolled my eyes, though my cheeks felt warmer than usual. “You’re overreacting.”

Jhessy raised an eyebrow, clearly enjoying this way too much. “Says the girl who can’t even close her locker because she’s too busy blushing.”

I ignored that. “Anyway—what about you? What’s all that for?” I pointed at the teddy bear she was clutching like it was her child.

Her grin softened into a smile. “This? Oh, this is from Zevi, obviously.”

I blinked. “Zevi? As in your Zevi?”

She nodded, hugging the bear a little tighter. “He said it’s an early monthsary surprise. He’s sweet sometimes, you know.”

I let out a small laugh. “Yeah, when he’s not making sarcastic remarks every five minutes.”

She giggled. “Exactly!”

But even as we joked, my eyes flicked back to the roses in my locker—the petals perfectly arranged, the handwriting on the letters neat and careful.

Who could’ve done this?

Jacob? No way. He’s too obvious, and he’d rather tease me about having a secret admirer than be one.
Zacharias? We barely even talk.
Or maybe… someone else entirely?

Either way, it felt weirdly personal.
And for the first time in a long while, I couldn’t tell if I should be flattered, confused… or a little scared.