THEY might knew that it was coming.
Hours before former One Direction member Zayn Malik officially announced that he was leaving the British boy band for good, fellow band member Harry Styles was seen crying on stage during the Jakarta leg of their On The Road Again tour on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old performer was comforted by bandmate Liam Payne as he openly cried on stage.
Louis Tomlinson was also seen embracing “an imaginary Malik.”
In a statement released Thursday morning, Malik said that he opted to leave the group after five years to “be a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight.”
The singer also apologized to fans for his decision.
READ: New direction: 1D says Zayn Malik has left the group
After the release of Malik’s announcement, Styles and Payne posted tweets presumably about the departure of the former One Direction member.
“All the love as always,” Styles said.
“So glad to be in bed after a long and strange 24 hours,” Payne said.
Malik earlier flew back to UK last Friday because of “stress,” missing the Manila and Jakarta legs of the band’s tour.
READ: Zayn Malik won’t be at the Manila leg of One Direction world tour
The quartet will continue to tour and release their fifth studio album.
Meanwhile, Directioners showed their grief and anger on Malik’s departure from the band on social media as their hashtags #AlwaysInOurHeartsZaynMalik and #ZaynPain trended worldwide. AJH/AC