Weeks after his departure, reality is yet to sink in

May 2, 2015 07:38 GMT  ·  By

At the end of March, Zayn Malik announced that he had decided to leave One Direction, the band that helped him become an international star, because he needed to live “a normal life” for a while. In reality, he will probably be launching a solo music career, but that’s not making it any easier for fans.

The other day, Zayn removed all mentions of One Direction from his Twitter feed, breaking One Directioners’ hearts all over again. #YouWillAlwaysBeZaynMalik1D started trending shortly afterwards, and mournful messages are still pouring in.

Zayn Malik is no longer ZaynMalik1D on Twitter

Until the other day, Zayn Malik’s Twitter handle was ZaynMalik1D and his bio linked to the band’s official website. Considering that it’s been over one month since he announced his departure, and especially knowing that he was removed from all things One Direction-related 3 weeks after the announcement, Zayn actually deserves credit for allowing more time to pass.

In fact, he was actually pretty considerate in the way he handled this; or at the very least, he was more considerate towards the fans than the management of the band.

Still, that doesn’t mean that the fans are ok with what’s happening. If anything, their reaction to the change, as the Twitter samples included below will show, reveal that the reality is yet to sink in.

Many of the fans were still holding out to hope that maybe, just maybe, Zayn would be back, that this would not be the end of One Direction as they’d known it until then. The band will continue as a 4-piece, but there are already plenty of rumors saying that end is nigh: apparently, Harry Styles is thinking of pulling a similar move to go solo, and there will definitely be no 1D if he leaves too.

After Zayn’s dismissal of his 1D past, fans reacted either with pure grief, or at best, with nostalgia. Many are still upset that he left, but the majority of them are just happy for the memories. These are probably the same fans Zayn will be able to count on when (or if) he decides to go solo.

Zayn’s cooking something big

If we’re to believe reports online, Zayn hasn’t been wasting time in preparing to get his own solo career off the ground. Rumor has it that he’s been planning his “escape” from 1D for almost a year, carefully distancing himself from his 4 mates and feeling his way around to see if he could cut it on his own.

He will, he must have realized after a while. The bottom line is that, days after his departure on grounds that he wanted more time for himself, he was already hitting recording studios in London with a famous producer.

Now, unless Zayn is a 22-year-old for whom leading a “normal life” out of the spotlight means recording new music in secret, he must be cooking something big. Industry pundits are betting on his first solo album, which he will probably release as soon as possible, to capitalize on the momentum of his shocking exit.

Meanwhile, One Directioners are still in mourning.