One Direction will be performing as a quartet for a bit. Zayn Malik is heading back home to England to deal with "stress" and will miss a handful of upcoming concert dates. 

"Zayn has been signed off with stress and is flying back to the U.K. to recuperate," a rep for the group told Billboard. "The band wish him well and will continue with their performances in Manila and Jakarta."

The announcement comes shortly after a rather rough week for Malik, who was targeted by the Philippines government along with fellow member Louis Tomlinson and ask to pay a "weed bond" ahead of the band's upcoming Manila concert. Plus, tabloids had a ball when pictures surfaced of the singer with his arms wrapped around a girl that wasn't his fiance, Perrie Edwards of Little Mix. Malik took to Twitter to deny any wrongdoing.

While we're hoping a little R&R helps Zayn out, we can't help but feel like this isn't a good sign for the band. If you recall, the Spice Girls, another massive British act, saw one of its members pull out in the middle of a touring cycle when Geri Halliwell (a.k.a. Ginger Spice) quit the band just days before an American trek in 1998. While it doesn't look like Zayn's quitting 1D, his interest in solo work potentially indicates an eye toward a world past the boy band.

There's no word on when he'll return, but Directioners appear more than sympathetic to his break. Fans instantly sent the phrase "#HaveAGoodRestZayn" to the No. 1 trending topic worldwide on Twitter after the news broke.