What Does Zayn Malik Do After A Break-up? Get New Tattoos

Less than a week after confirming his breakup with Gigi Hadid, Zayn Malik is spending a lot of time at the tattoo parlour. On Friday, Malik showed off two post-breakup tattoos on Instagram, which add to his already impressive collection believed to surpass 60, including a red wolf, his dad’s name, and Hadid’s eyes on his chest.

I know what you’re thinking, but no, Malik didn’t cover up that Hadid tattoo this time around. Instead, he inked his neck, covering the back of it with a big black rose and long thorny stem that curves around the left side of his throat. Some fans have even joked that Malik’s tattoo looks a bit like a rat tail since it is placed right below his natural hairline. Malik didn’t give any details on the meaning behind the tat, but black rose tattoos are often a symbol of death or grief. Perhaps this is Malik mourning his relationship with Hadid? Or, maybe it’s a nod to his Irish heritage in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, since black rose tattoos were a sign of rebellion against the British by early Irish warriors? It might just be in reference to his new album, though, since Malik shared a caption-less photo of a neon sign that looked a lot like his new rose tattoo. Whatever it means, let’s not expect Malik to share anytime soon.

Malik also got a tattoo on the front of his neck, but wasn’t so quick to debut it, captioning a photo of his artist inking him: “Neck yat.” It’s probably just a typo, but don’t be surprised if the Zquad co-opts the phrase to mean “post-breakup ink.” Again, this new tattoo is placed just above Hadid’s eyes, which are on full display in the photo.

Fans shouldn’t be that surprised to hear that Malik hasn’t had this ink removed just yet. In a statement confirming their breakup, Malik wrote he had a “huge amount of respect and adoration for Gigi as a woman and a friend. She has such an incredible soul.” Not to mention, beautiful eyes, so the tattoo might be a sweet reminder of all that. At least, for now.

Malik previously got a tattoo for his ex-fiancé Perrie Edwards, a likeness of her face on his arm, which he’s since covered up. If he does decide to do the same with the Hadid tattoo, fans have come up with some clever ideas on how he could update it: “So is Zayn gonna put sunglasses on the tattoo of Gigi’s eyes now or what?”

One person, though, saw a pattern he hopes Malik will break with his next relationship. “So Zayn got a tattoo of Perrie and then they broke up, then he got a tattoo of Gigi's eyes and now they broke up.. will this man ever learn?!?”