Bad news for Directioners: The group is thinking of having an extended hiatus beginning March 2016.

A source for E! News said, "They are taking a hiatus so they can work on individual projects for a while but they are not splitting up. They will remain together and plan to work together in the future."

We repeat: they are not splitting up.

So what does the "extended hiatus" mean?

According to the source, all of the group's members - Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan - will "pursue their endeavors" but will remain close.

The source shared, "They are great friends and fully support one another. They are very aware that they are able to work on their own stuff as well as remain together. This is an exciting time for them creatively and as a group."

The announcement came just a few days after the release of their latest video - and first without Zayn Malik - called "Drag Me Down".

However, while Zayn quit the group for good, the rest of the guys seem to focus om making new music to please their fans, hence the extended hiatus.

The source shared, "They love working together. They envision a future together but with the freedom to do other things as well."

While there has been no comment from the boys or their reps, a source told The Sun, "The guys have been together for five years, which is an incredible run for any boy band.They fully deserve to have at least a year to work on their own projects."

The source added, "There is absolutely no bad blood between them and they are all 100% behind the decision. It is definitely not a split and they fully intend to get back together at some time in the future."

Fans are not taking the temporary split lightly.

In fact, they aren't happy about it. Many of them took their frustrations out on Twitter, in a form of mass denial.

One user said, "If one direction split I don't know what I'm going to do with my life."

Another is too depressed to go to work, tweeting, "I'm sorry, I can't come into work tomorrow, I am mourning the loss of one direction #onedirectionsplit"

Still, another had to nurse a broken heart: "I don't really want to think about it too much because I'm gonna end up crying.. but my heart is a little bit broken tbh"

Do you think this hiatus is just that --- a hiatus, or do you expect the boys to break up for good?