Liam Payne and Zayn Malik haven't been on great terms since the latter left One Direction and now it looks like the boys are competing for the best bad boy title with their recent Instagram photos featuring smoking selfies - and we mean literal smoking, this time.

Three days ago, One Direction singer Liam Payne started the whole controversy by uploading a photo to Instagram of himself smoking a cigarette on a plane. He gives the camera a sultry look, while wearing a black hat and plaid shirt, showing off his tattoos. The Instagram photo is in black and white.

A photo posted by Liam Payne (@fakeliampayne) on Sep 5, 2015 at 10:23pm PDT

Fans erupted in the comments section with concerned messages.

lia.kawaii.1d wrote: "DONT SMOKE, LIAM. JUST DONT."

anna_bmoura commented: "NO SMOKING PLSS LIAM"

shxtihaventgotaname@harrysytlex also added: "OMG NOOOOO"

"In an airplane??" concerned fan livin_toplinson wrote.

"Don't smoke please.. :((" _.niicoolllee._ chimed in.

Meanwhile, just a few days later, Zayn Malik posted his own smoking selfie. The former One Direction singer's Instagram post had a lot of similarities to Liam Payne's: shot in black and white, Zayn has a cigarette in hand and is giving the camera a seductive stare through the smoke. Though Zayn's photo is a more of a close-up shot and a bit more intimate, it can't be ignored that these two seem to be competing for the bad boy image.

A photo posted by Zayn Malik (@zayn) on Sep 8, 2015 at 6:52pm PDT

Zayn and Liam haven't made up since Zayn left the band, according to HollywoodLife.com.

During an interview about their new fragrance 'Between Us,' Liam said he thinks their new album will be the band's best one yet - this is the only album One Direction has made without Zayn.

"It's just pure greatness. I don't mean to sound arrogant when I say that, but it's just my favorite stuff we've ever done... We're just ready to go with it. It's going to be ace, I promise you that," he told Teenvogue.com.

Sounds like Liam thinks One Direction is better off without Zayn Malik.