Zayn Malik had one fan who seriously needed to cool off ... 'cause things got way too heated when some water bottles came flying his way during a fan event!

Check it out -- video from Zayn’s Q&A at Banquet Records in Kingston, England, Thursday night shows two water bottles getting launched from behind the crowd ... with one smacking the guy standing next to him and Zayn ducking to avoid the second.

Zayn was almost hit in the face by a hurled water bottle while leaving his Q&A event. pic.twitter.com/YML8xKEFLD

At first glance, you might think it was just an overexcited fan moment gone wrong ... but other angles appear to show one woman looking seriously fired up -- pointing, shouting, and seemingly directing her frustration straight at Zayn.

Now, there may’ve been some tension brewing beforehand ... the event was originally planned as three separate Q&As across the evening, but organizers later merged the final two sessions due to a scheduling conflict -- leaving some fans annoyed after waiting outside for hours.

Still ... frustration or not, hurling bottles isn’t it. And after everything from Bebe Rexha needing stitches to other stars getting pelted onstage, you’d think people would’ve retired this trend by now!