End of the book musings: Feeling bad for a character

I am sure I'm not the only reader who, even if only half way through a book, start to think something like; "Oh man, this sucks. I feel bad for this guy (or girl). I just know it's not going to end well for this character."

That's how I felt for one of the characters in the book I just finished a few minutes ago. I just knew his story wasn't going to be end happily. Well, it's only the first book in the series. He didn't die or suffer badly. But he did get his heart broken and it sucks.

I saw it coming. Who wouldn't? That's the point of this particular plot, after all.

Still, even early on in the story, I felt bad for him. I kind of wanted him to end up with the protagonist. Not just because I thought they were a better match but also because a small part of me wanted the plot to go against what was expected. Maybe not turn out so predictable.

Also, he's not a bad guy. He's genuinely good and gallant (the example for this is such a heartbreaking scene). How could I not want this guy to end up happy?

I'm going to read the second book to see how it turns out for this sad sad guy.

I must resist the urge to browse reviews of GoodReads.