I know you're a Sage fan, and that's a good thing. I personally like Sage very much.
But I see Sage more as a good friend of the MC. Zoey is a good example of what happens when the boundaries of friendship and love overlap.
If friendship turns into love, that's great, but if love ends, you usually lose a friend too. Double loss, double grief.
Zoey and the MC are given a chance because Zoey has been in San Diego for about a year, creating the necessary distance. Both continue to develop separately from each other and learn new things. So Zoey and the MC have a chance to get to know each other again. But are the MC and Zoey doing it right now? Either love or friendship, that is the question here.
This is exactly where I see paralells of Sage and Zoey. Will the MC be Sage's fuckbuddy and make the same mistake he did with Zoey? I think if the MC (player) is seriously interested in Sage, the MC should not become the fuckbuddy, but wait for his chance in EP7.
But that's just my view of things.