Rooftop apartments with flimsy external metal staircases.

I don’t know why kdramas make rooftop apartments romantic. Without air-conditioning or heater, it must be brutally hot there in the summer and cold as tundra in the winter. Then those staircases? They must be a pain when you have sack-loads of groceries to bring up in the pouring rain.

 

Examples from recent dramas —

Habaek the Water God. I noticed the rust on the railings.

Because This is My First Life. I hope WonSeok didn’t allow HoRang to go down the stairs with her heavy luggage without aiding her … but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did. He was @#$F thoughtless in many ways.

Jugglers. I wouldn’t climb this stairs if I was tipsy.

They look like fire escape stairs to me.

I suspect that there are less building codes to follow for external staircases than internal ones. These were cheaper to install and look less sturdy than internal stairs. Aesthetics wasn’t the primary concern when the material was chosen, just utility. Especially when it snows, sleets, ices, and rains, I’d be petrified of taking a tumble down these stairs. To me, this is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

At least in Hwayugi (and Rooftop Prince), the stairs have been upgraded.

From Hwayugi.