I think what you’re getting at is that Han’s story is more of a classic romantic adventure, whereas Cassian’s story is deliberately less glamorous. Though when he becomes a spy and goes on spy adventures that will change.
It is more classic romanticism. As to all the things you pointed out about Han, none of that happened until Ben and Luke came into the picture. Prior to that, I don’t see anything in 1977 that suggests he lives anywhere near as dangerously as Cassian or with anywhere near the constant fear and desperation.
Having Greedo come into the Cantina to try and shoot him doesn’t count?
Han definitely doesn’t have the personality to live in fear. Happy-go-lucky is more his style, but in a life full of gangsters, the Empire, and constant danger of things going south, he lives on the edge, but never in fear. He always has hope that the next job will turn things around. And he has enough luck that that hope is not completely misplaced, though he never manages to get that awesome payoff. He starts off with a hard edge and Luke seems to soften him a bit. We see that change in ANH and it is much softer in TESB and ROTJ. In Brian Daley’s books he has more that hard edge, though not as hard as what we see on Tatooine.