“On his first night at the Brooklyn homeless shelter, Tin Chin met his best friend.”

So begins an unforgettable story of deceit and friendship, and the loneliness of starting life anew in a foreign country.

The journalist Sam Dolnick traces how two men came to find themselves in the homeless shelter, and how their shared backgrounds meant they became fast friends. But the story, as all good stories often do, quickly takes an unexpected turn.

This story was written and narrated by Sam Dolnick. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

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